The Thriving Creative

You know the feeling. You know what you need to do but you keep putting it off. You've set aside the time to create, to work, but you stare at a blank screen, a blank canvas, and nothing flows. At least not like it normally does. You're just not yourself. But is it just a lack of creative spark? Or is it something deeper?

Though I normally keep things lighter on the show, I can't neglect the very important topic of mental health since it's so relevant to our community. There are seasons when we are just in a creative slump but there are also times where we might need more resources to make a breakthrough. The truth is that the life of a creative lends itself to a lot of hustle and burnout which can lead to anxiety and depression. It can even be difficult to prioritize things like sleep and eating healthy, but it's so important! Your heart and mind are the fuel for your business. You can't neglect yourself!

If you feel like you might be struggling with something like depression or anxiety, first you must know that you are not alone. I want to help you explore your symptoms by writing down what you're struggling with. Some signs of depression or anxiety include trouble sleeping, irritability, lack of motivation, difficulty remembering things, or a loss of focus. Depression or anxiety may not be something you cure, but you can find resources to walk through it instead of around it. There is hope for you friends!

Wouldn't it be lovely if making a budget was a simple task on your to-do list? For a creative, just the idea of budgeting can deplete your energy in an instant! If you're like me, it can be tricky to project your income for the month, let alone the year! So how can you be smart with your money when your income is variable? It's a great question and the answer is not cut and dry, but I've gained so much insight over the past 8 years in my own business and I want to share what I've learned with you on this topic!

To begin, consider where you fall on the spectrum of money mindset. Are you living in a place of scarcity, feeling like you're on the brink of disaster and afraid to invest in anything? Or maybe you know your numbers, but you are hesitating to create a strategy to scale and reach your goals? In this episode, I will share with you a super practical process for helping you come up with a budget you can live with even when your income is hard to predict. Then we will talk about identifying limiting beliefs when it comes to money mindset and finding ways to actively replace those negative messages with empowering truth. It's possible to thrive financially doing what you love. Making a budget is a critical first step! If you could use even more help, let's do it together! Book a call with me or join us in the On Purpose Creatives Facebook group!

Today is a huge treat on the podcast, we have the pleasure of talking to the Boss Mom herself, Dana Malstaff! If you're not familiar with Dana, she is the CEO and Founder of Boss Mom. She's a mother, author, speaker, business strategist, podcaster, blind spot reducer, and movement maker. Dana launched the Boss Mom brand with her first book Boss Mom: The Ultimate Guide to Raising a Business & Nurturing Your Family Like a Pro in 2015 and quickly grew to a six-figure business within a year.

She now has over 20,000 students in various courses, a Facebook group 40k strong with 75% monthly engagement and helps women all over the world raise their businesses and babies at the same time. She believes that we need to show our children that doing what we love can be financially viable.

You can connect with Dana and learn more about what she does in her Facebook Group Boss Moms, on Facebook, see what she's up to on Instagram, or at her website, www.boss-mom.com.

Today we're talking about one of my favorite things - pricing! As a creative business owner, where do you get hung up with pricing? Are you pricing too low, pricing too high, or inconsistently pricing your goods and services?

You might be surprised to uncover that whatever your pattern is, there are beliefs that are underlying your current strategy. And in order to truly shift a belief, we have to understand what is underneath that belief.

If you enjoyed this episode I invite you to take a screenshot and tag me on your Instagram stories @naphtalivroberts and tell me what you thought about it!

Do you want an extra business brain, heart and set of eyes on your business to reach your BIG goals in 2020? Work with me!

Welcome to the first episode of the Thriving Creative Podcast! I'm so thrilled to start this new season of the show with a new name and a new episode all about how to get you, the creative entrepreneur, off of the hamster wheel of "success". So many creatives that I work with are sick of being stuck in the feast or famine, starving artist syndrome.

Traditionally, success talk in business focuses on external ideas of success: Money, Power and Fame. For most people, this leaves so much out! Focusing on other people's definition of success can lead us to forget our Why and the bigger impact we wanted to make when we started our business in the first place.

So what's at the core of a thriving creative business?

If you enjoyed this episode I invite you to take a screenshot and tag me on your Instagram stories @naphtalivroberts and tell me what you thought about it!

Do you want an extra business brain, heart and set of eyes on your business to reach your BIG goals in 2020? Work with me!

As we are winding down in 2019, it's the perfect time to do some serious reflection about your business, but it does take time and intention to make it count for the coming year. I want you to take this time because when you do, you will never regret it! This kind of reflection can reveal to you things like what defines your relationship with money or how healthy your work-life balance has been over the year. I'm also excited to share with you a handful of my personal reflections and some exciting new changes in my business!

I am especially eager to share a practical and creative way to gather these types of reflections throughout the year. The best part is, it can become a daily practice, not just something you do in late December. All you need to do is get a blank journal and for a quick daily writing prompt, you respond to the following:

Today in my business...

What went well?

What didn't go well?

What am I believing about myself today?

You will be blown away when you start to make connections between these daily insights and the numbers in your business!

Today I am thrilled to welcome my dear friend, CEO, and marketing strategist, Mallory Majcher. Mallory has nearly a decade of experience in marketing strategy and leadership. Throughout her career as a communications director, Mallory partnered with the most creative minds in marketing, serving clients in Austin, Boston, Denver, San Francisco and Chicago. In 2017, Mallory brought her competitive fire to Kansas City and opened her own agency. At MALLORY may-CHUR Creative, they showcase the heart and soul behind small businesses through compelling visual storytelling. They specialize in utilizing multi-faced, integrated marketing strategies, including graphic design, brand development, social media marketing, copywriting, public relations and media relations services to help your brand come to life.

Mallory understands that marketing is no longer business to business but human to human. In this episode, she helps even the least marketing-savvy entrepreneur understand some key principles to having a powerful brand story. We discuss the significance of a brand story being more than your personal story but still relevant to the snippets of your personal life when they relate to the needs and wants of your audience. She explains that when you tell a really epic brand story, pricing becomes less relevant, and the wants of your ideal client will be the biggest priority. Also, listen to find out why this guru doesn't even believe in "niching down" in the traditional sense!

It can happen at any time of year and it can be really unexpected. All of a sudden you realize you are dreading the "work" you love-the creative process. Nothing's quite good enough and you're just irritable. Does any of this sound familiar? I'm talking about creative burnout. Today I want to offer you some tools to help you gain awareness for what may have led you to this slump so that you don't have to stay there long.

In these moments, it seems natural to want to push ourselves harder. But I'd like to challenge that mentality with the truth that sometimes doing less, but with greater intention can be just what we need to regain that creative spark. Sometimes you just need a small win to gather the motivation and confidence that's lacking. Burnout can also be a sign that you need to invite some fun and play back into your life. Burnout is to be expected for the creative, but you don't have to go it alone and you don't have to stay stuck.

If you are constantly plagued by the "what ifs" when it comes to setting and pursuing goals in your business, I want you to take some time to listen to today's episode. The things I'm sharing come from my personal experience, but I have learned a lot in the past few years and want to use it to encourage you too. In seasons of uncertainty, I've found it incredibly powerful to take time to center down and consider what your body is communicating to you. We will explore how to notice those messages and take action. Friend, it's time to take the reins back because you, your passions, and your business are worth it!

On this episode, I have an incredible resource coming to you in the form of online legal consultant, Emily D. Baker. Emily empowers her clients to actually understand the advice she gives them instead of leaving them more confused than when they started. She helps entrepreneurs to have common sense documents that will both protect their business and make total sense to everyone involved. Unlike perhaps every other lawyer ever, Emily charges on a project-based model (not by the hour or by the email) so that her clients can count on getting exactly what they need without developing a weirdly co-dependent relationship with their legal consultant.

As creatives, making sure that our businesses are legit and legal can easily feel overwhelming and hard to navigate. But I wanted to bring Emily on the show because I want you to be able to protect the work you do and make sure you always get paid for what you deliver. Emily helps us check off all the boxes from making sure we separate our business and personal finances to making sure we have appropriate proposals and contracts in place. She also shares everything you need to have in order to protect yourself on your website. Friends, I know this stuff feels scary, but I never want you to learn about the legal stuff the hard way, so listen in and then connect with come connect with Emily with all your extra questions.