Do it Messy | Dr. Robin Sargent
📑 Chapters
00:00 Highlight
02:49 The Founding Story
04:09 Love in Teaching & Student Growth
04:25 AI Chatbot Addressing Learning Challenges
07:26 Building an AI Chatbot with Explainability
09:23 Defining Creativity
10:45 Childlike Sense of Wonder
12:46 About Shame and Self-Judgement
17:06 Future of AI + Creativity
21:10 Guardrails and Challenges of AI in Creativity
22:48 Protect Our Creativity with Awareness
25:49 Recap and Conclusion
27:29 Dr. Robin's Childhood Passion
29:27 Challenges that shape Robin
32:45 Dr. Robin's MAGIC
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MAGICademy Podcast (00:00)
When you are designing and making and you're not doing it out of fear or have to and you get to do it out of place of want and inspiration, to me that's where creativity lives. You can't find it in fear. It's when you can get into like a place of calm and inspiration that I think true creativity comes out.
And if you want to be in a place of calm and from your heart, you got to get in your body in the do it messy approach, right? It's like, do it messy, get your hands dirty, take off the judgment, the self judgment that you put on yourself and every creative act that you want to do, remove that and just let yourself explore, do it messy. And you know, you can improve it later. Name of inner critic.
I hear you, I'm only being critical of myself because I care. Thank you for showing me how much I care about this. I don't need that criticism and then I get my body. I always try to acknowledge it because it is showing something else. There's always two sides to the coin. Can you be aware of your dependence and be aware of the beauty and really the gift?
that you can get from getting a little bored and not letting these tools do it all for you because that getting bored and letting yourself like get into it and figure it out, you're always gonna have a better outcome than if you wholly depend on a machine.
Jiani (01:50)
to MAGICademy
great to have you Dr. Robin and she has been the founder of IDOL Instructional Design Academy, cultivating future talents as it continues to evolve with the impact of artificial intelligence.
Dr. Robin Sargent (02:03)
Thank you for having me, Dr. Jiani I'm happy to be here, especially to talk about something as magical as creativity.
I love pickleball. I live on the lake. I have three boys. I'm married and I'm a little bit of a rebel.
Jiani (02:19)
I love that.
Dr. Robin Sargent (02:20)
That
would probably be my most unique way that I've ever introduced myself.
Jiani (02:24)
That's beautiful. I think when I first met you, I sensed that sort of energy as well. And that really made me like remember the conversation. Every interaction with you, I still remember it. So very memorable. I love that. I appreciate it.
why do you decide to found IDOL Academy
Dr. Robin Sargent (02:49)
Yeah. I mean, in many ways I didn't set out to start a vocational school. That was not what I intended to do at first. In fact, I started my business as a learning design agency, but even that wasn't on purpose. Before I started as a learning design agency, I thought I was going to have a niche recruiting agency just for instructional designers. I wanted to connect clients.
with contracted structural designers, instead the clients kept coming and they kept wanting to hire me. And so then it kind of changed. Well, okay. In order for this to be a business, so I was hiring subcontractors And this was in 2018. And what I was finding was of course,
you know, there were plenty of good instructional designers out there, but in the pay range that I was looking for, they were varied. You know, they didn't all seem to speak the same language or have the same skills or use the same tools. And so I started thinking, how am I going to get the talent I need to run agency?
But what's wild about it is that it turned into something so much bigger and different.
by 2020 I was doing the school full time.
I loved helping the students. I loved being a part of changing their lives and their success stories and connecting them with, you know, entire
Jiani (04:25)
You've recently showed me the AI chatbot
to empower student learning as a 24 -7 companion and learning support when they can't get in touch with you.
How is this chatbot working so
Dr. Robin Sargent (04:41)
wrote a book in 2022 called the do it messy approach. And it's a step -by -step guide for instructional designers and online learning developers. the point of that is that, in the curriculum as a part of our career school, we teach people, of course, how to design instruction. And the key piece of that is it's gotta be problem centered. It's gotta be real world centered.
And the way that we do that is we have our students write out scenario briefs. What are, you know, five to eight scenario briefs that you can come up with that are related to the problem or the complex task that you are designing your instruction for. And what we found is it's in this section where they are designing that they kind of fall into a dark swamp of despair, so to speak, where it just, it,
they just struggle with it. And so I love technology. I am always an early adopter when it comes to playing with new tech. I'm not scared to break things and get my hands dirty. And so I thought, well, gosh, wouldn't it be so much better for them if they could use AI to help them brainstorm these scenarios that they need to build. Plus, you know, they've got to write the task analysis, the scenario briefs, they got to write full demonstrations, full applications.
So we got AI like let's put this together. So I went to, it's called POE, P -O -E dot com. And there are multiple other ones you could use. I could have used chat GPT for this, but at the time the GPTs will only work for the paid versions. And I needed my students to be able to use it without paying for something. And so I built it on that free platform called POE. And I just uploaded to the knowledge base, my book and other materials that I have.
to build the curriculum inside the school. And then I gave it the prompt about what kind of bought it was and what it was going to do and how it was going to spit things out. And it took me, really honestly, not that long. I would say like a good three to four hours to test it and get it all done and ready and make sure it was spitting out what I expected. And now it's in the school and I...
show my students how to use it when they get to that section. And I would say it's been for the people that have used it. I've asked my students, did you use it? How has it been? And a lot of them find it incredibly helpful because I think part of the scariest thing, especially since they're talking about creativity is to look at a blank page and have nothing, no ideas, nothing to work around, no constraints to, you know, let the creativity fill in.
Jiani (07:26)
how is this working so far for the
the bots creating consistent responses? how about the hallucination? consistency, coherence? have them point out any room for improvement?
Yeah, I'm just curious is the bot is like set and then go kind of strategy or do you have to always come back and maybe like revise the prompt a little bit more or yeah, so.
Dr. Robin Sargent (07:57)
Yeah, it's interesting. I think what the bot is sensitive to is how you input the first problem, or like the performance goal. You're supposed to insert the performance goal and then you should get a task analysis However, the bot has changed a little bit, right? I tweaked and tweaked and tweaked you'd put in your performance goal for the course or the training, and then it would come out with
the task analysis. Now it does do something different and unexpected, which is that it tells you the process that it's going to go through first before it actually starts doing the work of spitting out the task analysis and things like that. And so, you know, when I first built it and released it, it did exactly what I wanted to do. And it is interesting how it has changed. It'll still do it, but it gives you the process that it's going to go through.
Jiani (08:50)
Because sometimes people think AI is just like black box. And if they explain their process, maybe create some sort of transparency into how it works. But yeah, context. Like for students, they may not need to know. But for you, when you first design it, yes.
Dr. Robin Sargent (09:05)
Yeah. Yeah. I was surprised that it changed, even though like, you know, I tested it for hours to get it to come out just right. and then just over, over time it has changed. It's interesting that it does that. It's like a little living creature.
Jiani (09:17)
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, okay.
Well, yeah, so let's kind of talk about the creativity because you've been kind of focusing on creativity at the beginning of this conversation. From your perspective, I see the brand design that you did for IDOL and one of those have like unicorns and your whole personality is this like very vibrant and happy and bright, bright, bright, bright personality and
So how do you define
Dr. Robin Sargent (09:54)
when you create from a place of non -stress.
When you are designing and making and you're not doing it out of fear or have to, and you get to do it out of place of want and inspiration. To me, that's where creativity lives. I mean, you can do things that, you know, like you're doing it cause you have to.
But what I mean about creativity is that it doesn't come, you can't find it in stress. You can't find it in fear. It's when you can get into like a place of calm and inspiration that I think true creativity comes out.
Jiani (10:39)
that. And do you think creativity resonate with that childlike sense of
Dr. Robin Sargent (10:45)
Well, just think about a child's life. Well, I think about my children's life. These children are comfy, right? They are so comfy. They are well taken care of. They don't have to think about their meals. They don't have to think about the roof over their head. They don't even have to think about what's next. Their entire job is to play, right? And to nourish their own little selves and creativity.
And that's what I think about when I think about childlike wonder, it is a safe space full of play and letting themselves make mistakes, right? But I watched them. They, it's not, they don't even necessarily see it as mistakes. They just see it as, I just need to try again. And so that's, I think a lot of what I even encourage my students to do approach, you know, this new career and this new
information and this new training with childlike wonder because it removes the stress and it removes the pressure and I hate to say it but the shame that we put on ourselves about making sure that we do things in a certain way and that we reach a certain level of perfectionism and that like we are only as good as what we produce but if you're in childlike wonder
You're not thinking about that at all. You could be making the biggest mess and loving every moment of it because that is what is fun, right? Is to make the mess. and that's also what I encourage my students to do like in the do it messy approach, right? It's like, do it messy, get your hands dirty. Just take off the judgment, the self judgment that you put on yourself and every creative act.
that you want to do, remove that and just let yourself explore, do it messy and you know, you can improve it later.
Jiani (12:46)
I love that. Do it messy. And the fear of making mistakes and the kind of the blaming that we do to ourselves is so real. Like I feel like it's even like a daily struggle. And even though at one moment you feel like, I'm making this like, everything's going on great. And all of a sudden that like inner critic just come and just like does its damage. And are there any particular strategies you use to help keep
ourselves protected by those inner critics and the low frequency of like shame and blame and fear and anxiety.
Dr. Robin Sargent (13:24)
I think I am so familiar with this because this has been my own struggle as well, right? To be transparent. I mean, I'm an achiever and what is the root of being an achiever? It is like, it's at the very bottom of it is shame, right? That I am not lovable or worthwhile unless I am achieving, I am doing, and I am successful. And so I recognize that about myself.
And I see that very clearly, but I'm 42. It's been a long time for me to get where I am today, right? Therapy, all the different self -help things on and on, right? I know my Enneagram is a three wing too, but the point is, is that there are ways that I have learned to recognize the critic. And I would say the easiest way to make that recognition
is to recognize, am I in my head? Is there a lot of chatter going on up here? I don't, of course I've talked about like the negative stuff, but any kind of anxiety lives up here in your head. And if you want to be in a place of calm and from your heart, you got to get in your body. And so how do you get in your body? Well, that's, you know, breath work, meditation, doing things that nourish you.
taking a walk out in nature that moves you from your head and to your body. And when you kick it out of your, in your body, man, that stuff slows down. It just gets quiet. It gets calm. and so I would say that is like for me, that's my best indicator to know, okay, like, yeah, I hear all of this, you know, this self critical thing. And so that means I'm in my head. So
What about I need to take a breath and get my body go outside and see what is, what does my heart say? What does my gut say? cause then you'll see like those things that you tell your, that, that self judgment. that's like the imposter monster as a Betty Dan was calls it, or it's like your self criticism. you know, I have, you know, a name for my own inner critic and
What if I can actually acknowledge my own inner critic? I will acknowledge it. name of inner critic. I hear you. I'm only being critical of myself because I care about this project. And, I know.
that I am doing my best. So thank you for showing me how much I care about this. I don't need that criticism. And then I get in my body. So I always try to acknowledge it because it
Jiani (16:06)
Hahaha
Dr. Robin Sargent (16:08)
is showing something else. There's always two sides to the coin. So even your inner critic is just showing you that you really care about how you do.
Jiani (16:17)
Hmm.
Thank you Robin for sharing this story. I think I resonate really deeply with that core motivation that you have and maybe some of our audiences or maybe most of our audiences resonate with that as well. And I think that's the beauty of it. Like we live in like two sorts of energies. One is
always trying and achieving one is the other direction and we kind of trying to find peace and harmony residing in the middle, the way to the middle and then the power is there. I love that. And as we look into the future,
of instructional design, creativity, you name it, with the development of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, it's right at the corner, brand machine interactions such as neural links, how would you foresee the future of creativity, like moving in or evolving with all the technologies that's coming?
Dr. Robin Sargent (17:29)
Well, for me, I look at these tools as ways to remove some of the drudgery of creativity. I mean, in a way, right? Some of the hardest parts of creativity is getting started, right? The brainstorming and just to be able to have these tools to help you with that. Also, whenever you wanna get into the...
writing piece of instructional design, right? And you've got to start with the structure and the outline and all of the research and all of the needs and things like that. Another, another way that just supports you and being able to use your mind for more of the heavy lifting part of these things. And as far as like the future, where do I see it going? I think it's going to be more and more personalized. I've already started, you know, the fact that I can create,
a custom bot just for my school, for my students who are, you know, doing it in this way or for every company, right? That's keeping creating these different GPTs or these bots, if you will, for every position in their company as an assistant to those positions to increase productivity. And I see it as something even
cooler in the sense that it is a tool that is allowing us to make the development very, very quickly. I've even saw a tool recently And that is where you can create an entire interactive e -learning that you can download and zip into a scorm file just by putting in your
course documents or subject matter expert documents and writing like, what is the outcome of this training? And then you're pressing a button and the entire e -learning course is built that right there using AI. So I think what it's going to give us is just more time to think about the design, to do our research. and a lot of times, a lot of these trainings need to come out faster anyway.
So I see more just -in -time training. I see more personalization. I see more on the job bots as well that are kind of like these tutors where maybe the training is built into this AI assistant that they already have at their disposal. I see a lot of really cool things coming out of AI and I don't see it.
particularly taking our jobs. I see it only enhancing our jobs and also enhancing that of the people that we serve. And so that's where I see AI going. And I really can't wait to see just how efficient and how accurate and how evolved it gets because it's still a baby. I mean, it's powerfully smart and all of that, but it's still in its...
I'd say what, like a toddler as far as its intelligence. So I'm excited to see where it goes. This stuff doesn't scare me at all. I am very kind to my future overlord.
Jiani (20:49)
Beautiful.
Beautiful. I think that sense of positivity and hopefulness is something that we all need a little bit. And then what are some potential guardrails, risks and challenges that you see among all the hopeful and bright possibilities?
Dr. Robin Sargent (21:10)
I think that the dark side of it is dependence on it. Like for instance, I mean, you can survive with dependence on it, but it does take away some of the spontaneity or things of that nature when you depend on a tool. For instance, I now depend on my GPS or my Apple maps.
whenever I go anywhere, it does not matter where I go. It does not matter if I'm in my own town, in my own city, I got GPS on. So what is that? Well, that means that I always got to reroute. I'm not going to, I'm not going to like to have any happy accidents from making a wrong turn. You know what I mean? And you're not going to get that type of thing when you're dependent on the GPS. and I think it's the same thing with AI.
Jiani (21:51)
Yes.
Dr. Robin Sargent (22:04)
I've even found myself do it sometimes, right? I already kind of catch a little bit of the dependence where I'll go to the AI for an idea. maybe it's something as simple as writing a LinkedIn post, right? I'll go to it for an idea to help me write a LinkedIn post. And then it writes it. I don't quite like it, but then my little lazy girl side says it's good enough. Right. And then I say, okay, yeah.
It's good enough. And then I just take it. Right. and so that's, that's the dependence that can come in, which of course removes what's beautiful about us is our creativity, our spark. and you know, those inspirations that come along the way.
Jiani (22:48)
How do we protect the creative spark alongside with the potential increase in dependency on AI tools?
Dr. Robin Sargent (23:01)
I think it has to be awareness, you know, just like with everything that we do, it's, you know, it's about what is the awareness that we have about this. And since I was aware of what I was doing, even like, you know, letting AI write a LinkedIn post for me, right now I'm aware and now I can say, is this how I want to rep represent myself, you know, as in full as what the AI bot said? No.
Right. And so that's an awareness of what I've done and what I want to do moving forward. And so I think it's the same for others as well. Right. Like, can you be aware of your dependence and be aware of the beauty and really the gift that you can get from getting a little bored and not letting these tools do it all for you because that getting bored and letting yourself like get into it and
figure it out, you're always going to have a better outcome than if you wholly depend on a machine.
Jiani (24:08)
Yeah, I resonate with that whenever I feel like, my god, like when I was creating some content and I was like, I struggle so much. Like it's still hard, so difficult, but I really want to get it out. Like, and then once the moment is ready and I have that out, I feel like, it's so good and people love it. and sometimes like, I think it's good. I would just ask AI to, to take the responsibility of it. I'm like, and then the results like so, so it's not like, so sometimes the productive struggle.
is actually necessary for us to build great experiences and let the creativity play. So I guess guess pain part of a creative endeavor, the struggle.
Dr. Robin Sargent (24:49)
And it feeds your soul. I don't think we should forget that part. Like we were made to create and I think that we can create alongside AI and I think we can create alongside these tools. And so I would just want us to be aware that you don't want to give all your power to the tools, especially if that's where you get your creative outlet, which it is for me. What's one of them?
Jiani (25:18)
Yeah, I think for creatives it's kind of a real...
kind of very practical suggestions of being aware and decide when to let AI help. And even when AI creates something, we have to probably go through another productive struggle post AI production and mesh the AI creation and our creation together and let the productive struggle happen there. So maybe that's one way.
Dr. Robin Sargent (25:48)
For sure.
Jiani (25:49)
Beautiful. Yeah, let's give a recap for our audience before we move to the magic portion of our conversation. So, so far we've shared, we've talked about the story of Robin and her passion and why she founded IDOL. And we also talked about the story of her building a custom -made personalized chat bot, helping her students overcome potential learning challenges.
help them to tie it smoothly over the muddiest point when they're learning and so they can develop the competencies that they need. We also talked about some potential concerns and challenges because AI after all is always evolving and growing and developing just like everything else. So we also explored what is creativity.
and how childlike wonder can potentially resonate the sense of creativity even if you're an adult and being able to protect and give ourselves a safe haven, a safe space, especially within our body is very helpful for us to tap into that creative power. And if you want, you can keep that childlike sense of wonder forever, just depending on how you want it to protect it.
And we also explore the potential of future of creativity, the future of AI, and also alongside with some potential guardrails and challenges, especially as it resides in terms of like creativity, productive struggle, AI production, and how awareness can potentially be the lifesavers or creativity savers as we venture into the unknown waters of technologies. Wonderful.
So Robin, when you were 11 or 12 years old or 16 years old, whatever age group you wanted to remember, what did you enjoy creating so much that time just disappeared for you?
Dr. Robin Sargent (27:41)
It's funny that you asked for about that age range because that 11, 12, I'll definitely go with 11, 12 or when I was in fifth grade, because when I was in fifth grade, I actually said I wanted to become a comic book artist. I wanted to write comics. I wanted to tell jokes and I wanted to draw each of the little scenes and you know, I'm 42 and so I don't even know that if someone's like in a younger generation.
They even understand what it was like to get the funny section of the newspaper. But for me, that was, that was something special, right? I always got my grandpa's, the funny section, the comics of the newspaper. And, you know, you get all these different ones and, and, you know, at 11, you get some of them and you don't understand some of the jokes. and I would just draw all the time. I also had a, you know, it was right.
you know, PCs were out, of course, not that old, but PCs were out and we had a disc, right? And you could put a disc in at that time. And the disc was, I can't remember the name of it, but basically it was a computer program where you created your own comics with graphics and things like that. And so as basically I was building early e -learning or like
But it wasn't e -learning, right? Because it wasn't about learning, it was about like creating a little story. So early comics is what I was doing. So that was my 11, 12 year old age. It was me.
Jiani (29:19)
That's beautiful. A lot of creativity right there as well. Creativity, entertainment, happiness, imagination.
Were there any particular challenges that you have to overcome? There must be a lot, but any particular ones that helped to shape who you are as of today?
Dr. Robin Sargent (29:38)
There was a lot actually. It's not usually something that you know, you get asked as a business owner, like what were your, what were your struggles? But at a very high level, I will just say that my parents divorced when I was four. My mother remarried an abusive person. We moved around a lot and I took on
a parental role of sorts at a very young age. At the age of 14, I was driving the car to go get groceries for me and my sister. So yeah, so there was, there were a lot of challenges, but the thing about it, right? I think we all experienced some kind of challenge, maybe not to one extreme or the other, but at some...
And so in many, many ways, those challenges, even if they develop things like shame and a feeling of unlove or violation or whatever it is out of it through, you know, experience and growth and kind of the journey I'm on now, you realize how much of those struggles really do make you strong today. And I don't think I would have
the resilience and the work ethic. I mean, it goes from work ethic to workaholism. We'll see like what, which, you know, place I am on that scale, you know, whether I'm healthy or not, but it has contributed a lot to who I am today. And so in many ways, even though, you know, it was hard today, I get to live in.
you know, things are good because of all of the resilience that was built up from that type of childhood.
Jiani (31:35)
Robin, thank you so much for your transparency and your sharing of some of the most challenging moments in your
I'm going to go to bed.
respect your trust in this space at this time. And it's so inspiring to hear all the struggles, all the challenges have not hurt your inner
star or your inner magic at all and it's helping to shape who you are as of today and I see your smile, I see the work, I see the passion, I see the sparks and
everything all worked out. And I think for our audience, there may be some resonance here and we'll come to this place, go through our own journey, the heroes or heroines journey to
unlock our full potential and so we can find a space to provide value for people who need us. So that's beautiful. What do you think is overall is your magic then?
Dr. Robin Sargent (32:45)
I think my magic is, I think you've actually said it a lot. when you said like bringing hope and inspiration. I think being able to guide people, to goals, and to inspire their own goals is my magic. and I didn't actually know that was my magic.
I think a lot of people have shown me that that's my magic, is that, for example, sometimes I'll even just get someone on the phone, just a one -on -one, and they will bring me whatever kind of problem or challenge that they have. And after one walkthrough, it's...
solved
right or I give them the inspiration or the idea or whatever it is. I've had somebody come on a call with me and just in one call they said everything that you told me was exactly right you gave me the exact plan I win it I followed it and you know now I'm an idol and now they didn't even come into my school you know.
Jiani (33:53)
You
Dr. Robin Sargent (33:54)
You know what I mean? So I think it, whatever that is, you know, whatever that is where I think, you know, whether it's problem solving, but I think it's more than just problem solving. The thing has to do with, giving people a dose of motivation and encouragement and inspiration and a plan. Whatever that concoction is, that's the potion. That's the magic.
Jiani (34:15)
I love that, help them to dissolve fear, anxiety, replace them with hope, positivity, and a future goal.
Dr. Robin Sargent (34:26)
Yeah.
Jiani (34:27)
I love that. It's beautiful. Thank you, Dr. Robin for coming to the podcast, sharing your stories, your insights, your spark and your inspiration with us. And for those who want to get connected with Robin, all her contact information and
links are in the show note below. So we really encourage you to connect with each other and create new journeys and new stories and new possibilities for the communities at large.
Dr. Robin Sargent (34:57)
Thank you so much, Dr. Jiani, for sharing your magic with me and letting me share my magic with you. It's been such a pleasure.
Jiani (35:05)
That's so beautiful.
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💕 Story Overview
In this MAGICademy podcast episode, we dive into the realm of creativity and artificial intelligence with Dr. Robin Sargent, founder of IDOL Instructional Design Academy. Dr. Sargent shares her journey from running a niche recruiting agency to establishing a full-fledged vocational school, highlighting the unexpected turns that led to her current role.
She discusses her innovative approach to integrating AI into skill development, including the development of an AI chatbot to support her students' learning process. The conversation explores Dr. Sargent's unique perspective on creativity, emphasizing the importance of a calm, stress-free environment for fostering growth & development.
She introduces her "do it messy" approach, encouraging students to embrace imperfection and childlike wonder in their creative endeavors. The discussion extends to the future of instructional design and creativity in the age of AI, examining how these tools can enhance human creativity.
Dr. Sargent also shares personal insights on overcoming self-criticism and achieving a balance between achievement-driven motivation and inner peace, offering valuable strategies for us to apply in our creative initiatives.
MAGICal Insights
True creativity and creation emerge from a place of calm inspiration, not fear or stress, by embracing a childlike wonder and removing self-judgment
Growth happens when you "Do It Messy" and get your hands dirty, explore without perfectionism, and view mistakes as opportunities for learning and refinement
We should maintain awareness of AI’s potential while preserving the unique spontaneity of human imagination through boredom and productive struggle
Resilience comes from acknowledging your inner critic, converting life challenges into strengths, and developing a mindset of continued compassion & growth
The Spark of Creativity
Her story begins in fifth grade, with a young girl clutching newspaper comics and a computer program that let her create her own graphic stories. "I wanted to become a comic book artist," she shares, her eyes lighting up with the same enthusiasm that now fuels her work. "I wanted to tell jokes and draw each little scene."
In the quiet moments between comic book panels and childhood dreams, Dr. Robin Sargent discovered something profound about creativity. "When you are designing and making and you're not doing it out of fear or have to," she recalls, "when you get to do it out of a place of want and inspiration, that's where creativity lives." According to research, this sense of calm and safety is also associated with entrepreneurial success, especially for women (Sathyajith & Sudheesh, 2025).
Navigating Challenges: The Roots of Resilience
But Robin's path was far from straightforward. Behind her vibrant energy lies a childhood marked by significant challenges. Her parents divorced when she was four, and she found herself taking on adult responsibilities early. "At 14, I was driving the car to go get groceries for me and my sister," she reveals candidly.
These experiences could have broken her spirit, but instead, they became the forge of her resilience. "Those struggles really do make you strong today," she explains. "I developed a work ethic that has contributed to who I am."
The Birth of IDOL Academy
By 2018, Robin wasn't planning to start a vocational school. Her journey began as a learning design agency, then morphed as clients kept wanting to hire her. She noticed a gap in the instructional design talent pool - professionals who didn't speak the same language or use consistent tools.
"What's wild," she says, "is that it turned into something so much bigger and different." By 2020, she was running the school full-time, driven by a passion for helping students transform their careers.
Embracing the "Do It Messy" Approach
Central to her philosophy is what she calls the "do it messy" approach. "Get your hands dirty," she encourages her students. "Take off the self-judgment that you put on yourself in every creative act. Remove that and just let yourself explore." According to Zabelina & Robinson (2010), self-compassion can facilitate creativity and originality, especially for those with self-judgment tendencies. On a side note, creative women tend to have a higher tendency for self-criticism (Bender, Nibbelink, Towner-Thyrum, & Vredenburg, 2013).
"Think about a child's life," she explains. "Their entire job is to play, to nourish themselves and creativity. They don't see mistakes - they just see opportunities to try again." Like a child, adults can also practice awe and wonder, according to Heylighen (2025), who explores how the epistemic emotions of curiosity, awe, and wonder can unlock our creative potential, mirroring the uninhibited exploration of childhood. Just as children approach the world without fear of mistakes, adults can reclaim these transformative emotional states in safe environments to expand understanding and creativity. Curiosity drives us to fill knowledge gaps, while awe introduces us to the vast and mysterious, challenging our existing cognitive boundaries.
AI and the Future of Creativity
When it comes to artificial intelligence, Robin is both optimistic and cautious. She's created an AI chatbot for her students, helping them brainstorm and overcome creative blocks. But she warns against total dependence.
"Can you be aware of your dependence," she challenges, "and appreciate the beauty of getting a little bored and not letting these tools do it all for you? When you let yourself figure things out, you'll always have a better outcome."
Conclusion
Dr. Robin Sargent's journey is a testament to the power of creativity, resilience, and hope. From a young girl drawing comics to a leader transforming instructional design, she proves that our greatest limitations are often the stories we tell ourselves. Creativity isn't about perfection - it's about exploration, joy, and the courage to do things messily.
"We were made to create," she says, "and we can create alongside AI, alongside these tools. We just can't give all our power away."
Reference
Bender, S. W., Nibbelink, B., Towner-Thyrum, E., & Vredenburg, D. (2013). Defining Characteristics of Creative Women. Creativity Research Journal, 25(1), 38–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2013.752190
Heylighen, F. (2025). Curiosity, Awe and Wonder: the emotions that open our mind. Foundations of Science, 1-27.
Sathyajith, J. S., & Sudheesh, K. (2025). How Work Environments Drive Mental Calm and Entrepreneurial Progress: Building a Sanctuary for Success. In Supporting Psychological and Emotional Wellbeing Among Entrepreneurs (pp. 229-238). IGI Global.
Zabelina, D. L., & Robinson, M. D. (2010). Don’t Be So Hard on Yourself: Self-Compassion Facilitates Creative Originality Among Self-Judgmental Individuals. Creativity Research Journal, 22(3), 288–293. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2010.503538
⭐Robin’s MAGIC
Robin Sargent's magic lies in her transformative "do it messy" approach to creativity and learning. With a unique blend of problem-solving skills and motivational insight, she helps individuals embrace imperfection and overcome self-doubt by turning challenges into opportunities. Her approach is less about achieving perfection and more about creating a supportive framework where exploration becomes the primary mode of learning. "My magic is being able to guide people to their goals and inspire them," she explains, offering a potent mix of motivation, encouragement, and strategic planning that empowers individuals to see beyond their perceived limitations and unlock their true potential.
Connect with Guest
Robin Sargent, Ph.D., is an entrepreneur, author of "The Do It Messy Approach," and a recognized Top 100 Learning Influencer. With a Ph.D. in Education, she has extensive experience as an instructional designer, professor, and former Director of Learning & Development. Driven by her passion for creative learning design, she founded IDOL courses, IDOL Talent, and IDOL Academy, pioneering innovative approaches in the field. She aims to create an IDOL world for all learners through her work.
Credits & Revisions:
Guest: Robin Sargent, Ph.D.
Story Writer/Editor: Dr. Jiani Wu
AI Partner: Claude, Perplexity, Deepseek-ri (Nvidia)
Initial Publication: Mar 25, 2025
Disclaimer:
The content shared is to highlight guests’ passion & wonder. Please read evidence-based research to help you develop your unique understanding.
AI technologies are harnessed to create initial content derived from genuine conversations. Human review is used to ensure accuracy, relevance & quality.
