Episode 117: Performing Full Time

Send us Fan MailI've been putting this episode off for a while because it's DENSE.  It's a bit of a bite-sized master class in this subject, according to me.  All my gratitude to the 100+ artists who have talked with me about this in my career, and especially to TaiTai for asking the question:  "How to leave my fucking morning job without having plan B and I still have bills to pay."What you'll hear:A question for you:  "Why did you get into this/what do you want to get out of it?" 2:00It's not WORSE.  It's just DIFFERENT. 8:50When you workin, you ain't trainin.  Why it's difficult to upskill at the same time you are working 10:23I highly recommend you buy this book (available on a sliding scale, including for free!) by Andrew Simonet:  Making Your Life as an Artist.  Scroll down on this page to see the sliding scale options!! 11:00Ok, after all that and you still want to perform full time, here is some actionable advice 15:00#1:  Have 6-12 months of your living expenses saved (I recommend all humans have 3 months at all times)#2:  All savings accounts should be high yield savings accounts with 3.5% interest or more#3:  Get rid of your credit card debt, it's too expensive 17:50Get Ramit's book I Will Teach You to be Rich to learn how to do this, and much more cool shit that will help you.#4:  Know your non-negotiables and make good note of them.  They will dictate the parameters in which you can explore opportunities.#5:  Find out how much your life cost per month 20:00#6:  Familiarize yourself with the Profit First System.  Here is a spreadsheet you can make a copy of and use!  23:00Here are some suggested percentages to get you started (they are on the spreadsheet, and you can change them according to your needs):50% profit/owner's pay goes to you, to pay for groceries, clothing, Netflix, etc.30% goes to business expenses like training, costumes, travel to gigs, scheduling software, etc.  (I just leave this 30% in my business checking account)5% to all purpose savings (in a high yield savings account of course)15% to another high yield savings account with which to pay your taxes.If you need pro help, Sandi York is THE BEST and very familiar with creative businesses.  She was the source for the profit first spreadsheet I shared above.  24:44#7:  TALK TO PEOPLE.  Use your mentors.  Get a mentor.  Please do not skip this step.  There is no reason whatsoever that you should suffer unnecessarily when we could save you some grief.#8:  Have your shit together (website, bio, demo, headshots, etc)Speaking of making a website, that's exactly what The Audacity Project is for!  I'm enrolling cycle 28 in February.  The best place to know about it is the waitlist, which you can find here!  28:00A review of all the actionable advice 29:00Creatrix is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!  come play in the warmth with me!Don't go back to sleep.xoRachelSign up here for monthly blasts and functional wooFind me on InstagramSupport this podcast on Patreon