Meet our host, Charlie India 

Hello creative beans!

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I'm Charlie India. A lawyer living and working in London by day, and a creative by night - yes, you CAN do both! 

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So, to share a bit about me and why I founded The Creatives' Coffee Club... 

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I've felt in my adult years like something was missing - I tried all the different sports and exercise regimes out there, made various online profiles about healthy living and meditation, tried and failed to care about becoming a foodie, and oh so many other side projects that you definitely do not need to hear about. Lucky for me, in January 2021 my grandmother (who is a watercolourist) and my mother suggested that we have what we called Art Attack. A zoom each week, where we would hang out and talk about art. Honestly, we were amidst the third national lockdown in the UK due to coronavirus and so I thought why not - the last time I picked up a paint brush was at school, but I thought it would be great to learn a new skill and spend time with my nearest and dearest in the process...

Little did I know that that moment would spark the rediscovery of my personal identity through creativity. The 'thing' that had been missing for so long was in fact my creativity - supressed by years of training by society to work my way up the career ladder, do everything I could do to be 'successful', with little or no time between work, the gym, friends and family to spare for my personal passions. Sound familiar? I know I'm alone in this, and the longer time goes on the easier it becomes to forget the unique creativity we each have inside of us that when accessed truly make us feel alive.

In fact, I remember saying to my partner Andrew at one point "maybe I'm not meant to make anything, maybe I am a consumer of creativity - put here to consume others' creations and support them in the process". And I actually believed that!

So you might be thinking how did you get from family Art Attack to an online creative community about the power of creativity? Well... The second unexpected but life changing moment came when I signed up for an Instagram account. I didn't know what to expect, because I don't really use Instagram in my personal life, but I thought it would be a useful place to document my art journey alongside Art Attack. So, I started posting about my creative journey - opening up about feeling like an imposter after so many years of denying my creativity. And I quickly realised that I was not alone. Creatives from all over the world were messaging me saying 'oh thank goodness, I feel that way too'. And in that connection sparked an idea - what if there was a community where we could inspire people to prioritise their creativity, talk openly about the ups and downs of their creative journeys and support each other in the process?

And so began The Creatives' Coffee Club! 

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You may already be navigating your creative journey or you may feel the burning inside you but not have the self belief to jump in. Wherever you are, I invite you to join us and embrace this positive and supportive space together. Share, inspire, encourage and try new things - you never know, it may just change your life like it did mine!

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I am always very happy to connect with you so please do send me an email at charlie@thecreativescoffeeclub.com if you have any questions or simple fancy a chat. 

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Stay creative, 

Charlie India x