42: Is a creative career right for you?

If you’re dreaming about breaking out on your own to do something creative, this episode is for you! Creative strategy coach Michelle Guo works with creatives, such as freelance web designers, copywriters and social media managers. As the founder of Magicave Media, Michelle empowers her clients to build a sustainable business around their desired lifestyle.  

Is a creative career right for you? Michelle helps you figure that out with all the things you should consider, including your personality, lifestyle and finances. She also reminds us that a creative career has a business side to it, which you should also keep in mind.  

Epiosode Highlights:

• What is a creative career?
• Consider your personality, lifestyle and finances
• Resources for creatives 
• How ikigai can help you figure out a creative career
• The business side to a creative career—taxes, legal and profit
• Common challenges for creatives
• Dealing with rejection

Find Michelle Guo at:

Website: www.magicavemedia.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michelleannguo/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/magicave-media/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michelleannguo

Clear, Connect & Close Resource Vault: https://www.magicavemedia.com/clear-connect-close


Resources Mentioned:

Freelancers Union: https://freelancersunion.org

SCORE: https://www.score.org

PositivePsychology: The Philosophy of Ikigai: 3 Examples About Finding Purpose

LinkedIn: Ikigai, Japanese Secret To Long & Happy Life – A Book Summary & Review


Creative Career Switch Episodes Mentioned:

Ep 18: The pros and cons of becoming a full-time writer

Ep 21: A side hustle results in a career switch

Ep 25: A hobby turns into a career change (photography business)

Music credit: TimMoor from Pixabay

Podcast info:
What's your career switch? What do you think about this episode and the show? Tell us at careerswitchpod.com. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Transcript

Lixandra: Hi, everyone. I'm Lixandra Urresta, and this is Career Switch Podcast. This show is here to encourage you to take action with whatever career change you're considering or working on. Maybe you're trying to switch industries or professions or break out on your own and start a business. In some episodes, I talk to people who've made their own career switch, whether by choice or circumstance. They share the good, the bad, and the truth about their journey, including what worked for them and what didn't. In other episodes, I speak with experts who offer their best career advice on challenges that can come up during the process of making a career change. After all, it takes guts to switch things up, and it's not easy. However, it is possible. 

So, I hope you hear something in this episode, an idea, a suggestion, a piece of advice that'll spur you into action with your own career switch, whether it's taking that first bold step or trying something new. Welcome. I'm glad you're here. 

How many of us have dreamed of breaking out on our own to do something creative? If you're thinking about it, this episode is for you. Creative strategy coach Michelle Guo works with creatives, such as freelance web designers, copywriters, and social media managers. As the founder of Magicabe Media, Michelle empowers her clients to build a sustainable business around their desired lifestyle. Is a creative career right for you? Michelle helps you figure that out with all the things you should consider, including your personality, your lifestyle, and your finances. She also reminds us that a creative career has a business side to it, which you should also keep in mind. 

Hi, Michelle, thanks for joining us today. Let's dive in. So many of us dream about changing careers to do something creative. My past guests on Career Switch Podcast who've done it include a lawyer who became a photographer, a pharmacist who became a voiceover actor, and a vice president in financial services who is now a full-time writer. You are the founder of Magic Cave Media. Who are your clients and how do you work with them?

Michelle: I'm a creative strategy coach. I help budding freelancers and entrepreneurs in creative industries get off the ground and start making money in their own businesses. So I work with copywriters, web designers, creative agencies, wherever they are in their business. It tends to be in the beginning stages. I help people design their package offerings. I help them determine where to find their first clients, how to run sales calls, all the basic things you need to get started in order to make money for yourself.

Lixandra: And just so we're all on the same page, what is a creative career?

Michelle: A creative career, to me, it means one where you can express yourself freely, whether that's through art, through writing, whatever it is, there has to be an element of self-expression to it, right? There is an element of, I would say, service and authenticity to it.

Lixandra: Michelle, a creative career is not for everyone. As someone who creates something, whether it's a product or service, you're putting your work out there for the world to experience. For example, this podcast, right, is a creative product and it'll be available for anyone to listen to. What kind of person would you say a creative career is best suited for?

Michelle: creative careers are best suited for people who are okay with some level of expressing themselves and be vulnerable on the internet or to strangers. I've encountered people who, you know, they're really talented at artwork, but they're afraid to share it with the world, right, which is really hard to, you know, make a creative career if you're not willing to share those sentiments or your work with other people, right. So I would say that's definitely number one, like not being afraid of that self-expression. I think it's something that I also struggled with when I first started, right? But it's, in my opinion, it's important to, you know, learn how to manage it or overcome it. You can still be an introvert, but also, you know, very successful in a creative career. 

Another thing I would say to consider in a creative career is being clear about what your passion is apart from the thing that wants to make you money right so not all of your passions have to turn into profit like there's some. passions that I have, for example, architecture and interior design, which I used to study in college. But, you know, when I was actually in it, right, like designing all these cool building sketches, interning for an architecture firm, I realized that wasn't what I wanted my creative career to look like. I wanted my creative career to look more like web designing, logo designing, and now coaching, right? And working with those kinds of people. So I would definitely say that, and also like considering who you want to work with, right? Because in the architecture example, you'll probably work with probably wealthy clientele who can afford to make buildings, right? But I would say here, the clientele I'm working with are very different. They tend to be smaller businesses. So I think that's also another very important element. It's the capacity and who you want to be creative with.

Lixandra: What about the lifestyle, Michelle? Let's face it, chances are you'll have to find your own work and you won't have a steady income, at least when starting out, right? Like a web designer or a photographer or a freelance copywriter, they need to find clients. And when they do, the work can be hourly or project based. That's a different lifestyle than working at an office nine to five, getting a steady paycheck. What should you consider when thinking about switching to a creative career?

Michelle: Definitely one important aspect of a creative career is considering how you want to make money, right? It goes back to the passion and profit thing. Like those things don't always align with each other. There's something called Ikigai, right? Where you want to make sure your purpose, your passion, and that you can actually make a living from it, right? Like those things are all in alignment with the lifestyle that you desire. For instance, what do you want your creative career to look like? If you want it to look like one where you're selling products, right, you're going to have to do a lot of self promotion, probably advertisements, right? I know that's a lifestyle not everybody wants to do. And you also don't have to do it alone, right? You can always collaborate with other freelancers, whether it's a podcast like this or whether it's a business collaboration opportunity. I would say definitely always be looking out for opportunities to work with your creative community, right? I think that's another big one that I've noticed is some people really isolate themselves or they don't realize that they can build each other up. We also want to make sure we're supporting each other along the way. I think that's really important to remember because otherwise it can get really lonely and isolating.

Lixandra: So as I mentioned earlier, a past guest here on Career Switch Podcast was a lawyer turned photographer. He mentioned that customer service was something he had to learn on the job. He shoots weddings and graduations, and he does photo shoots with kids. So all these big life moments, right, that people want to cherish with professional photos. So some of his clients can be quite demanding. Earlier, you mentioned client base. So tell us a little bit more about that.

Michelle: It goes back to thinking of what you want to offer as product or service base, right? Because if you're offering something service-based, I mean, it's literally in the title, right? You're there to provide quality service, like something that AI or, you know, a robot can give you essentially. It's definitely really important to also consider what your client wants and needs, how it's not just your vision when you're building with other people in community, right? It's also you collaborate and create something beautiful together. That's something I really believe.

Lixandra: What about where you are in your life? I mean, it's different to freelance in your 20s than in your 40s and 50s.

Michelle: Generally, yeah, I would say if you're younger, you probably have more energy, you're able to take more risks. I would also say that if you're older, you might also have the financial resources that a younger person might not have. So it might be more doable that way, especially if you want to create a product. Right. So there are, again, a lot of things to consider based on financial situation and just personal preferences as well. Some people might be sick of their career when they get in their midlife crisis, whatever you want to call it. Right. And then switch into something new. typically, or hopefully, you know, they have a cushion of financial security so that they can give themselves a few years to adjust and pivot as needed.

Lixandra: Good point, Michelle. My other guest, who is now a full time writer, she was a seasoned professional, right? She'd climbed the corporate ladder. She was a VP in financial services. And yeah, she used her savings to go for it, to publish a book, and to give herself time to become an author. She's also a good example of the self-promotion that you mentioned earlier, because she has to get people to buy her books. So she has the creative side to her career, but she's also got the business side, which is selling her product.

Michelle: Honestly, I applaud anybody who has the guts, because I know it's not easy to put yourself out there. There are a lot of weird, wild people you don't know out there, people who are going to criticize your work, complete strangers who are going to troll you. And again, that's why it's so important to find a support community of other people who get what you're doing, or if not, at least, you know, you can rely on them for support.

Lixandra: Can you recommend some resources for support for creatives?

Michelle: So in New York, specifically, we have something called Freelancers Union. It's a nonprofit. Now, this is not an endorsement, by the way. This is just an example of a resource that I've found useful. So they offer co-working spaces. They have resources for creatives in the atmosphere who maybe they don't have all the financial resources to start off legally. Maybe they don't know about taxes, all of these little things. They really help you get off the ground and get started with all you need. There's another one called score.org where you can go to ask for free business advice. There are also a lot of different resources, especially if you're able to DIY a lot of things yourself.

Lixandra: Yeah, I used score.org a few years ago for a podcast project I had in mind at the time, and I was actually able to get free legal advice, which was great since lawyers are quite pricey. I want to go back to something you said earlier about the IKIGAI? Is that what you said? How do you spell that?

Michelle: I-K-I-G-A-I. What is that? So it's definitely a trending concept right now, especially if you're in the self-help and wellness industry. So essentially, if you Google it, the first things you'll see are Venn diagrams between four different things, right? Like what you're good at is number one, what you love, number two, what the world needs is number three, and four is what you can be paid for, right? And if you can find an intersection between all those four things, that's the sweet spot. again, going back to creative careers, that's the sweet spot that any creative or entrepreneur would want to be at, right? Because that really means you're living in your purpose, you're building something that's profitable. You know, that being said, where IKIGAI, I think comes into play here, it's something that can definitely help people visualize and conceptualize where they want their creative career to go.

Lixandra: Great, thanks. For elaborating, I'll be sure to add some links in the show notes for listeners who want to learn more about ikigai. Okay, let's talk business because, sure, being a creative is exciting, but there's also a business side to a creative career. What should you be aware of in that regard?

Michelle: There are a lot of small things to be aware of, but to put them in some buckets, I would definitely say legal and taxes and business are the three things for people to be aware of. There's some overlap between those things, but for taxes, especially, right, you have to think about self-employment taxes, 1099s, saving about a third of your income just for those taxes. all these things and potential lack of health insurance if you're in the US, right? Like those are all things to consider. 

I would say the second one, going to legal, do you want to be a sole proprietor if you're establishing an LLC? You don't need one if you're starting off right off the bat in self-employment, right? But I would say if you want legal protection down the line between your assets and let's say if something goes really wrong in your business, could be out of your control, could be a catastrophic disaster or something like that, you're legally protected, right? Your business assets are different than your personal. So you might want to, for example, hire a business agent to take care of some of that legal stuff on both the federal and state side for you. 

And the third one, the business side, of course. making sure that you're actually making a profit in your creative career, right? Like, it's not uncommon to go months or like, you know, the first whatever few years not making much of a profit, right? Like, I mean, profit is different than revenue in this case, right? Because profit is like, after all your expenses are paid off, then you can save the extra change for yourself, you know, whether you invest that in your business, or other parts of your life, you know, that's totally up to you. but that's also definitely something else to consider is the bottom line, right? Profit.

Lixandra: Thanks for laying it out for us because those are all real things we have to deal with. As a creative strategy coach, what are some challenges your clients face and how do you help them?

Michelle: The most common ones that they face are number one, where to find clients, Number two is, what do I price my products? And I would say the third one is not knowing how to sell. So I think all of those things are very interrelated with each other. But I would say if you don't even know like where to find your clients, or let alone who they are, you're going to struggle a lot when you're getting started, right. So fortunately, you know, with some self reflection, and just, you know, taking action in terms of like, For example, I would rather people take action to reach out to people than do nothing at all. You learn from your experience, right? And that builds and compounds on top of each other. So I would say definitely one big challenge to tie it all back in that I help clients overcome is to take action in their business, right? Even if it's imperfect, at least you're moving on an upward trajectory.

Lixandra: Yeah, I agree. I mean, that's what Career Switch Podcast is all about, right? Taking action, which is sometimes the hardest part. For those clients who are having a hard time figuring out their clients, how do you coach them?

Michelle: My most recent clients, for example, have been like social media managers. They know what they like doing, right? Like, let's say graphic designing. From that, we'll say, OK, so who is it that you do graphic design or your specific service for? Because doing a service for a big corporation is going to have a different approach strategy than doing that for a solopreneur. They have different goals. The solopreneur probably wants to have a personal brand, more free time in their life, right? They're probably outsourcing it for those reasons. A corporation that might be doing it, let's say, for profit, right? First and foremost, not necessarily for anybody's lifestyle in that sense, right? So that's definitely one thing to consider. Like, who do you want to work for in terms of where are they economically? Is it an entity? Is it a person? Also, where are they located, right? Like, are they in the US? Do they have to speak the same language? 

There are a lot of like small things I feel like we take for granted. And perhaps it's because I'm running advertisements myself, like I have to think of all these small things, but there are definitely a lot of factors to consider when finding who you want to work with. And then like, once you have that figured out, you want to figure out what's the best way to reach them, right? Because let's say you want to reach out to business owners. So if you're trying to make a cold introduction, perhaps LinkedIn or cold outreach email to their business address is a better approach than sending them a friend request on Facebook, right?

Lixandra: Can you give us an example of a client who came to you with a challenge and how you helped them?

Michelle: This person offers branding services. For example, website design, local designing, social media post creatives. This specific person was going back and forth like, oh, should I run ads? Should I do email outreach? Should I do personalized outreach through my social profile? So we went over that ads were probably not the best fit for him. And I think another thing was he didn't know the metrics to aim for. He didn't know how to craft and word his emails, right? Because when we first worked together, he wasn't sure like, hey, what's a way I can approach my prospects without being overly pushy, right? So we went over editing some of his emails together to make it seem more personable and less less off-putting to people, especially a cold stranger. You have to really recognize where a lead is in the process. If you're a complete stranger, they have no time and energy to invest in you. 

I get a lot of cold emails myself from people, but the ones I really reply to are the ones with some personalized touch. That was very effective for him, for sure. In addition to, he made sure to do research for the people he was reaching out to, right? Like he made sure, for example, that their industry was correct, that they were actually the ideal clients he wanted to reach out to. Because I will tell you from my own experience, I've received some emails from complete strangers who got the industry I was in wrong. So that's an automatic write off for me. I'm like, okay, this person hasn't like done research. This is probably some bot or AI, right?

Lixandra: Right. You still need that personal touch. Yeah. I get a lot of generic emails saying, you know, I love your podcast and I can help you increase your downloads. It's so apparent that it's a generic message. But if someone were to listen to an episode or two and comment on them, then, hey, it makes me think they took the time to listen. And I definitely pay more attention to those emails. We've covered so much today, Michelle, so thanks so much for all your insight. What services do you offer as a career strategy coach?

Michelle: I'm promoting new services to help budding freelancers or people just starting out no matter where they are in their journey with setting up personalized outreach campaigns that are successful and will connect them with their dream clients, right? So helping them make sure that they have the tools they need, making software suggestions and automation, making sure those things are set up in their business to drive them forward.

Lixandra: And you have something new to offer. Tell us about it.

Michelle: I'm promoting a new product called Clear, Connect, and Close, which will give people templates to get started in outreaching to people if they don't know what to say to a complete stranger, right? Because I've been through it. It feels wildly uncomfortable the first time you do it. But this resource vault that I'm selling, Clear, Connect, and Close, it gives you the templates, the scripts. It gives you lead trackers and call trackers and tips for sales calls and more. It's a mix of resources. I have videos in there. There's a small community where you can comment what you're struggling with and fellow members or I will comment on it and try to provide more tips for you. Right. So that's a space where you can get your questions answered. I have templates and scripts that you can download through Google Docs, or you can save it as a PDF if you like as well. I also have some walkthrough videos on how to use your resources.

Lixandra: Great! And how can listeners find you? My website is magichavemedia.com. As we wrap up, I want to bring something up now that I'm freelancing as a podcast producer, so I've gone through this myself. And that's rejection. I pitched myself to a potential client a few months ago. Everything seemed to go well at our meeting. He said he'd follow up. So I was excited about the podcast project, but I never heard back. So would you say those of us in creative fields need to develop a thick skin? Is that something you should also keep in mind when deciding if you should go into a creative field?

Michelle: For any entrepreneur or freelancer in general, I think getting used to rejection or people setting their boundaries or telling you no is just something you have to get used to, especially when you're working with clients, if you're in a service-based industry, right? it can be very easy to get discouraged. I would also encourage people to look at the business side of it instead of getting too personal about it. I know, again, like a lot of us creatives, we like to be personal and wear our heart on our sleeve. But sometimes when we get a rejection, it could it could have nothing to do with you, right? We shouldn't spend our mental energy distressing over, you know, what it is specifically, right? Like, maybe somebody actually doesn't have the finances to work with you, right? Like, maybe it's just not the right time in their life. people change their minds all the time. It might be a no today, it might be a yes tomorrow. I'm not saying you should assume that for everybody. But I've definitely seen cases where, you know, I've been ghosted by people in the beginning, when I was doing personalized outreach, only for them to come a few months later and be like, hey, like, are you still available for a call, you know, something like that. So I would definitely say keep the door open. Of course, set your own boundaries, but be open and flexible to, you know, new things that might come your way because you never know.

Lixandra: OK, thanks, Michelle. I'll keep that in mind. Any last words for our listeners who are thinking about making a creative career switch?

Michelle: I just want to give encouragement to anybody who's listening and starting their creative career as a freelancer or solopreneur. I know it's not easy, but if you stick through it long enough, you'll definitely see the results and gain the freedom, not just that, the lifestyle and the clients you want to work with. So I would definitely keep that in mind. If you keep pushing through, your dreams will come true.

Lixandra: Thanks to Michelle Guo for being our guest today. You can find Michelle at magiccavemedia.com and on social media. During my chat with Michelle, I mentioned past guests who've switched to creative careers. So feel free to check out those episodes, like episode 18 for the VP in financial services who is now a full-time writer, episode 21 for the pharmacist who became a voiceover actor, and episode 25 for the lawyer turned photographer. 

You can find links to the resources mentioned in this episode and more helpful information in the show notes and on our website, careerswitchpod.com. So what's your career switch? Are you motivated to take action after listening to this episode? Tell us at careerswitchpod.com. We'd love to know, along with any feedback you have about the show. Let us know too, if you'd like to be a guest. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn at careerswitchpod. And please rate, review, and share with your friends and colleagues. It'll help get the show out there. Thanks for listening today. Till next time.