The Jan Villain Challenge: The Shadow Self as Creative Catalyst
Next: Feb 2026
What: Think 75 Hard but for your creativity.
When: Jan 28- - Feb 28.
Cost: Early Bird Pricing: $299 thru Jan 23, $369 Jan 24-Feb 2
Important Dates:
Prep Jan 28-Feb 1 | Official Start Feb 2
LIVE Orientation Calls: Jan 28th 7pm ET OR Sunday Feb 1st 10AM ET
4 LIVE Workshops every Mon in Feb 7pm ET via zoom - replays sent for those who cannot attend live.
all sales are final. no refunds, credits, transfers.
Not ready to commit to the full challenge? The official Villain Challenge PDF + other digital courses are now available for a self guided option.
SNEAK PEAK - Inside the Villain Challenge Work
Intro to our Villain Challenge container, what to expect, what's included. etc.
What if the missing piece of your best art belongs to your inner villain? You're not stuck because something's wrong with you. You're stuck because you refuse to touch what terrifies you most. For 30 days, I guide you through excavation, confrontation, and integration of your most critical creative block: you. You won’t believe how thrilling and liberating it is to discover what you’ve been unwilling to do for your art.
The Villain Challenge invites you to break the rules that keep you stuck, to color outside your lines in ways you cannot currently access, to play in your own creative landscape like your inner villain does.
5 Pillars of the Villain Challenge:
1) The Daily Rules: Creative Maturity and Breakthru on the foundation of Embodiment.
2) The Daily Journal Prompts: Shadow work and Creative Collaboration with your Inner Villain.
3) Community: collaboration and accountability thru our creative coming-of age.
4) Lectures: 5 Live Workshops from me on creative maturity
5) Weekly Capstone Exercises: Integrating and Applying your breakthrus from the Rules, Journaling, and Lectures into weekly creative assignments
Challenge Rules:
Villain Workout: 45 min Workout
Villain Plotting: 45 mins on the creative work
Villain Morning Pages: Journaling in the voice of your villain
Villain Lair: Maintain an impeccable Creative Space
Villain Purification: Pick a vice, abstain for the duration of the challenge.
Villain Meditation: 10 mins/day
Villain Embodiment: Find/Create a scenario in which you can show up as your villain, every day
What’s Included:
5 Live Villain + Creativity Workshops (w/me ) 10-12 total hours + replays sent
unlimited group accountability + co-working Sessions
community group
Daily structured, progressive journal prompts, meticulously authored by me. Founded in shadow work, all geared toward creativity.
PDF Guide: Written Lessons, Exercises, Journal Prompts, Resources
Library of Free Villain Workouts
Discounts to 1:1 services to support your work (space limited)
Schedule and Workshop Outline
Week 0 | The Villain Prepares - Set your Goal! Community group opens, orientation, prep, get organized, make friends!
Week 1 | Meeting Your Villain - discover your fear, creative the lore for your inner villain that allows you to defeat your inner coward
Week 2 | Studying Your Villain - Your inner villain exposes the patterns that keep you stuck
Week 3 | Battling your villain - Harnessing Your Villainous Traits of Creativity - Explore how "villainous" traits can fuel creativity, break outdated creative rules.
Week 4 | Student Becomes Master.- Strategies for long-term integration of your inner villain into your creative practice. Integrating with the world. closing.
Who Should Join?
Anyone feeling sick of their own sh*t, blocked, or in their own way
Non-traditional and traditional creators, entrepreneur wishing to go deeper into their process
Anyone craving a robust community of creatives and wisdom seekers
Women Who Run with the Wolves
Nerds: Mythology, Jung, Anime, Joseph Campbell, Star Wars, DC/Marvel.
Who Should NOT Join?
Not a Substitute for Professional Help
This challenge and community cannot replace therapy, medical treatment, or spiritual guidance. Anyone needing professional support for acute issues should seek help elsewhere.No Real-Life Villains
The Villain Challenge is for goodness, creative expression, and personal growth only. It is not an excuse or encouragement to cause actual harm. Anyone with real vendettas or malicious intent is not welcome.
Reviews (more reviews here)
“Ms. Aldrich's depth of knowledge and facility with the component parts of the creative process is nothing short of a tour-de-force. Her ability to navigate and illuminate the creative journey is remarkable.”
- Kevin Mills, industrial designer, artist, educator.
“This was not a course about creativity; it was a surgical strike on the foundations of my artistic soul. Vanessa did not teach me how to write—she handed me a mirror and a scalpel and demanded that I perform my own autopsy, all while holding the space with fierce, uncompromising love.The tone, as reflected in the materials, is one of "fierce love." The course is not a loose collection of ideas;it is a sequential initiatory ritual.
For me, a paralyzed artist, the ambiguity of "what to do next" is the enemy. Vanessa eliminated this by providing a clear path. It is a boot camp for building the creative discipline that my fear had eroded. This is not a course for casual dabbling. There is an unwavering expectation that you are capable of profound work and that your creative expression is a necessity, not a hobby.
For those who are ready, it is exactly what is needed. It communicates: "I take you and your art so seriously that I will not coddle your excuses." This spoke to me: It is for the artist who is tired of their own excuses, who is ready to stop dancing with the ghost of their potential and finally step onto the floor and claim their power.
She has created more than a course. She has built a forge. And if you have the courage to step into the fire, you will emerge not just with a new understanding of your art, but remade and finally free.”
"Vanessa does not position herself as a traditional"teacher" imparting knowledge. She designs the ritual space (The Villain Challenge) and provides the tools (the prompts, the archetypes), but she never does the work for you. Her authority is used to point you back to your own. Her genius lies in translating abstract psychological concepts (fear, shame, resistance) into tangible, character-driven narratives. Her teaching style is a high-context, high-accountability, and deeply integrative model for creative unlocking.
She is perfect for the artist who has hit a spiritual and creative wall—who has the skill but is crippled by the inner critic. By combining myth, psychology, and practicality, she doesn't just teach you how to create; she teaches you how to view yourself as a creator. It is a demanding, unparalleled, and life-altering approach to artistic development"
“Life-changing! For me, Vanessa's Villain Challenge was a powerful invitation to confront my shadow—the parts of myself hidden in shame—and discover the missing piece in my creative journey. With confidence, I can say that I am no longer the person I was when I began.
Though the experience is deeply personal, the community we formed tapped into a rare and powerful magic. I cried, shared my vulnerabilities, and healed alongside people I had only just met, and that’s because everyone who enters this challenge is ready to do the deep, meaningful work required for true transformation. The support within the Discord group was unmatched. We journaled, meditated, practiced yoga, co-worked, and held each other accountable as we navigated our personal growth.
Vanessa is the perfect muse and guide for this journey. Her wisdom, leadership, and grace create a safe space where real, soul-level change can truly unfold. The value of this experience goes far beyond the dollar—it’s an investment in yourself that reverberates long after it ends. Worth every penny! This challenge opened a door to my becoming, and I will forever be grateful for stepping through it.”- Chanice Boyd, marketing, copywriter, author.
"I did the Villain Challenge in January, and my art has changed drastically. She is an alien / angel from the future and the past and the present. Love her work!- Jordan Mitchell, creative.
“Every conversation I had with others in this challenge has completely altered my mind. To come across other people who are on their creative journey, who are clearly here because they are somewhat at a similar place as me in my journey. I feel I have found my people here, and I have learned so much from everyone.
This work has unlocked something deep within me that I have been searching for. I felt like a lost traveller, very doubtful, very unsure, and very much aching for something. This work has opened up a new pathway of knowledge, of intention and of direction. I feel I'm scratching at something bigger than me, and for the first time in about a decade I feel actually hopeful about my art.”
-Alayna Powley, singer-songwriter“To be clear, I didn't jump into the Villain Challenge because it sounded fun - I've been waiting for this crux moment in my journey. The final death knell for a grasping version of work and existing that no longer served me. It was Vanessa's call of maturing my creativity and the beautiful paths and depths she led us on in reading groups that aligned with my own rebirthing - I was ready to let go.
This was not easy. My villain was not easy on me. What made it easier was Vanessa's guidance and my cohort's support, openness, and, above all, their energy. We put our villains forth and rode the currents of the challenge. I broke through into multiple expanses that have only been in my dreams and meditations. When I tell you I have grown up into my Energy Being and now understand the art of my spirituality - it's too much for words. You'll have to join me in the ether. My cohort has held space for me to work and grow - they see my spirit and feel my essence, and I, theirs. We continue to hold this beautiful shared space together while we focus on our new individual journeys. The cost I paid for this challenge was worth it.”
- Aisha J, engineer, reiki master
all sales final, non-refundable, or transferrable.