Mini Series: Practice to Professional | Introduction
Vol. 056
Practice to Professional, Manifesting your Ideal creative career.
Kicking off a 7 week series on the keys to finding success in my creative practice.
A quick bite:
An introduction to my first ever mini-series! Over the next 7 weeks I’ll be breaking down my primary keynote talk: Practice to Professional: manifesting your ideal creative career. I’ll be spending 1 week for each of the 6 primary points in my talk, and on the 7th week I’ll be hosting a live webinar where I give the presentation and take a live Q&A, which you can view anytime.
Continue reading below…
Amidst the chaos of the past few months, I had an opportunity to again deliver my keynote at a live event. This small, intimate event was put on by RiNo Arts District and was supported by Converge, a creative co-working space, and the Denver Public Library. It felt fantastic to speak in front of a live group again!
The keynote, titled “Practice to Professional: manifesting your ideal creative career”, addresses what I feel were the 6 most important ideas that enabled me to transition from “practicing” hand lettering for the first time to doing this “professionally”, running a thriving creative practice.
This talk is a hindsight perspective on what I feel were the most important business decisions, ethos, and ideas that enabled me to build relationships, do the work that I love, and find long term sustainable success.
Over the next 7 week I’ll be here to highlight what I believe the most important things I have done, and I'll be showing you how to do the same.
As I mentioned, this is a “hindsight perspective”, implying that much of the benefit of these ethos and ideas have only been realized after the fact. I'm not afraid to say that while I was in the throes of starting my business it oftentimes felt helpless and scary. I frequently felt lost, unsuccessful, and I questioned everything I was doing. I feared never being able to actually make “real” money and find “real” success (both very subjective.)
But, 7 years later, I have a sustainable, consistent creative practice, and Vicarel Studios has a client list that I’m beyond proud of, we’re about to hire a full-timer, and the business has enabled me to buy a home and a car. I say this to say that what I am hoping to highlight actually worked for me. These are the most valuable learnings I’ve learned (that makes sense — right?) throughout my creative entrepreneurial journey.
So, for the next six weeks I will be writing about each point in my talk individually. This series will culminate with a live webinar where I deliver the entirety of the keynote, go through and elaborate on additional details, and host a live Q&A. You won’t want to miss this—I’ll be talking openly and honestly about anything and everything that you’d want to know! Want to ask about money? Great. Let’s do it! Curious as to how I balance work and life? Sweet — let’s talk about it! Wondering about taxes, hiring contractors or something else? Let’s make it happen!
This 7 week initiative is intended to truly answer any question you might have about what I’m doing, how I’m doing it, and how it could apply to YOU and help YOUR creative practice.
The points I’ll be going in depth on for the next 6 weeks are as follows:
You are your brand
The imperative need to be authentic and build trust.
Free work can be okay**
Relationships > Transactions
Never Stop Experimenting
To experiment is to learn is to grow.
Lie More
Ditch the perfectionism: jump before you’re ready.
Your Network is your net worth
Relationships lead to long term opportunities.
Chasing the fog
You are on your own path.
Alright, what’d ya say, folks? Do you want a copy of what I believe has been the key to my success?
Next week, Week 1, I’ll be talking about the importance of embracing the concept that “you are your brand”: acknowledging that highlighting and showcasing your authenticity, your humanity, and your true self can be some of your most valuable and lucrative assets. I’ll be diving in much deeper next week.
PLEASE ask questions if you have any. I’ll be working to bake those questions into the live webinar in 6 weeks.
Stoked to start this series next week.
