Creativity Connects with Mikki Wilson is a Creative Collective podcast that preserves and shares the stories of remarkable women connected to the North Shore community. Hosted by Mikki Wilson, founder of Dot Connector Consulting. Produced by Randyll Collum for Peabody TV. Sponsored by Jenni Stuart Fine Jewelry.
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Jump to:
- 0:00 Welcome back: a team edition
- 2:28 One person who shaped her
- 6:54 Growing up sensitive, from Baltimore to here
- 11:27 Creative minds and getting out of your head
- 14:46 Why psychology and consumer behavior
- 21:19 A season where life is just beginning
- 26:25 “Don’t be a people pleaser”
- 30:02 Being the youngest in the room
- 36:48 Karate, boxing, and going back to your roots
- 41:31 Permission to explore, and what future Ainsley keeps
- 49:09 The purse prop and where to find Ainsley
A Woman Becoming: Empathy, Fresh Eyes, and the Next Chapter
This one is a team edition. Ainsley Keating is the Marketing Manager at Creative Collective, so if you are a member, you have probably met her with a camera in her hand. In the Peabody TV studio with Mikki, she gets to put it down. Most guests on this show look back on a road already travelled. Ainsley is a recent graduate at the beginning of hers, and Mikki frames the conversation around that: a chance to witness a woman becoming.
The friend you never have to front with
Mikki’s opening question is always the same: one person, one place, or one thing that shaped you. Ainsley chooses a college roommate she lived with only in her senior year, and what she describes is a kind of permission.
“She was a prime example of one of those people that you never have to front with.”
Putting on a front, she says, is normal, and exhausting. The rare people who make it disappear keep you grounded through everything else. Mikki’s word for it is “anchor.”
Growing up sensitive, and getting out of your head
Ainsley was born in Baltimore and moved to Bedford, Massachusetts, in the middle of second grade. She had always been a sensitive kid; the move turned that up. She describes feeling like everyone was watching, and she is honest about what helped: friendships, a better sense of herself, a creative streak that ran through art, music, and media, and, in her own light-hearted words, therapy and medication.
“Everybody’s watching what you’re doing and everybody cares a lot. And that’s daunting. That’s a daunting thing to feel. But in reality, it’s just not true.”
Mikki’s response is the through-line of the episode: creative-minded people tend to be anxious, because they live in a world with a lot of noise, and the fix is not age. “You could be 21, 22, to 42, to 62, and we still all have this.” Ainsley agrees: those things come with growth, not age.
Why psychology: understanding other people, and herself
Ainsley graduated from Endicott College in 2026, where she studied psychology and communications with a focus on consumer behavior, and the reason is that same sensitivity, turned into a tool. She has never had trouble putting herself in someone else’s shoes, which she calls, more than once, “a blessing and a curse,” because feeling everyone’s feelings is emotionally taxing work.
“I chose psychology specifically not just because I wanted to understand other people, but I wanted to understand me.”
She wanted to be a child psychologist first, to help kids who felt what she had. Then a consumer-behavior class landed, and she recognized the niche instantly: a way to use what she knew about people without carrying all of it home. Mikki, who tries not to make predictions, makes one anyway. “I see an entrepreneur.” A huge part of business, she explains, is identifying the problem someone has and feeling it enough to solve it. “Your lived experience actually will end up creating the thing.”
“Don’t be a people pleaser”
Ainsley started at Creative Collective as an intern. This fall is her first Halloween season as full-time staff in Salem, which she calls daunting and exciting in the same breath. That is what a woman becoming sounds like. She has been working since she was 14, and credits her parents with a work ethic that comes down to showing up and putting in what you know.
“I’m trying to get better at remembering that change is good.”
Asked what she has learned about herself since moving from intern to professional, she does not hesitate: “One of the main things is not being as much of a people pleaser.” In college she ran on academic validation; when it did not come, she was fifteen again and the world was ending. Now she is learning her lane and her boundaries, and to prioritize herself. “If you need a day to be sick, be sick. I wouldn’t say that a year ago.” Mikki calls it a PSA for women of all ages, and the next line earns it: “Get over yourself and stand up for yourself. I don’t think that there’s something wrong with explaining how you want to be treated.”
Fresh eyes in a room full of experience
The most honest stretch is about being the youngest person at the table: learning to be humble among business owners with years of experience, and getting in her own head about whether she is qualified to advise them. What she wants is to see the person behind the business.
“It should go deeper. I feel like in our community it should go deeper than that. We should be having more honest and open conversations about those things, because everybody deals with it.”
Then she says the quiet part out loud: “What business owner wants to listen to a 22-year-old?” Mikki’s answer is the reason this episode exists. “Your perspective is so valuable … because you are a fresh, new set of eyes.” A newcomer has no history with anyone’s business and no side to take, which makes her the one who can give an honest read. Ainsley connects it back to people pleasing: “You don’t have to be a mean person, but you should be honest.” Near the end, Mikki closes the loop: “Sometimes it’s not about the number of years you have. It’s the wisdom that you’ve collected within those number of years.”
Back to your roots, and what she hopes she never loses
Ainsley started karate at seven because there was a karate place down the street and she knew no one in town. She stuck with it for eight years, and it became her first job, as an instructor, where she learned that exercise was a healthy outlet for a small body carrying a lot of stress. Covid ended it. In her senior year of college, she and that same roommate walked into a boxing class in Danvers and found the feeling again.
“Sometimes we kind of forget about those things and move on from them. But coming back to them is so cool, because you’re like, I remember this feeling.”
Asked what she is giving herself permission to explore, her answer surprises Mikki: “This job.” It is much more than putting an Instagram post together: walking into a new coffee shop and asking the owner why, and the creative freedom John gives her to try things. Mikki’s dad used to say life is the business, so as far as Mikki is concerned, Ainsley already has one. And what does she hope future Ainsley keeps? “My kindness and my empathy. As much as it can be taxing, and a blessing and a curse, I think it’s what makes me me.” Watching a woman becoming, it is hard to imagine a better thing to hold onto.
The prop came out of Ainsley’s own purse: a heart-shaped cherry Jolly Rancher lollipop. “It’s a little sweet. It’s a little sour … And it’s shaped like a heart. And so it has some love in it as well.” Mikki says it describes her to a tee. So do we.
Lessons We’re Carrying Forward
- Find the people you never have to front with, and keep them close.
- Anxiety is not an age thing; getting out of your head is a practice at 22 and at 62.
- Honesty is not meanness, and explaining how you want to be treated is not asking too much.
- The newest person in the room is often the one who can see it clearly.
Call to Action
Ainsley’s answer to “what are you exploring?” was the work itself, which is a good reminder that a woman becoming is not a stage you finish. If you are early in your own chapter, borrow her PSA: get over yourself, stand up for yourself, and let people know how you want to be treated. If you have been at this a while, find the fresh set of eyes in your room and ask what they see. Ainsley’s own offer stands: “Use me as an asset, because I want to be helpful here.” Reach her through Creative Collective, come to a Creative Collective gathering, or, if you are not a member yet, learn about membership.
Subscribe to Creativity Connects on Spotify
Join the Conversation
- Who is the person you never have to front with?
- When did you last explain to someone how you want to be treated?
- What is one thing from your roots you have drifted from and could go back to?
Join the conversation at creativecollectivema.com.
Connect with Ainsley Keating
- Email: ainsley@creativecollectivema.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ainsley-keating
- Website: https://creativecollectivema.com/
- Instagram: @creativecollectivema
Connect with Creative Collective
- Website: https://creativecollectivema.com/
- Membership: creativecollectivema.com/join
- Instagram: @creativecollectivema · @creativecollectiveexplores
- Facebook: Creative Collective · Creative Collective Explores
- TikTok: @creativecollectivema
- LinkedIn: Creative Collective
Mentioned in this episode
- Creative Collective membership (“if you’re not a member, we’ll talk about that later”): creativecollectivema.com/join
- Title Boxing, Danvers, where Ainsley found boxing in senior year: https://titleboxingclub.com/danvers-ma/
- Peabody TV, where the episode was recorded: https://peabodytv.org/
- Jolly Rancher (Mikki’s brand-deal joke)
Credits
Creativity Connects with Mikki Wilson is a Creative Collective podcast hosted by Mikki Wilson. Randyll Collum produces this podcast for Peabody TV, your community media center serving the residents and businesses of Peabody and the North Shore area. Sponsored by Jenni Stuart Fine Jewelry.
Episode Description
In this team edition of Creativity Connects, Mikki is joined by Ainsley Keating, Marketing Manager at Creative Collective, the organization that hosts this podcast. Most of Mikki’s guests look back on a journey already lived. Ainsley is a recent graduate at the start of hers, and this episode is, in Mikki’s words, a chance “to see a woman becoming.”
Ainsley graduated from Endicott College in 2026, where she studied psychology and communications with a focus on consumer behavior, and she now spends her days creating content, supporting Creative Collective members, and telling the stories of this community. Beyond the job title, she talks about the college roommate she never had to front with, growing up sensitive after a move from Baltimore at age seven, and why empathy is both a blessing and a curse. She shares what she has learned since moving from intern to full-time staff: not being a people pleaser, standing up for yourself, and remembering that change is good.
Mikki and Ainsley also talk about being the youngest person in a room full of experienced business owners, why a fresh set of eyes is exactly what a community needs, eight years of karate that led back to boxing, and what Ainsley hopes she never loses. The episode closes with a surprise prop pulled from Ainsley’s own purse: a heart-shaped cherry Jolly Rancher.
Key Topics Discussed
- The college roommate who showed her what it means to never have to front
- Growing up sensitive after a move from Baltimore, and what helped
- Why she chose psychology: to understand other people, and to understand herself
- Empathy as a blessing and a curse, and the consumer-behavior class that pointed her toward marketing
- Her first Halloween season as full-time staff in Salem, and a work ethic that started at 14
- What she has learned since moving from intern to professional: not being a people pleaser
- Being the youngest in the room, and why Mikki sees “a fresh, new set of eyes”
- Eight years of karate, a first job as a karate instructor, and finding boxing again senior year
- The kindness and empathy she hopes future Ainsley never loses
Memorable Quotes
- “She was a prime example of one of those people that you never have to front with.” — Ainsley
- “I chose psychology specifically not just because I wanted to understand other people, but I wanted to understand me.” — Ainsley
- “Get over yourself and stand up for yourself. I don’t think that there’s something wrong with explaining how you want to be treated.” — Ainsley
- “Your perspective is so valuable … because you are a fresh, new set of eyes.” — Mikki
- “My kindness and my empathy. As much as it can be taxing, and a blessing and a curse, I think it’s what makes me me.” — Ainsley
About the Guest
Ainsley Keating is the Marketing Manager at Creative Collective, where she oversees content creation, distribution, and analysis across Creative Collective’s social media, supports members with creative projects, and covers events across the community. She runs the Creative Collective and Creative Collective Explores accounts on Facebook and Instagram, as well as Creative Collective’s TikTok. A Bedford, Massachusetts, native who was born in Baltimore, Ainsley graduated from Endicott College in 2026, where she studied psychology and communications with a focus on consumer behavior, and joined Creative Collective as an intern before moving into her full-time role, and has been working since she was 14, starting as a karate instructor. Outside of work she boxes, digs into new music, and is growing her interest in art.
Creative Collective is a business support program that provides modern resources, strategy, and connections for small businesses and creators, because building something meaningful doesn’t mean you have to do it alone. Learn more at creativecollectivema.com
About the Host
Mikki Wilson is the host of Creativity Connects with Mikki Wilson and the founder of Dot Connector Consulting. Known as “The Dot Connector,” Mikki brings people, ideas, and communities together through trust‑based connection and human‑centered leadership, cultivating conversations that go beyond the brand to highlight the lived experiences and “messy middles” behind women’s journeys.
About the Podcast
Creativity Connects with Mikki Wilson is a Creative Collective podcast that preserves and shares the stories of remarkable women connected to the North Shore community. Hosted by Mikki Wilson, founder of Dot Connector Consulting. Produced by Randyll Collum for Peabody TV. Sponsored by Jenni Stuart Fine Jewelry.
