‘Find A Way To Believe’ In Small Business Owners: Principal Of Creatively Speaking Posted on December 1, 2025December 15, 2025 By Kekeletso Nkele, small.news Assistant (small.news) — On Nov. 26, 2025, our small.talk series continued with Dave Zaboski, the Principal of Creatively Speaking. Silver Lining Founder and CEO Carissa Reiniger spoke with Dave about the current state of small businesses. Q: How do you feel about what’s going on in the world right now? A: It seems like things are chaotic, but chaos is a temporary condition of organic systems having energy added to them. And so, what’s happening is I think that there’s some, in technical creative terms, we call it stuff flying off. It eliminates those things that were not efficient in the last iteration, and then they become more efficient. And so we are seeing some real challenges in the political and social, and cultural world. Q: What could be tweaks to what’s happening that could create the systemic ripple effects that we’re all looking for? A: We need to evolve. There is an evolution at hand that we are in the middle of in real time, and we have an opportunity to participate in for our collective benefit. How do stories evolve throughout time? Stories are ways that we carry cultural and societal, and collective information forward. Top Stories From Local Hustle to Global Reach: South African SMMEs Are Taking Their Shot on the World Stage South African small, medium, and micro enterprises are expanding beyond local markets and proving one central point: homegrown businesses can compete globally, reports Brand South Africa. Canada’s Small Businesses Are Missing AI’s Biggest Productivity Gains Canada’s small and medium-sized businesses could help grow the economy by 6%, roughly $150 billion, if all of them were using AI in their operations, according to a new study by the Business Development Bank of Canada, reports The Logic. 8 Ways to Hire Better Without Becoming Overly Corporate Hiring in a small business may feel risky, but you don’t need to become a corporate HR department to get it right. Q: What are you seeing in pop culture that shows that the kindred quest is in fact, happening? Maybe there’s some hope in the fact that pop culture is sort of changing its storytelling tunes? A: We start with care. We’re seeing that just in general, art is the expression of the consciousness of its time. And so that’s part of the story. They tell the story of their time. Marvel, for example. Those guys all started as individuals, and then they became the Avengers, so they’re this collective. And so I think you look at things like that, and you’re gonna start to see more. And it’s been happening for decades, like The Lord of the Rings. How do we play a part in that? Know what your role is. I often work with companies and help them figure out what’s their archetype? What do they value? What are their principles? What’s the big story that they’re in? And then once they figure out, here’s who I am, here’s the big story that I’m telling, like the story of my values being real in the world. Q: Do you think we’ve sort of lost our practice in this concept? A: It’s a pendulum swing, but the pendulum doesn’t just go like this. It goes like this. Q: How do we define success? A: That’s one of the sort of unacknowledged and unsung pieces of being a small business owner. There are times when I get a charge, and there are times when I can reap the benefits. And this is mine. Q: Do you just have any sort of thoughts quickly on when it’s all falling apart, or when it feels like it’s all unfair? A: Life is hard, and Buddha says life is suffering, and there is still love. There’s still hope that we have the capacity to create our future through the things that we believe are possible. And so, even in the hard times, you have to find a way to believe. I share a lot of tools and practices on the creative process because they have been gifted to me, and when I forget them, my friends, whom I’ve shared this stuff with, can remind me. Q: What are you most worried about for small businesses in these changes? A: Well, their isolation, their challenge against the giant corporations. You know, I think that one of the challenges that I see is the Amazon nation of business. I can’t go to my local hardware store and ask Carl where the ratchet heads are anymore. Q: What’s the big opportunity for small business owners right now in the midst of all this change? A: The opportunity is computer literacy. Machine learning, this thing that they call artificial intelligence or AI. There are ways to use this new technology that can help you with your small business in a myriad of ways. And so I think getting literate in that is helpful. Q: If you had a Magic Silver Wand, because, of course, everyone should have a magic silver wand. What would you use it for? A: I would make more viable community opportunities for them [small business owners] to get together. Q: How do we support you? A: You can find me on my website… I’m going to be starting a Creativity for Humans weekly workshop in January. So it’ll be live and virtual. So we’ll be drawing live models and talking about activity. I consult with companies and individuals on the creative process and how to turn your thoughts into things, how to think about imagination as a technology between a day at Creatively Speaking. Find me. You’ve heard their story—now write your own. silv=r™ is where it begins. Start here! Latest Stories
From Local Hustle to Global Reach: South African SMMEs Are Taking Their Shot on the World Stage South African small, medium, and micro enterprises are expanding beyond local markets and proving one central point: homegrown businesses can compete globally, reports Brand South Africa.
Canada’s Small Businesses Are Missing AI’s Biggest Productivity Gains Canada’s small and medium-sized businesses could help grow the economy by 6%, roughly $150 billion, if all of them were using AI in their operations, according to a new study by the Business Development Bank of Canada, reports The Logic.
8 Ways to Hire Better Without Becoming Overly Corporate Hiring in a small business may feel risky, but you don’t need to become a corporate HR department to get it right.