How to Become the Creative Director of Your Service Based Business
Episode 578: Show Notes
Today we want to talk to all of you amazingly talented, creative people, who miss doing the thing they actually started their business for. We know that so many of you are crushing it, you have no problem landing clients, you are super busy, yet you feel like you’ve moved away from the thing that you really love doing. We want to let you know that you can step out of that, you have so much potential to grow into that creative director seat. Often, CEO status feels not totally in alignment for a lot of service-based businesses. Not that you don’t want to run a company of high caliber, but you still want to be delivering on the service, and oftentimes being in the CEO seat means that you don’t get to do that anymore.
We’ve been there, we know how it feels to not feel connected to what you’re creating anymore, but what we’ve realized is that that is the most sacred space for a creative service provider to protect so we’re on a mission to make sure that you all know how to protect it!
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Freedom Doesn’t Have To Mean Removing Yourself From Your Craft
Everyone says that you should start a business from the place that you know and then grow it to the point where you don’t have to do anything. This didn’t align with our vision for our business, and we think it probably doesn’t sit well with a lot of you either. We got into the creative business space because we enjoy being creative, that’s what makes us happy, and that’s actually what we want to do with our time. So, we have learned to protect that. There’s so much messaging about removing yourself and making yourself obsolete but we make sure that we get down in the trenches. It is possible to have freedom and not be completely removed from your craft.
The Importance of Finding, and Staying In, Your Zone of Genius
To level up in your business, you’re going to have to get back into your zone of genius, and in order to get there, you need to figure out what your zone of genius really is. It may not be what you think it is, or even what you want it to be, but the important thing is that you figure it out because this will hugely benefit you personally, as well as your business. For a lot of people, getting back into their zone of genius might look like going right back to where they started. For others, their zone of genius will evolve over time, and that’s okay! Both of us have different zones of genius, and it took us some time to figure those out, but when we did, we immediately felt so much more connected to our brand, and everything began to thrive as a result.
One of the Top 5 Lessons We Learned This Year
So often, there’s this big push for people who are at a higher level to only think about the big picture. This didn’t resonate with us. What we’ve realized is that you need to be able to fluctuate between your left brain and your right brain. There are so many different elements of the business that you and your team need to be thinking about on a regular basis, and the more information you have on how each of your team members work, the better you’ll be able to manage things.
A Pledge To Let Go of the Belief That Everything is an Emergency
When you have the financial runway because you’re increasing your prices, when you’re prioritizing staying in your zone of genius, you have to let go of the belief that everything is an emergency or you will not move forward! As service providers, it is so easy to let your clients dictate what is on fire, but you need to set priorities and define what is urgent and important. That doesn't mean that you don’t address concerns in a timely manner, but often, the solution is communication, not immediate solutions. Most of the time, clients don’t need you to bend over backwards to satisfy them, they just need you to hear them. Being able to do this ties back into being in your zone of genius!
One of the Major Keys to Our Success
From day one, we were so big on never waking up wondering what we had to work on. When you have a very clear idea on where we’re going and who is doing what when, it is magic! As soon as you start delegating, the brain space that you also hold for wondering what the other people are doing is a lot. So, if you don’t have something that is systematic or automated to tell you that information, there goes a percentage of your brain space for the day. A lot of creative business owners are Type A personalities with a desire to do everything perfectly so they end up trying to do everything themselves, but it’s so important to learn how to hand over responsibility, and accept that it’s impossible to achieve perfection all the time. When you empower people, it is such a transformation experience!
Quote This
You can have freedom and not be fully removed from your craft.
Highlights
Freedom Doesn’t Have To Mean Removing Yourself From Your Craft. [0:05:20]
The Importance of Finding, and Staying In, Your Zone of Genius. [0:07:16]
One of the Top 5 Lessons we Learned This Year. [0:16:05]
A Pledge To Let Go of the Belief That Everything is an Emergency. [0:18:05]
One of the Major Keys to Our Success. [0:24:54]
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Abagail & Emylee
The Strategy Hour Podcast
We help overwhelmed and creative entrepreneurs break down their Oprah-sized dreams to create a functioning command center to tame the chaos of their business. Basically, we think you’re totally bomb diggity, we’re about to uplevel the shiz out of your business.
