HOUSE OF CHANGE, How to fuel creativity and make it a serious business? Interview with Marisa Burn, co-founder of the House of Change

People say that love makes the world go round, but I disagree with that statement. I think love is like the ignition system of a car. It can start the engine, but the fuel that makes the world go round is Creativity. Creativity drives progress. Creativity is the vehicle of self-expression and part of what makes us who we are. And yet, why is it so hard to define creativity today? Perhaps because it exists in so many forms. You don’t need to be a composer or a poet to be creative. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs who can’t even draw or paint are considered the most creative business owners. 

I create, therefore I am

So what is creativity and does it really exist in everyone of us, waiting to be awakened? Why is creativity important in business, how can we fuel creativity within our teams but also within ourselves? All of these questions I am discussing with Marisa Burn, an artist and an activist, who runs a holistic design agency and the brand Burninglights, where she creates her own products at the interface of design, art and mindfulness in order to cultivate deceleration and a mindful lifestyle in everyday life. Marisa and her sister Raphaela Pichler, who in 2019 was nominated Photographer of the Year by the Swiss Photo Academy for her art project “Currency”. As an artist, she deals with values ​​and currencies and critically addresses events and trade in the creative industries.

Marisa Burn & Raphaela Pichler founded House of Change in 2019. They act as initiators, moderators and incubators to advance creative processes and to help shape inspiring and authentic brands and personalities.

Tsitaliya: How did you came up with the idea for the House of Change? 

Marisa Burn: We have founded the consulting and education company House of Change in 2019. 

In our many years of consulting and development work, we have observed that at management level, the zeitgeist was often not understood. Teams fail to understand that innovation, marketing and communication measures are part of the change process, in which we, as a society, are involved. 

That’s why we wanted to create a company that translates the zeitgeist, transforms the actions and activities into needs and desires, and fosters an understanding of the digital transformation and its relationships.

The House of Change Festival is a showcase of that cosmos we live and work in, and a chance to get connected with other creative minds. 

Tsitaliya: What is your main goal this year with the House of Change? 

Marisa Burn: Our main goal is to motivate more people for a creative and holistic change. To support them in their innovation processes so that they can actively shape working and living together and become pioneers in their industry. 

We want to build a creative community that tries to find new solutions for complex problems and can exchange and support each other in this endeavor. Creativity should be applied in all areas of our work, so we want to introduce creativity to other sectors and train them to use it in their own endeavors.

Tsitaliya: Who is the Festival, organised by House of Change, meant for?

Marisa Burn: The festival is intended for anyone interested in seeking new, creative input and wanting to further their education and broaden their horizons. 

The festival is aimed at creative minds and changemakers as well as people from all industries who are looking for creative solutions and alternative inspirations.

Every Human Being is an Artist 

Tsitaliya: You and your sister are both creative entrepreneurs, artists, who make music, create visuals, initiate change with different clubs and workshops. In an attempt to define creativity for those who say I am not really creative, where does creativity start and end? 

Marisa Burn: Creativity, in our opinion, is an attitude.  Every decision we make in our life can be creative, what we wear, how we spend our break, how we solve a problem, which path we take. It has many facets and has a lot to do with awareness. Are we aware of the moment we are in? Creativity also means taking different perspectives, being flexible with circumstances, experimenting and enduring mistakes.

To come back to your question, creativity can be everywhere and nowhere. It is in the eye of the beholder or the person creating. 

As Joseph Beuys used to say “every human being is an artist” we see the potential of creative power in people and the associated potential to use it in everyday life individually and for society. 

Tsitaliya: What needs to change in our system and world so creatives are fairly paid and thrive? When they don’t have to settle for regular jobs to earn their bread and butter…when their passions are not just side jobs? 

MarisA Burn: Good question, there are certainly several factors involved:  Standing, Pricing and Pride.

The first one is a systemic one, the creative industry has to position itself better and disenchant itself. You’re not just kissed by the muse, you invest years in education and study time. 

Creative processes can be made transparent and translated into understandable bites. 

Prices must be made reasonable. Working for the portfolio should be banned. We buy fairtrade products and bash fast fashion chains and every time we use a creative service we want to pay for it with promises of opportunities and visibility or push the price. 

The understanding of the creative industry must change internally by showing the added value of the work and where it can be applied. We should shower our students and learners with pride. The world needs creative solutions not supposedly simple ones. 

Creative Courage

Tsitaliya: Why do you think creative people come so often to this points when they feel creatively stuck. Is this something you experience too. What do you do in such moments to move the needle forward? 

Marisa Burn: Always drawing from yourself can be tiring. I experience this a lot and it is part of the creative process. 

A healthy creative process also needs downtime. It needs time for inspiration, in this long research and inspiration phase you constantly open yourself up to then turn to individual ideas to open them up again. So you go into a kind of analysis process with the inspirations you have collected and need time to take these individual topics apart and put them together again.  This time of not knowing exactly in which direction it goes is something you have to be able to surrender to  as a creative person. This can be extremely tiring. You can’t command ideas out of the blue. That can sometimes be very exhausting. In addition, as an entrepreneur you often have to deal with financial, administrative and resource bottlenecks in order to implement ideas. 

It is important that you learn to endure these waiting periods, where you do not know exactly how to proceed or where you are not satisfied with the solutions. It helps to exchange ideas with other creative people and to ask for help and input. Sometimes you just need distance.

The biggest enemies of creativity are stress, fear, telling yourself that you are not creative and not daring to express yourself.

Marisa Burn

Tsitaliya: What did you learn from the first House of Change edition? 

Marisa Burn: We have experienced how important a community is for exchange and further development and how important it is to build and maintain this community. Most of the time we learn from each other, peer learning was and is always a topic in all our workshops. 

Tsitaliya: Marisa you do so many things, you work on so many projects, you are a communication strategist, painter, you interview creatives…what gives you energy? What nurtures your spirit? 

Marisa Burn: Working with myself, looking inside myself is what nourishes me. I too am not always bursting with inspiration and sometimes you lose your healthy habits. Meditation and spending time in nature helps me. I like to explore the forces of nature, stones, trees and plants. Music is also an important element in my life. Singing and making music frees me and makes me feel alive. 

Tsitaliya: What was your wish for 2023? 

Marisa Burn: Faith and fearlessness.