The Autonomous Creative
Jessica Abel
What does it take to become a successful writer or artist? Go behind the scenes with amazing professional creatives in a wide variety of fields to find out what, exactly, it took for them to be able to quit the day job and build a creative career fully committed to the work they're most passionate about.As a creative yourself, you know that whenever two artists or writers get together, inevitably the conversation turns to, “No, but seriously, how do you do it?”This show is that conversation. And you’re invited.
4 Simple Steps to Finish Your Ambitious Creative Project
Here's a taste of what we cover:The four essential phases every creative project must go throughHow to work with your strengths, not against themHow to decode your "Resistance Language" to outsmart creative blocksThe overlooked strategy that beats willpower every timeFinally finish the projects that will build your dreams, not just clutter your to-do list.I also open doors to the Creative Focus Workshop…for the last time until late NOVEMBER, and with a hefty discount and extra bonuses!Click here
How to find clients and build your audience without relying on social media, with Meg Casebolt
What happens to your business when you take an extended break from social media? Will it fall apart? Wither on the vine?
What if the answer is…not much?
Meg Casebolt is an SEO expert and the founder of Love at First Search, an agency that helps online businesses get found in search results, and to turn new readers into leads, subscribers and sales.
Meg’s business used to be super active on social media, until a few years ago when she took a 100-day social media break. Kind of by accident. That
How to quit undercharging for your work, with Rauni Higson
Do you struggle to figure out how to price your work so that it’s actually profitable for you…and then to actually say that price out loud, without mumbling or undercutting yourself?
Do you find yourself rushing to offer a discount BEFORE anyone even asks?
On this episode, I’m joined by Rauni Higson, one of Britain’s leading silversmiths. When I first met Rauni, she was chronically undercharging for her work, experiencing major feast or famine cycles, and generally running herself ragged teachi
How to make more money without investing more time, with Samantha Clark
Samantha Clark is an award-winning artist and lauded author who recently transitioned from an academic career to creative coaching. After a year of hitting her income goals and filling her roster with clients, Sam hit a revenue ceiling.
Sam realized she needed to earn more—a lot more. Especially if she wanted to build up her savings and plan for retirement. But she didn’t know how to increase her revenue without increasing her workload.
On this episode, Sam and I explore strategies for escapin
How to move from intention to action, with ADHD coach Emily Zilber
If you have a brain that doesn’t work the way it seems like everyone else’s does, or at least the way people tell you it should, that can be challenging. But can it also be a source of strength.
On this episode of the Autonomous Creative, we're talking about neurodiversity and how to identify the tools you need to move from intention to action. I’m joined by Emily Zilber, a curator with twenty years of professional experience in art museums and cultural organizations. Emily was diagnosed with A
How to end burnout and tap into creative flow, with Gabriela Pereira
Gabriela Pereira, my friend and the founder of DIY MFA, interviews me about creative flow. I share my strategies for building focus and reducing decision fatigue, and we do a major deep dive into one of my favorite topics: how to end the never-ending cycle of burnout and design a sustainable creative career.
More from the episode
Tips for transforming your creative practice into a habit you don't have to think about
What are your “circles of control”? How can acknowledging them help ease yo
How to find (and actually talk to) your ideal clients, with Sarah Marie Lacy
When painter Sarah Marie Lacy decided to double down on portrait commissions as her primary source of income, she was severely undercharging for her work, but had no idea what her prices should be, or who would possibly pay those much-higher prices.
Now? Sarah has a six-month waiting list, regularly rubs elbows with CEOs and ambassadors, and is a member of the most exclusive club in Ottawa. In this super-actionable conversation, Sarah and I explore the series of steps she took to more than tripl
Stop waiting for permission to be a professional creative, with Henry Thong
On this episode, I’m joined by award-winning documentary filmmaker Henry Thong for a conversation about courage before confidence. Henry’s entire career is arguably based on his willingness to get out there before he’s “ready.”
He began his freelance career right out of high school, skipping film school altogether. He moved from Australia to NY, without a back-up plan, and parlayed his personal success into a full-time job as a filmmaker for ConvertKit. Henry has a ton of personal insight to sh
How to handle your creative business finances—even if you’re “not a math person,” with Shawn Fink
On this episode, I’m joined by fellow business strategist and courage coach, Shawn Fink, for a wide-ranging and empathetic conversation about the ****math you need to take control of your creative business. Shawn explains the importance of releasing your fears around business math, and having the courage to achieve your revenue goals. And I reveal how simple math can help you diagnose and close an income gap, design your business, and set yourself up for success. We know business math can be sca
Are you exploiting your own creative labor? with Tara McMullin
“Self-actualization is not more important than feeding yourself.”
In this episode, Tara McMullin helps us understand why solving for your needs first is essential to running any creative business (with your humanity intact).
Tara is a writer, podcaster, and producer who used to be a business strategist (among many other things). But in late 2021, she pivoted to focus on her creative work. On this episode, we discuss Tara’s debut book, What Works: A Comprehensive Framework To Change The Way We Ap
Life is more than an endless slog of tasks, with Sarah Von Bargen
Sarah Von Bargen was a highly productive blogger for 14 years, showed up constantly on Instagram, and had years of success on Pinterest.
Sarah also ran several online courses where she helped thousands of people learn to make small, but significant changes to improve their lives.
Using a strategic approach to happiness, Sarah recently mapped out a huge transformation in her own life, pivoting from online internet personality to digital marketing consultant.
On this episode, I’ll dig into what in
Embracing your limits in order to find creative freedom and fulfillment, with Oliver Burkeman
NYT bestselling author Oliver Burkeman has more than a decade of experience discussing topics like productivity, procrastination, and anxiety in his column for The Guardian newspaper, This Column Will Change Your Life. On this episode, Oliver talks about his game-changing new book, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management For Mortals, his career path, how he came into the role of productivity expert, and the freedom of what he calls “a limit-embracing attitude.”
More from the episode
What are th
Discovering your creative system (and the perpetual motion machine), with Austin Kleon
Austin Kleon is the New York Times bestselling author of a trilogy of books about creativity in the digital age: Steal Like An Artist, Show Your Work!, and Keep Going. Before all of that, he'd been a librarian, a web designer, and an advertising copywriter. Discover Austin’s path to becoming a famous author, how he successfully navigated that pivot, and the vast web of influences that inspire his creative work and daily life.
More from the episode…
Austin describes the “catalytic moment” he
The need to feel extraordinary, with Alison Bechdel
Alison Bechdel is an award-winning cartoonist best known for her long-running comic strip, Dykes to Watch Out For, and her autobiographical graphic novel-turned-play, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. Discover the inspiration behind Alison’s most recent book, The Secret to to Superhuman Strength, how she’s learning to create healthy relationships with both her work and the humans in her life, and the impact of scarcity on her creative output.
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When and why did Alison decide
Making the leap from (art) school to pro creative, with Brendan Keen, Mariel Capanna, and Brittany Bennett
Breaking into a creative field, whether you choose to be self-employed or not, can really leave you feeling like you're up the creek without a paddle. Who are you supposed to talk to, and when? Also, where do you find them? What are you supposed to do in the meantime until things...happen? And once you start doing that thing, how you do know when to stop?
We talked about it all at this panel discussion I moderated with three dynamic young artists, Brendan Keen, Mariel Capanna, and Brittany Benn
From full-time teaching to full-time comics, with Gene Luen Yang
Gene Luen Yang is a prolific cartoonist whose personal work is deeply rooted in the Chinese-American experience. He’s best known for his original graphic novel American Born Chinese, and his work with franchise stories such as Superman and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Hear how Gene went from being a computer engineer and high school teacher to full-time cartoonist and recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant.
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How did the success of American Born Chinese change the trajecto
Crazy artists making a living doing what they want to do, with Tomm Moore
Tomm Moore is an award-winning animator and director, and the co-founder of Cartoon Saloon animation studio in Kilkenny, Ireland. His notable work includes Wolfwalkers, Song of the Sea, and the Secret of Kells, a trilogy of films based on Irish folklore. Discover how Tomm and his partners built Cartoon Saloon from scratch, without any prior business knowledge, in the small city where they grew up.
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Why learning to run a business meant graduating from the school of “mend
Pushing the limits of the possible with Josh O'Neill of Beehive Books
Josh O’Neill is a comics writer and editor, and co-owner of the Philadelphia-based publishing company, Beehive Books. Using Kickstarter, Josh and his business partner Maëlle Doliveux, publish books and literary objects too risky for traditional publishers. Josh shares what inspired him to pursue publishing, and how crowdfunding allows Beehive to create art that’s for and by their community.
More from the episode
Josh explains how he went from working in a local video store to running a publi
Running a creative business on your own terms, with Jenna Weiss-Berman
In 2016, Jenna Weiss-Berman quit her job and decided to launch her own podcast company a month before her first child was born. It was an almost immediate success, and Pineapple Street Studios never took an outside investment. Jenna explains what prompted her risky career leap, and how she taught herself to run a business—on her own terms.
More from the episode…
Jenna explains how she got her start in the podcasting industry (and how you can too).
When does work become overwork, and is it
Boundaries, balance, and burnout, with Shannon Wright
At only twenty-seven, our guest Shannon Wright has already had one helluva career.
Shannon’s work has been featured by outlets like NPR, The Nib, and the New York Times. She’s illustrated several successful children’s books, and her debut graphic novel, Twins, a collaboration with Varian Johnson, was released in 2020.
In this interview, Shannon breaks down how she got to where she is today, describing the different support systems and mentors that helped her along the way. She talks about her mi
Writing 1.3 million words (and learning how to slow down), with Sonia Simone
“Why not put your best stuff in front of the biggest room?”
On this episode, I’m joined by writer, marketer, teacher, and Creative Focus Workshop alumni, Sonia Simone.
Sonia goes into detail about her two major career pivots, including how she went from “fan-girl” to founding partner at Rainmaker Digital, formerly CopyBlogger Media. She describes the moment she realized she was “burnt to a crisp”, after years of stretching herself too thin, and her decision to focus on her own business, Remarka
Nurturing your creative ecosystem, with Didier William
In this episode, I’m joined by contemporary painter and printmaker Didier William. Didier’s incredible work explores the diasporan experience, as well as what it was like to grow up gay in a conservative Haitian community.
Over the past five years, Didier has had massive success in the contemporary art world. In this interview, we discuss his personal parameters for success, how he protects the sanctity of his creative work in the face of needing to make a living, and how he balances the ecosyst
How to protect your creative time, with Myla Goldberg
“You have to protect that time because no one's going to protect it for you, and no one's going to give it to you. Only you can give it to you.”
On this episode, I’m joined by my long-time friend, novelist Myla Goldberg.
In 2000, Myla found breakout success with her best selling debut novel, Bee Season. Myla walks me through the novel’s journey — how it landed in the hands of a literary agent’s assistant and went on to become a major motion picture.
We also discuss the importance of self-discipl
Creative problem solving and creative self-care, with Victoria Lansford
On this episode of the Autonomous Creative, I’m joined by metalsmith, Victoria Lansford. Victoria specializes in old world metalsmithing techniques, like Russian Filigree and Eastern Repoussé, and passes these skills onto others through her many workshops and videos.Victoria calls creative problem solving her ‘ultimate superpower’, and she’s hardly exaggerating. Whether she’s developing new ways to teach during a global pandemic, or redesigning her studio to be ergonomically friendly, Victoria h
Challenging the dominant culture: intent vs. interpretation with Ronald Wimberly
On this episode of The Autonomous Creative, I sit down for a super fun conversation with Ronald Wimberly. Ronald is best known for his graphic novel Prince of Cats, which is currently being developed as a film by Legendary Entertainment. His other works include a giant tabloid journal and art magazine on identity and visual culture, LAAB, Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm, Black History In Its Own Words, and his critically acclaimed webcomic, Gratuitous Ninja (which is currently being Kickstarted
Building a healthy relationship with your creative work, with Nicole Lewis-Keeber
Are you in a healthy relationship with your business? With your creative practice?Or is it unrequited love?On this episode of The Autonomous Creative, I talk to psychologist, author and business therapist, Nicole Lewis-Keeber.As a business therapist, Nicole uses her eighteen years of experience as a clinical social worker to help small businesses owners and entrepreneurs break the cycles of abuse they’ve established in their working lives.It’s not only about running a business — or doing the cre
When it's time to walk away from a creative career (and why that's totally OK), with Julia DeWitt
Julia DeWitt spent most of 2020 at a Zen Buddhist monastery and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in social work.So...why is she on the Autonomous Creative?Because for the prior eight years, she had an incredibly successful career in podcasting.I met Julia in 2012, while she was l interning at “Snap Judgement,” and I was working on my book, Out on the Wire.In this episode, Julia walks me through the last eight years, filling in the blanks on how she rocketed from intern to senior prod
What does it actually take to find 1,000 True Fans? with Matt Madden
What does it actually take to find 1000 True Fans?Seriously, where are they hiding?Your work is amazing.You’re constantly promoting on social media.You already know that your creative business isn’t bringing in the kind of money you need...especially in a reasonable time frame.So, why is that?Finding a thousand people willing to spend $100 on your one-of-a-kind work should be easy. I mean, you probably have more followers than that on Instagram, or at least it’s easy to imagine finding them.But
How to go from making some money to making a living as a creative, with Matt Madden
I’ve been thinking and talking a lot with creative people about how they make a living, how they struggle with money, and what they might do differently to bring in a reasonable income.
It comes up in virtually every coaching call.
I talk about it with friends.
I ask people rude questions about it on this podcast!
...and it’s a subject of conversation around the dinner table pretty often—my husband, Matt Madden, is ALSO a cartoonist, so yeah. We talk about it a lot!
So I invited Matt on the show
Kickstarting strange and amazing comics (and making a living!), with C. Spike Trotman
Cartoonist and publisher Spike Trotman publishes books she considers “strange and amazing.” Her company Iron Circus specializes in “underrepresented voices, underrepresented themes, stuff that has not got a big audience quite frankly or a lot of people catering to it right now.”Sounds like a recipe for struggle.Yet they’re KILLING it. “For the first time in my career, it feels limitless. It feels like I have so many possibilities.”Spike is a Kickstarter All-Star champ, and Iron Circus has gone f
Envy as a virtue: How to turn your greenest eyed demon into a tool for success, with Lisa Frühbeis
Cartoonist and graphic recorder Lisa Frühbeis has made bold moves that have led to an incredibly rapid career trajectory in the last few years, starting with pitching a comic strip to a newspaper straight out of school...and then parlaying the end of that strip into a book deal, and then much more.But Lisa isn't bold because she's free from fear. Far from it. Although she long felt a strong pull to become a professional artist, she was held back by an intense fear of the financial instability th
Navigating the midlife pivot to a creative career, with Martha Rich
Martha Rich is commercial and fine artist who took a long and circuitous route through many day jobs (Workman's comp insurance. Hotel front desk clerk. Repo woman?) to pivot to an art career at the age of 37.
Now Martha makes a full-time living as an artist making work that brings her joy.
Her secret to building an absolutely custom autonomous creative life?
When bad things happened in her life (and they did, with regularity) instead of curling into a defensive crouch, she saw opportunities to r
Why being multi-passionate is your strength, with Sarah Firth
"What theories about myself and my creativity am I willing to test? Am I willing to fail?"Sarah Firth is an awesome cartoonist and graphic recorder, among many other things.Sarah takes a bit of a mad scientist approach to her creative life. She embraces experimentation and testing to try to discover new ways to organize her life around her creative interests, always looking to answer the question: "How much value can I bring to something? And then also how much time can I buy back?"This openness
How to start a school and still find time for art, with Tom Hart
Tom Hart is a cartoonist, and he’s the founder and executive director of a comics school, The Sequential Artists Workshop. His 2016 memoir, Rosalie Lightning, debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list.Tom offers amazing, valuable insights about the path to creative career success—and that what “success” looks like must be self-defined, always. For Tom, that means freedom is number one. When he has creative autonomy, he’s happy.Tom spoke about the invisible bargains we make to h
When to quit your day job (or when not to!), with Robbi Behr and Matthew Swanson
The only thing more challenging than using frenetic DIY self-publishing to springboard a career in children's books might be running a commercial salmon fishery on the Alaskan tundra from a cabin with no electricity, no toilet, and four kids. That's why I was so excited to talk to Robbi Behr and Matthew Swanson, the illustrator-author-married-with-4-kids duo.Robbi illustrates, Matthew writes, and together they make picture books for kids and adults.Robbi and Matthew are a whirlwind of creative a
How to finish writing your novel: don't write for free, with Alexander Chee
In this interview, Alexander and I talk a lot about money, and specifically, about how asking for money and negotiating for what you want and need is a key piece of building a healthy relationship with your work and career.
We also talked about the myth of the solitary artist, and the reality: that community and relationships are key to not just success, but survival.
Finally, Alexander is the source of an incredibly pivotal insight for me: that caring for your creative process IS self-care, and