The Middle Ground /
When people ask for my “elevator pitch” for Concrete Olive, I tend to smile. Some things don’t fit in an elevator - and that’s exactly why Concrete Olive exists.
Concrete Olive is built for the in-between moments:
A space to pause, take a breath, and untangle the big, complicated parts of creative life - so you can move forward grounded, focused, and clear.
Concrete Olive sits in a unique space.
At it’s heart, it’s about active and constructive conversations specifically for creative people.
Creatives are already natural strategists. They navigate and handle complexity every day and thrive on curiosity and innovation. But when challenge or uncertainty comes up for themselves - it can feel very different - harder to see clearly, and harder to know what to do next.
It’s pretty much a given that creative’s at every age and stage, will often find themselves grappling with some kind of uncertainty or adversity. Challenge is a constant within these fields - the challenge to stretch, to adapt, to remain resilient - but for the individual however, there’s an added layer that isn’t always visible. It’s the interweaving of the personal and the professional, that can make it hard to see what’s really happening.
Figuring out what’s going on objectively, can feel complicated with these two components at play. So when creatives look for support in these moments, what they often need is something they’ve never sought out before.
This is where the middle ground comes in.
Concrete Olive sits within a non-clinical space, grounded in optimisation and growth - focusing on what’s right, rather than what’s wrong.
It’s for the times when support isn’t likely to come from colleagues, friends or family, and when it’s not counselling or therapy that’s needed either. Here, creative work and life, and the intertwine, are both understood. A space where you can reconnect with your strengths to move forward with clarity and confidence, no matter what you’re facing or trying to achieve.
Sometimes, it’s as simple as just wanting to get clarity around a way forward. Other times it’s about finding perspective within the middle of exhausting or trying times. It can be about taking challenges to new levels, or staying connected to your creativity. Whatever brings you here, this is a space for thoughtful constructive conversation - where your story is heard, and you’re met as a creative.
And, because you’re speaking with another creative, you won’t have to explain how your mind works or how your business or career operates. That part is already understood.
“Sometimes creatives just need a clear actionable conversation, to navigate complexity and stay on track with their vision. ”
Creative people think in a unique way, with their own language, and their work reflects that individuality.
Creative work isn’t just a career - its a part of who the person is. It’s challenges can ripple across both work and life, making clarity and perspective essential.
Constructive active conversations can help untangle the possibilities, clear confusion, and reconnect people with their strengths. They support the next step - whether it’s at the beginning of a situation or project, or somewhere along the way where a pause is needed to gain clarity, or, revisiting the bigger picture that may have shifted along the way.
At Concrete Olive, we understand and provide this middle ground space for creative professionals: a place to gain perspective, focus on what matters, and move forward with confidence.
Michelle
A side note about why wellbeing is important;
During challenges or challenging times either good or bad, there are ways, often simple ways, that can help people with feeling uplifted and focused, that often aren’t visible.
Situations can become harder to work through when feeling defeated, so having constructive conversations can breathe hope and life back into a way forward, which can help to get through such times faster and in a more effective way.
If challenging times become too distressing; healthy people can very quickly become unwell, mentally and physically, where they eventually do need to seek clinical help.
If they access middle ground supports early, often they can stabilise where they are at, and then see their way forward - a preventative step.
*If you are experiencing severe distress, please reach out to counselling/psychological support services.