Soul Traders

Passion tax. What is it and how does it show up for freelancers, particularly those working in creative industries?

Bo and Amy discuss passion tax or passion exploitation and why people who love the work they do are exposed to it. They discuss their own experiences and share practical ways to maintain healthy financial boundaries in your creative work.

Links:

Adam Grant on how jobs, bosses and firms may improve after the crisis in The Economist

Gillian Welch's song - Everything is Free

Soul Traders season 1 episode: Photo copyright and crediting for creatives: your questions for Bo

Soul Traders season 1 episode: Pricing for Freelancers

Melbourne-based furniture design studio Plyroom and furniture and lighting studio Coco Flip

Bo and Rose Megirian's exhibition 'Fair Isle' for Perth Festival

Bri Hammond on Instagram

Bri Hammond's Isolation Portraits

Tajette O'Halloran on Instagram

Canon Convos interview with Tajette O'Halloran

If you've enjoyed this episode of Soul Traders please, please take a moment to recommend it to a friend. It's the best way to make sure the podcast reaches new ears.

You can find Soul Traders on Instagram as @soultraderspodcast or join the Soul Traders Podcast Community on Facebook. Have a question? Tag us on social media using the hashtag #soultraderspodcast Intro music kindly provided by Lucy Peach. Production by Sound Mind.

Welcome to the second season of Soul Traders! Bo and Amy are back with a special episode marking the beginning of the year of the Ox in the Chinese lunar calendar.

What is the year of the Ox and what does it mean for you and your business? Bo and Amy discuss using the Chinese lunar calendar as a framework for setting values based goals you might actually stick to. They detail what you can learn from the Ox and consider how you might nourish and support yourself along the way. It's a very fun episode!

Links:

Listen to our episode on goal setting: Setting values based goals for your business

Learn more about the year of the Ox from Narrye Caldwell's astrological reading

Bo's Zucchini and Corn Fritter recipe

If you've enjoyed this episode of Soul Traders please, please take a moment to recommend it to a friend. It's the best way to make sure the podcast reaches new ears.

You can find Soul Traders on Instagram as @soultraderspodcast or join the Soul Traders Podcast Community on Facebook. Have a question? Tag us on social media using the hashtag #soultraderspodcast

Intro music kindly provided by Lucy Peach. Production by Sound Mind.

Bo and Amy talk about creativity and how it's naturally woven into the fabric of the way we live and do business as soul traders. Amy and Bo ask if creativity is for everyone, bust the myth of the 'creative genius' and talk about cultivating a creative practice.

In this episode:

•Bo is getting better at saying 'no' as she's fully booked for the rest of the year.

•Amy and Bo ask: can everyone be creative?

•Bo wants to bust the 'creative genius' myth.

•Amy loves the idea of cultivating a creative practice.

•Amy's been reading Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, she suggests you follow your curiosity, not your passion.

•Bo asks what we can learn from writers about beating creative block.

•Bo loves the idea of giving time to 'blue sky thinking'.

•Amy has been working with a Fremantle based visual artist who has a 'naughty corner' in her studio for paintings that aren't working out.

•Bo's a big fan of productive procrastination.

•Bo and Amy share the creative goals they've kicked recently

Links:

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert's website

Hannah Gadsby's Nanette

Artists Emily McGuire's website

Why Walking Helps Us Think By Ferris Jabr in The New Yorker

What I Miss Most Is Swimming: Immersion, even just thinking about it, is the balm we need right now. By Bonnie Tsui in The New York Times

Bo's new creative project @the_bush_arranger

We're on Instagram! Yay! Follow us! @soultraderspodcast

Thanks so much for listening! If you enjoyed the episode, please leave us a review and share it with your soul trader mates!

Join our Soul Traders Podcast Community on Facebook (go on!)

Have a question? Email us at [email protected] or tag us on social media using the hashtag #soultraderspodcast. You can also find us on Instagram as @soultraderspodcast Music and production by Dingo Spender

Bo and Amy chat with Lucy Peach: a performer, author, podcaster and self-proclaimed 'period preacher'! Lucy's work is about empowering women to observe and understand their menstrual cycles and hopefully learn to leverage the unique opportunities that come with them.

Bo and I asked Lucy about her creative work, how she manages her energy throughout the month and what advice she would give to soul traders who have a cycle!

Links:

Lucy's book Period Queen is available in bookstores right now or online via Booktopia

Listen to the Period Queen podcast on Spotify.

Find out more about Lucy via her website.

In the attention economy of Instagram, good photography is a valuable commodity. You may have something amazing to say, but if your photo doesn't stop people scrolling, they simply won't read it.

In this episode Bo shares her tips for scroll-stopping photography on Instagram, including orientation, framing and composition, lighting and tips for shooting interiors.

Make sure you check out Amy's mini episode about writing captions. It's a great companion to this one. Happy snapping!

Links:

Mini episode: Amy's tips for writing great social media captions

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2lZsKqZoiHpCqQ6TbrZc2Z?si=LARLO5g7SHGsjCPcfO5xZw

Adobe Lightroom for mobile app

https://apps.apple.com/au/app/adobe-lightroom-photo-editor/id878783582

Thanks so much for listening! If you enjoyed the episode, please leave us a review and share it with your soul trader mates!

Join our Soul Traders Podcast Community on Facebook (go on!)

Have a question? Email us at [email protected] or tag us on social media using the hashtag #soultraderspodcast. You can also find us on Instagram: Amy's Instagram @amy_snoek Bo's Instagram @b_o_w_o_n_g Music and production by Dingo Spender

Bo and Amy respond to a question from the Soul Traders Podcast community about getting paid as a creative freelancer. They discuss valuing yourself and your time, finding clients that value you, 'scope creep' and payment systems.

Thanks so much for listening! If you enjoyed the episode, please leave us a review and share it with your soul trader mates!

Join our Soul Traders Podcast Community on Facebook (go on!)

Have a question? Email us at [email protected] or tag us on social media using the hashtag #soultraderspodcast. You can also find us on Instagram: Amy's Instagram @amy_snoek Bo's Instagram @b_o_w_o_n_g Music and production by Dingo Spender

How competitive do we need to be in order to be successful in business? Can competition and comparison be helpful? When do these things become unhelpful or toxic? In this episode Bo and Amy talk about how they've dealt with competition in their working lives and ask the question: is it possible to incorporate a healthy level of competition into your business without comparison dragging you down?

In this episode:

•Bo and Amy want you to imagine them wearing 80's tennis gear while you listen. Think pastels and sweat bands. Okay?

•Amy confesses that she's never been a competitive sort of person and finds the whole idea very stressful.

•They discuss the idea of cultivating an abundance mindset.

•Amy recommends curiosity rather than comparison for conducting competitor research or looking at what other people in your industry are up to.

•Bo thinks competition can be useful as a way to keep you moving forward and expanding your skill set.

•Bo discusses the lone wolf culture of photography.

•Bo talks about struggling to find a mentor early in her career and finding a supportive community to share resources with interstate.

•They discuss the idea of 'comparisonitis' and social media.

•Bo and Amy share the goals they've kicked recently

Links:

Laura Jane Williams article in Red Magazine - Stop slagging off Instagram

Writers & Lovers by Lily King

Phosphorescence: On Awe, Wonder And Things That Sustain You When The World Goes Dark by Julia Baird

Thanks so much for listening! If you enjoyed the episode, please leave us a review and share it with your soul trader mates!

Join our Soul Traders Podcast Community on Facebook (go on!)

Have a question? Email us at [email protected] or tag us on social media using the hashtag #soultraderspodcast. You can also find us on Instagram: Amy's Instagram @amy_snoek Bo's Instagram @b_o_w_o_n_g Music and production by Dingo Spender

Amy gets asked this question all the time: how do I write engaging captions for social media? In this episode she shares some of her ideas about great writing for social media and tips for writing engaging captions, including what to do when you're stuck for ideas, how to structure a caption and how to create content that is valuable to your audience.

Links:

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

If you want to learn more about writing, I strongly recommend Write Right, a course run by The Good Copy studio in Melbourne

Thanks so much for listening! If you enjoyed the episode, please leave us a review and share it with your soul trader mates!

Join our Soul Traders Podcast Community on Facebook (go on!)

Have a question? Email us at [email protected] or tag us on social media using the hashtag #soultraderspodcast. You can also find us on Instagram: Amy's Instagram @amy_snoek Bo's Instagram @b_o_w_o_n_g Music and production by Dingo Spender

One of the best things you can do as a freelancer is invest time and energy into creating great relationships with your clients. In this episode Bo and Amy discuss how they create trust with clients, maintain boundaries and foster truly collaborative partnerships.

In this episode:

•Amy is thrilled that her baby is sleeping better and consequently, her creative mojo is returning.

•Bo and Amy discuss the importance of setting boundaries for yourself as a freelancer.

•Amy is excited to share (Queen) Brené Brown's definition of 'boundaries'.

•Bo shares an excellent metaphor about groundwork and horsemanship.

•Bo and Amy discuss the boundaries they've set for themselves around work.

•Bo talks about a very simple but effective change she made to her email communication.

•Bo and Amy talk about attracting the 'dream clients' who might share your values.

•Bo shares another really great metaphor, this one features jiu jitsu.

•Bo and Amy talk about the projects they've been working on.

Links:

'Rising Strong' by Brené Brown

https://www.booktopia.com.au/rising-strong-bren-brown/book/9780091955038.html

Just not sorry plugin for Google Chrome

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/just-not-sorry-the-gmail/fmegmibednnlgojepmidhlhpjbppmlci

Thanks so much for listening! If you enjoyed the episode, please leave us a review and share it with your soul trader mates!

Join our Soul Traders Podcast Community on Facebook (go on!)

Have a question? Email us at [email protected] or tag us on social media using the hashtag #soultraderspodcast. You can also find us on Instagram: Amy's Instagram @amy_snoek Bo's Instagram @b_o_w_o_n_g Music and production by Dingo Spender

When you're self employed it's down to you to put the wind in your own sails. In this episode Bo and Amy discuss taking breaks and setting boundaries for your time and the various demands on it.

In this episode:

•Bo talks about her decision not to take on any new clients for the remainder of the year.

•Bo and Amy discuss writer and activist Audre Lorde's framing of 'self care' as a radical political act and how commercial the idea has become.

•Amy talks about her second pregnancy and learning how to slow down and prioritise rest.

•Amy explains the Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 rule for prioritising areas of your business.

•They discuss systems for scheduling and balancing the various areas of their lives.

•Amy asks Bo how she manages her energy during the weeks when she has back-to-back shoots.

•They discuss the energy giving power of a good meal.

•They wonder if there is a role for managing client expectations in this discussion.

•They discuss setting boundaries for yourself around managing your inbox and job turnaround.

•Amy mentions an article she read recently which recommends a KonMari approach to prioritising your schedule.

•Bo and Amy share the advice they would give their younger selves around managing energy.

Links:

The Nap Ministry

https://www.instagram.com/thenapministry/

The Guardian article by Jo Walker

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jan/28/the-way-of-the-tired-person-life-rules-for-the-perpetually-exhausted

Thanks so much for listening! If you enjoyed the episode, please leave us a review and share it with your soul trader mates!

Join our Soul Traders Podcast Community on Facebook (go on!)

Have a question? Email us at [email protected] or tag us on social media using the hashtag #soultraderspodcast. You can also find us on Instagram: Amy's Instagram @amy_snoek Bo's Instagram @b_o_w_o_n_g Music and production by Dingo Spender