Instagram story viewer> @heather_willems> Posts

Heather Willems

@heather_willems

1.3K

followers

2407

following

📕 Author #drawyourbigidea
👁 Visual Strategist
🔊 Speaker
✏️ CEO @twolinestudios
👶🏾 Adoptive Mother
Helping leaders gain Clarity Through Creativity®

POSTS STORIES REELS

Dead pets.
C-suit conflict
Music that facilitates
Art as a truth serum

When you give 5 creative facilitators a marker and say dive….this groups asks, “how deep?!”

@sitarify, @theadamrosendahl, @peterdurand, Denise Blanc and myself gathered for 3 hours, drawing together, listening to Arjun’s music and exploring questions about collaboration, @hatchexperience, facilitation, art as business and life itself.

My heart and mind are full! I feel inspired to use drawing not only as a way to communicate clear ideas but to bring community together and forge new friendships. Ah! What an incredible afternoon!

#drawingtogether #creativecommunication #facilitatingfriendship @lateniteart @_alphachimp_ @twolinestudios by @heather_willems

Saturday morning found walking home from @ink_ish.magshop and @stepwisecoffee

I love the community that gathers and inspires. by @heather_willems

Everyone is creative.

I believe it.

Creative Mornings believes it.

I walked in the room at @paikkamn in St. Paul and made a B-line for the white board and drew up the answer to the question "What can you Offer?"

I think I PASS for an extrovert but my comfort is with a marker in hand facilitating something....

My offering was the visual notes of @mrjross's 20 min talk about Altitude....or rather shifting perspectives to see where you are and what you want to become.

He spoke about doing the PERSONAL WORK that makes a leader, knowing where you are, who you want to become, and why you are doing it (in Jesse's case, it is FOR his family and because of his mother's example.)

My favorite part of his talk was in the Q/A when a sales executive in the crowd asked what questions to ask when networking.

Here is Jesse's favorite conversation starters:

- What GOOD happened today?
- What do you LOVE in your life?
- How can I serve you?
- How do we make this work?
- What do you REALLY want?

Conversation Gold!
Great seeing familiar faces and making a few new friends!

@minneapolis_cm @drewgneiser @samutne @swissmiss by @heather_willems

"Thought leadership is NOT thought leadership."

A room full of marketers was harder on its own content than on AI.

That's what the sticker boards said at SF Tech Week. "Most thought leadership is NOT thought leadership" was buried in green AGREE stickers. "AI is making marketing more boring" went red.

But a sticker can't tell you why.

So we brought a social listening board and asked for the story. A line (of people) formed. The board couldn't hold them all.

The stickers did real work. By the time people reached our board, they had taken a position and were ready to explain it.

Thank you to clients, BigValley Marketing. Next time, we'll bring a bigger board.

#SFTechWeek #GraphicRecording #VisualFacilitation @bigvalleymarketing @twolinestudios by @heather_willems

Welcome to Spring Break!

Snuck in a quick visit with @polyfluid to see his sculptures on display. We nearly got kicked out for laughing so loud (wouldn’t be the first time.) That’s what happens when you are friends for 2 decades!

I loved seeing so much work incorporating text…either AS the image or to carry a poem.

I wished I had carved out the entire afternoon to spend with the work.

#springbreak2026 #textasimage by @heather_willems

Graphic recorders UNITE! What a blast being with this beautiful crew of artists! We laughed so hard talked about everything from new books coming out, animation series, the sanitation department, meditation, mediumship, motherhood, and pet parenting.

I’m still filled with so much joy! by @heather_willems

What an absolute JOY to spend time with this glorious human.

I feel more myself when I am with @jenndier, being in her home and studio I feel like my entire being is wrapped in a hug.

Jenn, I’m so inspired by your passion for art making and community building focused on women supporting women through creativity and making.

I love you so much and am grateful for our (nearly) 20 years of friendship and chosen sisterhood.

#chosenfamily #Hudson #ladypainters by @heather_willems

Thrilled to be chosen for Hatch 100

AND

being part of the "HATCH ART DEPARTMENT"

AND

offering a workshop on visual storytelling.

Can't wait to see the collaboration, creativity and positive change that emerges this week!

#HATCH @HATCHexperience // #HATCHaBetterWorld by @heather_willems

Simplicity draws out understanding.

Early in graphic recording careers, I see people frantically trying to capture everything that is said. I get it, it’s important to capture the ideas!

BUT when everything is captured, nothing is clear.

It takes the art of synthesis and spacial mapping to help DRAW OUT the main, then support it with a detail, a phrase or a visual metaphor that anchors the understanding.

It’s not easy, simply capturing the most important ideas, gracefully and with ease, takes practice….sometime 20 years of practice.

But the simplicity is what helps people understand.

#closeupexperience #cueday53 by @heather_willems

Yup….I was not paying attention.

Last night out with @inspiredpurposecoach and I was caught not listening.

We were talking about being present….and I was anything but that. I was looking for the next smart thing to say, thinking about the stories I could tell and exercise antidote to emphasize my point….

I realized then and there, that PRESENCE is a practice.

We know what to do…but it doesn’t pay off unless we put it into action.

Presence is a PRACTICE.

#closeupexperience #cueday49 by @heather_willems

We are living in uncertain times. How often do we have to hear it?!?

While we can’t creatively solve all the problems…we can help.

Distress sends our brains into fight, flight or freeze mode. In this state, our senses narrow, we experience tunnel vision, our clarity diminishes and we may only remember the most emotionally charged moments.

At these times, especially in Q1 of this year, local clients brought @twolinestudios in to map conversation, make listening visible and document the action items and next steps.

Clients say we helped to bring people back into the room when distracted, focus the flow of conversation and help teams remember their commitments….even when the outside world is very upsetting.

Visualnotes, are not entertainment, they are tools to help foster productivity, even when the world around us is very distracting.

#cueday45 #closeupexperience #visualnotes #uncertainty by @heather_willems

We are living in uncertain times. How often do we have to hear it?!?

While we can’t creatively solve all the problems…we can help.

Distress sends our brains into fight, flight or freeze mode. In this state, our senses narrow, we experience tunnel vision, our clarity diminishes and we may only remember the most emotionally charged moments.

At these times, especially in Q1 of this year, local clients brought @twolinestudios in to map conversation, make listening visible and document the action items and next steps.

Clients say we helped to bring people back into the room when distracted, focus the flow of conversation and help teams remember their commitments….even when the outside world is very upsetting.

Visualnotes, are not entertainment, they are tools to help foster productivity, even when the world around us is very distracting.

#cueday45 #closeupexperience #visualnotes #uncertainty by @heather_willems