Can you be a creative & a business person?

What it feels like to take fear by the reigns and start new adventures.

This year, for me, is about manifesting. And before you laugh at that and say, “aw she’s so cute,” hear me out. It’s about finally taking ownership of my life and welcoming in with open arms what I want for myself and pushing out kindly what I don’t.

I am turning 30 in September, and two things are happening to me. The first is that I feel like I’ve been playing it small in my professional life up until now. I’ve had beautiful, amazing things happen personally and am so happy with that, but professionally I just continue to play it safe or not play a game at all. I’ve been trudging along creating content whether on a blog, or Instagram, YouTube, now TikTok, or newsletters, for over 10 years now. But, I’ve never really made anything of it. I’ve started and stopped and started something new more times than I can count. And I’m just so tired of it. I’m tired of telling myself I can do something and then not actually doing it. I’m tired of not keeping my own word to the most important person in my life— myself.

The second thing is that I’m entering the next spiritual phase of my life. If you follow Human Design, I’m a manifesting generator with a 4/6 profile and when I’ve had readings done, the main thing I’ve been told is that through my 6 line, I am living my life in three distinct phases. My first phase is birth-30. My second is 30-60, and my third is 60+. The first phase was all about exploring and trying different things, but not really settling or excelling at one thing. The second phase, the one I am entering this year, is about settling into that one thing (or a few things since I’m also an MG) and digging deep into my work. Climbing the metaphorical roof if you will. This is supposed to be a big building phase for me, and I can already feel myself integrating what I’ve learned into more of the bigger picture of my life, and I’m excited for what’s to come.

"Security is mostly a superstition. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." — Helen Keller

All that being said, I think the question I’m posing both to myself and maybe out into the ethers is, can I be a creative person and build a ‘successful’ business doing so? I’ve had consistent income from the work I’ve been doing for the past 5 years now, and I’ve been so grateful for that. It’s a huge reason why I haven’t pushed myself harder to go out fully on my own, I think. I’ve started many businesses over the years, some found success and some didn’t. I’ve been in this game playing on the edges my entire adult life. But there’s such a call on my heart to do more. To try more. To really take that leap into fully self-employed on my own where my income comes directly from what I create vs what skills I can offer. And as of right now, my only extra income is from photography and it’s definitely not enough to live on.

I’ve been brainstorming non-stop ideas that I can do to start generating a more reliable, livable income this year in a way that fuels my soul and makes good money. So far, I’ve come up with a mini course idea for paying members of my Substack. I’m between two, with the main one being about how to create Day In The Life vlogs on your phone, it’s something I do a lot on Instagram and TikTok and have seen some solid engagement from posting them, plus they are super fun and a way to look back on daily life.

Then I have ideas for a few bigger actual courses I can sell separately; one is about documenting motherhood through pictures, video, and written words. I’m also thinking about a course on integrating slow living into telling your unique story online. My last idea is how to start & grow your own creative business (with tangible tools from my 10+ years of experience).

I’ve started considering doing 1:1 coaching on creative business (let me know if that’s something you’d be interested in), and continuing to grow my audience to support these new endeavors. I love brainstorming and researching, but here’s where things typically fall apart for me. I’ll come up with these ideas and refine them, then usually even make them, and then do none of the actual marketing for it and just allow the process to fall apart until I come up with a fancy new idea and start again.

The truth is, I’m tired of starting again.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." — Mark Twain

I was chatting with Claire from

Creatively Conscious

in the comments of one of her posts recently, and she was telling me about the power of co-creation when it comes to making money online. That scares the actual sh*t out of me because I’m notorious for sharing my big ideas and not following through. But, I’ve been thinking about what she said and decided that maybe here, in this safe space of connection with you lovely readers, I can share my ideas and see if anything sticks. I think the scariest part is if nothing sticks at all, and I’m back to square one.

But, I’m manifesting remember? So, I believe something is going to work and that it’s entirely possible for me, a creative person, to make a business out of doing what I love. And if it’s possible for me, I hope you know that it’s just as possible for you too. Here’s to new adventures.

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." — Anais Nin