Willa Govoni is a student at Saint Michael’s College. This article is published through a collaboration between The Winooski News and a journalism course at Saint Michael’s College.
WINOOSKI — Before Maureen “Mo” Fitzgerald, 35, moved to Winooski from Portland, Oregon, the company she was working for closed.
“I knew I was going to go out on my own, and I was getting a lot of signals that creativity was going to be future-proof,” Fitzgerald said.
When her job ended, she went through a five-month training program and became certified as a Kaizen Muze Creative Coach.
“I was just fascinated by it. How do you encourage the creative process? How do you fuel it?” Fitzgerald said.
From 2016 to 2018, Fitzgerald was a professional soccer player in the National Women’s Soccer League, playing midfielder for the Portland Thorns FC.
“I was a very creative player…I love sport, I love art; why can’t I have both?” she said.
In 2024, she founded Play Street, a strategic consultancy studio that focuses on collaborative, creative processes and storytelling to devise campaign strategies and build brand architecture. Through Play Street, Fitzgerald has worked with some major clients, like the Jordan Brand, Nike Women and the Juilliard School.
As a former teacher, she wanted a way to continue teaching and practice the exercises she learned through her time at the Kaizen Muze Creativity Coaching program, and in January 2025, she began hosting monthly Creativity Workshops out of Specs Cafe in Winooski.
The sounds of espresso machines, lively conversation, and loud music filled Specs Cafe. When Fitzgerald first entered, she hugged the baristas and chatted with Sam, the owner of the cafe, before ordering an iced latte.
“I’m so sorry I’m late, I hope you didn’t have to wait here long,” said Fitzgerald, before she took a sip of her latte and settled into her seat.
Q. How would you describe yourself as an artist?
A. I would describe myself as a writer, as a painter, an athlete and a poet. I think the term ‘artist’ is something you have to self-identify with.
I didn’t start painting or writing until COVID. I ended up writing a book and getting into painting, and I was like, ‘Why have I not been accessing that part of myself for so long?’ No one is going to bestow that title upon you and be like, ‘And now you are an artist,’ and I think that intimidates a lot of people.
Q. What is a Creativity Workshop?
A. It is a workshop meant to hold space for whatever your individual or unique creative practice is. It is meant to inspire creative thinking and remove the barriers of the creative process, which are a lot of times perfectionism, comparison and high expectations.
The workshop is also about creating a community. As creatives, we need community because we get in our own head.
Q. Your website explains that each Creativity Workshop is tailored to the group’s needs. What is your process for determining the needs of each group?
A. Vibey.
This last workshop was on Wednesday, and I was like, ‘It’s autumn, it’s fall, what are the bigger themes that happen at this time of year? It’s shedding but also harvesting all the hard work that you’ve done.’
So, I was thinking about endings and new beginnings. Every group is different: sometimes they have specific objectives, and sometimes they do not. I just have to feel it out.
Q. What could one expect to happen if they are attending a Creativity Workshop for the first time?
A. It is very different for everyone, and every group. I might talk about perfectionism, comparison and the barriers to creativity. For our end of summer workshop, I had them write out all the things that they achieved that summer, or what gave them energy.
Q. How are workshops structured differently for businesses?
A. I work with businesses on their strategic planning and storytelling. Like, they have a good product or ethos, but they don’t know what their story is or how to tell it.
It just depends on what their objectives are. If their objective is to tell their story, and craft a marketing plan, we focus our time there. If their team is in crisis, and needs to rebuild the culture, then we focus there. It’s about figuring out their pain-points and how I can uniquely serve them.
It’s not me coming in and being like, ‘Here’s the thing, and I have all the answers,’ like a lot of consultants do. I come in and say, ‘Your team actually has the answers, let me facilitate you through it.’
Q. Can you give an example of an exercise you would facilitate a business through at a Creativity Workshop?
A. One of my favorite exercises to do with a business that needs a new strategy, or to reposition themselves, is to ask them, ‘If you were on the front cover of the New York Times in five years for something that you achieved as a group, what is it?’ Then, I’d have them make a front cover for a newspaper, with a headline. Then, together, I have them write the body, and it just sort of, like, falls out of them.
Q. Why did you decide to hold the workshops at Specs Cafe in Winooski?
A. It has felt a little bit like my own Luke’s Diner, if you are familiar with ‘Gilmore Girls’. I moved to Winooski a year and a half ago from Oregon and didn’t know anybody. So, this is a nice place for me to come and feel some familiarity. The owner, Sam, is a fellow creative, so it just seemed natural to hold them here.
Q. Who are your Creativity Workshops for?
A. They’re for everyone. They’re for beginners, artists, students and professionals.
We have people joining from all over, but a lot are based in Winooski and Burlington. The whole state is full of creators, makers, craftspeople and artists; it’s pretty special.
Some people are intimidated by the name of the workshop and think they are not creative. But, that group of people is who the Creativity Workshops are for.
I’m not going to ask you to paint anything. It’s not about the craft; It’s about the process.