In the last episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I compared music entrepreneurship to creative alchemy.

But I wanted to go deeper into creative alchemy as a practice, and that’s what I focus on in this episode.

Find out why so many artists and creative entrepreneurs are resonating deeply with this term.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Creative alchemy

00:33 – The resonance of the term “creative alchemy”

01:21 – Creative alchemy describes you as a whole

01:47 – Strengths I’ve developed through the years

02:12 – Jobs I’ve had

02:28 – Leveraging many of your skills at the same time

02:41 – Video shoot example

04:01 – Embracing the skills you’ve developed

04:52 – It’s okay to be multitalented

05:10 – What creative alchemy is

05:23 – Creative alchemy as a vehicle

05:33 – My new course

Transcription:

Welcome back. You could probably tell I’m a little stuffed up right now but I am all right.

In the last episode, I talked about the rise of creative alchemy. I compared and contrasted it with music entrepreneurship. Some of the similarities as well as differences that do exist.

In this episode, I just want to explore what it is and why it’s important. It is a term that I’ve started dropping into more conversations. The interesting part is everywhere I go, people are resonating with the term “creative alchemy”.

I find creative people love it because sometimes they have a hard time putting what they do into a box. I think artists naturally shy away from categorization though this can be to our detriment when we’re trying to sell the things that we create.

People latch onto what they can relate to. Think about the way people describe things when they are trying to make a comparison. They might say something like, “It’s like riding a rollercoaster, only in space.” Maybe you haven’t experienced it before but you can kind of imagine what that would be like. That’s a little formula that can work in a variety of situations. "It’s like blank except in blank".

Sales is another topic for another time but creative alchemy describes you as a whole as opposed to the parts that make up the whole. Every experience you’ve had. Every skill you’ve mastered. Every talent you’ve developed. Although it can be hard to know how these things can come together.

My former roommate was a believer that the job that was meant for you was one where you got to leverage everything you'd ever experienced. I rather like that philosophy myself.

The job that's meant for you is one where you get to leverage everything you've ever experienced.Click To Tweet

So, here are some of the strengths I've developed through the years just to give you an example: Drawing, painting, graphic design, web design, video and multimedia design, blogging, writing, songwriting, producing music, mixing and mastering music, playing guitar and bass, teaching, reviewing movies, video games, TV shows, music, and various other products, marketing, social media, and many others.

I've worked in a variety of jobs such as retail, sales, music instruction, audiovisual, ghostwriting, freelance writing among other areas.

Some of you out there have way more talent, skills, and experiences than I have. Especially in the job world because I've been self-employed for most of my adult life. No, I don't necessarily get to use these skills all at once, and yet I frequently find myself in situations where I get to leverage many of them at the same time. I think that is the practice of creative alchemy.

Recently, I was helping organize a video shoot for a client. This isn't something I've done before but everything about it was strangely familiar.

I wasn't the primary videographer but I manned the second camera and I was completely comfortable doing that. I came prepared with scripts in hand so we could maximize the time we had and get the footage we needed efficiently.