045 - Ancestral Gifts, Cooking, Creativity & Healing: A Conversation with Joanna Oyarzabal Méndez

Heal and Grow with Creativity

Heal and Grow with Creativity
045 - Ancestral Gifts, Cooking, Creativity & Healing: A Conversation with Joanna Oyarzabal Méndez
Mar 10, 2026 Episode 45
Renata McElvany

What does it look like to leave everything familiar behind and build a life that actually feels like yours?

In this episode, I'm sitting down with my dear friend Joanna Oyarzabal Méndez — a multi-passionate healer, writer, and creative soul who left her 9-5, moved from California, USA to Oaxaca, Mexico, and began the deeply personal work of unlearning, reconnecting, and coming home to herself.

We talk about following intuition when the path isn't clear, cooking as a love language, why creativity belongs to everyone, using art to process difficult emotions, body liberation, neurodivergence, and what it means to be multi-passionate in life and business.

This is a conversation about trusting what you carry, honoring where you come from, and giving yourself permission to live differently.

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Episode Artwork 045 - Ancestral Gifts, Cooking, Creativity & Healing: A Conversation with Joanna Oyarzabal Méndez 40:34 Episode Artwork 044 - When the Right Decision Feels Like a Mistake: Understanding Your Nervous System's Fear Response 13:04 Episode Artwork 043 - Creating As a Form of Self-Care with Kait Matthews 43:37 Episode Artwork 042 - A Reflection on Friendship and Emotional Labor 7:57 Episode Artwork 041 - Why You Feel Behind Before Your Day Even Begins (Especially Right Now) 6:13 Episode Artwork 040 - Why The Pressure to Make Good Art is Holding You Back 10:46 Episode Artwork 039 - Why Is Art Making Such a Powerful Tool for Self-Discovery? 12:32 Episode Artwork 038 - How Coaching Can Help You Build a Sustainable Creative Practice 12:58 Episode Artwork 037 - When Being Liked Matters More Than Making Art 11:20 Episode Artwork 036 - A Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Creative Practice 13:03 Episode Artwork 035 - What One Year of Podcasting Taught Me About Creativity & Growth 13:35 Episode Artwork 034 - Rest as a Creative Practice: Let Go of Pushing Through 7:02 Episode Artwork 033 - Healing Through Art: How Creativity Helped Me Cope with Uncertainty & Find Hope 10:40 Episode Artwork 032 - Why Learning a New Creative Skill Can Trigger Overwhelm & Self-Doubt 9:29 Episode Artwork 031 - The Power of Small Creative Projects for Self-Discovery 6:51 Episode Artwork 030 - The Power of Letting It Be Messy: Why You Don’t Need to Have It All Figured Out 15:24 Episode Artwork 029 - A Case Study in Being Multi-Passionate: Why I’m Finally Sharing It All 15:09 Episode Artwork 028 - What I Wish I Knew 3 Years Ago About Being Multi-Passionate 26:36 Episode Artwork 027 - Why your joy is not the villain — it’s the key to collective change 14:56 Episode Artwork 026 - Redefining Success in Uncertain Times: A New Path for Neurodivergent & Multi-Passionate Women of Color 10:22 Episode Artwork 025 - Why You Need to Stop Blaming Yourself When You Can’t Do It All 15:58 Episode Artwork 024 - AI Creativity: The Rise and Why Yours Matters 13:34 Episode Artwork 023 - What Does a Typical Creativity Coaching Session Look with Renata 12:20 Episode Artwork 022 - What Creativity Coaching with Renata is Really Like 7:45 Episode Artwork 021 - The Power of Healthy Distractions: Why Self-Preservation Matters in Creativity and Life 12:58