You’re a creative director. Or an art director, a designer, an illustrator, a producer, a multi-hyphenate magical weirdo.
You know what good work looks like. You’ve made a lot of it. And something still feels unfinished… not the work, but the question underneath it.
Nascent Spiral is a coaching practice for creatives mid-spiral. The coaching isn’t to fix the spiral. But to find what it’s pointing toward. The path isn’t linear. It never was.
Hi, I’m Erica
I’m a working creative director ༝ designer ༝ ICF-trained coach living in Brooklyn, NY.
I built Nascent Spiral because I kept meeting brilliant creatives whose careers made total sense to everyone except them. I know that feeling. I’ve lived it. And I know it’s usually pointing at something real.
Coaching, at its best, is a space where you can finally say the thing you’ve been thinking alone. That’s where we begin. Mid-spiral, mid-sentence, mid-whatever. We start with what's present. And follow it.
The spiral isn’t decorative: it’s the methodology. Each session picks up where the last one left, and the path between them isn’t a straight line. It loops, doubles back, surfaces something unexpected. That’s how real change actually moves. I’ll offer reflections, ask the question you didn’t know you needed, and hold the thread when things get tangled. What shifts isn’t just what you’re doing. It’s how you’re listening to yourself.
Every coaching journey is its own. And certain things tend to happen:
You get clearer on what actually matters—not what should matter, what does
You stop outsourcing decisions and start trusting your own read
The inner critic gets quieter, or at least loses the keys to the car
You find yourself taking up more space: in rooms, in your work, in your own life
Creative energy returns. Not from grinding harder, but from removing what's been blocking it
You start designing your life instead of just responding to it
On my training—
The ICF certification is the gold standard in coaching ethics, methodology, and continuing education—and I have trained in core coaching competencies through the Berkeley Haas Executive Coaching program with reflective supervision. I work with my own coach and therapist. I take this seriously because you deserve someone who does.
I work with creative leaders and makers whose careers make total sense to everyone except them. People who’ve built real things and are circling something they can’t quite name. Who are between versions of themselves, or inside a role that no longer fits.
You might be here if:
You’ve outgrown something you also worked hard for
The work is good and you’re bored and that feels like a shameful thing to admit
You know what you want but can’t seem to move toward it
You’re in transition and the not-knowing is starting to wear on you
You keep almost saying the thing -- to yourself, to anyone -- and then don’t
I work with folks building practices on their own or within companies like
My coaching style is born from years of navigating creative work, reinvention, and big questions about purpose. It’s a blend of structure and intuition, collaborative in nature, and designed to support deep inquiry, self-trust, and your most aligned next moves.
Here’s what makes working with me different:
You lead
I guide with reflective questions rather than advice. Think of me as a mirror, helping you uncover insights you didn’t realize were already there. This approach empowers you to shape your own answers, build autonomy, and strengthen your self-trust.
Big Picture Energy
Career is never just career. We’ll talk about identity, relationships, fear, desire, creative energy, and what it costs you to keep doing things the way you've been doing them. Nothing is off the table.
Bring your weird
I’ll bring mine too. I’m here to support you in showing up as your truest, boldest self. Our sessions are a space to tackle anything, from career milestones to diving into the deeper questions of purpose and meaning.
The methods go sideways
Alongside conversation, I draw on somatic awareness, divination tools, visual mapping, and writing prompts as ways of getting underneath the story you’ve been telling yourself. If you’ve never pulled a tarot card or worked with Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies in a professional context, you might be surprised what it surfaces.
I’m still in it
I’m not coaching from the other side of this. I’m a working creative director who made a left turn into coaching because I kept meeting people mid-spiral and recognizing myself in them. That shapes everything about how I show up.
“I’ve described coaching with Erica as creative/career therapy. For so many creatives, work and expression take up MASSIVE space in our mental anguish. Average therapists, psychiatrists, and life coaches can’t actually engage with that in an authentic way.
Our coaching sessions feel like we’re in a collaboration–– a studio of two. It makes everything suddenly feel lighter, clearer, livelier... ”
Julie, Designer @ BUCK
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“Erica is really great at reading between the lines and distilling what they hear into clear, to-the-point concepts. Since we started working together I feel a lot more confident in both my abilities and my future. Working with Erica feels both nurturing and energizing—their support makes it easier to take risks and shamelessly self promote.”
Jordan, Art Director + Illustrator
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“I’d never tried coaching before and honestly it didn’t even occur to me since I have a therapist. I signed up for a digital workshop, tried a free session, and was blown away! Erica is someone who really gets artists and creatives, who can help you explore how to support or push yourself.”
Molly, Writer
Ongoing support for long-term growth, deep pattern shifting, and big moves.
The Seasonal Package is for when you’re ready to stop circling and find out what the spiral’s been pointing toward. It’s a spacious, committed container with rhythm, support, and accountability— built to help you grow what you’re here to grow.
We work in quarterly cycles (3, 6, 9, or 12 months) to support meaningful, long-term growth—with space for clarity, experimentation, and real change to take root.
What’s included:
Weekly or bi-weekly sessions over 3 months
Personalized exercises, prompts, and deep-dive reflections
Accountability and support between sessions
Tiered Pricing Model
Supporter: $3,600
Standard: $3,000
Access: $2,400
I came to coaching through my own nascent spiral— not the tidy steadily drawn one where someone has a crisis and finds their calling with a hot pink Jelly Roll pen, but the messier one where you’re still in the middle of a creative career scribble you love and also questioning something you can’t name yet.
I’m a working creative director. I’ve led brand work at places including Cash App, Nike, Instagram, and MTV. I’ve also navigated going freelance, leaving stability for uncertainty, healing chronic illness, and building a life that actually feels like mine. I know what it costs to keep performing a version of yourself that’s started to feel too small.
What I care about most—in creative work and in coaching—is the question underneath the question. The one you haven’t quite let yourself ask out loud yet. That’s where I want to work with you.
Let’s name it: there’s a lot of coaching out there. Some of it is deep, rigorous, and genuinely transformative. Some of it is not. Coaching is still an unregulated industry. Anyone can call themselves a coach, trained or not. That doesn’t mean uncertified always means unhelpful— but it does mean you should be discerning about who you let into this kind of work with you.
I’m also not a licensed therapist, and coaching isn’t a replacement for therapy. But for many people it’s a powerful companion to it, particularly when what you’re navigating is less about mental health and more about meaning, direction, and what comes next.
You are the expert of your own life. My role is to help you hear yourself more clearly and walk with you as you figure out what to do with what you find.
PORTFOLIO REVIEW
Maybe you’re prepping for an interview, navigating a pivot, or not sure why your work isn’t landing. We’ll get honest about what’s working, what isn’t, and how to sharpen your story.
90-minute 1:1 session
Pre-session intake to focus the heat
Clear edits and specific next steps
Follow-up with any afterthoughts
$300
THRESHOLD SESSION
For when you’re standing at the edge: of a decision you can’t make, an idea you can’t start, a feeling you can’t shake. We’ll go deep on the one thing, and you’ll leave with more clarity than you came in with.
60-minute 1:1 session
Pre-session intake so we can go deep from the start
Follow-up with any threads worth pulling
$250