"Change doesn't have to be a big, scary thing." (Catharine Pitt bonus episode)

0:01Radim Malinic:Hey, welcome to another bonus episode of the Daring Creativity Podcast. I am back again to unpack some of the gems from this week's conversation and looking for those moments that deserve a second look. I'm looking for the reasons what makes them special. This week I spoke to Catharine Pitt, co-founder of the Brighton-based animation duo Formplay, who transformed from burnt-out studio owners to building one of the most distinctively playful animation practices in the UK. Her journey spans a career in the music industry, through a studio that had everything and felt like nothing, to retraining in her mid-40s alongside her partner Mark, gradually, intentionally and without burning the whole thing down overnight.

0:41Radim Malinic:This episode published a few days ago was titled Dare to Start Again, and I thought it was the perfect title for conversation which was full of eloquent elegance that will stay with you for a while. If you haven't checked out a full episode yet, let me share with you these four standout moments from our conversation. we burnt out we were trying to do everything we were very small we employed a few people but ultimately we didn't really love what we were doing and I think having come from a background especially in childhood that was very much rooted in play and exploration and just really loving that whole creative process we found ourselves in our mid-40s at that crossroads thinking well we do not want to do this anymore are we too late to retrain are we too late to start again and really asking is there a good time to do it well it was the only time to do it we it had no choice it was something we had to do it was that itch we had to scratch so that's really been the foundation of really all of our work of how we take on clients now it has to be work that fuels our creative energy and not depletes it and i think because we've had that experience in the past we're very strict we're a bit bullish about that now i mean i had goosebumps when she told me this story because it resembles my own and i felt seen and i felt someone actually shared with me something that i've gone through almost quietly and personally because in their case katherine and Mark had everything most creators chased.

2:25Radim Malinic:Established studios, steady clients, financial security. But guess what? They were miserable. And what they did, they stayed true to who they wanted to be. Catherine shared with me that they spent two years of retraining. They actually really phased out the work that they didn't want to do and started doing the work that it was making them feel alive and there's this thing that we're trying to understand as humans especially creative humans because you can be going after exactly what you want you can have your beautiful list of clients work money exposure and when you get all of that you realize what did not do it for because you don't always think about what happens next because in our creative careers we are never finished and somehow that also applies to our chasing of happiness or success because we don't always know what that is and what it should be for us when Catherine said is it a good time to do this well when she said they had no choice I just love that honesty because it's rare.

3:39Radim Malinic:Most people would wait for permission or perfect timing, but Catherine flipped the script here. Sometimes the scariest thing isn't starting over, it's staying stuck. And this would resonate deeply with anyone in their 40s or beyond who's wondering, is it too late? Is it too late to change? And the spoiler is, it's not. Yeah, I think basically, I think it's just, like I said before, It's become a default in our industry that IP is assigned quite often. I think to me, studios and freelancers give away that IP without really questioning it. And it's not a law. It's just become a default. It's become a sort of bad habit of our industry, I think.

4:24So, I mean, from us, we've learned from bitter experience. We started out, we had a, in our first studio, we were commissioned to do, or Mark was commissioned to do, a gazillion illustrations for publications. And we signed it all away. We were happy to do it. We were very new. We signed all the copyrights. And I cannot tell you the number of times that we've seen these illustrations in different iterations of these publications. and the value that we provided far outweighs the amount that we were paid for them. And that's not a fair transaction, but we were naive. And I don't blame the commissioner.

5:06We should have made it our business to understand copyright. And it's a really dry subject, but I think we just really believe how it's a game changer for people because it allows longer term relationships.

5:21Radim Malinic:And I felt this moment is one of the sharpest business insights in our conversation. Catherine's got background in music. Mark, her partner, worked in illustration. And these are both industries where you protect your copyright and license your work. This moment matters because it exposes how entire industries can sleepwalk into unfair norms. By separating creation fees from usage fees, form play builds recurring income, longer client relationships and sustainable value. It's not radical. It's basic creative economics borrowed from other fields. And the real kicker? Most creatives have never questions why they sign everything away.

6:06Radim Malinic:But Catherine did. And it changed her entire business model. Yeah, no, I think it's so interesting because I think one of the biggest myths is that change has to be this big thing but it doesn't I mean you know change can be tiny little incremental steps that you take it doesn't have to be a big scary thing it can be little joyful moments things that actually if you've had a really shitty day you do something really small that's completely different and it just reframes your day it reframes your ambition in that moment it's a refit and i think just making a habit of challenging yourself in these very small ways over time small habits become big habits they stick but i think certainly as creative professionals you know it's very easy to get sort of caged in your reputation isn't it if this is not the antidote to paralysis then i don't know what is because we feel that the change can feel like a wholesale thing.

7:13Radim Malinic:You can hear people saying, hey, I need to reinvent myself. But it only frees, because it sounds like a burning, everything done overnight. Catherine reframed this beautifully. Change is incremental, playful and compounding. Her and Mark didn't quit their studio on Monday, a launch form play on Tuesday. They spent two years experimenting in the evenings, phasing out old clients, testing new work on Instagram. The tiny joyful moment, framing is key it makes change feel accessible and not apocalyptic this matters for anyone stuck in the creative rat or career dissatisfaction you don't need a dramatic exit you just need small consistent steps towards something that feels right permission granted and as you know daring creativity is show about doing the one thing you would otherwise regret never starting and if there's someone who backs up this claim and I hope that all of my guests especially this one from Catherine is exactly the reason why the show exists So it's just finding your own pathway really isn't it but for us it was in that kind of just many iterations just trying different things and not worrying too much about them just putting them out there and seeing what the next one is seeing what's around the next corner there's a great quote actually from a poet called Darby Hudson which let's see if I can find it I absolutely love it it's worry is creativity's idiot twin they both make shit up for nothing and I think that is such a perfect quote because it's so true we can spend so long worrying about what we do that actually it stifles creativity and I think actually just keep moving keep making keep that optimism, that fire in your belly is so important.

9:05Yeah.

9:07Radim Malinic:Catherine closes the conversation with Darby Hudson, quote, and it's absolute mic drop. The metaphor is perfect because worry and creativity both involve imagining things that don't exist yet. But one paralyzes you and one liberates you. This moment matters because it name is the thing that stops most creative work from happening. Overthinking, second-guessing, catastrophizing, oh I can tell you all about that, and what might go wrong instead of just making the thing. Here Catherine reminds herself and us to keep moving, keep making, keep trusting the process. It's the kind of wisdom that sounds simple, I know, but it lands hard when you need most.

9:48Radim Malinic:Optimism isn't naive, it's the fuel that keeps creative momentum alive.

9:57Radim Malinic:Thank you for joining me on this bonus episode of the Daring Creativity Podcast. If you haven't checked out the full interview, I encourage you to do so. Thank you for being here and I'll see you on the next one. If you enjoyed this episode and would like more accessible resources to help you discover your daring creativity, you can pick up one of my books on themes of mindful creativity, creative business, branding, and graphic design. Every physical book purchase comes with a free digital bundle, including an ebook and audiobook to make the content accessible wherever you are and whatever you do.

10:31Radim Malinic:To get 10 % of your order, visit novemberuniverse.co.uk and use the code podcast. Have a look around and start living daringly. you