On navigating creative struggles with Federica Girola

Creative work today comes with both freedom and pressure. Between online noise and growing expectations, it’s easy to feel stuck or disconnected from your own voice.

Federica, who helps coordinate projects and people at auster, shares her take on navigating it all. She has a hand in almost everything - project management, content strategy, visual direction, social media. That’s why we call her our network fairy. 🧚‍♂️

You do a little bit of everything—content strategy, social media, visual direction, copywriting, and even relationship-building with artists. How do you juggle it all?

For me it’s stimulating - I’d get bored otherwise! Hahahah. I think what helps me juggle it all is a mix of strategy & organization + flexibility & creativity - a good balance between these elements. It’s about focus, strategy and creativity at the same time. It really depends on how your mind works, I think. Juggling between projects and clients can get overwhelming at times of course, so for me the key is to stay as organized and structured as possible, while still allowing for some flexibility.

What do you see as the biggest problem creatives are facing today, something that is unique to this generation?

Overwhelm and laziness. With social media and the digital world we get so many stimuli, every day all day, and if you don’t pay enough attention to how you use these digital means, it gets overwhelming. It becomes something that drains us, rather than inspires or charges us. It could even become discouraging, since we see so many creators and people out there who seem to be so successful, we might even feel like our work isn’t worth sharing, because there’s too much competition and everyone seems to have the perfect life. This can easily become an excuse not to commit, and this is how we become lazy, we allow ourselves to get distracted. And this is very unique to our generation I think, because in the past when people had an idea it was more likely they’d just go and share it, rather than spending so much time staring at other people’s ideas and engaging in distractions.

What does true visibility mean for a creative beyond metrics?

Networking and WOM are still the best marketing channels. True visibility is not social media: it is being connected with the right people, at the right time. Go to events, talk to strangers, shake hands, engage in conversations you’re interested in.

Digital platforms are reshaping how we create and share. How do we preserve authentic self-expression?

What does authenticity mean actually? From the dictionary: “the quality of being true”. To me, preserving authentic self-expression signifies doing what you like and being who you like, rather than trying to follow what everyone else is doing. Don’t even look at what other people are doing. Because if you do, you might end up creating something that it’s not truly authentic but that just tries to fill a gap - in an attempt to stand out.

Make peace with the fact that not everyone will like your work - and that’s totally ok, it’s just the way things are. Don’t expect anything to go viral on socials. Focus on your work and on connecting with the right people.

What kind of community do creatives need to thrive?

A community of people who can listen. We’re all so focused on ourselves and it’s rare to find people who are truly interested in what we’re saying. Look for people with different professional and geographical backgrounds as well.

What self-care rituals or practices do you think are essential for creatives?

BE CONSCIOUS. OBSERVE YOUR MENTAL PATHS.

Rituals and practices are very subjective. Maybe try to do something you like every day. Find at least 30 mins of your day to do nothing or do something you really enjoy.

I think also going offline for a few hours a week helps a lot for creativity and overall wellbeing. For example you could set aside every saturday afternoon to go completely offline. Or decide to disconnect from all digital devices after 9pm each day.