What if the thing standing between you and your creative life isn't talent, but the story you've told yourself about who gets to be an artist? Ratatouille knows. Remy wasn't blocked by ability. He was blocked by a world that said a rat had no business in the kitchen. And that's exactly what Kirsten Hirst discovered when she stopped trying to recreate someone else's picture and finally started making her own.

Kirsten Hirst is the Director of Revenue Operations at RCG Law Group, a practicing collage artist, and the daughter of an architect and a writer. She has spent years sitting at the intersection of analytical thinking and creative identity, and in this conversation she unpacks why insecurity, not lack of talent, is the real block that keeps most people from ever owning the creative side of who they already are.

Using Pixar's Ratatouille as a powerful metaphor, Ryan and Kirsten dive into the belief that "not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere." Together they unpack how creativity shows up in unexpected places like business strategy, architecture, marketing, and personal growth.

3 Actionable Takeaways

1. Buy a mixed media journal for $8 to $10, grab some old books from the thrift store, and make one collage a day for a month. What you learn about your creative blocks will be more valuable than any class.

2. List your childhood favorites — food, movie, TV show, favorite outing — then start doing those things again. Stop outsourcing joy to some future version of your life and let yourself be a kid.

3. Try on the identity of an artist before it feels like it fits. It's not something you aren't. It's something you've been afraid to admit you already are.

Yes And Land explores the leadership lessons, relationship dynamics, and hard choices hidden in the stories we love. Hosted by Ryan Gregerson, a family law attorney at RCG Law Group, Disney enthusiast, and business coach for law firm owners at Altium Advisors, each episode connects familiar narratives to real-world wisdom you can actually use.

New episodes every Thursday.