Creativity has always been my calling. It’s what people have sought me out for since childhood—“Isa! Can you draw my dog?”— and it’s what I’ve devoted my life to: studying, practicing and guiding others on their creative path.

I'm also VERY curious. I earned a master’s and doctorate from Columbia University, where I studied the science of how people make things, driven purely by curiosity. My research draws from embodied cognition, creative psychology, and philosophy to explore not just how creativity works but how we can nurture it and live more creatively.

But creativity isn’t just my field of study; it’s my personal journey. Like many, I once set aside my artistic dreams, only to become, ironically, a scholar who studied creativity!

Living in New York, I longed to create but felt paralyzed. I researched how people make things but hesitated to make anything myself. I studied the body’s role in creativity yet felt disconnected from my own.

My body had been sending urgent signals—ones I ignored until I needed heart surgery. Seeing my heart on a screen for the first time, beating like a wild animal, desperate to get my attention, changed everything.

Moving to Costa Rica, I applied what I had studied to my own life, and slowly, creativity began to flow again. I reconnected with my body, learned to listen to my intuition, and finally felt the truth of what I had studied: we are all part of a vast, unfolding creative universe, waiting for us to join.

Now, through The Creative Nest, I integrate science and spirituality to help others release creative blocks. I’ve seen how stress, anxiety, and numbness often stem from creative deprivation—and how simple practices can restore our creative vitality.

I also empower organizations to cultivate a culture of creativity that not only drives innovation but also creates a meaningful environment where people feel inspired, thrive, and do their best work.

Personally, I practice the art of living a creative life, mindfully weaving new possibilities into my day-to-day in Costa Rica, where I live with my husband, two children, a dog named Kodak, and countless other creatures.

Bringing creativity back to your life and work changes everything! The desire to create is one of our deepest yearnings and in fulfilling it, we become part of a wider, ever-unfolding creative ecology.