The ArtsMBA Podcast

Lisa is a professional coach with a background in flute performance.  Jennifer and Lisa could talk for hours on end about a very large range of subjects, but today they're somewhat constraining their conversation to a particularly interesting topic: fundraising as a member of an administrative board in the arts.

Jenny Clift is a professional violinist and EFT tapping coach who coaches musicians all over the world.  In this episode, Jennifer talks with Jenny about what EFT tapping is, how it works, and how she coaches her clients to overcome fear and stress in their performance.Jenny's website: https://abetterlifetapping.com/YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@jennycliftcoaching4609/videosFree 30 Minute Session to try out Tapping and discover how it can help you!https://jennycliftcoaching.as.me/30minutesessionHere's a link to the Form to sign up for the 21 Days to Become a Fear-Free Musician - they will then receive the videos in their inbox over 3 weeks. The videos cover aspects of:Performance AnxietyCareer ConcernsUnhelpful HabitsOther peoplePracticing .....and MUCH MORE.https://jennyclift.activehosted.com/f/178

This episode is all about ArtsMBA's theme from February: "explore"!   Jennifer shares her musings on how to explore creativity and discover the artist within.  Also featured are snippets from February's kickoff session, as well as incredible classes with special guest speakers Nicole Müller and  Shanna Pranaitis!  

Lisa Liang is an actress, writer, producer, keynote speaker, and workshop leader.   In this episode, Jennifer talks to Lisa about her workshops, interculturality, dealing with feeling like an outsider, how and why to write a memoir, and much more!For more information about Lisa and her workshops: https://interculturalstorytelling.com/About Lisa's solo show, Alien Citizen: https://aliencitizensoloshow.com/Lisa's 5-minute writing prompts on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHjKUkjDtSM&list=PLSZ_K15y5HQiaHRCNQdxqeE6CFpMIPeMa

Jade Simmons is a concert pianist, but that is by no means all--she's also a highly sought-after speaker, a nonprofit founder, and a former presidential candidate!  She aims to transform and inspire, and in this she talks to Jennifer about her unique career and how she has managed to carve out her own singular niche in the field of music.

SUMMARY Universally many creative people struggle with pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone into exploring the unknown, and in some ways, we end up handicapping ourselves. In this episode, Jennifer and Chris dive into how we can break away from a path set upon us, and open up to going past the boundaries. TIMESTAMPS AND KEY POINTS 0:11 – Introducing Chris and his career thus far. 1:24 – How Wild Up was created, and what led to Chris starting this project. • Learn more about Wild Up here: https://www.wildup.org/people/christopher-rountree/ 8:35 – The problem with the mindset that if you don't play perfect, you are a failure as a musician. 9:33 – The importance of finding your guiding principle and what Chris' was. 13:11 – How Chris has responded to uncertainty as a force in his life. 18:10 – Being a pro without worrying about knowing all the answers or not. 22:46 – How struggle allows us to create the most memorable and impactful projects. 25:52 – Exploring out of your comfort zone to find other opportunities that you wouldn't otherwise had expected to receive. 31:36 – The idea of “playing with the unknown”. 37:34 – Being excluded when coming up with ideas that push past the boundaries regardless of status or respect. 39:01 – How staying in the comfort zone has allowed the infantilization of newer musicians who are stuck following a monotonous path set out for them. 44:28 – The likely struggle of being ourselves when we pursue creativity. 45:48 – The difficulty of receiving feedback from intangible services. 50:22 – Understanding that some art is focused on looking at the internal meaning, process, and what it is attempting to do rather than what it may appear to be. 53:25 – Final thoughts from Chris. 

January's ArtsMBA theme is "Envision," and that's just what this episode is about!  Get ready to envision your ideal artistic life as Jennifer offers her thoughts on this theme, including an excerpt from January's kickoff event!

SUMMARYBeing able to navigate our careers is tough, especially when we are so used to beingdependent on many others in some shape or form. In this episode, Jennifer and Shanna explore how we can drive ourselves down our own paths.TIMESTAMPS AND KEY POINTS1:07 – Being “radically traditional” and how Shanna was able to create her own path.4:17 – How Shanna was able to go in her own direction without having a traditional path likeorchestra.9:32 – Why self-initiation is important when you want to create your path, or anything for thatmatter.15:56 – Why managers are better suited to be supplements rather than the solution to findingopportunities.17:07 – Certain solutions that cannot be outsourced and solved by managers.19:57 – Importance of creating systems when collaborating with others to better manageworkload.21:18 – How music and coaching merged for Shanna, and how the roles they play in her life.27:38 – Valuing the process of facilitating your own solutions.34:26 – Letting yourself flow into a state where you can just simply relax.41:14 – How to step into a role where you are the primary navigating force of your career.46:14 – Setting yourself up for a journey that's solely dependent on what you are interested in

SUMMARY We often struggle with taking responsibility of our own life despite easily being able to take responsibility over the lives of others. In this episode, Jennifer and Nicole dive in to how exploring different areas and merging them into your own path can improve your happiness. TIMESTAMPS AND KEY POINTS 0:21 – Introducing Nicole and diving into her background and career thus far. 9:31 – When Nicole started branching out into jazz improvisation, and other forms of music outside of the classical music world, how did others react? 13:46 – Building confidence to be able to break the “norms” of our typical lifestyle.14:59 – What Nicole struggled with early on, and how she was able to build confidence. 17:33 – Has Nicole's experience playing in a livestream concert helped prepare her and give her the confidence to create her album? 20:39 – Merging different dimensions of completely different areas of expertise to make the experiences you offer unique. 26:19 – Were there any major decisions that allowed Nicole to switch her schedule to better fit a lifestyle she wanted to live? 30:46 – Treating yourself as your “most important client”.33:02 – Nicole's experience giving herself more responsibility over finding things that make a positive impact on her life. 36:47 – How trying varying things can be pieced together to form a life you can enjoy. 41:33 – How choosing the direction of your path can make you much happier. 

A lot of people come to me for advice on how to launch online education programs. But sometimes the best strategy is not one you would expect. Sometimes the strategy is to do what generates creative energy, even if it seems completely unrelated. That's what I am choosing to do.

How am I approaching this podcast, and why?

A frustrating experience with an oven installation gave me some valuable food for thought as it pertains to my upcoming program launch.

We often get caught up in the growing corporate culture that has dominated our society and has seemingly been the only effective way to grow businesses. However, in this episode, Jennifer explains the benefits of using alternative methods that fully utilize creativity when growing your business. TIMESTAMPS AND KEY POINTS0:06 – In what ways do creatives working on entrepreneurial projects struggle to employ effective business skills?0:41 – What are the inherent downsides of adhering to traditional business models and marketing tactics?2:41 – An example of unproductive growth that can be created by ideas induced by traditional business.3:30 – Finding more effective alternatives to the previous example (premature hiring of employees). 3:46 – The two main activities that are important to the growth and development of new businesses.4:43 – What is creative energy and how is it relevant?7:09 – How spending too much time on busy work can lead to a drainage of creativity. 9:05 – Why this culture of pushing for more and more productivity can be counter-productive.

Recently a client asked for my opinion on whether her idea would be better suited to a non-profit or a for-profit entity. Here's my take on how to make the decision. 

Working with people (ie collaboration) is one of the most important aspects both in business and in most art-making experiences. I've recently experienced how one of the most important aspects within a collaboration is not only how we can navigate uncertainty together, but how we can welcome it in as a powerful activator for creativity.

Creatives are sold a belief that they will forever have to sacrifice for their art. Sacrifice can mean a lot of things but it usually involves financial hardship, overwork and burnout, lack of time and resources for personal creative projects, and delayed life milestones.But it doesn't have to be this way. When arts professionals are better informed about the different types of income streams they can pursue, and the tradeoffs associated with each type, they can create financial stability, a more spacious schedule, and a more fulfilling career.

It's time for creatives to stop thinking that they can never achieve true confidence and competence when it comes to the "business side." In fact, there are only a few business skills that are actually needed to thrive in a career in the arts. I'll share what they are in this episode.

What does it feel like to be at the beginning of a project that feels more daunting than what you've done before? What is this podcast? What is ArtsMBA? Why did I decide to postpone the program start date? What else am I working on these days?