Episode 129: Human Design & Creativity: How Community Unlocks Creative Flow with Ciara Kiyoko
Podcast
Episode 130: Human Design and Creativity: How Support Systems and Community Unlock Creative Flow with Ciara Kiyoko
“We often focus on our goals, but rarely on the support systems that make those goals possible.” —Ciara Kiyoko
This episode is your invitation to explore creativity through support, community, and self-awareness. I’m joined by Ciara Kiyoko, Human Design guide, community builder, and founder of Kiyoko Verde. She works with entrepreneurs to help them understand their natural way of creating and build businesses that feel aligned and supportive.
Ciara shares how her work blends Human Design and subconscious practices to help people move out of pressure and into creative flow. What began as her own journey out of the corporate world became a deeper exploration of what it actually means to feel supported while building something of your own.
We talk about the role of community in creativity and how entrepreneurship can often feel like an echo chamber. Ciara shares how creating intentional spaces for connection, like her business circles, can shift not only how we create, but how we see what’s possible.
We also explore creative blocks through the lens of Human Design, and how environment, energy, and support systems all play a role in unlocking ideas. From working in a café to traveling to new places, sometimes the shift is in changing the conditions around you.
Whether you’re building a business, navigating a creative block, or simply looking for a more supportive way to create, this episode is a reminder that creativity doesn’t happen in isolation (as much as we think it does). It’s shaped by the systems, spaces, and community that holds you.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or on your favorite podcast platform while you cook, clean, or create. Get the full show notes & transcript below.
Questions to Reflect On:
Sit with these questions: Journal, take them on a walk, create a voice note, chat with a friend, or sit with a cup of tea and reflect on them.
Leave a comment on Substack or connect with us on Instagram @chefcarlacontreras & @kiykoverde to share your takeaway from the episode.
Where in my life or work am I trying to do everything on my own?
What types of support do I currently have, and where might I need more?
Who or what helps expand my thinking and ideas?
Is there a community space that I would like to be part of or join?
Is there a friend, mentor, or family member that could support me and my creative process in flourishing?
xo Carla
PS: Substack curious? Listen to the podcast episode about building your new digital home on Substack here.
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Ciara Kiyoko
Ciara is an Aquarius and a Projector. An Intrapreneur turned Entrepreneur. The founder of Kiyoko Verde. She collects stories and builds communities.
She is the host of the Business Circle, an intimate, online membership for entrepreneurs to build together using their Human Design.
Ciara is also 1-1 mentor for founders. She is a partner to work through business strategy, experiment with your Human Design or unblock any limiting subconscious beliefs.
Ciara is based in Vancouver but spends half of each year travelling. Paris for shopping, Mexico for sun, Lisbon for community are some of her favourites.
All her work centres on you living well, wherever you are.
Find + Work With Ciara Kiyoko
Carla (00:01):
Welcome to Nourishing Creativity. The cycle of the last few years has left you and me feeling mentally, physically, emotionally and creatively drained. Nourish your very full life through interviews with creatives and entrepreneurs about how they create and move through their creative blocks. If you don't know me, I'm Chef Carla Contreras, a food stylist and content strategist. You can find me Chef Carla Contreras across all social media platforms and more information in today's show notes. Sierra, welcome to the podcast. Can you introduce who you are and how you serve your community?
Ciara (00:46):
Thank you for having me, Carla. So I'm Ciara Kiyoko. I am based usually in Vancouver in Canada and I work with entrepreneurs. I use human design and also some different subconscious work as well. It's very much a passion from my own heart like Kyoko Verde was really created with the idea of living well and also having your business be a big part of that enjoyment. And so that's why I use different systems like human design that kind of helps you understand your own way of doing it, a way that makes sense for you. As well as a big part of that for me or I came from the corporate world, so a big part that I kind of missed and was kind of surprised because I didn't think I would miss anything from corporate, but was kind of being part of a team and working together.
(01:37)
So that's why I also do have always community programs and different community offerings to bring people together because anyone who's even thought of being an entrepreneur or actually has done it, it can be such an echo chamber of your own ideas. And so that's why it's a big part for me to bring people together. A lot of times women as well specifically and just connect us all and make us feel like we're part of a team, even though we're all doing our own thing.
Carla (02:08):
And I've been part of one of your business circles and I have connected and made friends. You hold such a beautiful space for people to connect beyond the circle.
Ciara (02:21):
Thank you. And as we were saying before, I've just been finding out recently more and more how much people have been connecting from those. And it's really meant a lot for me. I was seeing sometimes on Instagram, different people hearting or commenting. I'm like, "How do they know each other?" And then realized I connected there, but to hear about the bigger collaborations as well, I don't know, it makes me really happy. Once upon a time I used to be in partnership, so kind of creating new partnerships between all of us and what we're creating, it makes me really happy.
Carla (02:53):
What was the last experience that sparked creativity for you?
Ciara (02:57):
This is the first time I guess kind of publicly sharing it, but I'm very excited. I'm launching a podcast as well. It's going to be called Gate 13. And I actually was in a beautiful community. I was in a year ago and I was, I mean, if we are talking a lot about being projectors as part of human design and being seen and recognized. And I was hearing a lot about kind of even my voice and the way I was sharing things and was just getting a lot of encouragement from this really beautiful group of women that I was in to do more with that. I don't know, that kind of pulled together with this idea. I just always really like collecting stories. Whenever I share a company or organization, I always share the backstory behind it. My friends always make fun of that. And so what I really wanted to do with Gate 13 is just share a lot of the stories of a lot of the women and men that I've encountered and kind of their life path.
(03:55)
I just meet so many interesting people. And I think I was saying even when I was doing market research to start Kyoko Verde, there were so many stories where I'm like, "I just want people to hear this about this farmer or this turf shop owner or just what people have built, what they've lived through." And I think that's actually another beautiful part that's come out of the community and I hope will come out of the podcast too, is people can find resonance in someone that came from the same heritage as them or had worked the same corporate job, whatever piece it was, it has the same astrological sign and it just helps them kind of be like, "Ooh, that could be possible for me too." And so that's what I'm really excited about with the stories. It's just another way to connect with people that maybe aren't in the coaching or aren't in the community, but can be part of a greater community and just, I don't know, give voice, have an archive of all these amazing things that people are doing.
Carla (04:49):
How do you define creativity when it comes to your work?
Ciara (04:53):
For me, it feels creativity has this extra personal level to it. I really see it as this process of taking what's internal, what's inside of us or this most, kind of taking something from our internal world and having it expressed or existing externally so that others can experience it. And for me, a big part of that too is really like the state that I'm in to create. So ensuring that I'm feeling safe or comfortable. And I think this has really come up for me in entrepreneurship because a lot of times I was creating from more like a pressure or like an external process. And it wasn't just this natural flow. It was more following a bit of a formula. And now fully working for myself, it's really been this expression of things that I know I can just really understand everything I've ever heard like artists or writers or things share about because it's so personal and it comes from you and it's so much more vulnerable.
(05:51)
And it's just this, I don't know, this layer where it goes from inside you, like a part of yourself and to being something that others can experience, can read, can hear, can look at or connect with in some way.
Carla (06:05):
What's your current relationship with creativity?
Ciara (06:08):
I feel like this last year and a half especially, as I was just explaining, it's kind of like a new relationship. There's a lot of excitement and moments and I have been doing a lot of things that we'll probably get into that really do inspire me like travel, like being in Paris and booking that last minute and just walking around in the streets, even how I will physically ... The clothes I choose to wear or how I dress. I just think we all know Paris is amazing for that. But I think that it's such an interesting way to get to, I don't know, express ourselves in a way that really represents ourself. And I have an interesting relationship with friends too. I went on an exchange for a year when I was 21, so a while ago, but it always has this place in me where I remember where I was at that time and where I am now and kind of the evolutions that have come in between.
(07:00)
So yeah, I'd say it's just like these moments, like being here in Paris, it's very much, it has those giddiness, the fun parts of being in a new relationship. But then also, I don't know, there's still some of that nervous like, "Oh, what's happening? Oh, this is new." And I think that tension is kind of what gets great creations. It's kind of a part of it is what makes the beginning of a relationship so fun too, but we're newly dating, newly courting again in this iteration is where we're at.
Carla (07:29):
Can you tell us about your creative process? And the way that I like to phrase this is, how do you nourish your creativity? We were in a circle together when you were sharing your systems of support. I would love to know around that and how does that influence your creative process?
Ciara (07:50):
I think just to even backtrack why I think all the systems of support are so important is because as my view of creativity, this like inside, like this deep personal internal world that's getting expressed, I think it's so important that we feel safe and nourished and are in a place to do so because one thing the human brain is always looking for control or things that make sense. And so when we're doing something that's so open, so vast, so intuitive, it's just really important that we feel supported to do so. And I think there's just so many more layers to support that maybe we think of. And that's kind of what I covered a little bit in the workshop that you attended and that I was saying, I've hosted it quite a few times because I think it's so important as we were saying before, in the times that we're in now and in any time when we're an entrepreneur or even just anyone existing, there's so many, like to do anything we need to do, there's so many different layers of support to consider.
(08:51)
And so there is the one I always mention that people think of a lot is like emotional, physical support, like our therapists, our journals, our meditation, but I think there's a lot of other layers that we can look at, especially as entrepreneurs. There can be education, which we might like over or under index. Some people, myself included, have done a lot of education and less execution, but it's still, are we learning new things if we've been heavy in execution? And then I think another one that weird is speaking of for my own experience is like inspiration. Is that travel? Is that different hobbies? Is that even inspiring yourself of how much you've done or how much you've grown? Even when I was looking at coming back to a city after a long time, or if you actually look at where you were last January and can realize how ... We have a cognitive bias towards where we are right now and we don't realize how much we've done in between.
(09:42)
So I'd say inspiration. And then I think there's a couple different community as well. There's your actual community, like maybe local or online. If you're meeting up with people, there can be maybe more of like a mastermind or like a mentor or coach, like people that you can kind of talk things through with. And then also, I think there can be a lot of support, especially in having your business support you in terms of your network. Are there referrals? Are there complimentary businesses? Are there opportunities where you can cross promote or partner? That's great to hear that you had some cross promotion come out of the workshop even, but those kind of things I think make such a difference and they support us in different areas. And what's interesting when I do that workshop is sometimes people notice, they're like, "Oh, I have the same person or system or something in a whole bunch of different categories." I'm really leaning on it.
(10:36)
Or they might realize that there's some areas where they don't have any support or sometimes they just leave it and they're like, "Wow, I am a lot more supported than I thought. And I just feel good about that and I'm inspiring myself a little bit." So I don't know. I think it's an interesting topic to reflect on. And I think we always focus on goals, but looking at how supportive we are to achieve those goals is probably like what I say in that workshop, one of the secrets when you're like, "How are they doing it? " And I'm not, they're probably supporting themselves in a lot of different ways.
Carla (11:09):
And with that, did you find any category that is more or less important to people when going through this, especially feedback after the workshop?
Ciara (11:21):
It kind of depends on the group because I always find there's a theme in the group, to be honest. There have been times, like the education one I brought up where people will say, "Wow, I have a lot in this category," especially because I include systems in there, like human design or astrology or other business courses. So I think that one comes up a lot. Sometimes it also comes up where people realize their network or mastermind group, they're like, "Wow, I'm really supportive with friends and inspiration and people. " But that's part of the reason why I created the business circle too, is to have people that you're like, "Okay, I want to share the new website piece that I made." And maybe my friends are like, yeah, they're like, "Oh, that's cool. I'm proud of you. " But they don't really want to get into it or talk about exactly which, I don't know, platform you chose to use or the struggles that you had.
(12:11)
And so I think that that's another one that does commonly come up where people realize that they'd like to be a little more supported or be around other entrepreneurs. And yeah, I think those are some of the main ones that come up.
Carla (12:24):
Can you tell us about creative blocks through the lens of the modalities that you work with?
Ciara (12:31):
Definitely. There's two levels. I know we definitely want to chat about human design, but the first one that comes up too that I don't chat about as much. I use it a lot myself as I do some subconscious work. I'm trained in psyche, psychologicalesiology, and I use it a lot with myself. But that can be interesting because for me, a lot of times, like I said, when I had more of the control structure from the corporate career, a lot of times it can be just a certain level of fear or there's some kind of limiting belief under there. And that's why I found it so useful to kind of do, they're called like balances where you're just able to balance disbelief and kind of have a different operating system. It just gives you the potential to shift the behavior. So that's been very powerful for me and I'm doing a lot of new things.
(13:17)
And if we pull human design in as well, I have a undefined crown and ajna, like the top of my head. So my ideas and my inspiration or just absorbing things all the time. So I think it can make a big difference to be in different environments and be around other people. I could hear something in a podcast. I could see something walking around the streets in Paris and it can just ping something for me if I'm just in my own space, in like my own energy, it can be a little more the echo chamber word I used before. I mean, there's a lot of areas of human design I also have if people are into this, a split definition. So that can make it helpful to be around other people, not even talking to them, just be in a coffee shop or be in a space and kind of be able to bounce off that energy and just kind of have things click for me.
(14:10)
So I think even just talking about human design, being aware of some of those things, not using them. I know there can be tendencies where we learn something and we'll use it as a crutch, but using it as something to be aware of. And then as I really like teachers that are like a little more practical about it, like what is a tool? I could go shift my environment. And yes, that's like a common tip, but then it's trying it out and being like, wow, that does really work for me. That completely will change. Sometimes I can be really wildly productive in a coffee shop or like after a trip or like during one, I'll have different ideas and I've really seen that help rather than like probably would have been like the old mentality of like you just like sit down or like you have to be in the office and you have to push it through and make it happen.
(14:55)
And even if it's me staying there alone late, it might not necessarily have ever made a difference. And so having something to play with and then see it work, that really makes a difference for me in creative blocks especially.
Carla (15:08):
And we literally have this in action. You bubble wrapped your microphone to create your podcast while you're traveling.
Ciara (15:16):
Yeah, exactly. It's funny because I was making a tradition with a friend. I was in Paris last year when I launched the Business Circle and then this is like the starting of a new tradition of being here again. And so yeah, I did. I just knew I might, but I wanted to test it, getting on the road for the podcast and I did bring it here because I knew that I wanted to have it in case I wanted to shift anything and the opening trailer and just kind of know myself and learnt at this point that like having the option of inspiration strikes is good. I'm not going to regret it, basically.
Carla (15:52):
Sierra, how can we find you? How can we work with you? How can we support you?
Ciara (15:56):
Oh, thank you so much. You can find me. I'm most active on Instagram. So it's KyokoVirde, K-I-Y-O-K-O, and like Verde like Green, V-E-R-D-E. And through there, I do have a newsletter as well just to kind of connect people. Sometimes I do in person, like in Vancouver or when I'm traveling around events either about human design or like sometimes I'll host entrepreneur communities like business circle versions. And then I do also have like the community workshop. I won't be doing that monthly anymore. That was a fun year of monthly, but seasonally a couple times a year. I definitely have an opportunity if you wanted to look at those support categories we talked about more and also just connect with people. I know a lot of people have told me they've been having some great connections from those calls. They're pretty intimate and everyone's able to speak.
(16:48)
And I like to have smaller spaces that we can all kind of like share and connect with each other rather than me just speak at you, even though I love those two for other times when I'm learning things. But for me, the community sharing is really important.
Carla (17:04):
Thanks so much for tuning in to Nourishing Creativity. You can find me chef Carla Contreras across all social media platforms and more information in today's show notes. While you have your phone out, please leave a review on iTunes or Spotify. This is how others find this show. I really appreciate your support, sending you and yours so much love.