Menu
I've always been curious and adventurous
And I bet you’re the same (which is why you’re here)
CURIOSITY HAS TAKEN ME TO SOME INCREDIBLE PLACES
You know that kid in primary school who all the teachers love? They do their homework early, never miss a class and seem to do EVERY extracurricular activity?
Yep, you guessed it. That was me. Always sitting in the front row, smiling brightly and befriending every new kid that arrived. But appearances can be deceiving.
I was hiding the fact that my mother was an alcoholic and we were living on the poverty line. What I lacked in emotional support at home, I made up for by overachieving at school. Specifically in anything creative – music, painting, writing, you name it. I won state-wide poetry competitions, performed in local plays and learned the flute and clarinet. I couldn’t get enough!
I had found a safe haven in the Creative Process
I began writing obsessively.
As a teenager, I kept a journal where I wrote one page every single night, right before bed. It was a way to get my thoughts and emotions out of my head by putting them on paper.
In many ways, I was acting as my own therapist, processing the trauma of my immediate environment as it was happening. I was researching myself, trying to understand the nature of my existence and find some meaning in it all.
We're all on a quest to make meaning
We're all on a quest to make meaning
At 18, I went to Monash University in Melbourne with the grand idea of being an art critic. I was fascinated by the relationship between words and images. I wanted to harness the power of language to affect change and help other people find meaning in their lives.
As my studies concluded, I found myself drawn into the depth and rigour of postgraduate study. But there was an inner voice screaming out for a break. It was time for me to LIVE.
A dear friend asked me one day: “do you want to go backpacking around the world with me?” I had never really thought about travel up to this point, but in many ways I had been travelling through my own consciousness and creativity since I could remember.
On the road, I found my tribe.
I met other curious and adventurous people, just like me, in every place we went. It sparked a passion in me for meaningful conversations, cultural exchange and touching the depths of our human experience.
This is when I first learned that you can create the life you want. And that the external world is a direct reflection of your inner world – in both positive and negative ways.
But I wasn’t content to wander the globe aimlessly. I couldn’t ignore the artist within me – she was itching to continue her journey of discovery.
I HIT POSTGRADUATE STUDY FULL TILT.
I was working at Buck’s Rock Summer Camp in the USA when I completed a Masters program in writing. I did it all online because I wanted to travel at the same time.
I felt I had only just scratched the surface of what I wanted to say about creativity. I wrote my first book of poetry, called “Glass Confetti”, about my half-sister who passed away in a car accident. We had never met, but I grieved that relationship and turned it into art.
Then I did the unthinkable – a doctorate.
When I was about a year into my PhD project, right after a really massive presentation to my school, my mum passed away. It was one of the most shocking experiences of my life. And, needless to say, one of the most heartbreaking.
But immediately I knew I had to tell our story. It was one of complicated emotions, addiction and trauma. Everything I had done up until that point had led me here.
I ended up creating an artist’s book called “M/Other” that retold my childhood trauma through the lens of post-traumatic growth (PTG) and the creative process. You can read it all online, but ultimately it was a labour of love that cemented my loyalty to the practise of creativity.
But I wasn't satisfied with higher education
Mostly because I had gone as far as I could go. Spending my 30s working in academia just didn’t feel right. My gut was calling me to something bigger.
I had worked on and off in creative agencies since 2012, like Weave Web Communications and Greenhaus, but it wasn’t until I found Avion Communications that I really hit my stride.
I got such a kick out of working with business owners and small teams, articulating things they simply couldn’t see because they were too close to their brand.
So I put my creativity and research skills to work.
I soon shot through the ranks and became Creative Director, mentoring the team of writers and leading big strategic content projects. I was large and in charge, and boy – did it feel good!
But it didn’t take long for that creative urge to return. After all, I used work to escape the pain I was still processing after my mum’s death. And, to be frank, writing content for big corporates just didn’t feel congruent with what I knew I was here to do on this planet.
Then I Took An Online Mastermind That changed my life
Then I Took An Online Mastermind That changed my life
I spent four glorious months in a group coaching program with other incredible female entrepreneurs and I was hooked. I knew what kind of life I wanted and how to get there.
In July 2019, I left my full-time agency job and in early 2020 (right before the ‘panini’), I started Marion Piper Creative. And let me tell you, it’s been one hell of a ride ever since.
I’m here to hold space for you so you can figure out what living a truly creative life means.
I’m passionate about starting a new, more creatively fuelled conversation about trauma and growth. Why?
Because if you’re anything like me, you don’t want what you’ve been through to define you. You don’t want your trauma to hold you back – maybe, just maybe, you want to learn how to turn your pain into purpose.
Together We Can make magic
CREATIVITY IS THE ANTIDOTE TO ANY METAPHORICAL 'POISON' WE MAY KNOWINGLY (OR UNKNOWINGLY) INGEST.
When you hear the words “why is this happening to me” or “nothing makes sense anymore” blurt out of your mouth, I want you to know something:
THERE IS ALWAYS ANOTHER WAY OUT.
Creativity is a practice of connecting the dots in new and interesting ways that’s available to you, especially in your hardest, most painful moments.
You can ‘spiral up’ in life – but you’ve gotta get creative.
And guess what? I can be there with you, every step of the way. Whether that’s as your creativity coach, helping you dismantle blocks and build momentum. Or the truth-telling voice in your head, taking you to parts of yourself you’ve buried (or long since forgotten about).
You matter, you’re not alone and together we can find a way out of the ‘shit pit’ and into the light 
you Didn't come this far
to just come this far
It’s time to make your pain a creative offering to the world.
you didn't come this far
to just come this far
It’s time to make your pain a creative offering to the world.
