Heather Hodges, PhD

Heather Hodges, PhD I help organizations unlock their team's creative potential. I am a keynote speaker and an organizational psychologist.

I pioneered The Hodges 12 Types of Creative Genius™, a model that reveals how people naturally solve problems and drive innovation.

What would you say in a voicemail to yourself on graduation day?That's one of the questions I ask my guest on Tuesday's ...
06/05/2026

What would you say in a voicemail to yourself on graduation day?

That's one of the questions I ask my guest on Tuesday's episode of the I'm IN! podcast. In a year and a half of hosting this show, no conversation has meant more to me. And you’re about to see why.

Elijah Hodges is one year into his career as a Campaign Coordinator at Calvert Street Group in Nashville, and he is my youngest son. We sat down for a wide-ranging conversation about life after the cap and gown.

We explored what the generations ahead of him are getting right in the workplace. Where he sees how work gets done as broken or behind. The lesson this year taught him that no classroom could. And the advice he'd give a new graduate who feels a little lost.

We also unpack his Hodges 12 results. He's a Cultivator, Healer, and Strategist, and you can hear all three in how he talks about people, problems, and fixing what's broken.

I've had the honor of interviewing extraordinary guests on my podcast: researchers, executives, artists, authors. But no guest compares to this one.

S2E16 drops Tuesday, June 9 at 6am Central. Stay tuned!

May you be wildly creative in your life and leadership.

The most painful experience in any workplace isn’t failure. It’s the suffocating feeling that your gifts are going unsee...
06/02/2026

The most painful experience in any workplace isn’t failure. It’s the suffocating feeling that your gifts are going unseen and underutilized. Monica named exactly what I hope every leader walks away with. When you recognize the creative gifts of the people already on your team, everything changes. I'm so grateful to the 2026 SONO Symposium for the room to share this work.

Happy National Creativity Day! Creativity isn't a gift for the few. It's part of what it means to be human.May you be wi...
05/30/2026

Happy National Creativity Day!

Creativity isn't a gift for the few. It's part of what it means to be human.

May you be wildly creative in your life and leadership.

I saw something today that I can't stop thinking about.It was a piece titled "What do I fear?" It listed them out, one a...
05/30/2026

I saw something today that I can't stop thinking about.

It was a piece titled "What do I fear?" It listed them out, one after another. The fear of stagnation. The fear of being average. The fear of being forgotten, of being yesterday's news. The fear of dying without leaving a mark. And then it ended with this:

"These fears feed me. I love my fear."

I understand the sentiment. I do. But it broke my heart.

Because fear can only ever push you away from something. Fear is a monster behind you that keeps you moving, and the moment that monster stops chasing, you stop running. That is an exhausting way to live.

There is another option. A quieter, steady one.

It is the belief in your own creativity.

Belief doesn't push you away from a fear. It pulls you toward a calling. You don't need something chasing you when you already know the specific way you were wired to create. You can walk towards that work at a steady, unhurried pace for the rest of your life and never burn out, because you are not running. You are arriving.

So here is my answer to that piece.

What do I believe?
I believe I was made to create.
I believe I am not average. I am wonderfully made.
I believe the courage to create will outshine the fear of stagnation.
I believe I can go gently and still go forward.
I believe my creativity is not a hobby. It is how I become who I was made to be.
I believe the people I love don't need my fear. They need my fullness.
I believe "that's just the way it is" has never once been true about a creative person.
I believe I don't have to leave a mark. I get to leave a light.
I believe I was made to create.

This is why I built The Hodges 12 Types of Creative Genius. Not to manage anyone's fear, but to hand them the antidote to it. To show people the exact way they are wired to create, and to give them a pathway to believe in it.

The quiet, steady belief in your own creativity is a force more powerful than fear.

May you be wildly creative in your life and leadership.

05/27/2026

Hey California Home Health and Hospice colleagues! I'm heading to the desert in a few weeks, and I'd love to see you there.

I'm honored to keynote at the California Association for Health Services at Home(CAHSAH) Annual Conference & Expo in Rancho Mirage, where the association is celebrating 60 years of impact in care at home. Then. Now. Next.

On Tuesday, June 23 at 9am, I'll share a keynote, The Art & Science of Leading Innovation, and lead a breakout session, Thriving Through Change with LEGO® Serious Play®.

Catch the keynote, then come build with me. If your work is in home health, hospice, or home care, this is the room to be in. Registration link is in the comments.

Expect research, storytelling, and a couple of live speed paintings created right before your eyes.

If your work is in home health, hospice, or home care, this is the room to be in. Registration link is in the comments.

May you be wildly creative in your life and leadership. I'll see you soon!

05/20/2026

(Sound on - trust me Beatles fans)
The most painful professional experience isn't failure. It's that suffocating feeling that your greatest gifts are completely unseen.

And it happens all the time. In fact, four of the most creative people of the last century were overlooked, dismissed, and written off by the very institutions built to recognize talent.

One was called "certainly on the road to failure." One was told that only "one in a million" succeeds, and it would not be him. One was written off as factory worker material, at best. One was so often ill that his school simply gave up on him.

You know their names.

So how much creative genius are we still missing today? In our schools? Our organizations? Our teams? In ourselves?

Believe it or not, there is a creative genius sitting in your seat.

Take a look.
Stay wildly creative.

I am deeply honored to speak at the Wylie Rotary Club's Peace Summit on Monday, September 14.When the call came in from ...
05/19/2026

I am deeply honored to speak at the Wylie Rotary Club's Peace Summit on Monday, September 14.

When the call came in from my friend Bryan Brokaw CFP® I said yes before he finished the sentence. Sharing the stage with Roza Patterson, Esq., a UCLA Law professor and Rotary Peace Scholar, and Rev. Dr. Celestin Musekura, who transformed personal loss in the Rwanda genocide into a global ministry of reconciliation, is humbling.

My keynote is called The Art of Peace.

Here's the heart of it: to build a culture of peace, every one of us has to bring our creative gifts to the hard problems in front of us. Our differences aren't the obstacle. They're the raw material. When we recognize and unleash the particular way each of us is wired to solve problems, our collective creativity becomes our unified strength.

My goal is that every person walking out the door will their type of creative genius, and to leave ready to use their gifts to build a culture of peace and belonging where we can all flourish.

And because this is the Peace Summit, I'll be performing a brand-new speed painting, live on stage, so we can Imagine...

If you live or do business in Wylie or the surrounding communities, please come spend the day with us.

Register here: https://wylierotary.org/events/wylierotary.org-rotary-peace-summit/

I am excited to share that I signed a publishing contract for my next book today!"The 12 Types of Creative Genius: Unlea...
05/13/2026

I am excited to share that I signed a publishing contract for my next book today!

"The 12 Types of Creative Genius: Unleashing Human Creativity"

Coming Fall 2026

Here's why I wrote this book: The most painful professional experience isn't failure. It's the suffocating feeling that your greatest gifts are completely unseen.

Maybe someone missed your creative genius. Maybe a teacher looked right at you and didn't see it. Maybe a boss saw it clearly and felt threatened by it. Maybe you've spent years believing you're not creative.

But your creative genius is there. It's always been there.

The world cannot afford for it to stay hidden.

May you be wildly creative in your life and leadership.

Getting to sit down with these guys for a podcast was pure delight for me. I've known them for years but when I looked a...
05/05/2026

Getting to sit down with these guys for a podcast was pure delight for me. I've known them for years but when I looked at the Trifectas for Jay Duty and Scott Beard, I did an actual double take.

Jay is the COO of Maxwell TEC and he is a Connector • Communicator • Synthesizer. Scott is the Chief Strategy Officer and an Organizer • Designer • Strategist. Between them they embody half of the creative genius archetypes from The Hodges 12.

They've got their creative bases covered and I think it's one of the reasons they make such a great innovative team.

We recorded live at Mandalay Bay during the Interim HealthCare Inc. Franchise Partnership Conference. What I loved about this conversation is that it was three old friends talking about what it takes to innovate inside healthcare's most disruptive season.

Take a listen! Link in comments.

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05/04/2026

May the Fourth be with you! ✨

Take a brain break with me as I paint Anakin from this iconic scene.

What's pulling you away from your highest potential and your creative gifts today?

It's time to listen to the creative force inside you.

Do you have the courage to bring something new into the world?

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