New futures require new kinds of leadership. Creative Catalyst is a leadership program for those looking to develop emotional, social and relational intelligence to grow teams that build these new futures.

Creative Catalyst leadership program

The future will be shaped by compassionate leaders like you who choose a more humane way of rallying your people.

Creative Catalyst is a 6-month leadership program for leaders, change-makers and rule-breakers who are challenging the status quo, feeling lonely and looking for a collective to travel this change journey with.

If you are experiencing any of these, this program is for you:

  • Unclear direction
    Especially through the challenge of reshaping teams due to AI, you may not know where your true north is, and you’re not making the trade-offs necessary to actually move forward.

  • Crippling doubt and confusion
    You doubt yourself and your inner guidance and are often overwhelmed by negative self-talk and a busy mind. Often, it’s not just you, but the team as well. You might be confused, circling decisions and never quite committing to any of them.

  • Fear of confrontation
    You get uncentered when you need to have difficult conversations, give constructive feedback or set boundaries and expectations. The team centre doesn’t hold, so you collectively avoid challenging topics - and stay stuck at a plateau.

  • Scattered team
    You have great people in your team, but you’re not pulling in the same direction or sharing the vision. You experience tension between different perspectives and struggle to catalyse the differences into creative ideas and new approaches.

  • Feeling sandwiched
    You feel the weight of the conflicting needs of your team and the leadership above you, trying to navigate opposing agendas and needs of your team, your superiors and clients, trying to keep everyone happy and sacrificing quality in the process.

You are in the messy middle of driving collective change, and this is where I meet you.

Somewhere between

not anymore

and

not yet.

Change starts within you before it ripples out into the world.

The change we work with:

  • Find your true north and a clear sense of direction, theñ translate them into next steps for your team.

  • Define your own leadership style from a place of self-awareness, self-acceptance and a deep connection to your intuition.

  • Develop your capacity to lead through learning by doing and staying in discomfort without losing your footing.

  • Reclaim your creative confidence and self-belief to catalyse change and amplify your impact.

  • Build up your leadership momentum and bring it forward in your team.

  • Craft your leadership vision, unite your team, and get them ready to rumble with change.

  • Bring effective, tried-and-tested tools from creative leadership, leadership coaching and systems coaching for your team.

I grew up in the forest. I loved climbing trees - and mountains. I still do. It's where I feel most at peace.

I am Slovenian and carry our folklore and Slavic myths with me. I have moved countries three times, become a mother twice, and crossed more thresholds than I can count - personal, professional, ancestral.

Twenty years in design and innovation - as a doer, leader and design educator - across industries, companies and cultures - I’ve worked on hundreds of projects, large and small. I’ve been pathfinding through technological and relational shifts - the kinds that challenge what you think you know. This is the experience I bring into the work: bridging the abstraction of a vision and specific details down to a pixel - and everything in between. I know what work looks like at different heights.

I feel most alive in some of the most intense moments of the process. Moments where the collective field needs the most holding to stay with the trouble - just before turning it into something wildly creative and unconventional.

I hold the fire steady as we venture into the unknown. Together we shape the space between not anymore and not yet into now.

Learn more about me —>

I’m Martina

Lead with intuition

You might have previously encountered more traditional leadership programs that fell short of supporting your individual journey. Maybe they were too cookie-cutter-like and expected you to cram your authenticity into neatly predefined forms. Maybe they exclusively covered the “mind” aspect of leadership, over-relying on developing mental capacity and completely forgetting that we are embodied beings with emotional, physical and spiritual needs. And, maybe they entirely neglected the special dynamics present in creative leadership.


Or perhaps you have not yet had the opportunity to attend leadership training at all because you’re somehow expected to “hit the ground running” with minimum support and figure things out as you go.

I am glad you are here because Creative Catalyst is much more. It’s a wholesome experience:

  • Heart and confidence expanding

  • Practical and hands-on

  • Deep and grounded

  • Playful, creative and energising

  • Empowering and motivating

  • Movement and action-inspiring
    (sparking a fire of action in you)

What happens in the program

Over the course of 6 months, we will focus on developing your creative leadership skills.
Nothing is prescribed or set out in stone.
You dictate your path and gain the tools to help you walk it.
Together, we focus on the following: 

Emotional intelligence
Create a leadership style that directly reflects your inner dynamics and mindset so you can lead authentically.

Social intelligence
Learn how to navigate typically difficult situations such as conflict and feedback with ease.

Relationship Systems Intelligence
Discover the patterns and dynamics within your team and harness them to boost impact.

Together, we support and hold each other accountable:

  • A fortnightly 2-hour live session, sharing and growing with like-minded creative leaders and change-makers

  • Recordings of all live sessions for you to keep

  • A monthly group coaching call where you can bring your questions, share perspectives with other participants and get coached

  • The best-proven strategies, tangible tools and templates for change-making and leading you can apply immediately in all areas of your life, including your work

  • A closed online community space for conversations and support in between group sessions

  • A BIPOC, LGBTQA+ and people with disabilities-inclusive space, where all parts of you are welcome, included and supported. (Please get in touch with me directly if you have special needs to ensure you are well supported throughout the process). For more information on how I hold this space, please read the Relational Agreement and Harm and Repair Process.

  • A list of materials and progressive resources for further reading.

Full program overview

  • Develop your leadership intentionally by understanding your values, inner dynamics and mindset.

    • Get oriented on the journey and to each other

    • Create a relationship agreement

    • Principles of living systems

    • Increase your self-awareness as a leader and identify your leadership style and strengths

    • Identify your personal values and use them as a foundation to lead from

    • Uncover inner voices, beliefs and their impact on your leadership

    • Work with your emotions and energy

    • Get clear on the core narrative about yourself

    • Re-author your narrative for the future you want

  • Navigate interpersonal situations effectively and build positive relationships in every context.

    • Use active listening to create strong and authentic connections

    • Learn presenting techniques for grounding yourself before meeting others

    • Learn about the coaching mindset and approach in leadership

    • Use powerful coaching questions to work through tension and move decisions along in an empowering way

    • Identify your conflict resolution style and what is holding you back from being effective in difficult situations

    • Learn to uncover different perspectives and create the best way forward by shifting the way you view conflict

    • Uncover toxic patterns and behaviours in your team and learn how they are preventing you from being effective

    • Practice impactful tools for giving and receiving feedback that are considerate of people from diverse backgrounds

  • Facilitate co-creation by uncovering systemic patterns and dynamics in your team and organisation.

    • Understand the power of collective storytelling

    • Rewrite your team’s story for change

    • Create a strong cultural agreement with your team based on your purpose and values

    • Identify behaviours to support your team culture

    • Learn to facilitate creative friction and tap into the diversity of voices in your team

    • Understand psychological safety and how to work with it in your team

    • Work with imagining a future for your team and bridge to inspired action

    • Understand resistance to change and how to help your team and organisation to engage in the change process in a meaningful way

A new possible

The change you can expect is to lead in your own way and gather your team towards an imagined future.

Strategic mindset
Set healthy expectations, clear boundaries, and carve out time and space for yourself and your team to make long-term, strategic decisions.

Self-confidence
Trust your intuition, recover from negative self-talk faster, stand grounded in times of change and guide your team with clarity and compassion.

Honest conversations
Bring your authentic self to your relationships, listen with empathy and give effective feedback that fosters trust, helps your people grow and delivers quality work.

Grow team culture
Co-create a clear sense of identity and direction with your team and engage them in imagining a shared future. Co-create relational agreements and rituals to keep you aligned during times of change.

Strong relationships
Lead the way through organisational change through facilitation and strong relationships. Bring your learnings forward into your organisational ecosystem.

Testimonials

  • "Say goodbye to old school leadership. The new leadership, and catalyst for change is empathetic, authentic, reflective and aware."

    I often looked to people around me for inspiration in leadership, but never felt like I could find my own groove. This course has changed that. It has made me reflect on my whole self, to investigate my motivation and boundaries and actualise my unique perspective and style of guiding teams and influencing change around me.

    — Carli Hyland, Partner at Lazy Sundays

  • "Working through the exercises and tools, I feel so much stronger and confident to bring my full self and all my parts, embracing them as equally beneficial and valuable."

    Through the course, I realised just how much of who we are in all our different roles and contexts are parts of ourselves. Maybe it's an intruder complex, but I feel like I've struggled to bring my full self to the table in work and social contexts.

    — Senior product leader

  • "Having a safe space to share good and bad experienced to learn with and from was great."

    Nicely structured with starting with oneself and then expanding to others, teams, orgs.

    On a personal note, it was great with some forced reflection time, and the program touched on a lot of unresolved issues at work, and I got a lot of good feedback from both you and the rest of the group.

    — Senior team leader

  • "This program spans way wider than just making us better creative leaders. It impacts our way of being as friends, partners, parents, humans."

    The ability to learn from ourselves, accept who we are with kindness, and use that as a point of strength, not a weakness to hide and feel defensive about.

    Opportunity to learn from each other, especially voices that differ from ours.

    — Senior team leader

  • "I joined Martina’s Creative Catalyst leadership programme last year, and it’s been absolutely brilliant for both my professional and personal growth. I’ve learned so much about myself in that time, but most importantly, I’ve gained huge confidence in my leadership abilities."

    Martina creates such a supportive and inspiring space, making the whole experience not just valuable but also really enjoyable. Her approach helps you dig deep, challenge yourself, and come away feeling empowered.

    I can’t recommend the Creative Catalyst programme enough to anyone looking to grow, gain confidence, and develop as a leader ❤️.

    — Laureece Nuttall, Project Manager, Form

Who this program is for

  • You’re a change-maker who leads teams on projects or has direct people responsibility - you could be from design, tech, product or creative, but it’s NOT a requirement.

  • You’re a first-time leader and want to uncover your leadership style, build your team and create a structure to support your leadership.

  • You’re ready to dive deeper into your leadership development to lead yourself and your team effectively.

  • You want to build change-ready, creative and resilient cultures (with increased performance as a side effect).

  • You want to increase self-belief and creative confidence to lead with more impact.

  • You’re willing to do deep work and share openly with others in a safe group.

  • You believe in prototyping and experimentation as a way to deepen your learning and co-create solutions.

  • You believe in a holistic approach and interconnectedness of mind-heart-body-spirit and feel comfortable with visualisations and body presencing.

A new possible

Prices and Payment Details

The price will be announced as the doors open. The price includes a comprehensive program version with recordings of all live calls.

Participants will receive course materials and have access to mentorship in the fortnightly calls and feedback in the monthly group coaching session.

The package includes Miro board templates and content slides to keep

Payment must be made in full at the time of enrollment
(if on a payment plan, the first instalment needs to be paid to secure a spot)

Payment Plans

Pay through invoice - as a private person or as a company - get in touch to arrange the details.

I offer a payment option of four equal instalments.

Scholarships

I am committed to running an equitable business, so if you belong to a marginalised community and can’t afford the full price, please get in touch to arrange the details.

Individual Session Bonus

As a bonus for students, I offer a personalised individual session to explore the participant’s specific challenges, goals, and aspirations.

Your questions answered

  • This course is in English and is fully virtual.

    Platforms: we will use Zoom, Miro and a community platform (still being decided) - please ensure you have access to these tools before joining.

    Requirements: the success of this course is based on your preparation and live calls. Every other week, participants will join the weekly live call to work through the week’s topic and get an assignment to complete in the next two weeks.

    Seats: your place is secured on a first-come, first-serve basis. As soon as the payment is made, your seat is booked. Please check the Terms and conditions for details.

    Relationship Agreement: I am committed to providing a space conducive to learning and development. It is not always comfortable, but we have in place a Relational Agreement and Harm and Repair Process.

  • In this program, I don't offer refunds. Let me explain why.

    I firmly believe that when individuals invest in their own personal and professional development, they are more likely to be fully committed and dedicated to the program. By removing the refund option, I aim to encourage participants to have "skin in the game," meaning they have made a conscious decision to invest their time, energy, and resources into their growth.

    I want every participant to approach this program with a mindset of determination and perseverance. I believe that by committing fully to the program, you will be more likely to overcome challenges, engage deeply with the materials, and ultimately experience transformational results.

    If you are uncertain about whether this program is the right fit for you, I encourage you to reach out to me directly. I am here to help and provide any information you may need to make an informed decision. My goal is to ensure that every participant feels confident and excited about their journey with me.

  • If you are unable to make it to a live session in the Creative Catalyst program, don't worry! All calls (except for the breakout sessions) will be recorded. This ensures that you won't miss out on any valuable content or discussions.

    The recordings will be made available to you shortly after each session, allowing you to review the material at your convenience.

    While the recordings offer flexibility, I strongly encourage you to join the live sessions whenever possible. The breakout sessions, in particular, provide a unique opportunity for you to connect, share, and strategize with other leaders in the program. The interactive nature of these sessions adds immense value to your learning experience.

  • I won't promise you safety - because no one honestly can. Safety is embodied and personal. Your body reads situations based on its own accumulated experience, and that's not something I can guarantee.

    What I can tell you is what I bring. I work actively with anti-racism and decolonisation. I'm a white, Eastern European woman working from Slavic indigenous roots. I don't claim neutrality.

    I claim rigour, ongoing unlearning, and a serious commitment to not causing harm.

    If you identify as LGBTQ+, Black, Indigenous, a person of colour, disabled, neurodivergent, or hold any identity that has been systemically marginalised - your experience is not a side note. It's often where the most important information lives.

    I also can't promise no harm. Working at this depth, harm can still happen. What I can promise is that I take it seriously when it does. I have a clear conflict and harm protocol [link] and I work to create conditions where difficulty can be named and addressed.

    If you have access needs or anything that would help you participate more fully, please tell me.

    Whether this space is right for you is yours to assess. Your body will tell you. The initial call is a good place to sense into it.

  • The Creative Catalyst program is designed to be manageable alongside your other commitments - I know you are busy! Here's a breakdown of the time commitment you can expect:

    The live calls require 2 hours per week. These live sessions are where we dive into the material, engage in discussions, and collaborate with other leaders. Attending these sessions will allow you to actively participate, build relationships and gain valuable insights from the group.

    In addition to the live sessions, it is ideal to reserve an additional 1-2 hours per week for reflection and working on your assignments. This time will give you the opportunity to absorb the concepts discussed, apply them to your own context, and complete any assigned tasks or projects. It's important to allocate this time to fully integrate the learnings into your own leadership practice.

    While the total time commitment may vary slightly depending on your personal learning style and engagement level, a general guideline of around 3-4 hours per week should be sufficient to fully participate in and benefit from the program. Most assignments will be directly connected to your everyday leadership tasks, and thereby transferable. In this way, they are more a part of your normal leadership job, rather than a thing to do on the side.

  • Yes, there are assignments, but you are INVITED to do them, not expected. They are designed to enhance your learning and provide practical application of the concepts in your leadership role. You will also be debriefing with the group about what you have learnt by applying the tools and ideas in your everyday life.

    I recommend reserving around 1-2 hours per week for reflection. But this is not school, and there is no “SHOULD”.

    These assignments are practical, tangible and thoughtfully crafted to allow you to absorb the discussed concepts, apply them to your everyday leadership tasks, and integrate them into your leadership practice and ongoing development.

    By incorporating the assignments into your regular workflow, you can apply what you learn and make meaningful progress in your leadership journey.

    This program is also an opportunity to be accountable and supported by the group in completing some challenging things. The assignments are there to provide a structure for you to complete these, not as a scorecard to beat yourself up with.

  • I am available once a week for text messages on the community platform. This means you can reach out to me with any questions, concerns, or requests for clarification, and I will respond promptly to provide the assistance you need.

    I will be keeping an eye on the discussions and interactions taking place, so I can provide guidance and address any issues that may arise. This allows me to ensure a positive and engaging experience for all participants.

    My aim is to foster a collaborative learning environment, and your feedback and questions are always encouraged. I'm here to help you make the most of your journey.

    You get one complimentary one-on-one coaching session. And - you can always purchase additional coaching sessions to support your on your journey - even after the program is complete.

  • Following the program, I will enable the community space for an additional 6 months, allowing participants to stay connected and continue engaging with one another. This extended period will provide an opportunity for further collaboration, sharing of insights, and continued support in your leadership journey.

    During this time, I will be facilitating the community space and evaluating the impact, the effort required to sustain it, and the value you get from it. This will help me determine the future direction and format of the community.

    Your participation and feedback during this period will be invaluable in shaping the community's future. I highly encourage you to stay engaged, share your experiences, and contribute to the ongoing discussions within the community.

If you're standing at this threshold, knowing the time is now, you're welcome here.