In this episode, Nathalie and special guest Anni Kallioniemi discuss how to tap into the human element to elevate your musical and online presence. From the pressures of social media, perfectionism, and the pivot from what a music career "should" look like to what it is truly can be, Anni shares her experience from orchestral cellist, to mother, to social media consultant.

If you've ever felt stuck in your career, anxious about embracing your flaws on social media, or feeling like your career needs to change, Anni shares insight into how imperfections can actually make stronger connections than perfection can within the Classical Music social media space.

Main Points:

• How classical musicians internalize the fear of being "average"
• The pressure to chase the idea of "traditional" success and why it doesn't work for everyone
• How Anni's career shifted through motherhood and the pandemic
• Releasing shame of changing your goals or wanting something different
• Why reposting content can actually help the algorithm spread your reach
• The myth behind "perfect" professionalism
• How vulnerability and imperfection make you relatable in online spaces
• Allowing yourself to build a career that reflects who you are now - not who you were trained to be

About Anni Kallioniemi:

• Follow Anni on Instagram @annigrid
• Anni recommends reading "The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes" by Margaret Mark and Carol S. Pearson

Looking for more FREE career insight?

• Get The Musician's Real-World Survival Guide

New Year's resolutions are often framed as the key to personal and professional growth — yet research shows they rarely lead to lasting change. In this episode, we explore why resolutions create so much pressure to be perfect, how to shift your mindset on achieving goals with dialectical thinking, and 5 tips for approaching habit building with a healthier perspective. You'll learn to focus less on perfectly achieving resolutions and more on embracing the inevitable setbacks that shape your journey to long term goals.

Main Points: CHANGE AFTER RECORDING EPISODE

• Audience question answered: How to take time for vacations, medical leave, or yourself as a freelance musician
• The problem with New Year's resolutions and perfection-based goal setting
• Why growth doesn't only happen at the beginning of the year
• Dialectical thinking and how it applies to classical musicians
• How setbacks shape your success as much as small wins
• Five tips to embrace progress, setbacks, and small strokes to create the big picture
• Creating habits that allow room for progress over perfection, rest, and real life

Mentioned in This Episode:

• The LM Podcast | S1E7. Burn Your Burnout: Building Sustainable Patterns in Your Life
• The LM Podcast | S2E1. Learn to Reflect, Reset, and Realign with Reasonable Goal Setting
• The Musician's 75 Hard Practice Challenge by Gill Derer

Have a question you want answered?

• DM Nathalie on Instagram @thelimitlessmusician
• Reply to the The Limitless Musician Newsletter

Want FREE real-world career insight?

• Get The Musician's Real-World Survival Guide

New Year's resolutions are often framed as the key to personal and professional growth — yet research shows they rarely lead to lasting change. In this episode, we explore why resolutions create so much pressure to be perfect, how to shift your mindset on achieving goals with dialectical thinking, and 5 tips for approaching habit building with a healthier perspective. You'll learn to focus less on perfectly achieving resolutions and more on embracing the inevitable setbacks that shape your journey to long term goals.

Main Points: CHANGE AFTER RECORDING EPISODE

• Audience question answered: How to take time for vacations, medical leave, or yourself as a freelance musician
• The problem with New Year's resolutions and perfection-based goal setting
• Why growth doesn't only happen at the beginning of the year
• Dialectical thinking and how it applies to classical musicians
• How setbacks shape your success as much as small wins
• Five tips to embrace progress, setbacks, and small strokes to create the big picture
• Creating habits that allow room for progress over perfection, rest, and real life

Mentioned in This Episode:

• The LM Podcast | S1E7. Burn Your Burnout: Building Sustainable Patterns in Your Life
• The LM Podcast | S2E1. Learn to Reflect, Reset, and Realign with Reasonable Goal Setting
• The Musician's 75 Hard Practice Challenge by Gill Derer

Have a question you want answered?

• DM Nathalie on Instagram @thelimitlessmusician
• Reply to the The Limitless Musician Newsletter

Want FREE real-world career insight?

• Get The Musician's Real-World Survival Guide

Join co-hosts Katherine and Nathalie to start off 2026 for KE Creative! Get a behind-the-scenes look into some of our recent personal and professional milestones, as well as how we really feel about the ups and downs of being music entrepreneurs.

Listen to our discussions on the question marks over our own careers, the things we DREAD doing and also look forward to, and how we plan on moving forward this year… even if life finds a way to redirect us along the way!

• Follow The Limitless Musician via Instagram
• Check out The Music Teacher's Playbook
• Join the Limitless Musician Newsletter

Wrap up the end of Season 2 and the year 2025 with co hosts Dr. Katherine Emeneth and Nathalie Simper! In the final episode of this season, Katherine and Nathalie talk about good news in the Classical Music Industry. They share ways that Classical Music has taken steps toward better wages for orchestral musicians, creating hand-on training for upcoming professional musicians, modernizing music degree curricula, and advocating for new music and representation.

Links:

University of South Florida & The Florida Orchestra

The Memphis Composers Institute

The Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra

Follow us for Season 3 in 2026!

• Katherine on IG: @katherinemeneth
• Nathalie on IG: @thelimitlessmusician
• Join the Limitless Musician Newsletter

Money can feel like one of the most overwhelming and confusing parts of a classical music career. In this episode, explore the reasons so many musicians feel unprepared to manage their finances, why money education is often delayed until it's "too late," and how your personal experiences shape the way you save, spend, and think about financial stability.

You'll hear stories from Nathalie's own financial journey—from childhood money beliefs, to working in student loan servicing, to learning how to enjoy spending without guilt—and the systems she uses as a freelancer and entrepreneur. Discover why financial stability is built, not granted, and how small, consistent steps can transform the relationship you have with your bank account, your work, and your peace of mind.

Main Points:

• Why classical musicians grow up with a scarcity mindset—and how this shapes everything from gig decisions to financial anxiety
• How gaps in music school curricula delay your financial literacy journey
• The impact of delayed gratification on budgeting, saving, and long-term planning
• How personal upbringing, culture, and early money memories influence your current habits
• The simple spreadsheet system that makes budgeting, variable income tracking, and tax season easier
• Why separating personal and business finances can be a game changer for freelancers
• How to enjoy your creature comforts sustainably without spiraling into guilt
• Clear strategies for reducing or avoiding debt whenever possible
• Why there's no "one right way" to manage money—and how to build a system that fits your lifestyle
• Recommended resources for first steps to discovering your version of financial stability

Resource Links:

• Tori Dunlap and Her First 100K on Instagram
• "Financial Feminist" Podcast and Book
• Your Rich BFFon Instagram
• Networth and Chill Pod
• Pre-order "Well Endowed" by Vivian Tu

Follow us for more music career support!

• Get The Musician's Real-World Survival Guide for free

How do modern musicians incorporate creativity into their careers beyond creating music? In today's episode, co-hosts Nathalie Simper and Katherine Emeneth discuss what creativity looks like in their music careers and in their personal lives - and how that balance has changed over the years.

Main Points:

• Why music as a creative outlet can become "stale" for career musicians
• Discussion on how creative career norms (not just music) actually discourage creativity
• Why being creative doesn't mean you have to be "innovative" or "cutting edge" in big ways
• How creativity beyond your career can actually spark creativity
• Incorporating "routine" creativity to develop open mindedness and flexibility
• K and N's sources of inspiration/motivation/drive even through the "busy work" of musicianship

Follow us for more music career support!

• Join the Limitless Musician Newsletter
• Follow The Limitless Musician via Instagram
• Check out The Music Teacher's Playbook

As we grow closer to the end of the year and the anniversary of The Limitless Musician Podcast, Nathalie shares heartfelt gratitude to the listeners of the podcast and members of the KE Creative community! Katherine and Nathalie say thank you by sharing FREE career support for music entrepreneurs and private music teachers that is just a click away:

Free Resources:

• KE Creative's Freebie Library
• The Musician's Real-World Survival Guide
• Instrument Holiday Hats
• Christmas Warm Ups
• A Music Teacher's Guide to Pricing
• How to Raise Your Music Lesson Rates

Paid Resources:

• The Private Music Teacher's Document Kit for only $29!

When you think of networking, do sleazy sales people and shallow conversations come to mind? In this episode, explore the reasons networking feels so unnatural, especially for classical musicians. While some are more comfortable networking, explore the reasons you are often set up to dread having to network or climb professional circles. Learn how social media can be both a drain AND a tool for making genuine connections, and how to shift your focus from "What can I gain from others?" to "What can I give to others?"

Main Points:

• How music connects you with others and also makes you believe you're a floating island
• Why being the perfect image of professionalism isn't the most effective way to network
• The accessibility and endless potential to human connection that comes from social media
• The ways that social media skew measurements of genuine relationships and the real root of human desire to interact with others
• The difference between social takers and givers
• Nathalie's real-world example of giving and how it enhanced her professional life
• Four simple steps to become a giver

Follow us for more music career support!

• Get your FREE copy of The Musician's Real-World Survival Guide
• Follow The Limitless Musician via Instagram
• Check out The Music Teacher's Playbook

Tune in for a candid conversation with Nathalie Simper and Gill Derer, a classical musician who has the epitome of a kaleidoscope career. From her experiences of becoming an "accidental" social media influencer, creating performance opportunities for herself, and balancing the many hats she wears, Gill shares the lessons she's learned along the way (as well as the lessons she's excited to continue learning).

Main Points:

• How becoming a social media influencer found Gill

• The expectation VS. reality of being a modern classical musician

• The pivotal moment in Gill's educational path that is still evolving

• How small incidents stack up to completely change the course of your career

• The humanity in questioning your journey as a classical musician

• Finding ways to feed yourself so that you can give to others

• The connection we fuel through music

• Why creating your own opportunities is more difficult yet more rewarding

Get to know Gill!

• Follow her on Instagram (@gill.flutes)

• Subscribe to her YouTube channel (@gill.flutes)

• Check out her journey on Substack: The Practice Room 🎵

• Gill's recommended reading: "How to Love Better" by Yung Pueblo

Want to get BTS content?

• Join the Limitless Musician Newsletter

• Follow The Limitless Musician via Instagram

• Check out The Music Teacher's Playbook