A Life Creative Podcast

Imagine being asked to freshen up the rooftop garden of House & Garden magazine’s editor-in-chief, Dominique Browning, for a photo shoot. For this episode’s guest — author and editor Stephen Orr — that one encounter led to a job as the magazine’s garden editor.
Stephen tells the story of his upbringing in West Texas, where his parents sparked an early appreciation for nature and plants. He shares how the foundation of skills and experiences he set in motion in early adulthood ultimately landed him a dream job in New York City magazine publishing.
But as always on A Life Creative, the path had plenty of twists, turns, and grunt work — all in service of building a creative life. Along the way, he worked for acclaimed publications including Condé Nast Traveler, House & Garden, Domino, and Martha Stewart Living (planting 10,000 daffodil bulbs alongside Martha!), and spent many years as editor-in-chief of Better Homes & Gardens.
He's authored four books, his latest The Gardener’s Mindset: Connecting with Nature Through Plants published in 2026, is a collection of essays in which he considers the important role of nature, plants and gardens in our lives.
And his three favorite gardens in the United States? You’ll have to listen to find out.
  

This episode is supported by Aura House, cold-air diffused home fragrances.  Visit them and use creative10 for 10% off your purchase.
For more on Stephen please visit:
www.alifecreativepod.com
alifecreative.Substack.com
@alifecreative on Instagram
alifecreative on YouTube

How does an art history major and auto-didact maker become one of the country’s most sought-after “celebration experts” — and one of Martha Stewart’s creative right hands for more than 25 years?
Darcy Miller joins us to tell the story. From her very first job — hired by legendary creative director Gael Towey in the scrappy, pre-magazine, roll-up-your-sleeves days at Martha Stewart — to becoming Editorial Director of Martha Stewart Weddings, Darcy spent decades crafting the beautiful stories you’ve seen on the magazine’s pages, working alongside the photographers, art directors, and prop stylists host Melañio Gomez knows firsthand.
Then she struck out on her own. Her brand, Darcy Miller Designs, helps people turn even the smallest occasions into something unforgettable — and her book, Celebrate Everything, illustrated entirely by her own hand and filled with mementos straight from the heart, shows exactly how.
Her philosophy? Almost anything can be a moment worth remembering.

This episode is supported by Aura House, cold-air diffused home fragrances.  Visit them and use creative10 for 10% off your purchase.
For more on Darcy please visit:
www.alifecreativepod.com
alifecreative.Substack.com
@alifecreative on Instagram
alifecreative on YouTube

Liz Callaway is an Emmy Award winning, Grammy and Tony nominated singer and actress with a long resume in performing arts. Her Broadway debut happened in her early 20's with the first run of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along.  She went on to perform in Cats, Baby, and Miss Saigon on Broadway and has recorded (and self-produced!) numerous albums in various music genres.  She has a longtime friendship with composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippen, Godspell among many others) and her latest album is a tribute to his work:  The Wizard and I: Liz Callaway Sings Stephen Schwartz.
Liz is also known for her performances as the singing voice behind a number of animated feature film characters, mostly famously as Anastasia singing the Oscar nominated song Journey to the Past.  She also performs with her sister Ann Hampton Callaway and shares some hilarious stories from their time as twenty-somethings getting their start in New York City.
A Life Creative's show producer, Chris Kangas met Liz while seated next to her on a flight to San Francisco and she graciously agreed to come on the show and share her wonderful story.
This episode is supported by Aura House, cold-air diffused home fragrances.  Visit them and use creative10 for 10% off your purchase.
For more on Liz please visit:
www.alifecreativepod.com
alifecreative.Substack.com
@alifecreative on Instagram
alifecreative on YouTube

Prop stylist, gardener, ceramicist, textile designer — these are just some of the many hats Martin Bourne wears in his creative life. In this episode he shares the story of his upbringing in bucolic Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom, how he complemented a natural talent for design with various academic pursuits, and how he stumbled into his first styling jobs — not yet knowing that "prop stylist" was even a career.
Before leaving the UK for New York City, Martin worked for Elle Decor and was recruited to produce interior design stories for Tyler Brûlé's influential new magazine Wallpaper*. A friend in New York eventually convinced him to visit, and he soon found himself picking up freelance styling work. He's been in the U.S. for more than 20 years now, with a home in upstate New York where he pursues his other great passion: gardening.
During the COVID era, the pressure to reinvent was felt across the creative community — how to keep making work under the constraints of home confinement became the central challenge. For Martin, this led to a collaboration with photographer (and upstate neighbor) Patricia Heal.  Together they experimented with creating still life images, even producing stories shot inside a chicken coop. That inventive spirit carried forward into something unexpected: the backdrops and vessels he created have since evolved into textile and ceramic product lines.
It's a life lived in perpetual creative motion — experimenting, collaborating, and making beautiful things almost as a byproduct of simply following curiosity wherever it leads. 
This episode is supported by Aura House, cold-air diffused home fragrances.  Visit them and use creative10 for 10% off your purchase.
For more on Martin please visit:
www.alifecreativepod.com
alifecreative.Substack.com
@alifecreative on Instagram
alifecreative on YouTube

In the small world of the New York City creator community show host Melanio Gomez worked at Martha Stewart Living with the sister-in-law of this week’s guest, Allison Williams.
Allison is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) who went on to build successful creative businesses.  Initially she worked for several years as a graphic designer for Carbone Smolan design firm.  She left to do freelance design work landing clients like Takashimaya under the corporate name ‘Design MW’ which she co-founded with her former husband JP Williams.
Eventually, she and JP co-founded WMS&Co. an online retailer of artfully curated home office products.  She recounts how it all started, the lessons she learned along the way, and how she manages art and commerce successfully.
This episode is supported by Aura House, cold-air diffused home fragrances.  Visit them and use creative10 for 10% off your purchase.
For more on Allison please visit:
www.alifecreativepod.com
alifecreative.Substack.com
@alifecreative on Instagram
alifecreative on YouTube