What is Creative Business Coaching?

I could give you a list.  

I could tell you in bullet point form how creative business coaching might help you.

But that would be pretty boring…  I’d rather start by telling you a story.

My relationship with coaching is only 5 years old: it started back in 2019.  Considering how long coaching has been about, it’s surprising how rare it still is in the creative sector.  I’d go as far as to say it was virtually non-existent in the participatory arts sector in the 2010s, which was the world that I fully inhabited at that time.

However, I knew I wasn’t achieving my potential in my career.  I wasn’t even exactly sure what my potential was though and I definitely lacked a clear plan.

I knew I wanted more autonomy, but failed to see a way of working which wasn’t reliant on the vagaries of grant funding.  I also knew I wanted extra support and coaching sounded like a perfect fit.  I’d experienced mentoring a couple of times where I was matched with a mentor through a programme.  I got something out of each experience but it felt quite surface level and I figured coaching might provide that deeper dive.

So I googled.  Found a local coach and booked a session.

I walked in and he asked as we began, “What do you want to get out of coaching?”,  

I replied, “I want to have enough money in the bank so I can buy a fancy corner shed without worrying about it”.

And then I added, “But I work in the arts so I’ll never be rich”

“Says who?” asked the coach.

It’s a very common coaching question.  One which subtly calls out the assumptions I’m making and the stories I’m telling myself about who I am and how I fit in the world.

I don’t think this particular coach had any idea how much of an impact that “says who?” had on me.  It started the ball rolling for me in a number of ways, including doubling my income the following year.

I bought that shed and, although it’s currently developed an annoying leak, for a number of reasons I’m very emotionally attached to it and proud of it’s existence in my garden. 

And so started a journey for me in discovering the power of simple questions like “says who?”.  My work involved supporting creatives to deliver projects, work on their strategy and generally sort their s**t out.  So it felt like a perfect progression to train as a coach and spend some time really developing those skills and avidly soaking up coaching knowledge.

Which makes it sound like it’s a straight line from Says Who to me being a creative business coach, which is quite far from the truth.

Firstly, when I signed up for my coaching diploma, I had a vague notion that I could build a coaching element into my portfolio of work which wasn't arts related.  Somehow I would find some endlessly wealthy, utterly fascinating clients who weren’t reliant on their creativity.

And then, when I tentatively started engaging practice clients in early 2020, those who naturally gravitated towards me were creative folk, most (but not all) who run their own creative business.  And so, over time, my business evolved into what it is now: a true alignment of my strengths, values, purpose and experience.

I find I coach a lot of people who are outliers in some ways; people who are pioneers or rebels who naturally do things their way rather than what is considered the “traditional” or even “normal” way.  As you might expect a fair portion of those clients are neuro-spicy too.  More and more though, I’m finding the line between mildly neuro-spicy and being creative a very fuzzy one, but that’s a blog for another time.

I too am an outlier and as my work develops, I’m finding more and more acceptance to the fact that those of us who choose not to walk the well trodden path often have to take a rather circuitous route to get where we need/want to go.  And so it was with my journey to becoming a creative business coach: I took a meandering path, but along the way was able to take the time to deepen my thinking, connect the dots and make sure it was right.  Sometimes the straight path to something is just too quick.

Pure coaching is non-directive, which also means it takes time and needs gentle holding.  By that, I mean that it’s not about the coach giving the client advice and telling them what to do.  That advice-giving, in my definition, is mentoring.

Coaching goes much deeper than mentoring because it works on the assumption that every client is creative, resourceful and whole.  They have the answers within themselves and it’s the coach’s job to help them get rid of the metaphorical obstacles that might be in their way of finding those answers.

My style of creative business coaching follows this ethos.  What is also added to the mix is my 24 years experience of running a range of creative businesses, being a creative freelancer and as a culturally entrepreneurial sole trader.  I know the world.  I know what it’s like to be working for yourself or leading a small team where there is SO much passion for the work, where uncertainty abounds and burnout is common.

Knowing all this is just as useful in coaching as in mentoring.  The wealth of knowledge helps me choose the right questions to ask to help you find the path to your answers.  And, when it’s appropriate, we might agree for me to pop my mentoring hat on for a bit and I can share ideas, connections, opportunities and do some practical stuff like work through a budget or funding app together.  The key there is to be really clear when we’re coaching and when we’re mentoring.

It can be so lonely running a small enterprise, perhaps even more so when you’re lucky enough to have a creative mind which is pinging off 100 ideas a minute.  

I’m in the very privileged position to help sift through those ideas, help you define what your priorities are, hold the space so you can dream your ideal future, encourage celebration for all the wins, both big and little, and hold you accountable.

It’s a job I love beyond compare.  And also something I can talk about for hours, so if something in this blog has piqued an interest or sparked an idea, my door is open to chat further.  Ultimately though, if you clicked because you were genuinely unsure what creative business coaching was, I hope this helped you gain clarity.