Audacity Works

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A buffet episode!  In which I tackle as many questions/requests from you as I can in 20 minutes.

What you'll hear:

• How to protect yourself from overworking/overtraining when you're committed to a program that encourages that behavior?  
• If you want to ask for an amended program and want to back that up with data, here's something you can do 4:40
• On navigating your ego and sitting at the big kid's table 6:20
• Listen here to the episode of The Movement Maestro that I reference!  10:49
• 11:28 Next question is from wonderful Emma, go follow her!  Why are we so hard on ourselves?  Why do we get in our own way all the time?
• A question about how to create a semblance of structure for yourself, especially if you have ADHD 16:32
• I reference this episode on seasonality if you'd like more thoughts on how it looks in practice 

Don't go back to sleep.

xoRachel
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On Artistic Hoarding and what to do about it.  This is super similar to the "Use the Good China" axiom that I'll always champion, but it's a little more subtle and subversive.

• one additional packing recommendation for anyone coming to the Irish Aerial Dance Festival 3:25
• An update on patron rewards for Coven tiers and higher 4:15
• What is Artistic Hoarding and why is it so insidious?  5:40
• How to tell the difference between hoarding an idea and just letting it cook naturally 8:54
• The fallacy of waiting to feel a certain way before taking action 12:45
• What hoarding an idea protects us from 14:00

Don't go back to sleep.

xoRachel
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Please join me in welcoming accomplished actor, clown, acrobat, and badass art maker, Ross Travis.  Ross is a prolific and dedicated creator, always pushing boundaries and with a creative practice deeply rooted in his values, and disregard for the status quo.  His company Antic in a Drain is also one of the only American freelance artists I know who has had success within the American funding system. Y'all excited yet?  You should be.

What you'll hear:

• The spectrum of clown, from light to dark (yes this is an actual thing) and the history behind it 2:15
• What it was like to work together on Salvage and Inversion at Kinetic Arts Center, and how an audience member's complaint led to new opportunities instead of less 8:00
• What it was like attending the notorious Dell'Arte School of Physical Theater 16:15
• Via Negativa!  If you're tired of being called amazing without getting necessarily actionable notes, listen up 24:15
• What I've experienced as a mentor happening in graduates from various professional circus programs (why is it so much fun when guests ask me a question?  it is!) 29:00
• What it's like to perform for a mud circus (Flynn Creek Circus) for 6 freakin seasons JFC 32:24
• The role of risk in physical performance 40:00
• How Ross scared the shit out of me in his show The Greatest Monkey Show On Earth 41:00
• On navigating the American funding system for the arts LISTEN UP PEOPLE!!! 45:00
• What's next on the buffet for this hungry hungry artist?  1:03:00
• See Ross perform at Kinetic Art's Center's Summer Circus Celebration and the San Francisco Aerial Arts Festival

ViaHow to find, follow, and support Ross' work:
https://anticinadrain.com/
https://www.instagram.com/anticinadrain
https://www.patreon.com/anticinadrain

Don't go back to sleep.

xoRachel
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Probably the most technical episode I've ever recorded, but if you want personal recommendations for the exact tools to use to run your creative business, you're in the right place.

What you'll hear:

• How I structure my business (sole proprietorship, LLC etc.) 2:15
• What I use to host my website:  Wix
• What  I use to deliver my online courses:  Teachable 
• I use Crowdcast  to host webinars 
• Convert kit, the GOAT of email marketing software
• Instagram, which no one needs a link to.  
• If you want to learn how to use Instagram effectively THIS IS THE ONLY Instagram coaching program you will ever need, viva la Maestro!  The Maestro's Instagram Intensive 14:15
• Audacity for music editing as well as recording solo podcast episodes
• Beezeteez for merchandise!  Tell em I sent ya!
• Why I'm withholding an official endorsement for Riverside.fm (Zencastr is the other option I know of but I've never used them.)
• Once more gotta shout out my girl Dr. Shante Cofield, The Movement Maestro, for her dope free resource on how to start a podcast.  It is why this podcast exists.  If you're thinking about starting one, get your free guide here. 23:00
• Irfanview for super simple image editing, but honestly just get the pro version of Canva.  Do yourself a favor and just use the desktop version.
• InShot for editing videos on mobile
• Filmora for editing video on desktop
• I love using Buzzsprout to host this podcast, it's ridiculously easy to use 
• Sign up here for free contract templates, tech rider templates, and as an added bonus, Woo Corner!

Don't go back to sleep.

xoRachel
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An episode by request from my friend Jessie.

What you'll hear:

• pre-IADF preparation!  Episode 36: IADF Survival Guide
• Nia Burk's original Instagram post referenced in the podcast (follow Butter & Filth for more truth bombs)
• Why "just be yourself" is maddening advice to anyone, particularly people who are already trying to do that every day 7:30
• Everyone should watch The Libertine, it's dope. 9:00 just sayin
• Catherine Linard's "radical self compassion" 11:00 and some advice she gave me that was an immense relief
• Creating an ancestral altar as a method for getting support from your ancestors 12:30
• Creating a sense of interiority 15:08
• Susannah Conway's guided journaling workbook Unravel Your Year
• What creating art as well as becoming familiar with your own interiority takes 17:20

Don't go back to sleep.

xoRachel
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I turned 42!  So I thought it was a good time to respond to a request episode from my girl Rachel on the gram' about aging, birthday rituals, and midlife crises!  Hooray!  :)

What you'll hear:

• What my experience of turning 40 was like 5:25
• My thoughts on midlife crises 6:40
• What to do when 20 year olds complain about being scared about being old 8:00
• What I'm noticing about aging in myself 11:00
• The most challenging aspects of aging from where I'm sitting 12:55
• A birthday ritual that you can do (and you can do it at any time)  17:15
• I would LOVE to hear from you about what you might want to learn from me as a tiny birthday ask:  https://forms.gle/oin5NLdG2bYE8gaUA

Don't go back to sleep.

xoRachel
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Join me for an hour long conversation with one of my oldest friends and favorite collaborators, photographer Max Cooper.  You'll hear plenty of stories of our past escapades as well as me giving him shit 1 or 4 times.  Sorry Max, you just bring it out in me.  

What you'll hear:

• Why he chooses to practice more archaic forms of his discipline like pinhole photography, in spite of having plenty of modern equipment
• How me and Max hung one of his shows in 2020 exactly the day before everything shut down so no one could see it (lololol)
• Hear me force him to say I'm the best collaborator ever.
• What makes something a collaboration?  If you're getting paid, is it a collaboration?
• What makes a terrible collaborator (spoiler, it's being late and/or unprepared)
• A trained photojournalist turned fine artist, wildlife photographer (he'll say no but i say yes and it's my podcast, so...) hear what created this shift in his career focus.  If you listen to nothing else, listen to this.  25:50
• On photographing a ghost town in the middle of the Appalachian mountains.  Several times.
• A function of myth 39:33
• Why I won't go camping with Max again 41:34
• The function of smoking pipes, and how Max became an accidental youtuber 44:31
• His current show at the Buncombe County Register of Deeds, honoring the 10th year anniversary of North Carolina's legalization of same sex marriage.  The 22 photos on exhibit were taken on the day of the court's decision and document this historic event with frank intimacy (if you're local to Asheville, go see it in the month of June 2024!).
• His advice to aspiring photographers 57:00

You can find a prolific amount of Max's work on his Patreon,  follow him on Instagram, or check out his website at https://www.maxcooperphoto.com/

Don't go back to sleep.

xoRachel
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Join me for a 20 minute salty soapbox rant (didn't mean to, but it sure happened)!
 
You'll hear:

• This episode was inspired by the many questions I have gotten that sound a lot like "how do you get over feeling guilty about earning money?"
• Money, sex, and food are the bone-deep relationships that are always a labyrinth to navigate.
• "No one is coming to save you.  You are the adult.  I'm so sorry."
• What happens when our needs are met. 10:50
• Lovely Sarah and the Truejectory podcast asked me a question that led me down many rabbit holes! 13:00
• Why feeling guilty for earning money is the ultimate gaslight.  Reject that shit.
• A question for all of you that I would deeply appreciate hearing about 19:44

Don't go back to sleep.

xoRachel
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A friend, student, and wonderful patron Cris asked me to talk about the process of making Creatrix and the gremlins I met along the way.  

You'll hear:

• How long it took to get from this idea being a twinkle in my eye to a living breathing thing
• The #1 piece of advice I'd give to anyone who wants to host a retreat 6:00
• The one thing I was almost quite an idiot about (but Maia saved the day) 7:00
• The #2 piece of advice I'd give to anyone who wants to host a retreat (hint:  it's the same advice as #1)
• The big stanky obvious gremlin 8:50
• A good general rule of thumb about the 10% conversion rate
• Differentiating between a gremlin and plain ole fear 14:30
• And a long but pointed tirade about how marinating ourselves in self-criticism culture (you didn't have a choice here) becomes an autocomplete
• A real live rendition of a great quote I heard from Audacious Hannah which is "my hunger overcame my fear."

Stay hungry, my friends.  

Don't go back to sleep.

xoRachel
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Greetings and happy May errbody!  In this episode, I'm giving you my 2 cents on best practices for being a kickass artistic collaborator.

You'll hear:

• Here's the pretty thing I made!   I'm relaunching Diamonds in the Dark this week, and anyone who enrolls before Friday at midnight will have access to a LIVE session of the Buttermelt Workshop 
• What kind of collaborators?  5:00
• Big stinky rule #1:  5:30  Please confront your people pleasing tendencies, so you can bring your whole self to the table
• Big stinky rule #2:  Please learn how to communicate your opinions, either the easy agreeable kind or the dissenting kind 10:25
• An example from my life of a collaborator communicating badly, but another collaborator saving the day 13:06
• When to give a collaborator the stanky boot 15:00
• How to create a realistic timeline 18:00 (it's nice and simple math)

Don't go back to sleep.

xoRachel
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Support this podcast on Patreon