Artist Recovery Podcast

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Artist Recovery Podcast is Bringing Light to the Darkside of Art. I’m Rich Wright, your host — and here we're redefining recovery as Renewal, Resilience and Creative Transformation. Because for artists, it’s more than survival… it’s Remembering.
This show is about the real journey of being a working creative — the highs, the lows, the pivots, and the reinventions that shape who we are. Together we’ll explore how setbacks can spark transformation, how loss can open new paths, and how resilience fuels the heart of every artist’s story.
If you’ve ever faced doubt, setback, or the call to reinvent yourself, you’re in the right place. Let’s recover — and create — together.”

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Artist Recovery Podcast

Artist Recovery Podcast S2 Ep. 39 | Willie Blake: Dyslexia, Confidence & the LIGHT Philosophy

September 25, 2026 • Rich Wright • Season 2 • Episode 39

0:00 | 2:03:59

What happens when a curious, bright-eyed kid hears the words "we need to watch him" and quietly decides to stop raising his hand? Dyslexia coach, author, and speaker Willie Blake traces the path from that moment to 500+ stages, 100+ podcast appearances, and a life built on one word: LIGHT.

Willie Blake is the author of Dyslexic Achiever's Blueprint, host of the Light Beyond Limits podcast, founder of the quarterly Own Your Dyslexia virtual panels, a Utah Valley University graduate, an Eagle Scout, and a three-year service award recipient as a volunteer counselor at HODIA's camp for teens with Type 1 diabetes. He sits down with host Rich Wright for an honest conversation about dyslexia, neurodiversity, confidence, faith, creativity, and the difference between a diagnosis and a label.

Diagnosed in first grade after a school reading screening, Willie describes how being singled out shaped his voice in the classroom, why he always needs a clear view of the door, and how his dyslexic brain processes the world visually, solving problems in patterns rather than straight lines. He shares how hands-on learning in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, 14 years of soccer, and drawing classes built the self-esteem that school could not, and how confidence and sleep directly affect how strongly dyslexia shows up day to day.

The conversation moves through his two-year LDS mission in Nampa, Idaho, where he met his wife and found a faith of his own; switching from accounting to business management to discover the creative side of branding and marketing; and launching a coaching business that had zero clients in year one. Willie explains how a 15-minute daily "Core Four" routine of meditation and breathwork changed his presence at home within two weeks, and why he dropped "William Blake" for "Coach Willie" to remove barriers for the adult dyslexics he serves.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:
~Diagnosis vs. labeling: a diagnosis points to solutions; a label becomes an excuse
~Confidence is built through reps, mentally and emotionally, just like physical strength
~"Adult recess": why creative play belongs in the workday
~Hit record anyway: his first mastermind drew zero people, and he taught it to his phone
~Resources for dyslexic adults drop sharply after age 18, and Willie is working to change that
~THE LIGHT PHILOSOPHY
L: Love (others and yourself)
I: Inspiration
G: Gratitude ("If you wanna change your attitude, change your gratitude")
H: Hope
T: Time

THE DYSLEXIC ACHIEVER'S BLUEPRINT:
~Believe in the possibility
~Define what YOU want
~Reverse engineer the plan
~Take 2% action each day
~Adjust and adapt

Rich and Willie also connect over visual thinking, reading pictures instead of instructions, Human Design, and why dyslexic and neurodivergent minds so often excel in art, design, and entrepreneurship.

This conversation is for dyslexic adults, parents of dyslexic kids, educators, neurodivergent creatives, entrepreneurs, coaches, and anyone who was ever made to feel "watched" instead of believed in.

Connect with Willie:
Website: https://coachwillieblake.com
Youtube: @WillieBlake_Light
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willieblake-light

Connect with Rich:
Website: ⁠⁠https://www.theartistrecovery.com
⁠⁠LinkedIn: @richwrightunltd
Instagram: @richwrightunltd
FB: @theartrec
Instagram: @theartrec

Artist Rich Wright’s WOW Essential Spirit Paintings: ⁠⁠https://www.theartistrecovery.com/whi...

Support and Shop Art Rec Merch: https://www.artrecshop.com

Join Podmatch: ⁠https://www.joinpodmatch.com/artistre...
Dyslexia Classes: ⁠https://www.skool.com/dyslexia-classes⁠

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