Windowsill Chats

This week, we're revisiting a favorite conversation from the Windowsill Chats archives with artist and surface designer Abby Jacobs.
As far back as she can remember, making art has been Abby's favorite thing to do—and some of the happiest times in her life have been when she's had a consistent creative routine. Her belief in art-making as a way of life led her to pursue a master's degree in transpersonal counseling and art therapy from Naropa University in Boulder after studying art and psychology/human services as an undergraduate.
Whenever something doesn't feel quite right in her life, Abby asks herself, "Am I making artwork daily?" If the answer is no, she usually knows where to start.
Margo and Abby discuss:
Why pattern clashing isn't necessarily a bad thing

Abby's art therapy background and how it influences her creative practice

The importance of working with clients who feel aligned

Having a creative outlet beyond paid work

Navigating client expectations and people-pleasing

Creating work that feels authentic to you

What Abby learned from completing a 100-day project

And much more!

Connect with Abby:
www.abbyjacdesigns.com
Instagram: @abbyjacdesigns

Margo is joined by hand-drawn book cover illustrator Nosheen Ahmed for a conversation nearly a decade in the making. Margo first met Nosheen about nine years ago through portfolio reviews, when Nosheen was working as a dentist, raising her children, making art, and trying to find where she fit creatively. After more than 20 years in dentistry, Nosheen has built a career in illustration—bringing together her love of drawing, books, storytelling, and human connection. She and Margo talk about creative reinvention, letting go of the feeling that you're "behind," and realizing that none of the experiences along the way are wasted. They also explore the pressure to find a signature style, how motherhood and dentistry shaped Nosheen as an artist, and why work made by human hands matters in an increasingly AI-driven world.
Margo and Nosheen discuss:
Reinventing yourself creatively later in life

Why your past experiences aren't wasted

Finding your voice without forcing a signature style

Creativity as a way of living, not just a career

The importance of empathy and human connection in art

Why hand-drawn work still matters in an AI-driven world

Connect with Nosheen:
Website: nosheendesigns.co.uk
Instagram + LinkedIn: @nosheendesigns
Work 1:1 with Margo:
Looking for personalized support in your creative practice or business? Sign up for 1:1 coaching with Margo for focused guidance, clarity, and support tailored to where you are and where you want to go next. https://margotantau.com/coaching-with-margo

Margo is joined by Melissa Moore and Michele Matrisciani, co-authors of Killer in the Family: The Hidden Costs of Loving Someone the World Hates.
Melissa grew up in Spokane, Washington, and was sixteen when she learned that her father, Keith Jesperson, had been arrested for murder. He was later convicted as the Happy Face Killer. Melissa went on to become a New York Times bestselling author with her memoir Shattered Silence, a domestic abuse prevention advocate, and an Emmy-nominated investigative correspondent for Crime Watch Daily. She hosts the true crime podcast Life After Happy Face and is the real-life inspiration behind the Paramount+ drama series Happy Face, starring Annaleigh Ashford.
Michele is a New York Times bestselling coauthor, a Pushcart Prize nominee, and an editor with more than twenty years in publishing, with an MFA from Stony Brook University. She spent fifteen years as an acquisitions and developmental editor at houses including Macmillan, Hyperion, and McGraw-Hill Trade before founding Bookchic LLC, and her collaborations span Hachette, Penguin, Hay House, and HarperCollins, most recently including Gypsy-Rose Blanchard's memoir My Time to Stand. She has collaborated with Melissa across four books.
For Killer in the Family, Melissa and Michele spent six years with nine families who share something nobody chooses: someone they loved was responsible for something horrific. The book moves the focus away from the crimes themselves and onto the parents, children, siblings, and spouses left to carry the aftermath.
Margo, Melissa, and Michele discuss:
What it was like for Melissa's story to become public, and the years of shame that came before that
Why so many people reached out to Melissa afterward with the same message: I'm just like you
How they chose which families and relationships belonged in the book
How Michele earned enough trust with nine families to get material this personal
What Michele could see as an outsider that Melissa, so close to her own story, couldn't always see herself
How they handled it when two people's memories of the same moment didn't line up
The responsibility of sending a finished chapter back to the person who lived it
How families hold love and horror about the same person at the same time
The role media coverage plays in a family's grief and isolation
Knowing when it's time to stop telling your story
Killer in the Family is available now in print, ebook, and audiobook wherever books are sold.
Connect with Melissa and Michele:
https://michelem.net/
melissa.g.moore on TikTok
Melissa G. Moore (@melissag.moore)

Margo is joined by Dan Scott, co-founder and CEO of Spotlight Advisory Group, musician, lawyer, and longtime advisor to creatives. After decades spent both making art and advising some of the world's wealthiest individuals, Dan came to a powerful realization: having enormous wealth and experiencing financial freedom are not the same thing.
Today, Dan helps artists, musicians, actors, entrepreneurs, and other creatives use money as a tool to support their purpose rather than a scoreboard for measuring success. His forthcoming book, The Experience of Financial Freedom, explores what it looks like to build a life around creativity, fulfillment, and a deeply personal definition of "enough."
Margo and Dan discuss:
Why purpose (not money) is the starting point for designing a fulfilling creative life
What working with the ultra-wealthy taught Dan about the difference between wealth and true financial freedom
Defining what "enough" looks like instead of constantly moving the goalposts
Why budgeting can actually be a tool for greater creative freedom
The tension between making meaningful art and navigating industries built to monetize it
Letting go of society's default definitions of success, status, and achievement
Becoming the architect of your own experience through intentional choices
Thinking about legacy as something you create through the way you live—not just what you leave behind
Connect with Dan:
https://www.theexperienceoffinancialfreedom.com/
https://www.spotlightadvisorygroup.com/
https://www.spotlightadvisorygroup.com/blog

Margo is joined by Louie, better known as Louie's Loops, a self-taught crochet artist, designer, game creator, and founder of Club Crochet. For nearly 20 years, Louie has been turning his love of crochet into an ever-expanding creative world of amigurumi, tutorials, games, characters, and stories—all rooted in curiosity, play, and community.
Margo and Louie discuss:
Following curiosity and asking "what if?" as a creative practice.

Turning a self-taught crochet hobby into a career and creative business.

Challenging the idea of crochet as simply a "craft" rather than an art form.

Using play and experimentation to stay inspired and avoid burnout.

Building community through tutorials, storytelling, and shared creativity.

Expanding ideas beyond one medium into games, characters, animation, and more.

Creativity and handmade art in an increasingly digital and AI-driven world.

Bringing 20 years of ideas together through Crochet Goomis and Battle Goomis.

 
Connect with Louie:
www.TheGoomis.com
www.ClubCrochet.com
www.instagram.com/LouiesLoops