What makes something truly magical? The ritual? The mystery? Or simply the act of believing something more is possible? In this episode, Nicole sits down with (Sarah Dittmore and Kaitlyn Gulock), co-hosts of The Empress and the Fool, to explore the word “magic" —from its earliest roots in science and spirit, to the quiet everyday moments that shimmer with potential.
In This Episode, You’ll Discover...
- how childhood wonder teaches us our first lessons in belief and imagination
- why the unknown can be both terrifying and deeply empowering
- the surprising link between science, spirituality, and “the art of the possible”
- how intention and synchronicity shape the magic of everyday life
- what the tarot’s Magician card can tell us about creativity, control, and illusion
Resources & Links:
- Listen to The Empress and the Fool podcast – exploring all things mystical and meaningful from the perspective of two curious witches at sarahdittmore.com/podcast
- Read more from Sarah Dittmore (The Mystic Auntie) and explore her tarot readings, spellwork, and workshops at sarahdittmore.com
- Check out Kaitlyn Gulock’s design work and visuals on Instagram https://instagram.com/koi.arts.studio
- All music is by Jack Pierce
- Connect with the podcast team (i.e., Nicole!) at itsallpoetry.podcast@gmail.com
- Sign up for weekly marketing prompts that don’t feel gross [here](https://www.nicolecopy.com/prompts).
What if attention isn’t a currency to be spent, but a gift to be given? Feminist creator Amelia Hruby invites us to reimagine the way we relate to focus, presence, and the constant pull of the digital world. Together we explore what it means to reclaim your attention from the systems designed to monetize it, and how giving attention (rather than paying it) can become a radical act of care.
In this episode, you’ll discover…
Why flipping from paying attention into giving attention changes how your day feels (and who’s in charge of it)
The sneaky myth of “scarce attention” and what’s actually being commodified on social media
A gentler approach to focus: tending what you desire instead of gripping what you “should”
Resources mentioned:
Finally, make sure to grab Amelia’s new book: Your Attention Is Sacred Except on Social Media — available directly from Amelia: offthegrid.fun/attention (bundles include audio!).
What if I told you that “money” was once the name of a goddess? That’s right—long before debit cards and two-day shipping, the Romans worshipped Juno Monetta, the goddess whose temple literally minted coins. Today, financial coach Katie Scott joins Nicole to unearth how ancient warnings, modern shame, and personal money stories shape the way we think about value.
In This Episode, You’ll Discover…
The Roman goddess hidden in the word “money” and why she still haunts our bank accounts
Why even accountants struggle to manage money—and what that means for the rest of us
How budgeting flips the script from reactive to proactive (and why that feels like freedom)
The sneaky beliefs about wealth that might be sabotaging your goals without you realizing it
Get Katie's free CFO Starter Kit (the tool Nicole swears transformed her copywriting business) and Katie's other resources at: morewithmoney.com/academy
Instagram: @katie.morewithmoney
Connect with the It’s All Poetry team (a.k.a. Nicole!) at itsallpoetry.podcast@gmail.com
Sign up for weekly marketing prompts that don’t feel gross at nicolecopy.com/prompts
Music by Jack Pierce 🎶
How did a word rooted in plunder and violence become a symbol of creativity, courage, and rebellion? In this swashbuckling episode, Nicole is joined by educator and strategic mischief-maker Rachel Ropeik to explore the word pirate — from its violent etymological roots to its reclaimed modern spirit.
Together, they unpack the surprising history behind pirate codes, the difference between stealing and venturing, and what it really means to be a pirate with a heart in today’s world.
In this episode, you’ll discover…
Further Research & Episode Extras:
Rachel’s membership community is open!✨ Consortium of Arts-Related Entrepreneurs (CARE)
An online nest of support and connection for independent artists and culture workers.Doors open from September 15–26, 2025
Use code POETRY15 for 15% off your first payment!
We also talked about...
Connect with Rachel Ropeik
Website: rachelropeik.comNewsletter (sign up via the site!)
Socials: @theartropeik
What if dancing again could heal something you thought was unchangeable? In this episode, Jess Grippo joins Nicole to talk about dance as more than choreography. It’s expression. It’s story. It’s healing. Together, they explore how movement changes across a lifetime, what dance reveals about our inner world, and why it’s never too late (or too awkward) to start dancing again.
Tune in to discover:
A few quotes:
Resources & Links:
Today I’m joined by the incredible Christina Jones—brand photographer, creative coach, and (fun fact) the first guest I’ve ever met in real life! Christina did my most recent brand shoot, and let me tell you… it was an unexpectedly emotional experience. There’s something deeply vulnerable about being the focus of the lens, and Christina held that space so beautifully.
In this episode, we unpack the word focus—in parenting, photography, business, and life—and how it can mean everything from presence to pressure to play. Plus, we get delightfully off-topic in the best way: Jenga, barre class, Instacart, and family dance parties all make an appearance.
In This Episode, You’ll Discover…
Ways to Connect with Christina
In this episode, Nicole welcomes back her very first repeat guest (🥳), Cleoniki Kesidis, copywriter extraordinaire and fellow funnel-skeptic. The two dig into the uncomfortable origins and metaphors behind the word funnel, asking why such a common marketing term so often feels…well, kinda icky.
What starts as a conversation about email sequences and sales paths becomes a beautifully winding journey into ethical marketing, customer autonomy, and a whole lot of metaphors.
Let’s talk about the words we use in the marketing systems we build.
In this episode, you’ll discover…
A few quotes:
Connect with Cleo:
Curious about ethical sales and lead magnets that don’t feel gross? Check out Nicole’s newsletter for prompts and ideas: nicolecopy.com/prompts
What does it really mean to write? Is it an act or a process? And can AI truly replicate it? In this episode, writer, editor, and book coach Katie Wolf joins Nicole to break down the layers of the word write—from its ancient roots to the modern fear of simply getting started.
Katie shares her personal journey with writing, how self-doubt held her back for years, and the unexpected ways she overcame it. The two also discuss AI (of course) and the psychological tug-of-war between writing in private and sharing our work publicly.
In This Episode, You’ll Discover…
The surprising, ancient origins of the word write (hint: it wasn’t always about, well, writing)
Why writing feels both deeply personal and inherently performative
How our biological fear of being seen still affects writers today
How ancient storytelling was closer to performance art than private reflection (and what that means for writers today).
Whether AI-generated writing is “real” writing—and how it’s already reshaping the creative process.
A Few Quotes:
"The writing process is loaded with moments of absolute joy—and absolute frustration." – Katie Wolf
"The fear of being seen keeps us from even doing the behind-the-scenes work of writing." – Nicole
"If you want to write a book, you want to write a book. AI can't do that for you." – Katie Wolf
"Writing is just telling the truth—over and over again, in different ways." – Nicole
Ways to Connect with Katie:
🔗 Follow Katie on Instagram & TikTok: @katiewolfwrites
🎙 Listen to Katie’s podcast, Your Big Creative Life
📚 Explore writing tips & coaching from Katie: thekatiewolf.com
Hi, welcome to season three of It's All Poetry.
My name is Nicole Cloutier, your host and resident word nerd... and for someone who her whole life has been told how quiet and shy she was and thought she would never ever start a podcast, this is a pretty exciting milestone.
So as we enter season three, I find myself re-reflecting on what this podcast actually is, why I'm doing it, why we're all here, what we're creating.
I did a lot of journaling, and here's what I've got for you: As you might already know, I run a copywriting studio as my "day job," which is something that I've been doing for more than a decade. And for a while in that business, I've been touting this line:
words are magic.
And when I say that in marketing, I mean "words are magic" in that they can alchemize into money if you know how to use them towards that end. But I also mean it quite literally, like In the makeup, in the erythral thing that words are made of, they are raw magic.
And being human is telling stories with those words. Stories about ourselves, stories about the world we live in. We even tell stories about the words that we use. Take money, for example, which is a word we will talk about this season . What stories do you tell yourself about that word? And these words, they all have past lives, if you will.
Some of them carry centuries old stories that we don't even consciously know, but we feel them. So one of our main purposes in this podcast to bring us back to our thesis is to look back at the past lives of words so that we can really understand them AND in doing so, lighten some of the power they have over us.
I'm sure you'd love to do that with a word like money, right? I know I would. Or productivity, or even scale, for my fellow business owners. And yes, we are going to be talking about all those words this season.
So, here we are. And that's what we're doing, and all I can promise you is that you'll learn something fun every episode, especially if you like words, but even if you don't.
And you'll meet my amazing guests who are mostly solopreneurs, small business owners, who use the words that we choose every day. And hey, if you ever want to chat with me about words, please send me an email. I'm always open to having discussions or bringing someone on as a guest Please do not hesitate to, to reach out.
And with that, welcome to season three of It's All Poetry. I can't wait to share these conversations with you.
Have you ever wondered if you even had an intuition? Or if it was buried under years and years of people-pleasing, shoulds, etc? That’s how I felt …. before this conversation. But not after.
Lauren Levine—a movement teacher, psychic medium, and someone whose intuition practically glows—opened my eyes to what intuition really is: a skill.
In this episode, we unpack what it means to connect with that quiet knowing inside of us, how to tell the difference between intuition and fear, and why your messy, beautiful life experiences might actually be sharpening your ability to hear it.
Tune in to learn…
Resources & Links:
What does “design” truly mean, and how does it shape more than just our screens? Sarah Jutras, founder of Huzzah Studio and creator of the "Freelance for Life" Substack, joins Nicole to take a deep dive into the expansive world of design—from user experience and app development to designing a fulfilling freelance life. With a journey rooted in childhood crafts and inspired by mentors and Italian art, Sarah reveals her unique philosophy of design as both a creative process and a plan for living with purpose.
In This Episode, You’ll Discover…
A Few Quotes:
Further Research:
Ways to Contact or Connect with Sarah:
As Sarah reminds us, “everything is an experiment.” Consider how you design your days, your work, and your relationships. What would life look like if you brought the creativity of design into your own daily choices?
When Cody Cook-Parrott joined me to explore the word "landscape," I thought we'd talk about pretty views and garden design. Instead, we discovered poetry hiding in 1800s dictionary definitions, learned that landscape is secretly related to friendship (what?), and somehow ended up having a fascinating conversation about compost. As one does.
In this episode you'll discover...
The Goods
Cody's new book "Look About You: A Book of Ordinary Prayers" arrives November 19th! Pre-order by Nov 12th to get it release week:
If that link's not working, just head to Cody's website (www.codycookparrott.com) and click "Online Shop."
We also mentioned:
Questions? Email me: itsallpoetry.podcast@gmail.com
Want email reminders for this podcast? Head to nicolecopy.com/prompts
A small suggestion: After listening, you might want to spend some time watching leaves dance in the wind. Just putting that out there. 🍂
So how is trust like a basket of grapes? Guess you have to listen to find out. :)
In this episode, Nicole sits down with Taylor LeCours, a fellow copywriter and brand strategist, to explore the word "trust" - diving deep into its meanings, etymology, and implications for both business and personal relationships. You’ll also get some impromptu (and very valuable!) copywriting lessons!
In this episode you'll learn:
Resources Mentioned:
Looking to connect further?
Music by Jack Pierce
"We all have it. We all have problems with it. We all want it. And we all also are really terrified of the ways in which we want it."
In this episode, Nicole Cloutier sits down with Shivani Mehta Bhatia, founder of Tulsi Strategies and host of the Intimate Practice podcast to talk about the word "intimacy."
Tune in to learn…
Looking for more info about Shivani? Here's where you can find her:
Resources & Links:
All music is by Jack Pierce
Connect with the podcast team (i.e., Nicole!) at itsallpoetry.podcast@gmail.com
Sign up for weekly marketing prompts that don’t feel gross here.
What if the word 'pleasure' has been whispering "approve me" all along?
Today, I'm thrilled to dive deep into a word that's more complicated than it seems: pleasure. In this episode, Sarah Diedrick (writer, sex educator, yoga teacher) and I explore the multifaceted nature of pleasure and its importance in our lives.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Highlights from our conversation:
Resources mentioned:
Connect with Sarah:
Connect with me at itsallpoetry.podcast@gmail.com And sign up for my weekly marketing prompts that don't feel gross at nicolecopy.com/prompts
These days, "performance" is often used with a negative connotation. We don't want anything we do to look like a performance... we'd much rather be authentic.
But what if performance is necessary for collective growth and acknoledgement and celebration. That's Melinda Beck's argument — and honestly, I'm on board.
In this episode, you'll discover:
Plus, Melinda shares a mini acting lesson that changed my perspective on what it means to truly perform.
Connect with It's All Poetry:
In this episode, I sit down with bookkeeper, jewelry designer, and budding mushroom farmer Sarah Loertscher, to explore the poetic (and yet also rather technical) word "fallow." Together, we unpack the complexities of creative rest, the shame often associated with taking breaks, and the natural cycles of productivity and regeneration.
In this episode you'll learn:
Looking for more info about Sarah? Here's where you can find her:
Sometimes a word surprises me with how spiritual it is. Connection is one of those words. It seems to be a word without time or space. A web just connecting everything to everything else.
My guest is Kyle Wood, a business coach for group fitness instructors and also a human design coach.
As such, this episode covers quite some ground:
Resources & Links:
How did a word once meaning "murderer" become the holy grail of modern branding? In this episode, Nicole and guest Leanne Knight trace the surprising journey of "authentic" from its dark origins to its pivotal role in today's business world.
And a question: In a world obsessed with genuineness, how can we truly embody authenticity in our personal and professional lives?
In this episode you'll learn...
Where to find our guest:
Resources
In today’s episode, I sat down with the amazing Podge Thomas, founder of Small Business Co-Pilot. Our word? “Decolonization,” especially how it relates to our workplaces. I know it sounds heavy (and it is), but it’s also important,
Podge brings a unique perspective as a business strategist passionate about reimagining workplace practices. Our conversation covers:
Podge's insights challenge us to question ingrained practices and envision more human-centered approaches to work. Her expertise reminds us that we don't have to replicate harmful corporate structures - we can create something better.
Key takeaways:
I'm grateful to Podge for sharing her wisdom and helping us reimagine what work can look like. Her perspective is invaluable as we strive to create more equitable and fulfilling work environments.
Resources mentioned:
All music is by Jack Pierce
Connect with the podcast team (i.e., Nicole!) at itsallpoetry.podcast@gmail.com
Sign up for weekly marketing prompts that don’t feel gross here.
