Dare to let ideas have a home - Melissa Castan

Mel Castan is a Mexico City-born, Barcelona-based animator, illustrator, and community builder whose creative journey has taken her from advertising school to motion graphics to founding two community projects for creatives. ~ She talks with Radim about growing up in a military family with a spiritual streak, discovering illustration as a meditative practice, and building spaces where creatives can process burnout, imposter syndrome, and identity beyond the usual networking event. Takeaways Mel is a Mexico City-born, Barcelona-based animator, illustrator, and producer who's spent nine years building a career across advertising, motion design, and community-building Growing up in a military family — her grandfather a retired army general who turned to spirituality after retiring — shaped her comfort holding contradictions together She describes creativity as a lifelong practice tied to her ADHD, and drawing as a meditative practice since childhood A mapping show by Amon Tobin reshaped her sense of what creative work could be and pulled her toward studying motion graphics in Barcelona She spent her first days in Barcelona intentionally getting lost in the Gothic Quarter, without a phone or map, as her way of learning the city She co-founded Frames by Friends, a five-year community for Barcelona's animators and motion designers that grew from an expected 20 people to 75 at its first event Her current project, Side Project, builds spaces — Honest Conversations and Work in Progress — for creatives to process burnout, imposter syndrome, and identity beyond networking She describes "vicarious learning" — the idea that sharing our struggles with others makes them feel lighter and less isolating Her guiding philosophy is that ideas have home, and her role is to be that home for others She's letting Side Project's future shape itself without attachment to a fixed outcome, trusting that showing up consistently will reveal the next step Daring Forever. Podcast with Radim Malinic daringcreativity.com | desk@daringcreativity.com Books by Radim Malinic Paperback and Kindle > https://amzn.to/4biTwFc Free audiobook (with Audible trial) > https://geni.us/free-audiobook Book bundles https://novemberuniverse.co.uk Lux Coffee Co. https://luxcoffee.co.uk/ (Use: PODCAST for 15% off) November Universe https://novemberuniverse.co.uk (Use: PODCAST for 10% off)