Seasons Of Stillness And The Power They Hold
Welcome to Episode 33 of the Hidden Creative Podcast!
WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING:
In my stillness over the past few months I have been closely watching, curiously listening and piecing together a puzzle that forms our online business world as it is right now. As I’ve been slowly putting it all together, I’ve noticed a few pieces of the puzzle that are missing…
WHERE HAS THIS COME FROM:
It all started when I began Stevie Dillon’s Lifestyle Business School (for the second time) late last year. I have had a burning desire to create another online resource, but this time to do it in a way that doesn't take over my creative soul, but instead - feeds it.
WHY:
After creating my digital course the Mindful Business Hub for our local and regional small business community from 2020 - 2022, it really did awaken a part of my soul I never thought existed. I closely worked with and helped 14 amazing business owners bring their small business dreams to life with REAL LIFE knowledge and experiences from running my own small businesses. I launched workshops where I met with and spoke to countless new people, helping them to shift blocks, move negative emotions, build brands, understand marketing, create new offers and so much more. I travelled across NSW to coach and share the knowledge and resources I learnt along the way for creatives and small business owners - because who are we not to share what we discover. The entire experience was incredible! My love for providing real, raw and honest knowledge leading the way.
MY OWN LEARNING:
But, it was also BIG. And back then, alongside navigating miscarriages, falling pregnant with our second child, being a Mum to a vibrant 3 year old, running a full time photography business and hosting a local business meet up once a month - it was more than I could cope with. My unorganised, chaotic ideas-turned-adventures became too much.
The more I pushed through, and the more I pushed harder (sinking into the then popular “hustle” mentality), the more I lost my → self. And then, it all broke.
I lost my creativity.
It felt like this massive cloud had set in over my head, sank down to ground level and then consumed me right up. It filled my thoughts, my days, my outlook and turned all the colours my photography eyes would normally see into darkness.
I had completely and overwhelmingly burnt myself out.
MY VALUE:
Throughout this season, not so surprisingly, I never lost that deep desire to want to help the creative small business community. The community that had inspired and helped me. Because I knew what they were going through. I was right there with them. And that burnout I felt - they felt it and spoke about it too. We weren’t alone. We were all in it together.
MY TURNING POINT:
Fast forward to Stevie’s original launch of her Lifestyle Business School back in 2023 - her course stirred that dream in me. Her promise of finding the lifestyle business sweet spot hooked me and my curiosity sparked - what if I could do it again and build something to help our creative small business community once again? Would Stevie be able to help me do this?
Unfortunately, my new found curiosity was halted quite quickly when I suddenly and very unexpectedly lost a close friend in a tragic accident, then in the months that followed my beautiful Nan - the woman I built my entire original business model around. It was one of the hardest times in my life, and one that I will probably never fully heal from - (but maybe we aren’t meant to).
Armed with time, shielded by the love and support of my family and friends, I dove deep into self development to help my emotional and mental state. I explored remedies for my own physical health. And shifted my focus to being ok with slowing down (if this is even possible). Something I am still learning to do. Listening to what was REALLY happening for me. And in some beautiful, funny, not really all that surprising way, I found myself listening to what’s REALLY happening for those AROUND ME again as well.
When Stevie launched her Lifestyle Business School again late last year after herself experiencing an incredibly hard time in her life, her honesty and passion to want to help her people inspired me beyond words to be all in. But this time, just not so eager to tick off boxes on a page to see progress. To completely and with every ounce of my being, explore what she was teaching so that I could once again contribute to the world of creative small business - but this time in an impactful way for not only the small town creatives who seek help every day, but for my self as well.
WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW:
For the past few months (6 to be exact), I have been really slowly and really purposefully going through Stevie’s second module “Create and Validate” - a module that is all about understanding your audience so you aren’t just creating something you THINK they want and need, but so you are creating something you KNOW they want and would benefit from incredibly. I am sure Stevie would shake her head at how long it’s taken me to do this module, but fuelled by intention, I just want to make sure that what I create has the biggest impact I can possibly create - WITHOUT burning myself out in the process, but actually feeding my creative soul and the creative soul of those around me.
Curiosity, creativity and soul are leading this every step of the way. And the depths of my passion for wanting to help our creative small business world is my driver. There are no demanding deadlines. There are no unrealistically high expectations. There is just curiosity and passion. There is just my creativity once again.
And OMG it feels good.
WHAT AM I SEEING:
So, let’s bring it back to where this all began - in my stillness of closely watching, and curiously listening, here’s what I have noticed -
Well - I’m not sugar coating it anymore - it’s f**king noisy. And not in a fun, make you want to dance kind of way. In a - Jesus, if I hear another thing I “should be doing”, “need to be doing”, “doing it this way”, I think my head will explode - kind of way!
I’m so over it. I’m over the demanding opinions. The opinions that make you feel bad about yourself. The opinions that make you feel behind. There are so many “shoulds”. So many “need-to’s”. Ehhh, I’m so over it.
It doesn’t work for everyone. There is no one size fits all approach. And no I should not be doing it all, I don’t need to do it all. And just because you say you can fast track my success doesn’t mean it’s actually going to happen.On that note, that brings me to my next observation. Why do we keep telling people that we want to fast track their success by the learnings we have made? News flash - that isn’t going to fast track someone’s success. Don’t sell false results.
Your success is a reflection of the time it took you to get there due to the actions you were able to make along the way. Because that’s HOW you learnt. Regardless of whether it was short or long. Your circumstances, your surroundings, your mindset, your approach, the way you learn and the time it takes you to learn - all of it is different for everyone. Don’t be so smug in thinking that your learnings will fast track anything for someone else. What it WILL do is provide knowledge for them to work it out for themselves - and that is what you’re actually doing. This is what you should be offering. Not a promise to fast track anything.
The time it took you was the point. Not the time you were able to save. Your experiences, the lessons you learnt + soaked up along the way, the steps you took all of it made possible by the time you gave to developing your path. Don’t discount this.I have literally spent tens of thousands of dollars on online courses and lost count of how many I have done, and funnily enough - they pretty much all said the same thing. And that’s not because they all just copied one another - it’s because there are foundations in business that are tried and tested again and again, and just help.
But that being said - those foundations are taught in different ways for different audiences so that we all have the opportunity to learn. It’s all in how you process those foundations, the time in your life you learn the information and for creatives we work a little differently to the rest. Because our minds are wired creatively :) We tend to be emotional beings, multi-passionate, sporadic, intention/purpose/intuition driven and impulsive. Often suffering from the next “shiny object” syndrome, often drowning in ideas and often looking to the next thing. But, it’s this that makes us powerful, and the world needs us. It really does. It needs you.Creatives don’t actually need another online course in the traditional sense. God! We are drowning in them! And to be honest, they still feel a little too “textbook” - too “rigid” in learning.
Creatives learn on the go, fast paced, sporadic because it matches our multi passionate brain and learning while we work allows it to sink in. BUT, what it actually does is allow us to EXPERIMENT. It allows us to try it out, work out if it FEELS right, work out if it IS right for us, if it gives us RESULTS that we actually want, and if it doesn’t, allows us to change it IN REAL LIFE. Not to be stuck on the guinea pig wheel of procrastination. But to actually test and measure then change if needed in real time. No waiting around, or left wondering.
This type of learning allows creatives to lean into the one thing they are good at - and that’s —> being creative. Whether that is figuratively, or literally. However your creativity is expressed. Learning in a creative way, for a creative, is like feeling at home in a jungle full of unknown noises. It’s calming, reassuring and empowering among the chaos.
WHAT’S MISSING:
From my observations, and with the help of Lifestyle Business School, I have been able to determine a few things… Here’s what I have discovered to be missing in our oversaturated world right now…
We went to school, and we all know how that panned out for creative minded people. Were you too told that you spoke too much in class - or, like me, told you weren’t concentrating enough. I was made to sit at the front of the class because my teacher thought I was talking. But instead, I was daydreaming looking out the window because what he had to say wasn’t peaking my interest in the slightest. Lol. When I left school, I had no idea what I wanted to do. They didn’t explore my interests, they just told me what I “needed” to learn. And at the end, there wasn’t a box for an entrepreneur. There wasn’t a box for a creative. But there was a box for the expectations they put on me without any consideration to what I really wanted.
We don’t need another version of ”formal” education. We just want to learn in a CREATIVES way so that we can make our own mind up and decide our own path.
How we learn - yes we do learn from a step by step, but one that gives us the freedom to add our own creativity to it along the way. We were the kids that may or may not have listened to instruction, but the point here is - we went ahead and made our own version. We never followed the rules perfectly, although we did respect them and knew they were there (most of the time).Where the heck is all the actual real life feedback and connection? So that you know if you’re doing it right. Or not. Just to talk to someone when you need to. Or to have a conversation with a like minded person who can offer a difference of opinion, a different perspective. And I’m not just talking about a comment here and there in a group. I am talking about hearing the sound of a persons voice talking to just you about just your question, just your problems or just your concerns.
It’s like people are afraid to show up in real life anymore - hiding behind a laptop, or a digital course and afraid to come out for fear of - I’m actually not sure what. Where is everybody, really?Everyone is talking about the next big strategy, the next best advanced systems, all the things to 10x or get you to scale - where are the basics? Where is the step by step for just doing the actual work? The online space is missing the mark for small town creatives who are just trying to find their way in their own town, let alone the world.
No we don’t need to know the high end, award winning, multi figured systems and programs that promise the world - well not yet anyways. No we don’t need your 47 page spreadsheet on… what was it again? No, we don't need your BS, overcomplicated, way too wordy system that really is only there to try and show us how good you are - you’re not fooling us at all, you’re only fooling yourself.
We just want it straight. Talk WITH us. Don’t talk at us. Don’t overcomplicate it for us to make yourself look better. Don’t assume we want to 10x as well. Because our juggle between business and life looks very different. And maybe our way of learning should too. Our version of success looks different too and that’s ok as well.
What’s missing - the basics, the facts, the information that helps us start, the simple step by step. We’ll figure it out if we need all the other stuff from there thanks.Where is the mindset support to help you DO the work. Oh my how I wish I could get this across - A lack of information is not the f**king problem! Anyone of us can go to the internet and look up the information we need. Hello chatGPT anyone? Hello youtube anyone? Just type “How do I (fill in the blanks here)?” But, it’s not the answers we’re looking for. We’re looking for someone to help us implement WITH OUR OWN SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES in mind and then TO KNOW IF WE ARE DOING IT RIGHT. We just want someone to bounce off and say “hey, does this look ok?”. “What’s your thoughts on this?” And that is what the internet is lacking most. Where are these people? And why are we all still feeling so lonely?
I think I’ve decided that almost everyone just wants to cash in on the most people they can get through their courses with the least amount of impact on their own time. And I get it. We’re all trying to do it in some way with what we do. Let’s not hide the fact. But at the same time - at some point we have to give back. To provide what our people actually want. And I know what you want. Because you filled in my survey and told me. And just so you know - I listened!
You want to cut through all the BS and all the noise online. You want to source good quality, simple to follow and understand, straight to the point knowledge that you CAN implement while juggling life (hello kids, partner, household). You want to learn in a way that doesn’t add to your already full plate, but lets you learn alongside of it - how to grow your small town creative ideas into a business that provides you with an income that allows you the freedom and time you desire in your life. Put simply - you just want to be paid for doing something that lights you up, and that you love.
That takes a listening ear. That takes individual time and attention. That takes CARE and EMPATHY. Yes, I said it! Not to be treated like cows at the cattle yards, herded through the gate. But to be treated like the unique, individual person that you are. To be SEEN and HEARD and UNDERSTOOD whole-freaking-heartedly.To really drive home my last point - Small town creatives don’t want to sink hours into an online course anymore. Maybe we did before kids, or before life got really busy - but not now. And to be honest, do we really learn that way? What we do gravitate towards is podcasts, YouTube, talking to a human, and short and sweet bite sized pieces of information that are delivered in a way that we can learn on the go, listen while going for a walk, or tune in while making the lunches in the morning.
AND we look for someone to tell us which podcasts to tune in to, which episodes to start with first, what information is really specific for what we’re going through or wanting to learn at the moment. Because we thrive off guidance, and to know we aren’t alone in our thoughts. And, while spreadsheets are freaking amazing, and google docs has a way of bringing out the best in us, we also crave something less rigid too - don’t you. Something that doesn’t mean we have to pull out the laptop, or pick up the phone in front of the kids, but something that we can scribble on and map out the thoughts that are so busily floating around in our mind. Something to match our energy. Where’s this in the online space?
To be honest, this doesn’t even come close to summing up EVERYTHING I have noticed and all the pieces that are missing. But, that’s the whole point. The world we live in is constantly changing and evolving, and rightly so. But, it’s all in how we embrace it - and what we do next that really counts. Awareness really is key and the most perfect place to start if you have a desire to make a change.
WHAT AM I DOING ABOUT IT:
So, with ALL OF THIS being said, all the information I have learnt in my stillness over the past few months, and ever since I started observing back in 2023, has led me to this…
Welcome the Creative Business Sketchbook
A hybrid resource consisting of a happy blend of digital and print for small town creative minded souls (who may not know they’re creative yet) to help them map out their ideas, guide them to take action and allow them the freedom to explore what works for them and what doesn’t. Something to match their own energy and creativity. Something that will soulfully and with intention help them to bring their dreams to life.
The Creative Business Sketchbook won’t have any “need-tos” or “shoulds”. It will be a space for learning that allows experimentation, exploration and implementation. A collection of wisdom and learnings passed on from one small town creative to another to help you decide on the right business model and strategies for you and the business you are building. All of this in an easy, cut through the BS, simple and fun way, and all of this teamed with someone who actually wants to help you navigate it.
→ It won’t be dictating. It will be inspiring.
→ It won’t be one way. It will be many.
→ It won't be rigid. It will be empowering, enabling.
→ It won’t be draining. It will be confidence building.
→ It won’t be one sided. It will provide different perspectives.
→ It won’t be a list of “shoulds” and “need tos”. It will be a list of “to-try’s”.
→ It won’t be a textbook. It will be creative. It will be a sketchbook.
The Creative Business Sketchbook, a happy blend of digital + print for learning and experimenting how to build a business as creative as you are.
→ It will consist of podcast style learning - so busy creatives can learn on the go - short, powerful, podcast style episodes with no pressure, no overwhelm, just practical, listen on the go episodes and impactful learning.
→ It will include a printed sketchbook full of goodness and space - something that allows freedom alongside guidance that doesn’t require you to be on your phone 24/7.
→ The overall design will be visually creative to help inspire you and allow you to feel at home with learning. (Think of it as your own way to customise the learning experience for you and how you learn).
→ It will have a live curriculum that is updated when our environment changes, or when new things are created. But, it will have a curriculum none the less. A curriculum of the foundations of building a small town creative business that you can then have the joy in adding your own creativity to it along the way and making it your own version - all with the help of someone who is actually waiting for your questions and genuinely wanting to know how you are going.
→ It will provide you a way to ask questions and receive actual guidance specific for your own business journey and life circumstances (creative sparks to motivate you, audio prompts of encouragement, a happy voice in your ear to support mindset shifts, give permission for rest - all judgement free) all without requiring live zoom calls or more time you don’t have.
→ It will host a community and encourage participation - not just to be in another group and never have input or gain anything from. But, be a tight knit community for daily connection or whenever you need it about the real talk behind business and life.
→ Above all which is why I’m ending on this point, lol, it will provide mindset and emotional support alongside real life small town creative business guidance. No nonsense. No fuss. Just simple, easy, but incredibly impactful creative learning.
OUR MISSION:
The Creative Business Sketchbook is made just for you - small town dreamers, doers and creatives building businesses around real life - kiddies, partner, house and all!
It isn’t about doing more, or trying to keep up. It’s about finding a rhythm you can ease into with bite sized, easy to listen to podcast episodes, a sketchbook full of space and helpful tools, gentle nudges to keep you moving forward and honest support that’s there when you need it.
This isn’t just another course to add to your to do list. We are about progress over perfection, clarity over chaotic mental overload, and making business feel more like a sketchbook full of ideas than a rulebook full of “shoulds”.
Whether you’re fitting this in between quiet moments or moments of madness, you’ll find encouragement, ideas and the tools to help you move forward in a way that feels right.
This is your space to grow a business as creative as you are - one simple, creative step at a time.
Does this sound like something that would help you - and more than just on a surface level, but deeply and with incredible impact? Would it help guide you to bring your creative business ideas and dreams to life?
I have loved what Stevie’s course has stirred in me - and that is to always and forever seek feedback. This is where I ask just one little thing from you..
If the Creative Business Sketchbook sounds like your kind of resource, would you DM me the comment “Creative Business Sketchbook” on insta so I know it’s hitting the mark. That way I can share more about it with you as it is brought to life in the next few months ahead, knowing wholeheartedly that what I am creating is for a purpose.
THE PART AT THE END :)
It was Stevie’s consistency in showing up, even through it all, that really inspired me the most. Even in hard times we can still do great things if we have purpose and passion to see it come to life.
So, this is me showing up for you.
Regardless of what happens around us, we are always the drivers of our own life. It’s up to us what we do next…
Taylah xxo
Want to find out more about Stevie’s Lifestyle Business School? Click here > https://lifestylebusiness.school/
Looking for more?
I love to help rural creatives build an impactful small biz with heart and I do that through photography + business mentoring. If you want to learn more, head on over to our photography or mentoring pages here 🙂 Or send me a text, I can’t wait to chat with you xx