Check Out Mari Reisberg’s Story

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Mari Reisberg.

Mari, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Well, that is a big question! And a question I love to answer. I grew up in Portland, Oregon, in the 80s. I was a rowdy child and was sent to trapeze school starting at three years old.

I was in my first professional show at the age of 3, and I like to say I was bit by the performing bug and never looked back. Performing was the cornerstone of my young life, be it in physical theater, musical theater, the circus— you name it. If I was asked to be on stage for anything, I was there! Growing up in Portland was great. Yes, it rains nine months out of the year, and yes, now, whenever it rains in Colorado, it reminds me of my childhood.

After graduating high school, I decided to go across the country for college. I was accepted into the Hartt School, which is the performing arts conservatory connected to the University of Hartford in Hartford, CT. Moving from the West Coast to the East Coast was a big change. I loved every minute of it! After college, I moved to NYC to pursue a career in acting. While I loved performing, I didn’t love auditioning, and I wasn’t really prepared for the amount of rejection or how to successfully navigate it. So, I worked at a restaurant, was a nanny, and sang with an Irish band.

Despite the red hair, I am not Irish. I loved living in NYC. I also knew there was something more out there that I wanted to do. I was the person to everyone, friend and stranger alike, who would tell their life story. I could be in a cab, at a bar, getting my nails done, on the subway— someone would start talking to me about their life. I’m sure I could have ignored these people, but that’s just not who I am. After a while, I started to wonder if there wasn’t a way to turn this into a job.

After a conversation with my Dad and a recommendation to look into the performing arts therapies, I decided it was time to go back to school. This time it took me to Colorado, where I got my master’s in Somatic Psychology, Dance/Movement Therapy from Naropa University. This pivot into the world of psychology was where I started to put the pieces together for the work I would later create for performers called Sustaining Creativity.

After grad school, I worked for a few hospitals and free-standing agencies and then moved into private practice. I had been melding my training in acting school with the skills I learned in my psychology program. As a young and early adult performer, I realized I didn’t have the skills to effectively navigate, manage, and process emotions, rejection, safety, and trust. Jump ahead 10 years, and I created a program called Sustaining Creativity, specifically designed for performers to learn skills to support themselves through their performing arts careers and the world.

This program has been shared with hundreds of students, teachers, professionals, and beginner performers. During the pandemic, I pivoted again and started a podcast called, you guessed it, Sustaining Creativity Podcast. I wanted to keep the creativity conversations going, and since we couldn’t meet in person during that time, I decided to interview people from around the world about creativity.

Today, I’m 4 years into my podcast adventure and have over 200 episodes you can listen to wherever you listen to podcasts. That’s my story. I am a wonderful amalgamation of the creative arts and psychology, and I love it all!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Everyone’s life has its ups and downs. I think of myself as a very resilient person, so when I experience the inevitable bumps and struggles, I have a solid practice for navigating them to the best of my ability. I think some of the biggest struggles have been my belief in myself.

For many years, I had a strong belief that I needed to know everything before I could share something with someone else. I held myself back from a lot of opportunities. I also struggled to navigate the need to be perfect. That one’s a doozy! Perfectionism was such a momentum-stopper in my life. It was very difficult to admit that I wasn’t perfect and to embrace the imperfect wonder that the world has to share. I say this a lot with my clients who struggle with their own challenges of perfection.

“Life is way more fun when you can embrace the imperfections.” This is something I regularly remind myself of as well. Recovering from perfection is a process. It’s not linear; it bounces around, and it takes constant reminders to keep returning to letting go of being perfect.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I wear many different hats, and I love them all! I’m a licensed therapist in Colorado; I have my own private practice called Courage to Create Counseling. I’m a certified creativity and innovation coach, I host the Sustaining Creativity Podcast, and I’m the owner and operator of Sustaining Creativity. With all the hats I wear, I’m known for my work with creativity.

Creativity is an important part of not only my everyday life but also my professional life. I have combined my degrees in acting and psychology to initially support performers to learn skills and navigate creative careers. Now, I work with everyone: performers, non-performers, former performers, people wanting to have a creative life, and people looking for creative solutions to life. When creativity becomes your career, so many challenges can arise. My work is about supporting individuals to keep their creativity alive, reclaim their creativity, or come back to their creativity while living their everyday lives.

I specialize in helping people build their foundation for creativity—a foundation that is stable, safe, and one they can trust. Without safety, no one can effectively take creative risks! I’m proud of everything I do, and my Sustaining Creativity work holds a very special space in my life. From developing my programs to sharing them with budding performers to hearing from students who are now years out from experiencing a workshop, how they still use the skills and tools they learned. I love knowing that this work is supporting creativity in the world.

What’s next?
Oh, my future plans? Well, that’s a good question. I feel like I’m still growing, learning, and always developing what I do. However, I have been toying around with the idea of writing a book.

I’d love to share my creativity skills and tools with a larger audience. I believe the more creativity we can find in the world, the better! I still love performing myself, so who knows? Maybe I’ll find myself back on stage one of these days.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sustainingcreativity.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sustainingcreativity/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sustainingcreativity
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mari-reisberg-b1320151/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sustainingcreativitypodcast

Image Credits
Lisa Hurst and Tracy Holt Doty