The Creative Mentor Podcast
I’m really passionate about teaching any creative how to be happy in their career. I know how frustrating it can be to figure out the balance of doing creative stuff, and also living ‘in the real world’. With all the side hustles, grind culture, and monetization that’s engrained in our daily lives it’s a daunting process to sift through how to be creative, happy, and comfortable. Over the last 7 going on 8 years now I’ve worked for mom and pop shops, I’ve designed the band merch, I’ve crowed sourced the seed money to create a [now failed] streetwear business. I’ve worked for shitty bosses, I’ve worked with great teams, I’ve found great mentors of my own, and I’ve had leaders help me find my strengths and work on my weaknesses. I’ve eaten shit for years in the design industry, and now I’m finally paid well, stable, and happy with where I am. I also get to keep learning every day on how to balance this life I’ve figured out and have access to anyone I can think of to ask any question I want. All I want in the world is to tell anyone who wants to know what I’ve learned so they can feel that same balance I now feel.
I remember being in art school and asking my professors all the time, “How do I cary this into real life?” and none of them had an answer that was good enough. I was so frustrated leaving art school with my Bachelor in the Fine Arts I paid $120,000 for, and my new student debt, and not having the first clue on how I was going to get a job with my 2013 abstract, technical portfolio I was holding. All I could do was take shots in the dark till something hit.
Fast forward to today, 2021. Still in a pandemic, staring down the barrel of a huge economic recession, and the unemployment rate pretty high. I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be to either be in school, fresh out of school, or doing some soul searching after losing your job. Trying to figure out how to navigate the creative industry for the first time must feel so overwhelming.
This is where I come in. I’ve been you. I want to help you. I’m passionate about helping you. So I created this podcast. It will come out every Monday morning and every month we’ll cover a common theme. I’ll tell you what questions are helpful to reflect on to be sure getting into this industry is truly what you’d like to do. I’ll tell you how to find work, or how to find the people who can help you find work. I’ll tell you what the hell needs to go in your portfolio and what hiring managers and Creative Directors look for when they view it. I’ll tell you how much money your title should be earning you, how to ask for a raise, and when to ask for one. I’ll tell you how to negotiate freelance rates and contracts. I’ll tell you about the taxes you’ll have to pay on that work too! I’ll walk you through burn out and how we can prevent it. I’ll talk about balancing imposter syndrome, feeling like a sell out, and still enjoying being creative, and honestly SO much more.
This will be a year long project. I will make work books for you, create a support group for us, and even be your personal mentor if you need me to. My goal is to have us all be happy, healthy creative that are comfortable, fulfilled and well paid. I wasn’t that for so long, and it took too long to get here. I don’t want that for you!
So I hope you hang out with me, and I hope I can help you. I just genuinely want us all to keep who we are in tact was we navigate life and what ever is going to happen next.
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Check out my Patreon for all reference material I mention in my podcasts [for free] and some premium content
I hope this helps
@thecreativementor It’s important to talk about money! I want y’all to make as much as possible ##artistsoftiktok ##artschool ##graphicdesign ##moneytok ##careertiktok
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