What's Your Signature Season? A Creative Framework

What’s your Signature Season? ❄️🌷☀️🍂

Lately, I’ve been sharing about finding the confidence to share your wild ideas with the world, and tapping into the most creative parts of your brain (without self-censorship or relying on ChattyG). That includes sharing your work before it feels fully “ready,” and building out ideas and frameworks that stray from the norm.

In that spirit, I want to share with you something unfinished and unpolished but that I’ve been in-the-background mulling on for years, but just haven’t stood up to share publicly. I don’t even like the name yet! But, for now, I’m calling this framework of mine Creative Seasons.

2 weeks ago, I gave you a quick glimpse into the four phases of the creative process (and how they line up with the menstrual cycle) and how “cyclical creativity” is more impactful than “linear creativity.”

What I didn’t get into are the specific qualities, talents, and challenges that each phase of the creative process presents, and how they line up with the planet’s four seasons. When lined up, I call this concept Creative Seasons.

And within this framework, I believe that everybody has a (still not set on this term either)... Signature Season.

Your Signature Season is the phase of the creative cycle that comes most naturally to you. It’s how you take leadership in collaborative teamwork, when you feel yourself come most alive in a creative project, and where you feel most “at home” when bringing a new idea to life.

(I suuuper briefly mention this on page 138 of my book, but haven’t shared beyond that except in 1:1 creative consulting work… until now. TBH I wish I had written at least a whole chapter about it!)

Of course, you have all four seasons within you! Your Signature Season is simply the part that is most enhanced when working on a creative project or with a team. (Again, IN MY WORK. If this doesn’t resonate with you, no worries.)

SO! Are you a Winter, Spring, Summer, or Autumn? And why TF does that matter? Well, I’m down to answer alllll the Q’s as I build out this concept more publicly, but for now, here’s your intro to your Signature Season.

What’s Your Signature Season? 💡 An Intro to my Framework-in-Progress

❄️Winters: The Creative Visionaries

Winters bring the soul and heart to an idea. They can see what’s possible before it exists, and can intuitively share how an idea will (or won’t) fulfill a mission.

Winters create through intuition, reflection, and goal-setting. Their process often starts with stillness and grounding, with ideas popping up like “shower ideas.”

Winter Creative Powers:

• Ideation and visioning

• Managing relationships and group dynamics

Winter Creative Needs:

• Relaxing space and quiet

• Roles that value care, listening, and consistency

You might be a Winter if:

• People seek you out when the team feels tension

• You like to process internally before speaking

• Your colleagues/friends call you calming, steady, or empathic

• You find yourself asking, “What’s the intention of this step?” or “How does this contribute to the bigger goal?”

Societal challenge for Winters:

“You’re being lazy.” Workplaces tend to forget that restoration is a key phase of the creative process. When you’re pacing yourself intentionally and modeling sustainability, linear thinkers might interpret it as “lazy,” when you’re anything but! This can make you feel guilty for not being “productive” enough, even though pushing harder could make the idea less sustainable from the get-go.

How I help Winters:

You might get so caught up in the visioning stage that you become overwhelmed when it comes to the strategy and execution to share it publicly! I help you get the tactical, practical steps out of your head and into a workflow where you can start taking action instead of just dreaming about it. I work with Winters to develop systems and storytelling that lands on the right ears without burning you out.

🌷Springs: The Creative Strategists

Springs bring the structure and strategy to an idea. They love finding patterns and designing systems that make creativity sustainable. They bring fresh perspectives and experiments to the original vision.

Springs create through curiosity, planning, and play. Their process often starts with learning and outlining, collecting info before crafting it into a plan.

Spring Creative Powers:

• Focus and planning

• Strategic thinking and idea development

Spring Creative Needs:

• Opportunities for novelty and stimulation

• Roles that allow for flexibility, play, and experimentation

You might be a Spring if:

• People come to you when they have an idea but need the steps to achieve it

• You love outlines, lists, frameworks, models, or flowcharts

• Your colleagues/friends call you high-energy, imaginative, and possibility-thinking

• You find yourself saying, “What resources do we already have to achieve this?” or “What elements would be most impactful to develop?”

Societal challenge for Springs:

“You’re overthinking it.” In fast-paced environments, your desire to create a solid plan and foundation can be misunderstood as hesitation or analysis paralysis. But your thoughtfulness saves resources in the long run. Like the planet’s seasons, you can’t jump from winter to summer overnight!

How I help Springs:

If you’re a procrati-planner, procrasti-researcher, or procrasti-thinker, I can help you move into motion. We take all the many parts inside your head and translate them into the systems that will give you the most bang for your buck in the first iteration of a project. I work with Springs to help you trust your work enough to stop tweaking and start sharing, even if it isn’t “perfect” yet.

☀️Summers: The Creative Amplifiers

Summers bring outward expression and attention to an idea. They’re the voices that rally others and make ideas visible. They’re able to spotlight the value of a project so others will listen.

Summers create through collaboration, conversation, and connection. Their process often involves bouncing ideas off others, finding momentum through excitement, and infusing projects with personality.

Summer Creative Powers:

• Storytelling and visibility

• Energizing and mobilizing others to take action

Summer Creative Needs:

• Freedom and variety

• Roles that hold a direct line to the end user/client and see real-time impact

You might be a Summer if:

• People ask you to give the speech, write the launch email, or film the video

• You like to talk out your ideas

• Your colleagues/friends call you magnetic, expressive, or energizing

• You find yourself asking, “How can we get people excited about this?” or “How can we make this really stand out?”

Societal challenge for Summers:

“You’re too cocky/too MUCH.” In some settings, your boldness and enthusiasm can be misinterpreted as self-centered or attention-seeking. But your energy is necessary to bring momentum to creative processes that would otherwise stall out. All the outward-facing aspects of your roles can put the pressure on you to perform, which can be tiresome. But your efforts are what help people believe in what’s possible.

How I help Summers:

Summers have the tendency to burn out, either from pushing too hard in one phase, or by skipping over other important phases. In order to make your work shine in the summer phase, you need the vision of winter, strategy of spring, and later the analysis of autumn. I help Summers find balance among the entire creative process so they can keep their radiance consistent instead of a full stop/start whenever you get exhausted.

🍂 Autumns: The Creative Integrators

Autumns bring refinement and results to an idea. They’re the closers, editors, and truth-tellers who make sure the work actually works, and who have ideas on how to reiterate it for higher impact.

Autumns create through focus, discernment, and organization. Their process often involves distilling what’s essential, cutting what’s not, and clarifying what needs to happen next.

Autumn Creative Powers:

• Analysis and editing

• Identifying improvements and applying lessons for future iterations

Autumn Creative Needs:

• Clear expectations, deadlines, and roles

• Respect for boundaries and independence in their work

You might be an Autumn if:

• People seek you out when they want to improve an existing project

• You like to analyze data and feedback

• Your colleagues/friends call you direct, reliable, or “the one who gets it done.”

• You find yourself asking, “How can we make this more efficient next time?” or “How can we come to a decision faster?”

Societal challenge for Autumns:

“You’re being bitchy/bossy.” Your directness and decisiveness can sometimes be mistaken for harshness. The reality is that you help teams stop spinning and start finishing, and your structure lets others feel safe to play. Your truth-telling is a major sign of your care and mindfulness about a project. You hold high standards because you see what’s at stake.

How I help Autumns:

Autumns can find themselves constantly stuck in logic, numbers, or creative stagnancy. I help Autumns get out of the weeds and reconnect with their greater impact (and even find room to rest!). We design workflows and systems that let Autumns deliver excellence and breathe between milestones, so that there’s always something to celebrate. There can be freedom built into your natural sense of structure and order.

Why does my Signature Season matter? ✨

Y’all, this isn’t about putting yourself in a box. Although this is a fun tool I use with myself and with clients (and TBH sometimes strangers on the ski lift if they’re stuck with me), there is no ONE season that IS YOU. We contain multitudes, obviously. But I believe that when we all bring mindful awareness to our natural cycles and what comes most naturally to us in teamwork settings, we can make better decisions for ourselves and others.

Embracing your Signature Season helps you:

• Confidently speak the value you bring to a team

• Be proactive about your usual oversights in a project

• Recognize how your energy and talents contribute to a group

• Work with your natural rhythms instead of fighting the process

• Identify environments and leaders that sustain your creativity!

• Stop trying to create like someone else in a way that feels icky.

• Start building the conditions for your best work.

You can’t have one season without all the others. And, IMHO, the strongest, most innovative teams are made up of a mix of all four Signature Seasons:

Winters bring culture and trust. Springs bring planning and design. Summers bring storytelling and activation. Autumns bring refinement and analysis.

YOU NEED IT ALL. Too much Winter will stagnate a team. Missing Spring eliminates an entire chunk of the creative process. A world of endless Summers burns out. A team full of Autumns forgets to rest. As I find a way to say all to often: In nature, nothing blooms all year round. That includes you. 🤗

Me in my summer mode last week - note the “twine” colored thrift shirt since I learned it’s one of my neutrals with my “warm autumn” coloring!

Wondering how you got here? Hi, I’m Angie! 👋 I’m a creative director and not-elite-just-enthusiastic athlete living in the mountains and rivers of Washington. I talk about the tough stuff — Blood, Sweat, and Fear — with the goal of building a happier, healthier world for women. You can check out all the ways to work with me here, or follow me on Instagram and LinkedIn.