Client Spotlight
Nina Rayburn
is a strategist helping connect the dots – whether that’s 🤝 building new clients & partners, 📊 bringing teams around big goals, or ⁉️ turning sticky research questions into straightforward solutions.
Interview Date: 3/31/22
What are the mediums you create in?
Brand & business strategist, facilitator
What do you say when people ask you what you do?
As a strategist, I help connect the dots – whether that’s 🤝 building new clients & partners, 📊 bringing teams around big goals, or ⁉️ turning sticky research questions into straightforward solutions.
What are some words that come to mind when you think about your creative style?
Intentional, intuitive, playful, spunky
What are you currently working on?
After almost a decade in the world of creative advertising (both agency x freelance), I’m pivoting into people development – working with LifeLabs Learning as a workplace facilitator and workshop leader.
What is a piece of advice around creative work that you call to mind often?
I find that great artists often tend to their work like it’s a garden. Approach it less like a project to complete and more like a continual process. Plant seeds with as much patience as persistence. Weed out what isn’t working for you, and be intentional with where you want to grow.
How long have you been working with Melissa?
Since Sept. 2022
What did you come to coaching for?
After eight years at one agency, I took a break to make a career pivot out of advertising. I was seeking a sounding board to help me articulate what I was looking for next professionally, and simplify how to best find it.
What are some ways that coaching has impacted you?
It's one thing to logically know the value of patience, and another to really feel it. Before coaching, I approached career next steps like a checklist, but now I really see it as more a constant practice than a process. This mindset shift tends to make life more open and interesting, too!
What are some ‘wins’ that you would attribute to being supported by Melissa? We joked that coaching helped me strip the metaphorical ‘wallpaper’ of different career assumptions and doubts I had developed over the years. Melissa helped me identify the values I wanted to embody most in my work, step out of my comfort zone to share what I was looking for with others, and trust myself through the career pivot process. And - the cherry on top - she introduced me to the dream company I ultimately joined! I don’t know if I would have ever discovered this path without her perspective, and I know the pivot was more successful because of her support.
What are you currently learning about yourself?
I’m finding that there’s meaning not just in what I do, but how I work. Aligning the very way I work to my values has given me greater flexibility, clarity and playfulness in my life overall.
What advice would you give to others who are considering working with a creative coach?
Start sooner. When I first committed to taking a more unconventional career path, I thought I was stronger to ‘figure it all out’ myself - but inviting a creative coach into my process was the best decision I made.
Where can we find you online?: