You can’t always see a breaking point from the outside. Erika G. Musser looked like she had it together. She was working in nonprofits, climbing the ladder, and doing everything by the book. 

But at home, she was unraveling. At one point the burnout was so bad her husband even said, “I feel like I don’t have my wife anymore.” So she started rewriting her life on her own terms.

In this episode of Art is the New Wall Street, Morgan talks with Erika, a freelance content strategist, ghostwriter, and the mind behind The Secret Life of Freelancers newsletter.

We talk about what it really means to choose yourself in a world that rewards conformity. Erika shares her journey through burnout, freelancing, an adult ADHD diagnosis, and the freedom of going nicheless.

We also get into:

• The cost of burnout
• The decision to freelance and the freedom that comes with it
• Her ADHD diagnosis and how it helped her create better, not less
• What it means to be a multipotentialite and fun stuff about human design
• Going nicheless because “you are the niche”
• Her Business Insider essay and the costs of going viral (hint: don’t read the comments)
• Why you don’t have to monetize every corner of your creativity
• The balance myth, especially in motherhood

This one’s for the nonlinear creatives. The ones who are done fitting into other people’s systems and are ready to build their own. It’s raw. It’s funny. It’s honest. And it might just give you permission to bet on yourself.

💌 Subscribe to The Secret Life of Freelancers Newsletter 

🔗Connect with Erika on LinkedIn or visit her website.

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Keep creating, keep making art. Your art is a gift to you and to the world.