Episodes
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What do you need to be your best creative self? Where and how do you do your most innovative, exciting, unique-to-you work? And how can you take intentional steps to give yourself that “maximum creativity environment” so that you are able to do that kind of work? The answers to these questions are going to be different for every artist and every creative listening to this podcast. After all, what you need to be creative is different from what I need to be creative. But today, let’s listen in on one creative entrepreneur’s journey to foster her ideal artistic environment as she worked to give herself the gift of creativity.
In this episode, you will learn:
How one artist managed her transition from a corporate position to self-employed creative entrepreneurship (and why she made that decision).What to look for as you figure out what kind of environment helps you be your creative best.Why it matters that you develop respect for your own artistic process.How giving yourself time to be creative can help you be your artistic best.Why labels like “part time” or “full time” are completely irrelevant to your journey as a creative entrepreneur.In this episode, I mention the upcoming Thriving Narrators Retreat, which will take place August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. (Lisa Cahn of Prose Garden Productions, the guest for today's episode, will be a faculty member at this retreat.) You can learn more about this opportunity for audiobook narrators on my website, www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com/ThrivingNarratorsRetreat.
During our conversation, I mention the book Deep Work by Cal Newport.
This episode includes an interview with Lisa Cahn, who is the owner of Prose Garden Productions. Lisa will be a faculty member at the Thriving Narrators Retreat, August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. You can learn more about Lisa and the retreat here.
A full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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Do you understand how your creative industry works? Do you know who the key players are, and do you have an understanding of how artists in your specific creative discipline get projects and are able to do the work that you do? Do you have a firm grasp of the current style trends and changes that are impacting the creative work of your colleagues? How much do you know about the behind-the-scenes businesses and decision-makers that run your creative industry? Today, let’s talk about why it’s important to have curiosity about how your little corner of the artistic world works. Let’s discuss together why you need to investigate your industry.
In this episode, you will learn:
What it means to investigate your industry, and why that matters to the health of your creative business.How a mindset of collaboration can help you build a sustainable artistic career.Why thinking of your creative business as a long-term commitment can help you form relationships with the decision-makers in your industry.What kind of communication practices will help you be a supportive collaborator in all of your creative projects.How a mindset of curiosity can give you the information you need to truly be a thriving artist.In this episode, I mention the upcoming Thriving Narrators Retreat, which will take place August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. (Erick Black of Dreamscape Media, the guest for today's episode, will be a faculty member at this retreat.) You can learn more about this opportunity for audiobook narrators on my website, www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com/ThrivingNarratorsRetreat.
During our conversation, I mention Episode 57 of this podcast, when I interviewed audiobook casting director Jonathan Pennock (057: Casting Director's Perspective), and I also refer to the six components of a thriving creative business, which you can learn about here. Erick and I discuss using Airtable for project management. You can learn more about Narrator.Life's Airtable template here, and you can see Rachel Jacobs' Notion templates here. (Notion is a database system that is similar to Airtable.)
I also mention my other podcast, Crafting Audiobooks, which I co-host with the amazing Sarah Beth Goer. Sarah and I interviewed Erick for the Crafting Audiobooks, and you can listen here. Crafting Audiobooks is also available wherever you get your podcasts.
This episode includes an interview with Erick Black, who is the Director of Production at Dreamscape Media. Erick will be a faculty member at the Thriving Narrators Retreat, August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. You can learn more about Erick and the retreat here.
A full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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Missing episodes?
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As an artist who is also a small business owner, it sometimes feels like you’re pulled in two opposite directions: toward creative freedom and artistic expression on one side, and toward business-focused administrative tasks on the other. For most of us, in our creative training, whether that was art school or conservatory training or just a liberal arts education, everything was focused on the artsy side of things, with often no mention of business at all. And if you look to business literature or business coaches who cater to small business owners, which we are as creative entrepreneurs, that business material focuses entirely on efficient business administration, and creativity doesn’t even enter the picture. Where can the two sides – creative and business – meet? In today’s podcast episode, we’re going to figure out how these two elements of our creative businesses can and do interact in support of our artistic work. Let’s discuss how making decisions to follow our creative passion can actually help us in the business side of our work, forging a virtuous cycle of sustainable creativity.
In this episode, you will learn:
How improving your technique can help you find creativity even when you’re not “feeling it.”What role your creativity plays in the business side of your work, and what role smart business decisions play in the creative side of your workWhy sharing your ongoing artistic growth with others can help you grow and evolve even more as an artist.How identifying your core motivations when it comes to your creative work can help you make sustainable decisions, in both the creative and business sides of your work.How to balance the acceptance of risk and take a chance on new opportunities, with sustainable and responsible business choices.What mindset shift you can use to make any lingering imposter syndrome work for you and actually motivate you for positive change.In this episode, I mention the upcoming Thriving Narrators Retreat, which will take place August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. (Neil Hellegers, the guest for today's episode, will be a faculty member at this retreat.) You can learn more about this opportunity for audiobook narrators on my website, www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com/ThrivingNarratorsRetreat.
During our conversation, I mention Episode 7 of this podcast (007: Working in your Creative & Financial Sweet Spot), and Neil and I discuss the International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA) database, which is a useful resource when learning accents.
This episode includes an interview with Neil Hellegers, who is an actor, audiobook narrator, and educator. Neil will be a faculty member at the Thriving Narrators Retreat, August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. You can learn more about Neil and the retreat here.
A full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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When you’re facing a problem or a difficult situation in your creative business, what is your first reaction? What do you do? Do you feel frozen? Do you feel frantic, like you have no options? Do you beat your head against the wall? Or do you take a step back and find a way to walk around the wall? I know that, personally, my initial reaction is always either to freeze or to feel frantic and stuck. But that’s not the only option. Even if, like me, that’s your first reaction, you don’t have to stay there. When you’re up against a problem in your artistic work that’s standing it your way like a giant, immoveable brick wall, you can find a way to walk around the wall.
In this episode, you will learn:
How creative problem-solving can help you thrive in your artistic workWhy treating your creative colleagues – all of them! – with kindness could be the best business decision you ever make.How a commitment to ongoing growth can help you find solutions to the difficulties you’re facing.What to do when you feel like you’ve been pigeon-holed and want to expand into new genres and new creative areas.Why a mindset of curiosity can help you stay relevant in your creative industry.In this episode, I mention the upcoming Thriving Narrators Retreat, which will take place August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. (Amy Rubinate, owner of Mosaic Audio and the guest for today's episode, will be a faculty member at this retreat.) You can learn more about this opportunity for audiobook narrators on my website, www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com/ThrivingNarratorsRetreat.
This episode includes an interview with Amy Rubinate, who is an award-winning audiobook narrator, director, and producer, as well as an accomplished singer and writer, in addition to being the owner of the audiobook production company Mosaic Audio. Amy will be a faculty member at the Thriving Narrators Retreat, August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. You can learn more about Amy and the retreat here.
In this episode, Amy mentions the "Potato Bugs and Cows" song from the Mr. Roger's show. We also reference Amy's two graphic novels, Kate and the City of Fire and Annie and the Unsinkable Ship. Amy shares two helpful resources for narrators, the Audio Publishers Association (APA) and the Professional Audiobook Narrators Association (PANA), and Amy and I discuss two narrators who are excellent at the business side of their work, Erin Bennett and Ron Butler.
I have actually interviewed both Erin and Ron on my other podcast, the Crafting Audiobooks podcast. You can hear interviews with them here:
Crafting Audiobooks Podcast - Ron ButlerCrafting Audiobooks Podcast - Erin BennettA full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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As a creative entrepreneur, your time is literally your most valuable resource. From a business perspective, time is what you sell, because your artistic products require time to create. From a personal perspective, all work and no play makes you a miserable, starving artist (and it’s right there in the name of the podcast that we’re saying “NO MORE!” to the myth of the starving artist). One thing is for sure: time is valuable. But we don’t often think of time as a resource, something to use and manage to our advantage. Today, we’re going to look into what it means to think of time as a resource, and how that mindset can boost your creativity.
In this episode, you will learn:
Why time is so valuable to you as an artist and business owner.How viewing your time as a precious resource might change what you decide to do with that time.What benefits an attitude of “yes” can bring to your creative process.Why small steps toward efficiency can pay off in really huge ways.How to find small task automations that can help you stay in your creative flow.In this episode, I mention the upcoming Thriving Narrators Retreat, which will take place August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. (Jennifer Blom, the guest for today's episode, will be a faculty member at this retreat.) You can learn more about this opportunity for audiobook narrators on my website, www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com/ThrivingNarratorsRetreat.
During our conversation, I refer to several past episodes of this podcast:
005: The Time & Income Connection007: Working in your Creative & Financial Sweet Spot022: Outsourcing for Creatives038: The Price of Success is FailureThis episode includes an interview with Jennifer Blom, who is an actor, audiobook narrator, audiobook engineer, and audiobook director. Jennifer will be a faculty member at the Thriving Narrators Retreat, August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. You can learn more about Jennifer and the retreat here.
In this episode, Jennifer and I reference the books The Power of Yes by Abbie Headon and The ONE Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan.
A full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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When you look at the list of your clients, the list of people who purchase your creative work, what do they look like? Do all of those people or businesses look the same, or do they differ in some way? And when you look at the type of creative work you do, does it all fit into a tiny little box, or do you work in lots of different spaces and in lots of different ways? When you think of how you make income in your creative business, does it all come in the form of immediate payment, or work-for-hire agreements? Or do you also have money coming into your business that’s based on past work? In today’s episode, we’re going to have a conversation with multi-disciplinary artist Steven Jay Cohen and learn why, when it comes to the kind of artistic work you do and the way you do it, there is freedom in diversity.
In this episode, you will learn:
What it means to diversify your client base and your creative work.Why pursuing that kind of diversity is important to the ongoing health of your artistic business.What asynchronous income is, and why it can help bring you freedom.What it means to think of your creative business as having a “Roster of One.”How to focus in on the “why” behind your business.Why creative businesses are more like startups than like traditional small businesses.How a startup mentality can help your artistic work thrive.In this episode, I mention the upcoming Thriving Narrators Retreat, which will take place August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. (Steven Jay Cohen, owner of Spoken Realms and the guest for today's episode, will be a faculty member at this retreat.) You can learn more about this opportunity for audiobook narrators on my website, www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com/ThrivingNarratorsRetreat.
During our conversation, I refer to several past episodes of this podcast:
008: Developing Asynchronous Income013: Find Your Why054: The Six ComponentsThis episode includes an interview with Steven Jay Cohen, who is an actor, audiobook narrator, audiobook engineer, and writer, in addition to being the owner of the audiobook production company Spoken Realms. Steven will be a faculty member at the Thriving Narrators Retreat, August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. You can learn more about Steven and the retreat here. In this episode, Steven mentions a title that I worked on with him, The Indestructibles by Matthew Phillion , and I mention Steven's podcast, Yet Another Dating App.
In this episode, I reference the book How to Make Money While You Are Sleeping by photographer and author Rick Sammon, and Steven mentions Neil Gaimen's commencement speech, which you can watch here. Steven also refers to the teaching of author and coach Simon Sinek.
A full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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Regardless of what creative industry you work in, communication is key. Particularly when you think of marketing yourself and your work to the people in your industry who serve in the project assignment role, the importance of professional communication skills cannot be overstated. When the decision-makers in your industry are deliberating about which artist to consider for a project, you want to make sure your name is in the running. I’ve talked about the importance of effective and efficient marketing and networking in previous podcast episodes, but today, you don’t have to just take my word for it. We’re going to hear directly from the source. In today’s episode, we’re going to get a casting director’s perspective on the importance of effective communication in your marketing efforts.
In this episode, you will learn:
Why business communication etiquette matters when reaching out to the decision makers in your industry. How you can help people in those decision making roles to do their job more efficiently and effectively. Why sharing the kinds of projects you love benefits everyone, including the people who hire you for creative projects. What honesty and openness have to do with your marketing and networking strategy.How to cultivate a mindset of collaboration, and why that kind of mindset will lead to future opportunities for your creative work.In this episode, I mention the upcoming Thriving Narrators Retreat, which will take place August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. (Jonathan Pennock, casting director for Brilliance Publishing and the guest for today's episode, will be a faculty member at this retreat.) You can learn more about this opportunity for audiobook narrators on my website, www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com/ThrivingNarratorsRetreat.
During our conversation, I refer to several past episodes of this podcast:
007: Working in your Creative & Financial Sweet Spot025: Make Your Own Luck026: Marketing for Feast, Not Famine027: Networking for Feast, Not Famine043: AI and ArtThis episode includes an interview with Jonathan Pennock, an award-winning Audiobook Producer and Director for Brilliance Publishing. Jonathan will be a faculty member at the Thriving Narrators Retreat, August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. You can learn more about Jonathan and the retreat here. In this episode, I mention a title that I worked on with Jonathan: The Aviatrix by Violet Marsh.
A full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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While I’m not neurodivergent myself, I know a lot of artists who are. In fact, quite a few of the artists who work with me to build their entrepreneurship skills are neurodivergent in one way or another. You, the fabulous artist listening to this podcast, might even be neurodivergent yourself. And this prevalence of neurodivergence among artists is more than just anecdote; a recent Psychology Today article explains that “neurodivergent individuals excel creatively,” making them uniquely suited to artistic careers. But while being neurodivergent can be a bonus in the creativity department, it can bring a whole host of unique challenges in the other aspects of our creative work. Today, let’s discuss strategies for handling the ups and downs of life as a neurodivergent creative.
In this episode, you will learn:
Why neurodivergence is so common in the creative and artistic world. (In other words, lots of creatives are neurodivergent, which means you're not alone!)How coming to an acceptance of your neurodivergence can help you strategize solutions for the unique problems you face.What practical solutions have worked for Marni Penning, an award-winning actress, and what processes and resources she used to find those solutions. How you can use those same processes to find solutions that work for you in your unique circumstances.In this episode, I mention the upcoming Thriving Narrators Retreat, which will take place August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. (Marni Penning, the guest for today's episode, will be a faculty member at this retreat.) You can learn more about this opportunity for audiobook narrators on my website, www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com/ThrivingNarratorsRetreat.
I refer to two past episodes of this podcast:
016: The Six Components of a Thriving Creative Business 022: Outsourcing for CreativesI also mention this article from Psychology Today and this 2022 study of neurodivergence among electronic musicians.
This episode includes an interview with award-winning actress Marni Penning. You can learn more about Marni's work on her website and on her social media. You can also learn more about the Penning Method for the Panicked Actor here.
In our conversation, Marni mentions two tools that she finds helpful in managing her neurological differences: a full-year write-on calendar, and write-on magnets. I also mention the large desk calendar that I like to use for my schedule, which you can see here.
Marni also shares two additional resources that have helped her in her journey:
Shanna Pearson's Expert ADHD CoachingA Radical Guide for Women with ADHD by Sari Solden and Michelle Frank (the audiobook version is narrated by Marni!)Marni and I discuss body doubling as a strategy to help with focus. You can learn more about body doubling here, and you can learn more about Focusmate, a body doubling service, here.
A full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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Questions related to branding and marketing can often feel incredibly overwhelming for artists. The vast majority of creative entrepreneurs got into their line of work because they were passionate about the “creative” part of the “creative entrepreneur” label, not so much because they felt drawn to the “entrepreneur” part. But as I’ve said before on this podcast, the flow of work into your artistic business is directly related to the flow of marketing efforts out of your business. So even if you feel lost when you think about what it would take to effectively market your creative business, doing that marketing work is still something that is part of what it takes to build your creative business into a thriving enterprise that meets your needs. And I’m here to tell you that marketing and branding don’t have to be as scary as they seem. Your branding and marketing decisions can flow naturally out of who you are as an artist. Today, let’s take a deep dive into the topic of branding and marketing for your creative work.
In this episode, you will learn:
How to consider the needs of the many different audiences for your creative business’s marketing materials.Why your branding decisions can inform the way that you approach in-person events.How to transition from “me” to “we” in your social media strategy.What questions will help you find the commonalities in your interests and passions that will serve as the basis for your branding decisions.How your social media is similar to a public living room in your house, and what that concept means for how you “show up” online.How to consciously allow your branding to evolve over time as you grow as an artist.In this episode, I mention the upcoming Thriving Narrators Retreat, which will take place August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. (Gail Shalan, the guest for today's episode, will be a faculty member at this retreat.) You can learn more about this opportunity for audiobook narrators on my website, www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com/ThrivingNarratorsRetreat.
In this episode, I refer to two past episodes of this podcast:
026: Marketing for Feast, Not Famine 027: Networking for Feast, Not FamineThis episode includes an interview with multi-disciplinary artist Gail Shalan. You can learn more about Gail's work on her website and on her social media.
In our conversation, Gail shares a quote from the book Personal Branding for Dummies by Susan Chritton.
A full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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When I’m working with artists, the most frequent question they ask is how they should structure their creative business. How do they know which tasks in their creative entrepreneurship life are worth their time? How should their business work if they want that business to support them and fulfill them in all the ways they need to be supported and fulfilled: personally, creatively, and financially? What does a functioning creative business look like? Today, let’s discuss.
In this episode, you will learn:
What six components thriving creative businesses share in common.How to implement those six components within your creative business.Why establishing supportive habits will free you to do your best creative work.What role the financial aspects of your business play in helping your creative business thrive overall.How these six components can help you maintain a steady income in your business, getting you off the “feast or famine” roller coaster.In this episode, I reference the Merriam-Webster Dictionary definitions of systematized, marketing, and networking. I also reference this Vanity Fair article, in which US President Barak Obama talks about what he does to reduce his decision fatigue.
In addition, I reference several previous episodes of this podcast:
005: The Time & Income Connection (Episode 1 in the 4-Part "Time & Income" Series)006: Pay Yourself First (Episode 2 in the 4-Part "Time & Income" Series)007: Working in your Creative & Financial Sweet Spot (Episode 3 in the 4-Part "Time & Income" Series)008: Developing Asynchronous Income (Episode 4 in the 4-Part "Time & Income" Series)010: What You Need From Your BusinessA full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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One of my coaching clients reached out to me this week regarding a task that she and I had discussed at length during a session a couple months ago, and she confessed to me that she hadn’t done it yet. What’s more, she wasn’t really sure why she hadn’t done it. There wasn’t anything stopping her or getting in her way. She told me, “I’m just not doing it, and I know I have to.”
Have you been there? Have you felt paralyzed in the face of something you know you need to do in your creative business, but you just can’t get it done for some reason? Have you found yourself procrastinating on tasks that need to get done, and not really knowing why you’re procrastinating, or how to stop that procrastinating? I know I have. I know this coaching client is definitely not alone, and neither are you! Today, let’s figure out together how to say goodbye to procrastination.
In this episode, you will learn:
What common causes of procrastination might be tripping you up.How to determine why this task is so hard for you to do.Why the stories that you are telling yourself matter, and how to edit those stories to cultivate a supportive mindset that will help you do your creative work.How other people can support you and provide accountability to you in your creative work.What positive steps you can take to get the task done and say goodbye to procrastination!In this episode, I mention two of my coaching programs, the Thriving Artists Academy and the Thriving Narrators Retreat. You can learn more about both opportunities on my website, www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com. The Thriving Narrators Retreat is August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH.
In this episode, I refer to two past episodes of this podcast:
015: But What If You Could?016: The Six Components of a Thriving Creative BusinessI also mention this TED talk by Lori Gottlieb.
A full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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Every creative has moments in their career that are moments of celebration, moments of pure excitement. And usually, when I talk to artists about those moments, they think about the big career milestones: that huge award that they won or were nominated for, the incredible review they received, the prestigious fellowship they were awarded, the amazing project they won. These are all big, wonderful career events in your life as an artist business owner that absolutely should be celebrated. But they aren’t the only moments that deserve celebration. The problem with focusing only on those big, external indicators of career success is that they are almost always things controlled by other people, which by definition means they are rare and unpredictable. Instead, I want to encourage you to focus on celebrating the small wins in your creative life. After all, doing the work is the win. Let’s discuss.
In this episode, you will learn:
What “wins” to celebrate in your life as an artist businessowner.How focusing on small wins can help you to have a mindset of joy and excitement around your creative work.Why focusing only on the final outcome causes you to worry about the wrong things.How being a creative entrepreneur is similar to being a medieval merchant.What it means to “send out ships” in your creative life.What it looks like in your life as an artist to focus on what you can control.In this episode, I mention the Thriving Narrators Retreat, which is August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. You can learn more about this exciting growth opportunity for audiobook narrators on my website, https://www.starvingartistnomore.com/thrivingnarratorsretreat.
I refer to several past episodes of this podcast:
017: What You Can Control032: Progress, Not Perfection040: Small Steps051: Celebrations MatterI also share a quote from this X (aka Twitter) post by Billy Oppenheimer.
A full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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Last week’s podcast episode was all about the importance of acknowledging the hard things in your life as a creative entrepreneur, but if you stop there, you’re only seeing part of the picture. Yes, much in the life of an artist is really difficult, but so much is amazing as well. We get to create for a living! We get to share our artistic ideas with the world! What a gift that is! But if we don’t take time to intentionally acknowledge those good things, we run the risk of not even noticing that they happened. Our brains are primed to pay attention to and remember the bad, not the good. In order to make sure we recognize and appreciate the good things that happen in our creative lives, we need to celebrate them. Today, we’ll talk about why that’s so important and how you can incorporate celebration into your creative process. Celebrations matter.
In this episode, you will learn:
What social psychology research can teach us about how to navigate stressful situations using celebrations.What the negativity bias is, and how celebrations can help us overcome that bias.How celebrating can help us identify the strategies that work within our creative businesses.Why celebrations are vital to developing habits that support you and your artistic work.What practical steps you can take to make celebration part of your creative process, benefiting you and your business.In this episode, I announced the Thriving Narrators Retreat DEI Scholarship. You can learn more about this scholarship on my website, https://www.starvingartistnomore.com/thrivingnarratorsretreat.
I also talked about the Thriving Narrators Retreat itself, which is August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. Again, you can learn more about this exciting growth opportunity for audiobook narrators on my website, https://www.starvingartistnomore.com/thrivingnarratorsretreat.
In this episode, I refer to two past episodes of this podcast:
016: The Six Components of a Thriving Creative Business050: Acknowledge the Hard StuffI also mention several books that I have read and that I feel confident recommending for those who want more information:
The Happiness Advantage by Shawn AchorAtomic Habits by James ClearThe Power of Habit by Charles DuhiggI share a quote from this TED talk given by Shawn Achor in 2011, and I reference this episode of the NPR Life Kit podcast, which is summarized here.
A full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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The life of a creative entrepreneur is a difficult one. From a culture that doesn’t value our artistic work, instead telling us we should starve, to the difficulty of dealing with business administration tasks that many of us were never formally educated to handle, the reality of being an artist business owner is not an easy one. You’ve picked a hard road, my friend. And one frequent reaction to this difficulty that I see in my colleagues and in my coaching clients is what I like to call the ostrich response: sticking your head in the sand and ignoring the hard things. If you ignore the things you don’t like, they’ll disappear, right? Oh if only it were that easy! Ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away. It just allows it to fester. It’s not easy, but there is value in acknowledging the hard stuff. In today’s episode, we’re going to look at those hard things together.
In this episode, you will learn:
How acknowledging the difficulties of our creative entrepreneurship life gives us power.Why we instinctively want to ignore problems in our work.How to overcome that instinct to have a more helpful stance.What practical steps to take when you’re feeling stuck by a problem in your business.How we can pay attention to our difficult emotions and learn from them in the process.In this episode, I announced the Thriving Narrators Retreat DEI Scholarship. You can learn more about this scholarship on my website, https://www.starvingartistnomore.com/thrivingnarratorsretreat.
I also talked about the Thriving Narrators Retreat itself, which is August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. Again, you can learn more about this exciting growth opportunity for audiobook narrators on my website, https://www.starvingartistnomore.com/thrivingnarratorsretreat.
In this episode, I refer to one past episode, 038: The Price of Success is Failure. I also reference this TED talk by Lori Gottlieb.
A full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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I know you’ve been there. Your task list is overflowing, and you’re overwhelmed. You’ve got more to do than you can possibly complete in the time available. Perhaps you’re in a feast period in your creative career, meaning your project calendar is jampacked full of fabulous projects that you’re excited to work on. Which is great, except that it means all of your time is spent heads-down creating, with no time left over for the necessary administrative tasks that come with running a business. Or maybe life has gone sideways on you, and you’re dealing with time-consuming complications in your personal life, resulting in a tight squeeze on the time available for your business work, whether that’s creative tasks or administrative to-dos. Regardless of the reason, you’ve found yourself in a place where decisions need to be made. You can’t do everything. So what do you choose to do, and what do you choose to leave undone? How do you prioritize? How did you decide what really matters to you, and how do you make sure your actions reflect those values? Today, we’re going to look at some of those hard questions. We’re going to talk about where your priorities lie.
In this episode, you will learn:
What my recent experience during a particularly hectic time has taught me about how to prioritize within my creative business.Why I intentionally chose to take some time off from this podcast and how I used that time to focus on other areas of my creative work.How you can use the Six Components of a Thriving Creative Business to guide your priority decisions when time gets tight.Why focusing on these six areas within your business is even more important when life and work gets overwhelmingIn this episode, I announced the Thriving Narrators Retreat, which is August 22-25, 2024 in Cincinnati, OH. You can learn more about this exciting growth opportunity for audiobook narrators on my website, https://www.starvingartistnomore.com/thrivingnarratorsretreat.
I also mentioned the Thriving Artists Academy. You can learn more about this dynamic and supportive community on my website, www.starvingartistnomore.com/thrivingartistsacademy.
In this episode, I refer to several past episodes of this podcast:
007: Working in your Creative & Financial Sweet Spot008: Developing Asynchronous Income016: The Six Components of a Thriving Creative Business044: Consistency Is HardI also mention the Spoon Theory of chronic illness, and I share the Merriam-Webster definition of "priority."
A full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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As this episode is originally being released, it’s the day after Christmas 2023. Last year, for the podcast episode between Christmas and New Year’s Day, I narrated a Christmas story for you, and truthfully, that episode is one of my favorite podcast episodes of the entire first season! I’d like to make that holiday storytelling habit a tradition here on the Starving Artist No More podcast. So today, I have another Christmas story to share with you: The Elves and the Shoemaker by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
A full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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It’s Tuesday of the last workweek of 2023, and it’s a time when lots of us are thinking about what we’ve done over the past twelve months and what we’re looking forward to in the coming twelve months. Those kinds of looks backward and dreams forward can be really exciting! But it can also be really difficult to think back on the year gone by. If I’m being honest, I’d have to admit that while “yearly review time” can be exciting and motivating, it’s also a time when it’s really easy to get discouraged and to judge yourself for what did or didn’t happen in the past year. When those self-critical thoughts start creeping in and taking over your inner-monologue, what can you do? My recommendation: be a detective.
In this episode, you will learn:
Why curiosity is a powerful mindset to cultivate, and what exactly a mindset of curiosity is.What factors to consider as you review your work: from the big to the small, from the year-end reviews to the individual project reviews.How being a detective about the careers of your creative colleagues can actually help you in your own.What it means to “hunt for a star” and how that mindset can help you in your creative business.How curiosity can help your creative business thrive.In this episode, I mention the Thriving Artists Academy. You can learn more about this dynamic and supportive community on my website, www.starvingartistnomore.com/thrivingartistsacademy.
In this episode, I reference Merriam-Webster's definition for "curious," as well as to several past episodes of this podcast:
021: Your Unique Pace024: Overriding Imposter Syndrome045: Your Personal Definition of Success046: Year-End PlanningI also read the first stanza of "As You Go Through Life," a brief poem by 19th century American poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox. You can learn more about Wilcox here, and you can read the full poem here.
A full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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As this episode is being originally released, it’s less than two weeks before Christmas 2023. In another four days, my husband, Arturo, will be off from work in his corporate job for the rest of the year. Yay for holiday vacations! And all over the world right now, people are making plans for the holidays and thinking about their New Year’s resolutions. Because being less than two weeks from Christmas means we’re also less than three weeks from the new year. What are you going to do in your creative work next year? What New Years resolutions do you have around your artistic business? What are you going to do to make your coming year one of creative joy and excitement? Let’s discuss.
In this episode, you will learn:
Why knowing your personal definition of success is a vital part of crafting a plan for your business in 2024.What three questions to ask yourself as you review 2023 so that you can move in a positive direction of change for 2024.Why paying attention to how you receive personal, creative, and financial fulfillment from your creative work will help you plan an effective strategy for the coming year.How to use SMART goals to craft goals that you will actually achieve.What one exercise you can use to figure out the business strategy that is right for you.How your community of creative friends, colleagues, and mentors can help you achieve your goals.In this episode, I mention the Thriving Artists Academy. You can learn more about this dynamic and supportive community on my website, www.starvingartistnomore.com/thrivingartistsacademy.
In this episode, I also refer to several past episodes of this podcast:
006: Pay Yourself First019: SMART Creativity040: Small Steps045: Your Personal Definition of SuccessA full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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When you picture someone who is a successful artist or creative, what image does that bring to your mind? Perhaps someone who has won lots of competitions or awards in your creative industry. Perhaps someone who is very prolific in their artistry, so you see their work all over the place. Perhaps it’s someone who takes on really high profile projects, performing with the best ensembles or working with well-known clients or having their work profiled in The New York Times or People Magazine. Exactly what those external success markers look like varies a bit from one creative industry to another, but they are all exactly that: external indicators of what our culture has deemed success.
On the other hand, what if you envision yourself as successful? What image does that bring to mind?
So many artists I work with come to me with the idea that I’ll help them achieve some of those external indicators of success, but that’s not actually where fulfillment lies for any artist. You can have all of those external success markers, and even more, and not be fulfilled by your creative work. And like I always say, I am all about helping you build a creative business that meets your needs, that fulfills you holistically. Not a business that meets someone else’s needs, or that meets the needs of a generic description of success, but your needs. Success is a very personal thing. It is not a blanket descriptor or a general state of being. Success is a state of being that is particular to each individual. In today’s podcast episode, we’re going to discuss your personal definition of success.
In this episode, you will learn:
Why I don’t often use the word “success.”How to think about our culture’s idea of success, versus what success means for us as individuals.What questions to ask as you do the internal thought work necessary to decide what success means for you.How to figure out a strategy that will make that individual dream of success your reality.What role action plays in helping you achieve success.Why celebrating milestones is vital to your experience of success.In this episode, I mention the upcoming free Dream Big workshop I am hosting on December 5, 2023. You can learn more about this free goal-setting workshop for creative entrepreneurs on the events page of my website, www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com/events.
In this episode, I mention the dictionary definition of "success," courtesy of Merriam-Webster. I also quote from the book From Individual to Empire by Laura Bull, which I highly recommend (and which we're going to study in 2024 in my new Thriving Artists Academy Book Club), and I mention Shawn Achor's TED talk on happiness. I also refer to one past episode of this podcast: 010: What You Need From Your Business.
A full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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We’re getting toward the end of the year, when people employed in corporate jobs are completing their yearly self-assessments in preparation for performance reviews in early January. My husband, Arturo, who you heard from in last week’s episode, turned in his 2023 self-assessment last week, just before Thanksgiving. And yes, I am a self-employed creative entrepreneur, not an employee of a large company like he is, but I’m doing my own self-assessment right now, too: thinking about what went well over the past year, what didn’t go so well, and how I want to use that data to move forward with joy and creativity into 2024. As I’m thinking about those things and reviewing my own actions (and inactions) over the past year, I’m struck over and over again by one overarching theme: as a creative entrepreneur, consistency is necessary, but consistency is also hard. Today, we’re going to focus in on consistency in our creative work and figure out how we can be more consistent together.
In this episode, you will learn:
Why changing your perspective on what it means to be consistent can help you be more consistent in the long run.What paradox exists around consistency, and how acknowledging the truth of that paradox can free you from judgement.Why curiosity is the best mindset to cultivate when you find yourself struggling to be consistent.How to figure out where consistency really matters, and where doing something most of the time is enough.What strategies will help you improve your consistency in your areas of highest priority.How your creative colleagues can help you (and how you can help them!) be consistent in ways that count.In this episode, I mention the upcoming free Dream Big workshop I am hosting on December 5, 2023. You can learn more about this free goal-setting workshop for creative entrepreneurs on the events page of my website, www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com/events.
In this episode, I refer to several past episodes of this podcast:
004: An Attitude of Gratitude006: Pay Yourself First016: The Six Components of a Thriving Creative Business039: Fix Forward041: A New Season.A full transcript of this episode can be found here. Full transcripts of every episode will always be available at the Starving Artist No More Blog.
Thank you for listening. Please feel free to reach out to me at www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, with any questions, comments, or feedback. I'd love to hear from you.
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