Jessica Carson

Where neuroscience meets soulful creativity

The professional (but never boring) bit

Jessica Carson is an author, educator, and creative psychology innovator whose work lives at the juicy edge of science, selfhood, and the sacred. With a deep background in psychology and entrepreneurship, she explores how authenticity, individuality, and inner conflict shape the creative mind, and what it really takes to stay sane while changing the world. She is the author of *Wired This Way*, a groundbreaking book on the paradoxes of creative minds, and *Full Color* (forthcoming), which explores how embracing contradiction can help us live in deeper alignment with our full, vibrant selves. Her thought leadership spans some of the world’s most respected institutions, from the National Institutes of Health to TED, Oxford University Press, and the London School of Economics. Jessica has held notable roles including Head of Innovation at the American Psychological Association, Expert-in-Residence at Georgetown University, Chief of Culture at a CX agency, and Director at NextGen Venture Partners. She’s also taught at NYU and collaborated with platforms like Columbia University, Chiron Publications, and Psychiatric Times. Basically, she’s been blending brain science with human soul for over a decade, and she still thinks we’re only scratching the surface.

The human (quirky and complicated) bit

Before all that? Jessica grew up in the land of butter churns and bonnets: Amish country. Her earliest expertise involved cow cuddling and cultivating the fine art of not fitting in , which, to be fair, turned out to be excellent training for the world of innovation. She's a quadruple Scorpio, so yes, she *feels* deeply and thinks obsessively. But she’s also playful, weirdly optimistic, and always down to disrupt a sacred cow (even if she once snuggled with one). Her favorite conversations explore uncomfortable truths, unpopular opinions, and the alchemy that happens when weirdos get real. Oh, and if you’re wondering whether she’s more mystic or empiricist? The answer is yes. She’s trained in neuroscience *and* shamanism, psychology *and* reiki, data analytics *and* Akashic Records. For Jessica, the inner world isn’t fluff , it’s data. It’s just subtler than spreadsheets.

The work that connects it all

Jessica’s body of work centers on one idea: that creative, entrepreneurial minds operate differently, and deserve tools that reflect that difference. Whether she's guiding founders through emotional burnout, writing about the existential crisis of building something new, or teaching how symbolic thinking can unlock clarity in chaos, she brings a radical compassion to the messy magic of human potential. She lectures and facilitates globally on topics such as: - Creative cognition and emotional regulation - Authenticity and conformity - Spirituality, individuation, and archetypes - Entrepreneurial mental health - Psychology of innovation - Philosophy of self-actualization If Carl Jung, Brené Brown, and Rick Rubin hosted a dinner party,  Jessica would be the one asking the awkward-but-important questions about creative shadow work over dessert.