152: Mindset: Educator or Entrepreneur

Before we get all the way into the nitty gritty of the shownotes, here's the link to book a call with me: http://callwithjaime.com it's just a short 10 minute call that we do via zoom where we can talk about you, your business, your goals, your students and their goals. I just love getting to know you and hearing your passion! Are you an educator or an entrepreneur? And do you want to wear one hat, the other or both? As an educator/teacher/instructor your primary goal is to instill the skills in your students so that they can gain a deeper understanding into the art they are studying. We are taking them by their hand and guiding them on this specific part of the journey. Being an educator means taking the skills that you have acquired and use them to inspire, motivate and teach something new to your students. The modality and frequency of your work with your students doesn't matter -- it's simply that you're taking your knowledge and experience and helping them to learn something. For a lot of educators, this is EVERYTHING! Having a place and platform to share your knowledge and positively impact your students. It's all about inspiration, motivation, seeing students have success. There are a number of educators who want more than the hands on learning side of teaching. We see ourselves as a conduit for something even bigger than our own teaching. We are the ones who open studios, hire other teachers to work alongside us and project students' needs beyond the current content. This is entrepreneurship! When it comes to being an entrepreneur... it's about pushing the envelope, it's about thinking outside the classroom or the lesson and outside of the linear progression of our students. It's about going into the space of what else can I offer, how else can I impact and how can we create greater opportunity for our students when they are done working with us. That's when you're thinking like an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs thrive inside their zone of genius. My definition of the zone of genius is where your skillset and talents collide. I think of it as an expansive space, the more time we spend in our zone of genius the more we can create, inspire, motivate and empower others. This is the sign of true entrepreneurship-- when we continue to pour into our passions and dig into our skillsets anything is possible! Entrepreneurs are always looking at what's next (for good or for bad!) Art and music educator-preneurs strive to create the studio that you wish existed when you were learning. You are creating a place that is immersive, personable, exploratory and supportive. And one studio is going to look different from the next -- one thing I can say for sure is that when we are wearing our entrepreneur hat, we are bubbling with ideas. This episode is a mindset episode, not a tangible or tactile one is because there is a lot of work that has to go into our mindset in order to fully embrace entrepreneurship. Dreaming and wishing and hoping for *that studio* is not enough to set it on it's path from your mind to reality. Unfortunately, the best of ideas can be derailed without a strong mind. We need to continuously say to ourselves "this is for the students" "this is for my employees" "this is for the person whose live is going to be impacted by my students' art" "this is bigger than myself." These saying are going to help us keep going because it's {often} hard to build a studio from nothing -- and particularly so in the online space. Offline - at least you have contractors and permits and proximity and foot traffic. Online - we can hire our contractors from anywhere, our students can come from anywhere and there is no way to walk the streets between online businesses. While that can seem daunting, it doesn't have to. We have the freedom to create something that is completely representative of our teaching style, our students' learning style and our hopes and dreams. Online entrepreneurship means taking one step and then another and then another. Building one bridge and then another. Creating connections across space and time. Educators have fewer highs and lows. Entrepreneurs have more. We are wearing our big picture hat... so, yeah, I'm back to the two hats -- the educator hat and the entrepreneur hat. To be successful, we need to confidently wear each of them in turn. It is a lot easier to be the educator. It is a lot safer to be the educator. Even the I statements are easy: I teach piano I teach drawing I teach vocal lessons I teach guitar I teach acrylic painting As an online art entrepreneur the I statement are: I have an online art education studio I run an online music program I have an online music collective I run a virtual visual arts studio I have online courses and programs for art students Entrepreneur I statements are just a little bit more abstract because there are more facets to the offering. It's fun & exciting! And I hope this is where you want to take your teaching. As we start putting the entrepreneur hat on more and more, because it's not a flip of a switch, look at what you're currently doing and the way you currently operate and offer your lessons/classes/programs. Ask yourself: "What of this is going to work in my future studio?" and "What from here is going to need to change? What am I doing now that I'm going to have to change in order to make that studio become a reality?" Change isn't easy but when we see what needs to change, we can make a plan and start working on that plan. It doesn't happen overnight but it can happen with deliberate action and a clear mind. When we have a vision, we have something to work towards! The online entrepreneur journey is exciting and full of twists and turns. You don't need to suddenly decide never to wear the educator hat again -- it takes time. It's taken me a decade to go from freelancer to entrepreneur... in fact, when I started what I thought was my entrepreneur venture, I didn't know that I was actually becoming a freelancer. Listen to my decade of ebbs and flows starting around 12:50 of the episode, it's better in the recording than anything I try to write here... know this, where you are is perfect for today. As you continue to work with your students, you'll chart your own course and carve away your true zone of genius. You absolutely can create that unique online studio offering the exact type of programming to the exact subset of the world's students that you want to inspire and work with. Don't forget to go to http://callwithjaime.com and book a connect call with me.