Building a Creative Life Without Following a Script
Lessons on bold decisions, purposeful design, meaningful growth, and work that fits real life.
Hello Producers,
I finally joined the cool kids! I’m now an official Favikon partner for February. Very exciting. Very unexpected. Very hard to explain to my parents. If you want to explore the tool that helps you discover and rank creators by actual credibility (not just followers), here’s my affiliate link. Yes, it’s clickable. No, I won’t buy a Lambo.
Also, vlog number one is out. I filmed, edited, panicked and posted it anyway. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at how I create, overthink and sometimes remember to press record. Watch it here and let me know what you think. Feedback, notes, weird ideas, all welcome. Vlog number two is already in the works, and yes, I’m still learning which way the camera faces.
This episode felt like the perfect way to start 2026. I’ve been connected with Nadia for quite some time, and what makes this conversation special is how naturally it came together. Just a few days before recording, we collaborated on a post, and the experience was so easy, kind, and thoughtful that I found myself wanting to sit down and actually talk.
I already knew Nadia as a very talented designer and a genuinely warm person, but also as someone coming from a different and beautiful part of the world. Sometimes the least planned conversations turn into the most meaningful ones, and this episode reminded me why I love doing this podcast in the first place.
Leaving Home Early: How One Decision Reshapes a Creative Life | 139: Nadia Fernández
Nadia Fernández is the founder of La Isla Designs, a visual designer and website builder who believes digital spaces should feel clear, intentional, and easy to understand. Originally from Mallorca, Spain, she moved to the United States at a young age to pursue her creative ambitions, spending more than a decade immersed in fast paced creative environments before eventually returning to Europe. With a background that spans dance, fashion, retail leadership, and brand strategy, her work today focuses on helping founders and small businesses communicate what they do in a way people can instantly connect with and remember.
In this episode, you’ll hear the story behind her move to Los Angeles as a teenager, the creative paths that quietly shaped her way of thinking, and how those experiences continue to influence her work today. The conversation goes behind the scenes of her approach to LinkedIn content, websites, and digital marketing, from designing carousels that gently guide attention to building online spaces that support content instead of competing with it. It’s a thoughtful look into the mindset of a multi disciplinary creator who designs with purpose and cares deeply about how ideas land.
Lessons:
You Do Not Need a Perfect Plan to Start
Every Creative Skill Counts More Than You Think
Design Should Help People Understand
Real Opportunities Come From Real Conversations
Build Work That Fits Your Life
1. You do not need a perfect plan to make a bold move
Most people believe clarity must come before action, but this episode shows why that belief often keeps people stuck. At just eighteen, Nadia moved across the world from Spain to Los Angeles driven by curiosity rather than certainty. She did not have a detailed career plan or a guaranteed outcome waiting for her. What she did have was a strong creative pull and the willingness to act on it. Her story highlights an important truth about creative growth. Clarity is often created through movement, not careful planning. Waiting until everything feels safe or fully defined can delay progress and limit opportunity.
If you are facing a big decision, stop asking whether the plan feels perfect and start asking whether the direction feels honest. Action creates feedback, and feedback creates clarity. Choose one practical step that moves you closer to the work or life you want, whether that means sharing your work publicly, reaching out to someone you admire, or learning through real projects instead of preparation alone. Creative careers are built through momentum, not certainty. Progress comes from doing the work before you feel fully ready.
2. Creative skills stack even when the path looks unplanned
Most creative careers only make sense when you look at them in hindsight. Nadia’s background spans dance, fashion, retail leadership, and design, and at first glance those chapters can seem disconnected. In reality, each experience sharpened skills she still uses today, from discipline and structure to visual awareness and decision making. This episode is a reminder that creative careers rarely follow a straight or predictable line. What feels like a detour in the moment often becomes a defining advantage later on.
Instead of dismissing your past roles or experiences, take time to examine what they actually taught you. Look for patterns in how you solve problems, communicate ideas, or work with people. These skills are transferable, even when the industry changes. Write down three lessons from a previous role that still apply to your current work and start using them more intentionally. A strong creative identity is built by stacking experience over time, not by constantly starting from zero
3. Design is not decoration, it is guidance
One of the clearest ideas in this conversation is that design should always have a purpose. Nadia explains that visuals are not meant to exist purely to look good. Whether it is a website, a carousel, or a single graphic, design has a responsibility to guide the reader and make information easier to understand. When design becomes decoration, it adds noise instead of clarity and leaves people unsure what to do next.
If your content or website looks good but does not lead people anywhere, it is time to simplify. Review one piece of content and define a single goal for it. Decide what you want the reader to understand or do after engaging with it. Remove anything that does not support that outcome. Focus on structure, hierarchy, and flow before colour or style. Good design reduces friction, builds trust, and helps ideas land more clearly.
4. Conversations create opportunities faster than content alone
Growth online is often framed as a posting problem, but this episode challenges that idea. Nadia shares how some of her earliest opportunities came not from publishing more content, but from engaging in genuine conversations. Thoughtful comments and replies helped her build relationships long before she had a large audience. Visibility matters, but connection is often what turns attention into real work.
If you want your online presence to lead to meaningful opportunities, shift part of your focus from publishing to engaging. Spend time responding thoughtfully to posts that genuinely interest you. Ask questions, add perspective, and contribute without expecting anything in return. Set a simple habit of starting a few meaningful conversations each week. Trust is built through interaction, and trust is what often opens doors.
5. A creative business should support your life, not consume it
This episode also highlights how environment and life stage shape the way we work. Living in Mallorca and raising a family has changed how Nadia thinks about pace, priorities, and success. Rather than designing her life around work, she has designed her work to fit her life. This shift has allowed her to build a creative business that feels sustainable instead of exhausting. Burnout is not a requirement for success, and speed is not always progress.
Take an honest look at how your work fits into your life right now. Notice where your energy goes and what drains it unnecessarily. Adjust your schedule, tools, or expectations to create more consistency and breathing room. Sustainable creativity comes from routines you can maintain, not from pushing yourself to the edge. A business that supports your life will always last longer than one that demands everything from it.
What I didn’t know before we spoke was just how bold her journey really was. At only eighteen, Nadia made the decision to move to Los Angeles, literally across the world, to follow her creative ambitions. While parts of her story felt relatable to me, her leap was undeniably courageous, and I couldn’t wait to explore what led her there. We talked about her creative background across multiple industries, how those experiences shaped her approach to design, and how she found her way into the work she does today, from branding and websites to content and LinkedIn design.
Along the way, she shared thoughtful insights on standing out without overthinking, creating designs that actually guide people, and finding balance between work, family, and life in Mallorca. It was an honest, generous, and deeply human conversation that I truly enjoyed, and I’m confident you’ll find it just as inspiring and helpful as I did.
Keep producing,
Tommen
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