Blog
Articles on finishing self-generated work and building expertise-based creative businesses, with the Creative Engine, Ground Truth, and Capacity frameworks.
Sewist overcomes burnout to stitch together a stronger business model
Listen to Martha’s story in her own words: Production sewing coach, Marty Remsen felt like no matter how much effort she put into her business, she wasn’t seeing tangible results, and started to wonder if maybe she should get a “real” job. She already had a vision for where she wanted her business to go, but needed help getting there. Discover how the Autonomous Creative Incubator helped Marty… Marty Remsen was burnt out. She was part-owner of a successful bike bag company where she did production sewing, but the work was repetitive and, frankly, had gotten boring. In contrast to the exciting early days of growing the company and working through production challenges, now, she felt the energy was much…
Frustrated filmmaker overcomes a crisis of confidence to find rapid success
Listen to Avantika’s story in her own words: As an accomplished filmmaker, Avantika Hari Agrawal has always been full of ideas. She enjoyed the creativity, opportunity, and potential that came with being a successful filmmaker partnering with Netflix and others. But the reality of the filmmaker life meant her dream projects getting stuck in “development hell,” where she faced unending rewrites and second guessing, feeling herself lose the ability to drive the narrative. Her show was getting lost in the corporate shuffle. Avantika loved the creative part of filmmaking, but it was becoming increasingly more challenging because of external pressures. That, in turn, caused her to start feeling self-doubt: Am I good enough? Have I done enough? Am I able…
Finding the Venn diagram of the work that pays well and the work you want to do
Listen to Stephanie’s story in her own words: After studying illustration in school, Stephanie Shafer stumbled into working as an art director. Although the job paid well, Stephanie felt frustrated and creatively blocked. “I took that job, but the whole time I felt like I was spending a lot of time making things that nobody was seeing. There was this end result that people were looking at, but there was just so much work put into it. [The company] hired me because they wanted somebody who was more creative to invigorate the publication and add more interest. But I was never allowed to actually do creative things. So it felt like I was just putting all this effort into doing…
From Burnt Out Artist to Joyful Creative Coach: The Power of the “Perfect Fit” Business Model
Listen to Eleanor’s story in her own words: Eleanor Chaney is an artist and educator who has worked as an illustrator, exhibited her prints in shops and galleries, and taught skills-based arts and crafts classes to thousands of people. But as a working artist and teacher, she felt like she had hit an upper limit on how much money she could make. “[During the pandemic] what became really, really apparent was it wasn’t that I wasn’t capable of making a living as an artist. The things I was being paid for weren’t even fulfilling in the way that they had been in the past. Because I had changed. And what I wanted from my work had changed. And I also…
Announcing 12 new sustainable creative businesses: Time to celebrate! 🎉
I’m so incredibly proud to introduce you to the inaugural cohort of the Autonomous Creative Incubator! We’ve all been working so hard for this day 🐣 Six short months ago, these awesome creatives committed to launching new businesses. Why did they take this major step? Because they all needed to create time, freedom, and autonomy in their lives. I mean, don’t we all? But it turns out, the way that actually happens in reality is by redesigning what we do for a living to bring in a lot more money with a lot less effort and time. That well-resourced time means freedom and the white space we need to take care of ourselves and also make the creative work we…
Are you on the hamster wheel of being overworked and underpaid? How one neurodivergent artist created a path to success
Listen to Deirdre’s story in her own words: When people talk about being “stuck” professionally because of constant overwhelm in their life, Deirdre Colgan Jones understands. Deirdre is a professionally trained artist, architect, and teacher who struggled to make a living doing what she loves. “I was caught in this hamster wheel of doing things that I thought would earn me an income, only to come up empty-handed or underpaid.” When Deirdre joined the Autonomous Creative Incubator (ACI) program in January of 2022, her mother and son both had health issues that required constant attention, and her recent diagnosis of adult ADHD made completing tasks even more challenging. “I was struggling with how I could be an artist sustainably. That’s…
“Am I a failure if I’m not making enough money with my creative work?”
Mastering your art form is how you become a great artist. It is not how you become a professional.