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Universally Personal.

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Have you ever felt trapped by the pressure to always be consistent at the expense of actually being creative? Today's guest talks about knowing what she wanted to do at an early age and offers a beautiful, refreshing take on breaking tradition to stay authentic. Welcome to Universally Personal. I'm your host, Greg Allen. To the folks of Evansville, Indiana, Claire Ballard is affectionately known as Claire on the Air from her stellar days as a prominent local morning radio host. Today, she channels that audio and digital magic into her work as a busy social marketing manager at Claire Ballard Creative. Claire is a beautifully multifaceted soul who makes her home wherever her well-thought-out whimsy takes her. In this episode, we dive into what it truly means to pursue your passion and why rigid routines might be killing your creativity. Claire closes this episode with a deeply touching story about her late father that completely moves me every time I hear it. Get ready for the multifaceted, completely amazing Claire Balor.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

This is what I want to do. I found a picture of me on the beach. I was probably fourth grade, maybe a little younger, and I'm holding a shovel as a microphone. This is what I want to do. Through a period of a lot of um introspection, decided radio and television was something I wanted to go to college for. And I graduated from with once I decided that within about a year and a half, it was a quick turnaround with that. Before I graduated, even got a full-time job doing the night show. And that was the first of several things that happened that really it was like doors just kind of opened. Um so I did the night show for a few years. This is what I want to do. And then my first job outside of Evansville was Las Vegas. Packed up the car. Um my dog went with me, my mom drove out with me, and we found me an apartment and bought a mattress and the necessities, you know, and I did um the midday show. I ended up doing middays and afternoons, those two different day parts, so it was daytime. And I did some other, I had some other like office positions as well. I was a music director, assistant program director. So I did um I like scheduled music, met with record reps, uh, helped organize radio station promotions and all of that in between being on air and a couple stations. So it was kind of funny how things shook out. It was really cool. This is what I want to do. It was a big leap, and I learned a lot, so I don't regret that decision, but it was a tough market jump.

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This is what I want to do.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

I like got into this right out of college, and it was a slow build, right? Like I did the night show, the least listened to day part, nobody really knew me. And then in Las Vegas, you're like, you may be a local radio host, but you're not a celebrity. Everybody else is a celebrity. All of the artists that perform on the strip, and all of the professional chefs that open restaurants on the strip, and so um, you know, there weren't as many like opportunities as maybe there are in other cities. Anyway, I did that for uh about a year and a half, two years before I ended up coming back. It's kind of funny how things shook out. But then when I came back to Evansville, I got to be um do the morning show. So morning show, morning drive in a small city, especially the one that I'm from, born and raised in. So I had a lot of connections already, and a lot of friends and family members and former teachers and all kinds of people like that listened to the show, and that was a blast. This is what I want to do. I don't think I ever had any trouble with the local celebrity part. Um it's not like I couldn't go anywhere without being recognized or anything. And if people did, it was nice. I found a picture of me on the beach. I was probably fourth grade, maybe a little younger, and I'm holding a shovel as a microphone. This is what I want to do.

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This is what I want to do.

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Claire's journey through exploring her passions is definitely still moving forward. But for a lot of creators, the pressure to maintain a rigid, consistent brand can make authenticity feel almost impossible. Next, Claire talks about staying true to yourself by actively avoiding that consistency trap.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

No one's more critical of me than me, but I still like myself. Yeah. I think living a really authentic life is something that means a lot to me, and it's benefited me in a lot of ways. Even if that means doing things that traditional society maybe doesn't do. No one's more critical of me than me, but I still like myself. I really value authenticity and realness and embracing just who you are and trying not to let outside actors weigh too heavily on who you are as a person. And I take this from years of radio where it was pulled out of me to share things about my life or storytell and things like that, and share myself on the air. I think living a really authentic life is something that means a lot to me. And it's benefited me in many ways, even if that means doing things that traditional society maybe doesn't do. No one's more critical of me than me, but I still like myself. I don't know that I've done anything that out of the box, but just I've just, whenever I've felt called to, whatever felt real to me, authentic to me, um, I have been able to embrace that. And I think again it comes from that that radio training maybe that laid the groundwork for that. But that's something that I'm I put a lot of value on. I think living a really authentic life is something that means a lot to me, and it's benefited me in a lot of ways, even if that means doing things that traditional society maybe doesn't do. So there are a lot of people that follow me that I don't know personally that I maybe even chat with. You know, they message me in responsive things and we've had conversations, but this girl messaged me and she said she didn't agree with what I was saying, and I forget how she said it, but she said, You're you're weird, you've always been weird, or something. And I was like, Yeah, that's right. Like, yes, I always have, and everyone is weird. And there was something about being able to let that roll off and understand, like, she might be right, and that's like, what am I gonna do about it? I really value authenticity and a realness and embracing just who you are. No one's more critical of me than me, but I still like myself.

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Hearing how Claire protects her creative sparks really shows how intentionally she protects her heart and energy. I know that deep sense of heart is tied to her roots. We'll end with a beautiful story about her father. I feel like it perfectly captures where Claire's capacity for so much love and whimsy comes from. Until next time, be fit, stay sharp, and listen closely.

SPEAKER_01 9:11

Not everything gold can say. So you enjoy the time that you have and you enjoy the people that you have. I was probably fourth grade, maybe a little younger. No matter how great it is, it stays forever. Not everything gold can stay. I never talked to anyone after my dad died. I was 24 or so. There's something to embracing the fact that this is not forever, right? And these these things that we value a lot of times are just things and nothing gold can stay. He was a Neil Young fan, and I found a lot of um guitar chords and lyrics and things, music that he left behind after he passed. He was learning guitar and stuff, but it was um Heart of Gold, that song. So I have you keep me searching for a Heart of Gold, um, those music notes tattooed on my wrist. So I I connect that with him a lot. There's something to embracing the fact that this is not forever, right? And these these things that we value a lot of times are just things, and not everything gold can stay. I found a picture of me and my dad on the beach. I was probably fourth grade, maybe a little younger. So you enjoy the time that you have, you enjoy the people that you have, and then gold can stay universally.