Ep 003: 7 Real-World Lessons for Creatives Who Want to Make Money Doing What They Love 

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Welcome to The Shannon Acheson Show, real business talk for real life.  I’m Shannon, creative business coach, digital product lover, and your strategy sidekick.  I’ve built a business that fits my life, and now I help other women do the same.  No hustle, no fluff, just smart, honest conversations about building a business that works for you.  Let’s dive in.

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Okay, here’s the deal. After every guest episode, I like to pause for a sec to pull out the good stuff.  The moments that made me nod, scribble notes, or rethink something I thought I believed.  There’s always something they say that sticks with me. A tip, a mindset shift, a smarter way to do something.  And I don’t want these conversations to just sound good. I want them to help you build a business that actually fits your life.

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And I figure if I needed to hear it, maybe you did too. So this episode, it’s just that, the gold, the stuff you can actually use.  Short, punchy, and straight to the point.  So you can take what you need and run with it.  So in my interview the other day with my friend Danielle Driscoll, there were some really good key takeaways that I wanted to sort of bring front of mind and share with you again.  So I’m gonna share seven.

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real world lessons for creatives,  sort of based on that conversation with Danielle. So  the first thing is  everyone is creative.  Like everyone is inherently some sort of creative, whether you believe that or not,  that’s up to you. But it is my belief and Danielle shared the same belief that everyone’s creative,  but it does take practice.  You know, you are born creative, but

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an actual creative pursuit, you’re not born knowing how to do. So in Danielle’s case, watercolor wasn’t something she was born knowing how to do.  It’s a something that you need to practice. She needed to learn and to practice. It’s sort of a muscle  that  she needed to exercise. Her story about starting watercolor,  pushing through the discomfort and embarrassment of that first time she showed up.

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at her watercolor class that was supposed to be for beginners, but really it seemed like it wasn’t, is just a reminder now as she looks back at her business and that I look at her creativity and that the magic happens when you just keep showing up. Danielle just kept practicing. So we’re all creative, but individual creative pursuits take practice. The second thing is, is you don’t need to be the best at what you do to start.

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There is so much pressure to be amazing, like right out of the gate,  but you don’t have to be the best, you just have to be in it, practicing,  curious, willing to try. Danielle sort of helped to give us permission to explore that without attaching sort of  worth to the outcome. So you don’t have to be the best. She has been practicing for years and her work is beautiful.  But you know, she acknowledges that she maybe isn’t the best in the world, though probably will always be somebody out there better than you.

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but you don’t need to be that best to start.  The third thing is you need to follow your curiosity.  know,  one of my favorite things Danielle said was letting her curiosity lead her,  that when you follow that, what you’re naturally drawn to, sort of in the creative world,  you’ll often find, you know, your next right thing,  which that next right thing is kind of a theme that I’ve noticed in these episodes that I’ve been recording.

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So that’s how she landed where she is,  one interest, one creative spark at a time. So follow your curiosity when it comes to creative pursuits.  The fourth thing is to build a brand around  one  thing. You know,  there’s a lot of advice out there on multiple income streams and stuff like that. And while I agree with that 100%, my belief is that you need to become known for or get really good at  one thing  before you pivot to something else.

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And so,  Danielle got really, really good at watercolor art and around that, she has built multiple income streams, right? Like  people know that she’s good at watercolor and they come to her from that, but her income streams come from  workshops and her own paintbrush line and  watercolor workbooks and different things like that,  and as well as her own products like cards and art and stuff like that. And so she’s known for one thing.

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but has built multiple income streams around that, which I think is super, super key  when people  say to have multiple income streams, you have to be good at one thing  and become known for that and then you can build around that.  The fifth thing that I really took from Danielle’s interview is focus on what’s working, not just what’s shiny.  As the CEO or whatever you wanna call yourself as the head of your business,  you’ve got to pick your lane.

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There’s always going to be something new or exciting calling for your attention. Honestly, I know this because it’s happened to me.  In 15 years of online business, there is  always something shiny and pretty  to go after.  But Danielle helped to bring us back to the core truth. Pay attention to what is actually making money,  especially when multiple things are sort of drawing your attention at once, whether that’s multiple products or whatever.

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you have to put your energy  into what’s making money first.  When it comes to business, when it comes to a hobby, you can do whatever you want. You can follow whatever shiny thing you like.  But when it’s a business and you are the boss of that business, the CEO, the COO, whatever you want to call yourself, you have got to make the choices and put your energy and time  into the things that are making money. Okay, number six, let your mistakes teach you.

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know, Danielle’s story in our interview, which if you haven’t listened to it yet, go back and listen to it. It’s a great interview.  It was so much fun.  But her story about, you know, that first watercolor lesson she went to, she,  prior to that, went to  the craft store and bought the cheapest brushes because she didn’t know any better.  And you know, that was kind of a bit of a, you know, I guess you could call it a failure moment, but now…

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She has her own brush line that she designed because she knows  what matters now that she’s practiced. And so that was a mistake, but it totally  sort of walked into this great thing and a new product line for her. So  you don’t have to get everything right from the start. Clearly  that, you know, mistakes happen in business, quote unquote, failures happen in business and you learn by doing.  So the things that don’t work,

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They help you build the things that do. Case in point, Danielle’s brush line.  And finally, the seventh thing is your personal brand matters more than ever.  Listen, I  haven’t released them yet, but I have  done so many interviews  and  it’s come up again and again and again.  In a world full of AI-generated content and generic how-tos, people are craving connection.

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And so,  know,  things like step-by-step tutorials that are impersonal just don’t cut it anymore. People are looking for your personal experience with something. They want to get a glimpse of who you are. And so Danielle’s business works because it’s hers. People follow her.  You know,  for the last several years, SEO has been a huge thing. Previous to that, we talked about what we did in a day on our blogs and websites, right? Like before social.

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And then when social  Instagram and stuff like that, man, I feel old when I say that.  we share those bits and pieces of our lives.  And I think sometimes we forget to keep including that on our website side of things and in our product line side of things.  And so the future of online business is sort of personality,  your presence and a point of view. That doesn’t mean that you have to be on all the time, by all means set limits, but your personal brand matters now more than ever.

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So that’s it, those seven things. Everyone’s creative, but it takes practice.  You don’t need to be the best to start. Follow your creativity. Build your brand around  one  thing  and then branch out from there. Focus on what’s working,  not what’s shiny.  Let your mistakes teach you and your personal brand matters more than ever. Those are the seven key takeaways from my interview with my friend Danielle Driscoll.  And I just really think that

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Those are key key points to keep in mind as you build.

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Okay, that’s it for today. Just a few takeaways to tuck in your back pocket or to try out this week.  If one of them hit home, I’d love to hear.  Email, DM me, or leave a review.  And if you haven’t listened to the full interview yet, go back and hit play. It’s totally worth a listen.

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That’s it for today on the Shannon Acheson Show. If you found this helpful, follow the show and share it with a friend.  And hey, if you’re not sure what kind of business actually fits your life,  take the free quiz at ShannonAcheson.com.  It’ll point you in the right direction.  Thanks for listening. Talk again soon.