A short bonus episode showcasing a few standout moments from this week's guest interview with Catharine Pitt ~ 

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[00:00:00] Hey, welcome to another bonus episode of Daring Creativity Podcast. I'm 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 Form Play.

 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 for a studio that had everything and felt like nothing to retrain in her mid forties alongside her part mark.

gradually, intentionally empathize, burning the whole thing down overnight. 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.

Catharine: we [00:01:00] burnt out. We were trying to do everything. we were very small. We, 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 forties 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 like it, we had to scratch. so that's really been the,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 [00:02:00] because we've had that experience in the past, we're very strict. We're a bit bullish about that now.

 I had goosebumps when she told me this story because it resembles my own and I felt seen and, and I felt someone actually shared with me something that I've gone through.

Almost quietly and personally because in their case, Catharine and Mark had everything. Most creatives Chase 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. Catharine shared with me that they spent two years of retraining.

They actually really phased, 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 are trying to understand as humans, uh, especially creative humans, because. You can be going after exactly what you want.

You [00:03:00] can have your beautiful list of clients work, money, exposure, and when you get all of that, you realize, what did I 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.

'cause we don't always know what that is and what it should be. For us, when Catharine said, is it a good time to do this? Well, when she said they had no choice, I just loved that honesty because it's rare. Most people would wait for permission or perfect timing, but Catharine 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 forties or beyond who's wandering. Is it too late? Is it too late to change? And the spoiler [00:04:00] is it's not.

Catharine: 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 and I think, too many, 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. so I mean, from us, we've learnt from bitter experience. we started out, we had a, in our first studio, we were commissioned to do, Well, mark was commissioned to do a gazillion illustrations for publications and, we signed it all away.

We, yeah, happy to do it. We were very new. we, assigned 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've provided far outweighs the amount that [00:05:00] we were paid for them. And that's not a fair transaction.

But we were naive, and I don't blame the commissioner, it's, we should have made it our business to understand copyrights. and it's a really dry subject, but I, I think we just really believe, how it's a game changer for people because it allows longer term relationships with clients.

And I felt this, this moment is one of the sharpest business insights in our conversation. Catharine's got background in music. Mark, her partner worked in illustration and both. And these are both industries where you protect your copyright and license your work.

 this moment matters because it exposes how entire industries can sleep. Work 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 [00:06:00] and the real kicker. Most creatives have never questioned why they sign everything away, but Catharine did and it changed her entire business model,

Catharine: 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 reset. 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, [00:07:00] 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 dunno what is, because we feel that the change can feel like a wholesale thing.

You can hear people saying, Hey, I need to reinvent myself. But it only frees because it sounds like a burning everything down overnight. Catharine reframed as beautifully. Change is incremental, playful, and pounding. 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. That the 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 route or career dissatisfaction.

You don't need a dramatic exit. You just need small, consistent stuff towards something that feels right, permission granted. And as you [00:08:00] know, daring Creativity is show about doing the one thing you would otherwise regret never starting. and if there's someone who backs up disclaim.

And I hope that all of my guests, especially this one from Catharine, is exactly a reason why the show exists.

Catharine: 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, not worrying too much about them.

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, lemme 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, [00:09:00] keep, making, keep, that optimism that fire in your belly, is so important. Yeah.

Catharine closes the conversation with Darby Hudson, quote, and its 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 names 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 Katherine 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 it Most optimism is a need is the fuel that keeps creative momentum alive.

Thank you for joining me on this bonus episode of the Daring [00:10:00] Creativity Podcast. If you haven't checked out a full interview, I encourage you to do so.

Thank you for being here, and I'll see you on the next one.