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Nicole Velik. The Ideas Bodega

@theideasbodega

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Speaker on Creativity SXSW💡
Founder of The Ideas Bodega⚡️
Host of CreativeMornings @sydney_cm
Host of Creativity Unpacked the podcast

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✨ What turns a good idea into something that actually creates impact?

I joined @creativemorning Sydney at @thecommons for a morning of creativity, connection and ideas with @elbenjamino, founder of @republicofeveryone and @goodtrepreneur_ Hosted by Nicole Velik from @theideasbodega

One thought from Ben really stayed with me:
Creativity should ultimately help create a better world. 🌏

That resonated with me. Through @waiyindesigns, I work across creative direction, events, experiences and community building and I'm always thinking about how creativity can connect people, encourage participation and create meaningful experiences.

Ben shared his 5 survival fundamental for turning ideas into impact:

💡 Have a purpose — solve a real problem.
💡 Put your idea in one sentence — if people don't understand it, they can't get behind it.
💡 Use design to your advantage — make your idea engaging and accessible.
💡 Find your believers — you don't need to convince everyone.
💡 Find your tribe — community can take an idea much further than you can alone.

And one more that I loved:
📣 Don't be silent.

If you believe in something, you need to communicate it, advocate for it and give others the opportunity to become part of it.

Another great reminder was that serious ideas don't always need to be communicated seriously.Make it interesting. Make it engaging. Give people a reason to care and participate.

And, of course, one of my favourite parts of @sydney_cm is the people. ❤️

Wonderful to connect and catch up with @annikrau, @pamelapilawa, Haley Johnson, Alison Bathurst-Thorburn, @bernadette.getz, @cassandra_oscar_music, @merinda.design, @clairescobie and Bo Virkelyst Jensen.

Which takeaway resonates with you most? And if you were there, what would you add? 👇

#CreativeMornings #CreativityForGood #CreativeCommunity #CommunityBuilding #WaiYinDesigns

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Sydney! 🧡 What a beautiful night sharing stories of all the wrongs that went right

Thank you to our amazing audience, storytellers and special guest host @schafted 💫

#generationwomen

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Sydney, this show is about the mistakes we're glad we made. 🙌

This August we're diving into My Best Mistake. Six women sharing the failures, missteps and left turns that became the best things that ever happened to them…because sometimes the mess is the whole point.

Our Storyteller Line-up:

Team 20s: Luna Wu is an advocate supporting people with disabilities from multicultural communities, who relocated from China to Australia in 2024 and works to advance social equity, inclusion and community empowerment through lived experience and culturally responsive engagement.

Team 30s: Kate Crowhurst is the host of the Feminist Money podcast, a policy professional by day who makes money a feminist issue by night, challenging why women earn less, grow less wealth and retire into less.

Team 40s: Nicole Velik is a creativity and innovation speaker, facilitator and founder of The Ideas Bodega. A three-time SXSW Sydney speaker and host of Creativity Unpacked and CreativeMornings Sydney, she's spent 18 years helping clients including Nike, Apple, Canva, LEGO, Spotify and the United Nations unlock creative thinking.

Team 50s: Lou Johnson has spent 30 years in publishing, shaping and sharing stories for hundreds of authors, brands and businesses. A few surprise life gear shifts led her to start sharing her own — once she realised they might help others facing the same challenges.

Team 60s: Yumi Lee is CEO of the Older Women's Network NSW, a feminist organisation advancing the rights, dignity and economic security of older women, after years spent supporting women's and children's safety in Nepal and Vietnam.

Team 70s+: Norma Christian grew up in a poor Edinburgh tenement and enlisted in the army at 17, launching a nursing career that took her to Germany. After marrying, raising three children and becoming a single parent, she gave up alcohol in 1983, beginning a new life of sobriety.

📍 Beresford, Surry Hills
🗓 Wednesday 26 August 2026
⏰ Doors 6:30pm | Show 7:00–9:00pm
🎟 Tickets on sale now: link in bio

#generationwomenaustralia #genwomenaus #generationwomenaustralia #generationwomensydney #generationwomensyd #gwsydney

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I was thinking about @wildfemmes the other day and why I still love it so much 🫶🏻

I think it’s really special taking something that feels hard or complicated and making something beautiful out of it.

Our bodies can be such a loaded thing, can’t they? We’re constantly being told how we should look, how we should age, what we should change, what we should fix. Then you have kids, your body changes again, you get older, and there’s this weird pressure to somehow fight all of it.

I made Wildfemmes partly because I wanted to look at women and bodies differently. Not trying to make them perfect or younger or more acceptable. Just women as they actually are, in all the different stages and versions of themselves.

And honestly, I think I needed that too.

What started as a photography project has become so much more than I ever imagined. The photographs, the women I’ve met, the conversations, the exhibitions, the community, the places I’ve travelled to, seeing the work hanging in people’s homes and businesses. That part has been pretty special.

There’s also something very satisfying about taking something you might once have felt self-conscious about and turning it into something you’re genuinely proud of.

Not because you’ve finally become the “right” version of yourself, but because you’ve decided you quite like who you are now 💥

So I suppose this is your little reminder that you don’t have to wait until you’re thinner, younger, fitter, less tired, more anything.

You’re allowed to like yourself now - That’s always been the heart of Wildfemmes for me. 🤍

And to all the people, organisations, communities, and places I’ve connected and created with… I am forever grateful (these images are just a snapshot) 🙌

#wildfemmes #empoweredwomen #selfacceptance #bodylove #fineartphotography

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Thank you Nicole Velik @theideasbodega for an incredibly engaging and interactive “Embrace the Chaos - The Unexpected Path to Breakthrough Ideas” session at ARN Sydney this week 🩷

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🌟 Feature Fridays | Creating Opportunities for Connection ✨

Feature Fridays is all about celebrating creativity, collaboration and connection. This week is especially exciting because in just one week's time, I'll be hosting the very first Creative Community Catch-Up! 🎉

Over the past few years, I've been fortunate to be part of inspiring communities including @sydney_cm , @sh8pe_shifters , Sydney Design Thinking (SydDT), @flourish_networking_ , @artpharmacy , @creativeplusbusiness , as well as events hosted by @cityofryde and @innerwestcouncil

Each one has introduced me to incredible people, opened new opportunities, sparked genuine friendships and left me feeling inspired.

One thing I've often been told is that I have a gift for bringing people together.

Whether it's introducing two people who later collaborate, connecting creatives with new opportunities, or simply creating a welcoming space where conversations happen naturally, it's something that genuinely brings me joy.

So I thought... why not create a community of my own?

Creative Community Catch-Up is a relaxed, informal gathering for creatives, entrepreneurs, artists, designers, performers, makers and curious minds.

✨ No awkward networking.
✨ No sales pitches.
✨ No pressure.

Just great conversations, genuine connections and the opportunity to meet like-minded people.

Because sometimes, one conversation can change everything.

🤝 A new friendship.
🎨 A creative collaboration.
💼 A future client.
🚀 Even a new career opportunity.

My hope is that this is just the beginning of a community that continues to grow into regular gatherings where creativity, collaboration and friendships flourish.

If this sounds like your kind of community...

💬 Comment "CREATIVE" below and I'll send you the details. Hope to see you soon!

#FeatureFridays #WaiYinDesigns #CreativeCommunity #CommunityOverCompetition #CreativeSydney

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This month our global theme was CURATE. There was no better person to bring this to life for us than Emilya Colliver from Art Pharmacy. @the.artcurator @artpharmacy

Emilya broke down the theme in three ways. Curating our careers, our spaces and our communities. It was incredibly insightful, relevant and full of wisdom we can all apply. Thank you Emilya for delivering the talk we all needed! ✨❤️

A huge thank you to everyone who came and our lovely volunteers. Also to our partners @thecommons and @theideasbodega

We hope to see you again soon!

Photography by @cherny_cherry and @colevelik

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A shooting star 💫 card for Nicole!
Happy birthday Nicole! We love you. The kids are so glad the card arrived safely in Sydney. 🫰🏻🫰🏻
I hope you loved opening it and felt so much love from us 💙💙

PS Miso 🐕 stole pieces from the cutting and my mum threw them in the bin and I had to rescue them.

#craft #handmadecard #papercollageart #shootingstars #birthday

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How does an event like Sydney Creative Mornings come to life? We have asked the host @theideasbodega about how she became involved in the organisation and what it means to her:

”I started Creative Mornings because I was looking for a way to contribute. I believe that when you contribute in a way that aligns with what you love and your purpose, you naturally do your best work. Creative inspiration is absolutely what I live for.

Why is it important to me? There are different layers.

On one level, it’s a form of creative expression and a meaningful way to give back. On another, it’s what it stands for that I love most. It creates spaces where people feel at home: welcomed, inspired, and connected. There’s a kind of magic in these mornings.

There aren’t many places where you can simply show up, feel that level of inspiration, meet incredible people, share coffee and croissants — and have it all be free. That’s something incredibly important to Tina Roth Eisenberg, the founder of Creative Mornings: that it always remains free and accessible to everyone.”

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Last Friday, Designer Michel Ferreira exploded onto our stage with his incredible energy, enthusiasm, captivating stories and pearls of wisdom! @multimichel

Michels talk was all about “Gambiarra” a Portuguese word used in Brazil to describe the feeling of getting creative with just what’s available to you in any moment. It might not be the best solution but it’s a solution! And it’s creative. He shared “Gambiarra” stories from his own life, the people of Brazil and companies he’s worked for.

Thank you Michel for your incredible talk, and for teaching us one of the most powerful lessons in creativity. To embrace constraints and hard times as they can be the best fuel for creativity.

A huge thank you to our partners @thecommons and @theideasbodega. Thanks to the volunteers. You rock! And for everyone who came out and made this morning so special ⚡️🙏❤️‍🔥

Event pics taken by the lovely Irina @cherny_cherry and @theideasbodega

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Thank you Frankie! We couldn’t have thought of a better person to bring our February theme CAMINO to life! Thank you for sharing your incredible journey creating @thedesignkids and your mind blowing 5 month journey walking the PCT trail from Mexico to Canada 🤯! @frankieratford

So much inspiration. Frankie left us feeling like anything’s possible 🙏✨

Thank you to Miriam @miriamlieb for a special performance sharing an original song and playing the Kora! 🙏❤️

Thanks to everyone who came along! Thanks to our volunteers and a special thank you to @thecommons for hosting us every month.

Photos by @blue_couches and @theideasbodega 📸

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SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENT! 📣

We are thrilled to have the brilliant @frankieratford join us this month. Frankie is a globally recognised designer, educator, serial adventurer and best known as founder of The Design Kids.

✨Frankie will speak on the theme Camino. She will talk about living the creative path, her gutsy experience walking the entire Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and her creative philosophies on life. ✨

⚡️❤️‍🔥This is an event not to be missed! Link in bio. Register now!

Join us
📅 Friday 13th February
📍 The Commons Chippendale
⏰ 8:30 doors open till 10am

About Frankie,

Frankie Ratford is an Australian graphic designer, educator, and creative community builder best known as the founder of The Design Kids, a global platform connecting emerging designers with industry professionals.

With a love for design education and travel, Frankie has inspired thousands through her talks, workshops, and online initiatives. She undertook a six year roadtrip to 33 countries to build The Design Kids and when she finally sold it last year, she totalled over 500,000 designers who’s lives she had impacted on their own design journeys.

She also created Designer’s Bootcamp, an immersive program that takes 20 creatives to exotic locations to redesign their careers and life, and a very popular Creative Residency program on Magnetic Island, inviting over 450 creatives to come and create on a beautiful tropical island.

Never one to stay still, Frankie has spent two decades traveling the world, meeting her design heroes and visiting 100 countries. Her favourite possessions are her passport, a small backpack, and her van for adventures.

In 2024, she took five months off to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, a 4,265-kilometer journey from Mexico to Canada, a single path across the length of the USA, to grieve the sudden loss of her father, reflect on the first 40 years of her life and make big plans for the next forty!

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