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inspiration & influence reading notes

3 practical insights from ‘Chillpreneur’ to inspire creative growth

July 31, 2020
Chillpreneur

Creative growth lightbulb moments!

You know those moments when you are reading a book and it’s like the author is talking to YOU! Looking for creative growth, the writer just seems to know what you are missing and need to know. A lightbulb moment, critical pieces immediately fall into place. You see something more clearly, as you step into a new way of seeing or thinking. One that helps you move and grow.

I enjoyed LOTS of moments like that reading Chillpreneur by Denise Duffield Thomas. But three practical insights for creative growth made a huge difference to how I work as a creative entrepreneur. And as the title, suggest, they helped me to chill and relax into working in line with my purpose and personality.

So here they are, my three top practical insights for creative growth and entrepreneurship from Chillpreneur:

1. Know your business model

The Chillpreneur solution to finding the perfect business model for you is: Know thyself.

Chillpreneur, Denise Duffield Thomas

Knowing your business model might not sound like the sexiest advice. But this insight was truly game-changing for me. Denise DT outlines four business models:

  1. Maker Model – making physical things eg art, jewellery, clothing.
  2. Service Model – solving problems, doing work for clients eg photography, graphic design, editing.
  3. Consultant Model – helping others achieve transformation via“high- to medium’ touch” ways eg coaching, healing, consulting, advising.
  4. Teacher Model – instructing people in a “low- to medium-touch way” eg authors, bloggers, podcasters, online course creators.

Mixing and matching business model elements helps you find the unique best blend for you. And importantly, aligning your business model to your personality helps you work in a way that is fulfilling and relaxed.

My business model story

Why was this so game-changing for me? It helped me make sense of my identity as a creative entrepreneur and where to focus my energies. It tapped back into my why, passions and body of work over time. Let me explain.

I trained to become a certified life coach in 2016 but I have been a teacher for most of my life. Working in the adult vocational education sector (TAFE) for over 30 years, I’m highly skilled at teaching and facilitating both in-person and online. So I am a teacher at heart. I love to: share my knowledge and resources, structure and shape learning experiences, and make a difference in people’s lives. I love coaching too for overlapping reasons and for how I can foster transformative experiences, listen intuitively, help people find their truth and be in action towards what’s important.

But when I blend that CONSULTANT model/Coaching + TEACHER model together WHAM! Sparks fly as my zone of genius comes together. I’ve blended them together to create the Sacred Creative Collective Group Coaching program. And powerful personal transformations are the result. I love curating, creating and sharing my wisdom in chunks of practical lessons for others. And I can shape and reshape this material in different forms as a teacher in low- to medium-touch ways. This includes blogging, writing books, speaking, creating online courses such as the Personality Stories Coaching program.

This is all in line with my introverted INTJ personality type which has a natural preference for visioning what could be, creating, curating, organising and structuring into practical frameworks for others. So I am working in a way that aligns with my heart and skills. And that feels so much more chilled and satisfying!

Your business model story

So what’s your business model story? There are plenty of examples in Chillpreneur to consider including the story of Nicola Newman, creative mentor for the Sacred Creative Collective. Nicola blends Maker, Consultant and Teacher in a beautiful creative mix aligned to her heart and skills.

TIPS: Find the blend that makes you sing! Check out Chillpreneur Chapter 4 and see which model or blend suits you and the life and creative growth you desire. The mindset it creates makes all the difference!

Chillpreneur

2. Be a contributor not a guru

As soon as I gave myself permission to contribute to the conversation about women and money, and not have to be a guru or expert on it, my business became fun.

Chillpreneur, Denise Duffield Thomas

How freeing is that thought? How much time do we spend feeling we have to be experts? And how much pressure does that put on us? When we just need to show up and contribute to the dialogue in our areas of expertise or interest.

What’s our unique take? What do we know? What is our experience? How can we share what we know to help others?

Being a contributor means:

  • learning and sharing what we know along the way.
  • being a work in progress, valuing our point of view and experience.
  • not wanting things to be perfect or more complete.
  • defining ourselves by what we can give, not by what is lacking.
  • supporting others by sharing what you know.
  • co-creating with others and tapping into the power of emerging.

It’s valuable to be knowledgeable, experienced and skilled, but let’s not allow that quest to stop us contributing along the way. Be authentic, contribute and share your process and behind the scenes. You never know how your path or learning can help others.

My contributor story

Focusing on being a contributor helped me to share personality type insights as a speaker at the international level. Backing myself, I flew to the UK and presented at the British Association for Psychological Type. In Learned Wisdom: Journeys in Type and Transition I share how I stepped up in my personality work to present to highly-skilled, experienced international type professionals on type and transition.

It put me under pressure but it helped me to invest time to gather the wisdom and learning of my transition experience to help others. By focusing on being a contributor of my unique experience of type and transition, I was able to facilitate new insights for this experienced group of professionals. I received excellent feedback which was heartening. Plus I developed a body of work I can share with others to help their transition through my teaching/coaching blend.

Your contributor story

So what’s your contributor story? Where would it help you to shift your mindset from guru to contributor? What can you share or create that will help others?

TIPS: Reflect on where the need to be an expert is keeping you from growing, emerging and sharing your truth. Journal about the impact of this and how you might change it. Check out Chillpreneur Chapter 1 for further thoughts on this and other mindset shifts for creative growth. Read Denise DT’s 37 Lessons from Becoming a Self-made Millionaire and be reminded: “Who cares if you don’t know everything. You don’t have to be the best to make a difference to someone.“

Chillpreneur
At BAPT in April 2019.

3. Embrace imperfect action

Embracing imperfect action in your business will reap huge rewards for you.

Chillpreneur, Denise Duffield Thomas

I’m a Virgo like Denise DT so I know all about perfectionism. As Denise says, “we practically invented it!” And Virgos don’t have a mortgage on perfectionism either; your personality type can mean you have a natural preference for “perfect” over “in process” or “imperfect”. This can mean all kinds of over-critiquing, over-doing, procrastination and silence.

Like my mug that says, “Done is better than perfect”, imperfect action is a mindset shift that enables us to move, do, write, create and share without the constant tyranny of self-criticism.

Denise shares the example of “placeholder marketing” – copy or offers she has put out there until she creates the “perfect version”. They end up staying out there and being very much appreciated by her community who don’t see them as imperfect at all. Love that idea!

My imperfect action story

The most freeing aspect of imperfect action has been reminding myself I can update, edit, review, revise and reinvent. Also to recognise when I am doing too much and not expending my energy wisely.

Creating a free resource as an entry point for my community has been a journey in moving away from doing too much and perfectionism. My first opt-in resource was a 26,000-word ebook on the 36 Books that Shaped my Story. I’m proud of it and I am looking to publish it in another way. But it took me ages and was way too much as a first step in connecting with me and my work. For both me and my community.

My Free 10 Tips for Creating more Meaning and Purpose Personal Action Checklist has been the most downloaded free resource I’ve created. Using a spirit of imperfect action and contributing, I distilled wisdom and learning from major life transitions into ten tips. I created this checklist so my community members can craft renewed focus, energy and creativity in their life. Yes, I could easily get put off by thinking about what is not there or if it is enough. But I know these 10 tips worked for me. They’re practical, applicable and I know will work for others. It’s a powerful first step. And if I learn new things or get additional insights, I can always update it.

Your imperfect action story

So what’s your imperfect action story? What could you do now that gets you out there into the world? How could using the idea of “imperfect action” help you? What have you already drafted that you are holding back on? Is there something you want to create but feel a sense of fear about? What would be enough now? How could you save time and energy?

TIPS: Just do it! Enjoy the process of creating and watch out for those inner voices that talk you down. Have responses ready for them. Use the words “imperfect action” in your self-talk to honour being in action. Put your work out there and realise you can always change and improve it later with added experience. Focus on the value of your insights to others.

Chillpreneur

Share your story!

Love to hear in the comments or via social media – Instagram or Facebook:

  • about your business model preference or unique blend.
  • how you are leaning into being a contributor.
  • and where and how are you choosing to be in imperfect action.

I hope these insights, experiences and tips have been helpful. I’m grateful to Denise Duffield Thomas for the insights gifted via Chillpreneur. It is a book I’ll be revisiting over time to strengthen my creative growth, freedom and abundance. I hope these ideas contribute to your creative growth, freedom and abundance too. Let me know what works for you! And check out Chillpreneur.

coaching creativity planning & productivity work life

Creative and Connected #7 – how to craft a successful life on your own terms

July 28, 2017

Once we trust that we are giving it 100%, then we can trust that every day 100% looks really different.

Jen Carrington

successful life

Inspiring resources to keep you creative and connected – this week with a focus on how to craft a successful life on your own terms.

Here’s a round-up of what I’ve enjoyed and shared this week on various social platforms on crafting a successful life on your own terms. This includes looking at how we structure our working week and how we define our success.

Imagining a different lifestyle

I started a transition plan for a new career and working life one year ago now. I worked with a coach and identified my professional development goals including Life Coaching. Shortly after, I shifted to a part-time work program. My beautiful mum was diagnosed with a serious illness just as I started on this journey. It’s been challenging time as I negotiate a life transition and provide important care and support.

A key part of this journey has been imagining a different lifestyle. This involves balancing self-care and care for others. It also means learning how to craft a successful life on my own terms through:

  • working on what I love, centred around my passions of writing and creativity;
  • enabling a self-sustaining creative lifestyle;
  • making a difference via teaching and Life Coaching, inspiring and sharing resources and learnings from my whole life, not just my work life;
  • having writing and Life Coaching as the twin hearts of a creative, flexible working week; and
  • changing my definitions of success.

I’ve just completed my Life Coaching training this week and am now a Beautiful You Coaching Academy Life Coach. This was the key centrepiece of my year plan. I’m working with pro bono clients at present and hope to start working with paying clients later this year. I also see writing as a stream of income into the future.

My learning over the past year has been about crafting a successful creative lifestyle. In fact, I’ve been preparing for a long time on how to be a creative entrepreneur.

In this post, I dive deeper into this theme of crafting a successful, self-sustaining creative lifestyle. A key focus is how we manage our time and structure our working week and how we might define success differently.

Podcasts on crafting a successful life on your own terms 

Creating your ideal working week, with Jen Carrington on Sara Tasker’s Hashtag Authentic

This podcast is a fabulous conversation between Sara Tasker and Jen Carrington, coach for big-hearted creative business owners. I recommended this podcast in 6 Inspiring Podcasts for Creatives and Book Lovers post and I listened to it again today. It’s such inspiring listening.

It covers:

  • the intuitive work week – learning to work differently as a creative, self-employed person;
  • self-care as self-employed creatives;
  • working in ‘ebb and flow’ and in seasons, of hustle, rest and struggle, knowing we can’t always be ‘on’ all the time;
  • learning how to define success in different ways from the traditional work ethic model and managing what Jen calls ‘work week baggage’; and
  • women as self-employed, creative breadwinners.

Both Sara and Jen are successful creative entrepreneurs and their learning is based on experience. It’s so heartening for me to hear young women having conversations about living a successful, creative life on your own terms.

You can also listen to Jen’s podcast episode Redefining your work week, which explores the intuitive work week and scheduling an ‘impactful, joyful and productive work week’. It encourages self-employed, creative people to look at current schedules and how to get in the flow and be more productive. The concept of ‘work week baggage’ and the stories we tell ourselves about work is also discussed.

Jen’s The Intuitive Workweek course is an awesome resource and e-course for deeper personal work on this theme.

Money, Writing and Life – with Jane Friedman, on The Creative Penn, also explores creativity as a ‘proper job’, and specifically, business models for writers and being an author entrepreneur. This is a way of living a successful life on your own terms as a writer.

Books and reading notes

I’ve continued reading David Whyte’s Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity on work and identity. I’m savouring this book in a slow, delicious read. In the flip side (or precursor!) to some of the creative business models above, David talks about ‘the haunted house of insignificant success’:

The house I had built from my work was busy, but in the way a haunted mansion is busy, full of wails and rattling chains. All the time, I refused to acknowledge my core work, I was turning into a ghost on the surface. (p126-7)

We’ll be exploring this book next week on Quiet Writing, so stay tuned!

I finished the audiobook of Joanna Penn’s Business for Authors: How to be an Author Entrepreneur. It is a comprehensive overview of how to be successful as an author. It’s recommended reading for learning more about operating as an author and business person. It also shows how living life on your own terms as a writer is possible through self-publishing.

I also started reading The Writer’s Guide to Training Your Dragon, by Scott Baker as an audiobook as part of my self-development and sustainability as a creative entrepreneur. I so love writing by hand and especially with my fountain pens and Japanese inks. But being able to write more and without pain is definitely a long-term goal I’m investing time in.

successful life

Blog/Twitter/Instagram posts and interactions:

In Defining your own success, Sara Tasker discusses success and how women are defining new ways of working based on creativity, community and connection. She announces that her husband is leaving a secure job to become a member of Sara’s team. In reflecting on this, Sara says:

So I guess that is what success means to me: the freedom to choose, and to keep choosing, and to craft whatever kind of life we want. To be so blissfully contented in those choices that we don’t even care what anyone else is measuring us by, or give it a second thought.

In How I intentionally schedule my week as a creative business owner, Jen Carrington provides an update on learnings from her experiences. These include:

  • working outside the home more
  • making client days more fun
  • personal development as a daily habit

Successful entrepreneurs are more likely to have these two personality traits highlights the role of intuition in entrepreneurship. This is a theme I have found weaving through so many of these podcasts and reads. Intuition is a personality trait I rely on more as I work to live a successful life on my own terms.

I wish to give a huge and grateful shout-out to the awesome Beautiful You Coaching Academy as I successfully completed my Life Coaching training this week. Beautiful You is dedicated to training heart-centred life coaches who can build the unique business of their dreams. The number of highly successful businesses that the Academy has spawned is testament to the excellent quality of the program and the inspirational leadership of Julie Parker, the CEO, founder and lead trainer. Julie is a shining example of how to craft a successful life on your own terms.

successful life

I will write more soon about my experience in the course and what it has taught me. Beautiful You has fabulous resources for creative business owners interested in living a successful life on their own terms. And really, life coaching is all about encouraging and supporting people to do exactly that! For example, How to breakthrough negative core beliefs and build the business of your dreams focuses on building a Life Coaching business. The advice is transferable to anyone looking to build a self-sustaining, creative business and focuses on mindset.

On Quiet Writing and Tarot Narratives

My post on Quiet Writing, How to make the best of introverted strengths in an extraverted world, explores ways to work and influence as an introvert to make the best of natural strengths.

My Tarot Narratives on Instagram have continued to be a rich source of inspiration and insight for my creative journey. Thanks for all the creative interactions. On crafting a successful life, in a recent post, Eleanor Roosevelt in ‘You Learn by Living’ reminds us:

Maturity also means that you have set your values, that you know what you really want out of life. What are the things that give you great satisfaction?…To be mature you have to realise what you value most. It is extraordinary to discover that comparatively few people reach this level of maturity. They seem never to have paused to consider what has value for them” (p72)

And here’s the beautiful orchids continuing to come out in my garden. We’ve been blessed with a bumper crop through no great effort for which I am grateful.

Have a fabulous creative weekend!

successful life

Creative and Connected is a regular post each Friday and the previous posts are below. I hope you enjoy it. I would love any feedback via social media or comments and let me know what you are enjoying too.

Feature image via pexels.com

Keep in touch

Subscribe via email (see the link at the top and below) to make sure you receive updates from Quiet Writing and its passions in 2017. This includes MBTI developments, coaching, creativity and other connections to help express your unique voice in the world. My free e-book on the books that have shaped my story is coming soon for subscribers only – so sign up to be the first to receive it!

Quiet Writing is on Facebook – Please visit here and ‘Like’ to keep in touch and interact with the growing Quiet Writing community. There are regular posts on intuition, influence, creativity, productivity, writing, voice, introversion and personality including Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

If you enjoyed this post, please share via your preferred social media channel – links are below.

You might also enjoy:

Creative and Connected #6 – how to be a creative entrepreneur

How to make the best of introvert strengths in an extraverted world

How knowing your authentic heart can make you shine

Creative and Connected #5 – being accountable to ourselves and others

creativity inspiration & influence planning & productivity

Creative and connected #6 – how to be a creative entrepreneur

July 21, 2017

 An entrepreneur creates value from ideas.

Joanna Penn, The Creative Penn

creative portfolio

Inspiring resources to keep you creative and connected – this week with a focus on being a creative entrepreneur and portfolio careers.

Here’s a round-up of what I’ve enjoyed and shared this week on various social platforms with a focus on how we can make a living from our creative skills.

I’ve been listening to podcasts and reading about being a creative entrepreneur and making a living from creativity for years now. It’s been part of “the long runway” – as Elizabeth Gilbert calls it in one of her Magic Lessons podcast – or preparation for this transition I’m now more actively embracing.

In this post, I share recent podcasts, books and posts on this theme as well as resources and contacts I have found valuable over time. A key focus is how we can work as multi-passionate people on portfolio careers with a number of income streams. These streams can include activities such as writing, coaching, speaking, self-publishing, workshops and online courses.

Podcasts on creativity and money

Real Artists Don’t Starve. Creativity and Money with Jeff Goins – on The Creative Penn

I loved this recent chat with Jeff Goins on my favourite podcast, The Creative Penn. It focuses on Jeff’s new book, Real Artists Don’t Starve: Timeless Strategies for Thriving in the new Creative Age. Jeff summarises key themes around creative success: showing up, discipline and taking a portfolio or multiple streams approach.

Key takeaways:

  • Jeff’s writing practices – his goal is “to write 500 new words every day”. He has a writing routine called the three bucket system. Each day, “I start something new, I finish something old, and I publish something. And so the three buckets are ideas, drafts, and edits. My work is every day, to move something from one bucket to the next.”  I’m so inspired by this idea of structuring work into a pipeline of action!
  • portfolio ways of working as a successful model for creatives and the benefits of having multiple streams of income. These streams include writing, workshops, online courses, speaking, coaching, as well as other revenue sources like property.
  • timeless strategies for creative success – the focus of his new book – about 12 things thriving artists do to achieve success.

How to be a Badass at Making Money – Jen Sincero on Your Kick-Ass Live Podcast with Andrea Owen

This podcast chat is about limiting beliefs around making money. It’s based on Jen Sincero’s latest book, You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth. This is a fun, energetic conversation that explores mindset issues that can stop us taking action.

Books and reading notes

I’ve continued reading David Whyte’s Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity. It’s becoming heavily underlined as each page speaks to me around work and identity. We’ll be exploring this book in more detail here soon on Quiet Writing.

I’m nearly finished Joanna Penn’s Business for Authors: How to be an Author Entrepreneur which I’ve been enjoying as an audiobook. This is recommended reading/listening for anyone keen to learn more about operating as an author and business person.

Joanna is a creative entrepreneur who has built up income over time from multiple sources. She generously shares her tips and experiences via her books, blog and podcasts. Her recommended books and resources on creative entrepreneurship include:

  • How to Make a Living with your Writing – where Joanna shares practical tips based on her ability to earn a six-figure income through blogging, writing books and marketing ethically. I listened to this as an audiobook and it made fantastic learning.
  • Making a Living with your Writing – a page full of resources based on Joanna’s experience including practical tips and lessons learned on her entrepreneurial journey.

In terms of creativity and money, my thinking over time has been stimulated by Chris Guillebeau. Chris’s work is full of practical, grounded advice. His books on creative entrepreneurship include:

creative entrepreneur

Blog/Twitter/Instagram posts and interactions:

In 7 Reasons Creative People Don’t Talk about Money, poet and coach for creatives, Mark McGuinness talks about the love/hate relationship creatives often have with money. The post includes resources about money and creativity, especially around banishing some of the stereotypes.

Turn Your Creativity into a Career provides a guide for creative professionals interested in turning their creativity into a career. The perspective is around mapping your future as an independent creative entrepreneur and shaping your body of work.

How to Launch a Successful Portfolio Career, an article by Michael Greenspan in the Harvard Business Review, is targeted at corporate and executive level leaders and argues for a pragmatic approach to professional transitions. He advises: “The more specific and unique your skill set and experience, the more valuable your portfolio will be.”

In The idea of  “one true calling” is a romanticized lie, Emilie Wapnick explores the myth of the true calling and whether you might be a ‘multipotentialite’ or “someone with many interests and creative pursuits“. Emilie talks about the spectrum of being a multipotentialite and provides some models for managing multiple portfolios and career strands. She also has a book, How to be Everything, which explores this issue in more detail.

My post on Quiet Writing, How knowing your authentic heart can make you shine,  looks at the power of finding the thread that connects through your passions and career journey; in my case, writing. It also provides suggested strategies for finding your golden thread or authentic heart to guide you.

My Tarot Narratives on Instagram have been a rich source of inspiration and insight for my creative journey and I hope they are connecting with you too. This has been a consistent daily intuitive practice since 1 June now and I haven’t missed a day! Thanks for all the creative interactions.

And here’s the beautiful orchids coming out in my garden. Have a fabulous creative weekend!

Creative and Connected is a regular post each Friday – previous posts below. I hope you enjoy it. I would love any feedback via social media or comments and let me know what you are enjoying too.

Feature image via pexels.com

Keep in touch

Subscribe via email (see the link at the top and below) to make sure you receive updates from Quiet Writing and its passions in 2017. This includes MBTI developments, coaching, creativity and other connections to help express your unique voice in the world. My free e-book on the books that have shaped my story is coming soon for subscribers only – so sign up to be the first to receive it!

Quiet Writing is on Facebook – Please visit here and ‘Like’ to keep in touch and interact with the growing Quiet Writing community. There are regular posts on intuition, influence, creativity, productivity, writing, voice, introversion and personality including Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

If you enjoyed this post, please share via your preferred social media channel – links are below.

You might also enjoy:

How knowing your authentic heart can make you shine

6 Inspiring Podcasts for Creatives and Book Lovers

Creative and Connected #5 – being accountable to ourselves and others

Creative and Connected #4 – the wholehearted edition

creativity inspiration & influence planning & productivity

6 inspiring podcasts for creatives and book lovers

June 4, 2017

podcasts

Podcasts are the best on-the-go inspiration for creatives and book lovers. Here are my 6 top podcasts for firing up your learning about books, blogging, writing and creative entrepreneurship.

Listening to podcasts – my experiences and tips

If you’re not listening to podcasts, now’s the time to start! And if you are, you know the joy of learning and connection it provides, so here are my hot tips and recommendations.

Whether it’s commuting on the train, driving in the personal space of your car, relaxing at home with a cup of tea or when you are exercising or cleaning, make use of that time to feed your creativity and help you prepare for future action. Take the time to learn about new people, new skills, new books, new ideas.

I’ve been listening to podcasts for a long time now, mostly because I live in a fairly remote place and have a long drive or train trip to anywhere. I cannot tell you how much I have learnt over the years from listening to podcasts. It’s like sowing seeds you can harvest straight away or down the track in so many ways.

Some people worry about not being able to take notes on the go. But I say, just relax, listen, let it all wash over you and soak in. If you love a podcast and want to take more from it, take the time to listen again with a notebook and pen in hand.

I’ve connected with people I’ve met through listening to podcasts; they’ve shaped my writing, coaching, self-care and reading practices. I know a hell of a lot about self-publishing, being an indie author and successful author mindset, information built up over years that I’m now armed with for the next steps.

I’m focusing on brand, blogging, social media and creative entrepreneurship at the moment as I shape new practices around coaching and writing so I’ve been listening to some new podcasts to skill up and be motivated around that.

I love books and reading, so podcasts help me to learn about new books, revisit old ones and discover classics I’ve never read or even heard of. Book-focused podcasts celebrate and share the pleasure of reading and creating books and so are very precious, like kindred souls.

And a tip for me – go with the unexpected and unusual! You never know what you might learn. I’ve learnt so much from podcasts that initially looked like they had nothing to do with my sphere of interests. Like this episode: Discipline and Practice in Writing and Swordfighting with Guy Windsor on The Creative Penn podcast. Easy to skip over as you think: what’s swordfighting got to do with me? Turns out plenty, so keep your eyes and ears open for the unexpected and broaden those horizons and connections.

So, here are the 6 inspiring podcasts for creatives and book lovers that I’m listening to right now! Links are in the title.

1 The Creative Penn Podcast – Joanna Penn

The Creative Penn Podcast launched in March 2009 and is edging up to Episode #400 as I write. I’m proud to say I’ve been listening pretty well since the start. I also support Joanna via Patreon because her shows are simply awesome. They cover “inspiration and information on writing and creativity, publishing options, book marketing and creative entrepreneurship“, I have learnt so much from Joanna about being a writer, an indie author, the book industry and a successful creative entrepreneur.

Joanna is a fabulous role model in writing and self-publishing and I’ve followed her journey as she left her day job and became over time a successful six figure author and creative entrepreneur. She is the most generous person, always giving insights into process, learnings and mindset based on her experience.

The podcasts include updates from Joanna about her writing, creative life and business as well as a round up of key trends in publishing, especially indie publishing. Joanna celebrates and embodies that self-publishing as an indie author is not a vanity thing, but a way of having an inspiring and self-directed creative life. Worked on over time, it’s a lifestyle that can also support you well financially too.

Some favourite episodes that have influenced me deeply with changed practices, connections and ideas:

Use your own life story to bring depth to your writing – with Steve Pressfield

How to find your author voice – with Roz Morris

Self-care and productivity for authors – with Ellen Bard

Productivity for creative people – with Mark McGuinness

The Artist’s Journey – with Steven Pressfield

2 Hashtag Authentic – for Instagram, blogging and beyond – Sara Tasker

Developed and hosted by Sara Tasker, who is on Instagram as @me_and_orla, it’s filled with creative inspiration for Instagrammers, bloggers and online creatives. With 205,000 followers on Instagram and a ton of practical experience, Sara is an Instagram coach and photographic influencer. Each episode is full of tips shared in a spirit of support and co-creation. I’ve learnt about the journeys of so many amazing Instagram influencers and creatives – and this has sparked so much creativity.

Some favourite episodes that have kindled ideas and supported creative practice and productivity:

Creating your ideal working week – with Jen Carrington

A social media, blogging and Instagram Q&A – with Sara

The power of personal projects – with Xanthe Berkley

I love this quote from Ira Glass discussed in the personal projects podcast with Xanthe Berkley (full quote in the show notes at the link above)

Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.
–Ira Glass

3 Make It Happen: a podcast for bloggers and creatives – Jen Carrington

After listening to the fabulous podcast chat between Sara Tasker and Jen Carrington on creating your ideal working week on Hashtag Authentic, I then made my way over to Jen Carrington’s website and her work.

It’s so practically encouraging and inspiring. Jen is a coach for big-hearted creative business owners and is based in Manchester, UK. Her blog posts are so helpful for those aiming to step up their own blogging work. And her podcasts are straight down the line insights, direct from Jen about such topics as:

S05 E08: Show Up As If You’re Already Where You Want To Be

S05 E06: Staying Connected To Your Version Of Success

S05 E02: Redefining Your Working Week

You’ll need a pen and notebook for this one because every statement is a gem of opportunity.

And Sara and Jen have launched a joint podcast recently which is another gem:

Letters from a Hopeful Creative

4 The Secret Library Podcast – Caroline Donahue

Caroline Donahue is a woman after my own heart: a reader, a writer, a coach who works with writers and an introvert who works with tarot and story. And she is also a super podcast creator and host exploring the most fascinating topics. Caroline’s mantra is that “books are a map, not just an escape” and this podcast is about all things books – the reading, writing, publishing, creation and enjoyment of books – as maps for growth, creativity and enjoyment.

With a love of tarot and intuitive practice, these themes feature strongly in Caroline’s interviews and the subjects explored. Perfect listening for an intuitive, tarot-reading, book-loving soul like me!

The episodes are diverse and inspiring – here are some of my favourites:

Episode #31 Kim Krans on The Wild Unknown

Episode #35 Amy Kuretsky on the healthy writer

Episode #42 Ezzie Spencer writes by the light of the moon

Episode #38 with V E Schwab

5 Magic Lessons – Elizabeth Gilbert

‘Big Magic: Creative living beyond fear’ has been widely read and influenced so many people. It was a catalyst for me in finally stepping into my creativity and authenticity more wholeheartedly in recent times. Liz Gilbert created the podcast because she felt she wasn’t finished with the subject and wanted to have “real conversations with real people” about “roadmaps for the path to creativity“. I am so glad she did.

Each interview focuses on a chat with a creative person who feels they are thwarted in some way in creating their big magic in the world. Liz coaches them and connects them with a special creative person who can inspire them and help with their goals and overcome fear. We get access to so much creative wisdom through this connection.

It’s a powerful combination and discussion. People bare their vulnerability and are held in such a special place as they break through the fear. The conversations provide moments of clarity and breakthrough and have supported and fuelled my own creative breakthroughs. It proves for me yet again the power of story in creativity.

They are all fabulous so hard to pick favourites but ones that have especially spoken to me are:

Series 1, Episode 1 Do what ignites your soul

Series 1, Episode 9 Dear Creativity and Fear

Episode 204 “Who gets to decide if you’re a legitimate artist?” featuring Mark Nepo

But do listen to all of them – brilliant inspiration to create your work in the world!

6 The Casual Academic: A Literary Podcast

Billed as ‘literary discussion without the pretense – just good books‘ – that’s exactly why I love this podcast. Alex Johnson and Jacob Welcker, both based in Spain, share book love in a way that bridges academia with the every day.

As a person with a background in literature, it’s helped me reconnect with literary fiction. I’ve discovered books and authors new to me that are so fascinating, especially Clarice Lispector’s ‘Near to the Wild Heart’ and H P Lovecraft’s ‘At the Mountains of Madness’. I’ve also been reminded of authors who I’ve loved reading that I need to revisit: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Margaret Atwood, Shirley Jackson, Ursula Le Guin.

Starting out as a book club over Google Hangouts with friends all over the world, the podcast has retained that casual feel. But it’s backed in by informed, engaging and well-researched commentary. Just listening to the podcasts has helped me reconnect with literature. As a result, my reading list is growing but it’s oh so rich! Plus Alex and Jacob have the best voices to listen to as they read and chat – they have so much fun, it makes me smile as I listen and learn.

A couple of my favourites episodes:

Episode 13: Mirages, Dread, and the Unreliable Narrator in Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness”

Episode 19: Narrative Techniques & The Thing Itself in Clarice Lispector’s “Near to the Wild Heart”

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Keep in touch & free ebook on the ’36 Books that Shaped my Story’

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You might also enjoy:

Shining a quiet light: working the gifts of introversion

Practical tools to increase writing productivity

Intuition, writing and work: eight ways intuition can guide your creativity

Featured image via Pexels and used with permission and thanks.

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