Career & Business Coaching Blog.
Inspiration and tips for multi-passionate creatives & entrepreneurs.
Escape the 9-to-5: How to Combine Your Many Passions into a Fulfilling Career (Without Choosing Just One!)
Why Specialization Isn’t the Only Way
Are you a multi-passionate, creative generalist who feels like you're constantly battling the world's insistence on specialization? Do you have a multitude of interests and talents, yet feel overwhelmed by thousands of ideas, always questioning which path to pursue? If you're tired of feeling "stuck" in a traditional 9-to-5 that drains your energy and kills your creativity, you're not alone. Many creative generalists struggle with the pressure to choose a single focus, fearing it will suck the life out of them. The good news is, you don't have to choose – you can learn to combine your passions into a thriving, fulfilling portfolio career.
Overcoming Overwhelm: Silencing Your Inner Critic and Finding Direction
From coaching creatives for a decade I've learned that the core challenge for many creative generalists is an internal conflict: they're passionate about many things and hate the idea of giving any of them up. This often leads to feeling overwhelmed by ideas and struggling with procrastination and mental blocks that prevent them from taking action. The inner critic often chimes in too, creating self-doubt and fear of not being good enough, or telling them that their dreams aren't real or possible. This can lead to a sense of being perpetually stuck or feeling like you keep looking in the wrong place.
Furthermore, many clients express a lack of clarity and direction when it comes to their career path or business ideas. They might be at a tricky point or crossroads in their life and career, wishing for financial independence and a business they love, but struggling to balance these big dreams with the demands of daily life.
The good news is that your multiple interests are a superpower. Your unique generalist brain operates differently from specialists, and understanding this is your first step out of the 9-to-5 trap.
Actionable Tips for Multi-Passionates: Build a Portfolio Career Without Losing Yourself
Here are some tips to help you navigate your multi-passionate journey:
Understand Your Generalist Brain: Accept that your brain naturally wants variety and connection, unlike a specialist's. This is an asset, not a flaw. You don't have to conform to the norm of picking "one thing".
Embrace the "Puzzle" of Your Passions: Instead of feeling scattered, view your interests as pieces of a unique puzzle waiting to be combined. The goal isn't to eliminate interests, but to weave them into a cohesive whole that makes sense for you. This can lead to a career or business that really lights you up every morning.
Silence Your Inner Critic: That voice telling you you're not good enough or that it won't work out is often just trying to keep you safe from perceived harm or judgment. Learn to question your thoughts and regain control over your mind.
Aim for Clarity, Not Certainty: Many wait for absolute certainty before taking action, but waiting to feel ready or confident enough is often what keeps you stuck. Focus on identifying what truly matters to you and what direction feels right, even if the entire path isn't perfectly clear.
Take Small, Consistent Steps: Overcoming procrastination isn't about grand gestures but about consistent, small actions. This compound effect creates profound change over time and helps build momentum. Remember, action comes before the courage to act.
Align Your Environment with Your Goals: Your surroundings can either support or hinder your progress. Make conscious choices to create a physical and mental environment that nurtures your creative pursuits and minimizes distractions. This reduces reliance on willpower, which is a finite resource anyway.
Build Your "Glue": Identify the common thread, your unique "glue," that brings all your interests together and makes sense of your many passions. The clearer you are about this, the easier it becomes to choose what to focus on and make progress.
Through this approach, clients gain clarity and confidence, develop a strategic plan, and finally move forward and get unstuck to achieve their goals and create a truly fulfilling career and life.
The journey to a multi-passionate portfolio career is deeply personal, and often requires a different frame of mind and external guidance to find your unique answers.
Embrace your unique creative brain. You've got this!
Ready to stop feeling stuck and start combining your many passions into the fulfilling career you deserve?
In a safe and confidential space, we’ll dive into your desires and challenges, uncovering what truly drives you.
Together, we’ll craft a clear path that taps into your unique talents, helping you move from overthinking to action.
Schedule your free session today and take the first step towards your bold, wild, and free future!
How to Break Free From a Specialist World and Take Control of Your Life
There's a particular kind of suffocation that comes with being gifted with multiple talents but not being recognized for them or able to use them. You know the feeling - that restless energy that tells you could be doing more, creating more, becoming more, yet somehow you find yourself frozen in place. If you're a creative generalist reading this, chances are you've felt it: the cruel paradox of having endless possibilities but feeling utterly and absolutely stuck.
I've been there. Actually, I've lived there for months at a time before I understood the unique nature of my generalist brain. And over the past decade of working with brilliant multi-passionate individuals, I've discovered something fundamental: being stuck isn't a character flaw or a sign of weakness. It's often the telltale sign of a mind that sees too much, wants to learn all of it, and is pressured by the weight of all that's possible.
The Anatomy of Stuckness: Why Creative Minds Get Stuck
When I work with creative generalists, I see the same patterns emerge again and again. The surface story is always different - maybe you're a marketing professional who dreams of writing novels, or a consultant who's secretly building an art practice, or an entrepreneur whose ideas multiply faster than your ability to execute them.
But underneath, the mechanics are remarkably similar.
The Overthinking Maze: Your mind, that beautiful instrument capable of making connections others miss, becomes your prison. You analyze every angle, consider every outcome, and map every possible failure until action becomes impossible. Analysis paralysis isn't just procrastination - it's your brain trying to protect you from uncertainty by demanding certainty that doesn't exist.
The Perfectionism Trap: Because you can envision the masterpiece of what you could create, you become paralyzed by the gap between your vision and your current reality. I call this "the mountain." You make it in your mind, then get discouraged at the thought of climbing it. You'd rather not start than create something that falls short of your impossible standards.
The Identity Crisis Spiral: Society tells us we need to be specialists, to "pick a lane." But your interested and creative soul rebels against such constraints. So you find yourself caught between who you think you should be and who you actually are - a creative generalist whose power lies in the intersections, not the straight lines.
The Fear of Choosing Wrong: When you can see multiple paths before you, each with its own potential and question marks, choice becomes terrifying. What if you pick the wrong direction? What if you waste time? What if you discover you're not as good as you thought? So you choose nothing, which is, of course, still a choice.
The Hidden Patterns That Keep You Stuck
Here's where it gets interesting - and where hope begins to emerge. After years of helping people break free from these cycles, I've learned that being stuck isn't random. It follows patterns and has specific triggers.
Think about the last time you felt stuck.
What was happening in your life?
What thoughts were on repeat in your mind?
What emotions were you avoiding?
Most people can't answer these questions clearly because they're too close to their own experience to see the patterns. But patterns exist.
Maybe you always get stuck after periods of high achievement, when the fear of not being able to replicate success paralyzes you. Perhaps your stuckness shows up with transitions - job changes, relationship shifts, or life milestones that trigger deep questions about direction and identity.
Or maybe, like many creative generalists, you get stuck when you're forced to choose between competing interests, when the world tells you to be one thing but you know you're many.
The power in recognizing these patterns isn't just awareness - it's freedom.
The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything
The real breakthrough doesn't come from external strategies or productivity hacks. It comes from a fundamental shift in how you relate to your own complexity: accepting your unique creative generalist nature.
Your multiplicity is not a bug - it's a feature. The world needs generalists who can bridge disciplines, see connections others miss, and bring fresh perspectives to old problems. Your inability to "pick just one thing" isn't indecision; it's intelligence recognizing that the most interesting work happens at the intersections.
Imperfect action beats perfect inaction every time.
The masterpiece you're afraid to start doesn't exist in the realm of perfection - it exists in the messy, imperfect world of iteration and improvement. Your first attempt doesn't have to be your best attempt (even though I know you would love it to be, I know, I would!); it just has to be an attempt.
Being stuck is information, not identity. When you feel paralyzed, you're not broken - you're receiving data about misalignment, fear, or competing values. Instead of fighting the feeling, get curious about it. What is it trying to tell you?
Breaking Free: Your First Step Toward A Life That is Made for You
So how do you begin? How do you take that first step when the weight of possibility feels overwhelming?
You start exactly where you are, with exactly what you have, knowing exactly what you know right now (which is more than you think, believe me).
Begin with radical acceptance. Accept that you are a creative generalist. Accept that this comes with unique challenges. Accept that the path forward won't be linear.
Choose one small experiment. Not a life-changing commitment, not a new career, not a complete identity change. Just one small experiment that allows you to explore without the pressure of permanent decision-making. Maybe it's writing one article, taking one class, or having one conversation with someone working in a field that you're interested in.
Document your patterns. Start paying attention to when you feel stuck and when you feel flow. What were you doing? What were you thinking? What was happening around you? This awareness becomes your map for navigating future challenges.
Embrace the both/and. You don't have to choose between being practical and creative, between security and adventure, between depth and breadth. The magic happens when you find ways to honor multiple aspects of yourself simultaneously.
The Truth About Breaking Free From a Specialist World
Freedom isn't the absence of constraints - it's the ability to work with them. For creative generalists, breaking free looks like building a life that works with your complexity while allowing you to create meaningful impact in the world.
It's not about having no limits; it's about choosing your limits consciously. It's not about being everything to everyone; it's about being authentically yourself in all your multifaceted amazingness.
Being stuck isn't permanent. Your complexity isn't confusion - it's your competitive advantage waiting to be put to work.
The first step isn't finding the perfect path forward. The first step is recognizing that you have the power to create that path as you walk it.
Your complexity is your superpower. It's time to start using it.
Ready to move past these blocks and step into your true generalist nature?
The journey from feeling stuck to happiness and success begins with understanding your unique patterns and designing strategies that work with your generalist nature, not against it.
I've spent years helping creative minds like yours break free from the cycles that keep them small, and I'd love to explore how personalized guidance can help you get unstuck and start building the multifaceted life you've been dreaming of.
The Portfolio Career Advantage in an AI-Driven World
The traditional career ladder is collapsing. In the last ten years, supporting creatives to change careers, I've seen firsthand how technology has disrupted old models of work. The rise of AI has only accelerated this shift, making adaptability and a wide range of skills essential. A portfolio career - where you pursue multiple projects, roles, or income streams - is a great way to thrive in this new landscape.
Instead of relying on a single role or rigid career path, a portfolio career allows you to build upon your unique mix of skills, passions, and experiences. Whether you're combining freelance work, consulting, creative ventures, or even learning something completely new, this approach gives you a dynamic edge. It’s about playing to your strengths while staying flexible in a rapidly evolving job market.
AI tools can take this even further. They enable faster creation, smarter decision-making, and new opportunities to diversify your income streams. This means that as a creative generalist, you’re not limited to the time you have, the budget you have, or the people willing to help you - you’re now finally able to create a career that is as multi-faceted and innovative as you are.
Why the AI Era Is Perfect for Portfolio Careers
Portfolio careers thrive in the AI era because they emphasize adaptability, creativity, and wide and versatile skill sets. With AI handling repetitive tasks, you can focus on what truly matters -innovating, connecting, and pursuing passions that align with your purpose.
This shift empowers you to build a career that reflects all facets of your identity (finally!), rather than confining you to a singular or specialist path. Whether you’re a writer, designer, entrepreneur, or all three, you now have the tools to create a professional life that evolves with you.
It’s no longer about choosing one thing - it's about exploring everything that you love and that supports your growth and ambition.
Diversification = Security
If one income stream slows, others can fill the gap.AI Increases Productivity
Automation lets you manage multiple ventures without burning out.Faster Experimentation
You can test new ideas quickly without betting your whole career on them.Cross-Industry Resilience
Skills and ideas transfer more easily across fields.
AI as the Portfolio Career Engine
Today’s AI tools turn the once-overwhelming idea of running multiple projects into a realistic plan. Each tool 10x-es your ability to organize, create, and adapt, giving you the freedom to focus on what truly matters. Whether it’s automating repetitive tasks, brainstorming innovative solutions, or analyzing data faster than ever before, AI is the catalyst and skilled team to your creativity and resourcefulness.
Instead of feeling stretched thin, you can feel empowered to thrive in multiple areas at once. Imagine using a writing assistant to craft blogs for one venture while simultaneously using analytics tools to refine strategies for another.
With AI as your partner, your portfolio career isn’t just a possibility - it’s an exciting, attainable reality where you dictate the direction, pace, and scale of your success. Here are a few of my favorite tools:
n8n.io – Automates cross-project admin.
Jasper.ai – Creates content for different business arms.
Gemini - Generates images and videos content in minutes.
RunwayML – Produces video & design assets for varied offers.
NotebookLM - Creates Ideal Client Personas and perfect copy to attract them.
Lovable.dev – Builds MVPs fast for new ideas.
These tools mean you can run a consulting gig, a digital product shop, and a creative agency - all as one person.
Case Study: My AI-Powered Portfolio
While I'm building CoachMila.ai, I'm also running client sessions, developing a coaching quality seal, working on an AI Accelerator Program, leading a coaching marketplace, while studying for a Master's in Management. AI made it possible to:
Built a low-cost and fast MVP using vibe coding.
Streamline administrative tasks that used to take hours, allowing me to focus on creative and strategic work.
Create personalized, high-quality materials for clients in minutes, not days.
Manage multiple projects simultaneously without feeling overwhelmed.
Automate lead generation so I can focus on building genuine connections with potential partners and investors.
By maximizing my adoption and use of AI, I’ve discovered how to work smarter, not harder.
This isn’t about replacing human effort but amplifying it. With AI as my co-pilot, I’ve felt a new sense of freedom to dream bigger and explore ideas I once thought were out of reach - simply because I didn't have the time or money to "do it all."
Inside the AI-Powered Portfolio Career Program
Seeing my own portfolio career and creative generalist ideas take off so much is what inspired me to create the AI-Powered Portfolio Career Program. I wanted to share what I’ve learned and help others reach their portfolio potential, too.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a creative professional, or someone simply looking to reshape their career path, this program is designed to empower you with actionable strategies and insights. Together, we’ll discover how to use AI to free up your time, double down on your talents, and open doors to opportunities you never imagined possible.
Over 6 months, this program helps creative generalists:
Identify their most valuable skill combinations
Design offers that scale across multiple markets
Build AI workflows for consistency and speed
Develop resilience against market shifts
It’s not just career planning - it’s career architecture.
Imagine waking up every day with a clear sense of direction, knowing that your unique blend of skills and creativity is not just valued but thriving in a market you’ve shaped for yourself. This program empowers you to take control of your career, harnessing the immense potential of AI not as a replacement but as an extension of your capabilities. You’ll feel confident navigating change, tackling challenges with innovative solutions, and uncovering possibilities that align with your personal vision. And, you'll become an AI expert in the process!
Action Plan to Start Your AI-Driven Portfolio Career
If you've been thinking about integrating AI into your work because you know it's time to future-proof your career, then this action plan is designed for you.
The first step is simple yet powerful - identify how AI can complement your unique skills and passions. Reflect on your experiences and consider how AI tools can maximize your strengths, whether that's automating repetitive tasks, analyzing complex data, or sparking fresh creativity.
Next, start experimenting. Choose a couple of accessible AI tools and integrate them into small, manageable projects. This hands-on exploration will uncover new insights and build your confidence.
From here, you'll be ready to outline your goals and take deliberate steps toward building a career portfolio that showcases your expertise in blending human ingenuity with AI innovation. Remember, this is your chance to stand out in a world that's increasingly shaped by technology - embrace it with enthusiasm and a clear sense of purpose.
AI can feel like a threat to traditional jobs. But for those who design portfolio careers, it’s a gift - multiplying options, improving efficiency and productivity, and making creative independence more possible than ever.
Go for it!
Are You Ready to Start Your AI-Driven Portfolio Career?
Imagine a career where you’re in control - combining your passions, exploring creative possibilities, and turning AI into your unfair advantage. Yes, it’s possible to design a portfolio career that thrives in the age of innovation.
Don’t wait for the future to happen to you - create it. Start your transformation today and book your free session. Together, we’ll design a portfolio career that’s uniquely yours, supported by smart technology and a confident vision for success.
Building Your Creative Income: 7 Practical Steps for Financial Freedom with a Portfolio Career.
Even though the days of job security and one job for life are long gone, the idea of it being replaced by a career solely focused on one area of expertise is also becoming outdated. Especially with the rise of the gig economy, more and more people are turning to portfolio careers to build their creative income. A portfolio career means having multiple sources of income, often in different industries or areas of work, rather than relying on one full-time job.
For many creatives, especially generalists, this type of career may already be familiar - working on freelance projects while having a part-time job or taking on various side gigs. But with careful planning and deliberate action, a portfolio career can be a sustainable and fulfilling way to build your creative income and achieve financial freedom while doing work you love!
In this article, I share insights from working with creatives (for a decade now!) on how to create a portfolio career that works for you. I hope it will inspire you to follow your career dreams and embrace the opportunities that come from having a portfolio career.
Embrace your unique generalist nature
As a creative generalist or someone with many interests and passions, the traditional linear career path with a single job and source of income often leads to bore-out, especially if your talents are being underutilized (which they usually are). Instead, a portfolio career combines multiple income streams aligned with your passions, interests, talents, and skills. That's the amazing part! But, however exciting this approach can be, it often feels financially precarious.
Many of my clients have expressed concerns about financial stability while pursuing their creative endeavors, a recurring theme when onboarding new coaching clients. They might feel like they don't have their "shit together." Or they might have innovative business ideas they're unsure how to market, like this wonderful creative who has been in wine and restaurant management before having a child and who came to me while working on a nut-free energy bar recipe geared towards new mothers, also considering an app focused on mother care. A typical way for a creative generalist to connect seemingly unconnected dots or, as I like to say it, discover their unique "glue."
7 Practical steps for financial freedom with a portfolio career
As a creative (generalist) and entrepreneur, building a multi-source income stream is crucial for long-term financial sustainability while allowing you the freedom to do work that truly fills you up. Here are some practical steps that worked for me and many of my clients to help you create your own thriving financial foundation:
#1 Map your talents and skills, and learn to appreciate them
As someone with a creative and entrepreneurial mind, you have many skills, talents, and interests. That's a given. But being clear about what you're good at and enjoy doing isn't always straightforward. Make a comprehensive list of everything you can do, from your professional experience to your hobbies and creative pursuits.
Consider how each of these can potentially generate income or how you could combine a few into a career. Don't underestimate the value of seemingly unrelated skills or interests; they can often be combined in unique and profitable ways.
#2 Diversify your income streams strategically
Multiple income streams are the cornerstone of a portfolio career and decide its financial sustainability. This can include freelance work, a part-time job (or "good enough job," as Barbara Sher calls it in her book Wishcraft), selling creative or online products, teaching workshops, consulting and coaching, or developing online courses.
The goal is to create a mix that provides both a stable base and opportunities for growth. Consider how you can use your different skills, talents, and interests to create a mix of income streams for your portfolio career.
#3 Understand that fear is the dreamkiller
As you start building a portfolio career, or if you've been thinking about what you could do for a long time but haven't taken any substantial action toward one or more ideas yet (hello, unfinished projects on the shelf, I see you!), it's important to acknowledge and understand that fear can be a major roadblock. Fear of failure, rejection, and not being good enough are all common fears that can hold us back from pursuing our dreams. The insidious thing is that fear often doesn't show up as fear. It disguises itself in very well-packaged excuses, such as "I don't have enough time" or "I'm not ready yet," or as perfectionism, people-pleasing, or procrastination.
It's important to remember that fear is just a feeling, and feelings can be managed and overcome. It's about shifting your perspective and learning to work through your fears.
#4 Price your services and products high enough
Many creatives struggle with pricing their work. Remember that your unique mix of skills and perspective brings significant value. Research industry rates, but also consider the value you bring to each project. As mentioned in my book "Get Unstuck!," building a business that feels right and using marketing practices aligned with your values is important.
Don't undervalue your expertise out of fear of not being good enough. Instead, price your services and products high enough to reflect the value you bring to the table. It is important for you to get fair compensation for your work and to help you build a sustainable business model.
#5 Collaborate and network with other creatives
Collaboration and networking are key components to any business or career, but as a creative generalist, I find it's more important than ever. We are still living in a world of specialists, and that can erode our self-worth and talk us out of our portfolio career dreams. By connecting with other creatives, you can expand your skills and knowledge through learning from others. Additionally, collaborating with others allows you to work on projects that may have been too large or complex to take on alone or that you were too scared to even start with!
My exclusive community, "Gen Spark," is here to do just that: facilitate collaboration and connection among creative generalists. Click here to discover more and become a member.
#6 Manage your finances mindfully
Financial management is key to making your portfolio career work - or any career or business for that matter. After working with creative entrepreneurs and generalists for a decade, I know that the admin and financial side of their careers and business are often not their strong suit. However, this doesn't have to stop you from being successful. With mindful and intentional financial management, you can stay on top of your finances and make good decisions about your career and business.
To start, it's important to understand the basics of personal finance, such as budgeting, saving, investing, and managing debt. This will give you a solid foundation for making financial decisions that align with your goals and values. I know it sounds scary, but you can do it!
#7 Never stop learning and growing
Continuously learning and developing your skills is important for a successful portfolio career. But one thing that is more important than any other is learning how your creative brain works. That is why psychoeducation into the uniqueness of your creative brain is part of my work with my clients.
How good is it to know how you should do something if you are unaware of how your brain actually operates? Understanding your strengths and weaknesses and how to work with them can be a game changer in your portfolio career.
Building your creative income as a creative generalist takes time, intention, strategic planning, and an unwavering belief in the value and uniqueness of your multifaceted self. But once you have laid the foundation and established a solid portfolio career, the possibilities are endless.
Ready to take real steps towards building your own thriving portfolio career?
Are you done with being confined to just one career path and ready to embrace your multi-passionate nature? Are you tired of feeling like you have to choose between your different passions and skills?
I can help! In fact, liberating creative generalists from the 9 to 5 is what I do best. Let's discuss your unique skills, passions, and financial goals and start mapping out a strategy for your portfolio career.
7 Tips for Successful Career Change for People with Creative Brains who Feel Stuck
Feeling stuck in your career is a common experience, especially for creatives and entrepreneurs. The unique wiring of your creative brain, with its hunger for novelty, variety, and self-expression, can actually make career stagnation even more frustrating. Boredom, burnout, underutilization of your skills, and lack of diverse challenges can quickly kill your creative spark. If you're a creative feeling stuck and yearning for a career change, read on.
Have you been daydreaming about a different path? Questioning whether you should leave your current role altogether? Perhaps you've considered taking on a new role in that other department, but you hesitate. You've heard the manager there is stiff and very structured, and you're afraid the work will be boring, and you'll quickly tire of it. Or maybe you want more and crave a deeper sense of meaning and purpose in your work.
These are common dilemmas for creatives. I know because I've been supporting creatives in getting unstuck from unfulfilling careers for the past decade, and this guide will help you navigate these questions and create a fulfilling career change for yourself.
1. Understand Why You Feel Stuck:
Acknowledge the unique challenges: It's important to recognize that the needs of your creative brain might not be met in a traditional work environment. Repetitive tasks, rigid structures, and limited opportunities for innovation can lead to feelings of frustration and underwhelm – what I call the "creative bore-out." This is particularly true for creative generalists who thrive on variety and the ability to apply their diverse skills.
Ask yourself:
Am I experiencing burnout from overwork or bore-out from under-stimulation?
Is my broad skillset fully utilized, or am I pigeonholed into a narrow role?
Do I have enough autonomy and flexibility to express my creativity?
Take my client Sarah. A talented graphic designer with a wide range of creative interests who felt stuck in her role at a large agency. The work was repetitive: even though she has a masters in graphic design, the only thing she was asked to do was typesetting commercial brochures and posting about them on social media. She wasn't given the autonomy to truly express her creative vision. Through self-reflection, she realized she needed more variety and ownership over her projects to be happy. This led her to launch a successful freelance design business, where she now enjoys the freedom and flexibility to pursue projects inspiring projects she can be passionate about.
2. Envision Your Creative Career Ideal:
Clarify your creative vision: Go beyond simply identifying your passions and interests and how they could serve you at work. Imagine your ideal creative ecosystem. What kind of projects excite you? What impact do you want to make? What level of autonomy and flexibility do you need to thrive? For creative generalists, this might involve a portfolio career or a role that allows cross-disciplinary collaboration, which, luckily, is more and more in demand today!
Consider Mark, an entrepreneur who felt trapped in his own business. While he had built a successful company, the day-to-day operations had become monotonous and sucked up all of his time, and he longed to return to his true passion: computers and bringing knowledge about them to the world. By clarifying his creative vision, he was able to restructure his business, delegate routine tasks, and reclaim his time to work on the new chapter in his entrepreneurial life. Watch out, world, something incredible is coming!
3. Explore Paths to a Fulfilling Career Change:
Sometimes, career change means staying in your job but redefining it or transitioning to a different role within the same company or structure. If you're feeling stuck or unfulfilled in your current job, consider talking to your manager about taking on new projects or responsibilities that align with the needs of your creative brain. You could also look for courses and training opportunities to expand your skillset and open new career paths.
Reimagine your current role: Can you be more creative in your current job? Explore opportunities to craft a new job, propose new initiatives, or look for projects that align with your passions.
Embrace the entrepreneurial spirit: If your current environment can't accommodate your creative needs, consider alternative paths. Freelancing, consulting, or launching your own business might offer the freedom and flexibility you crave. This can be especially appealing for creative generalists like many of my clients, who thrive on variety and autonomy.
Ask yourself:
Can I negotiate more autonomy or variety within my current role?
Is it time to explore alternative career paths or entrepreneurial ideas?
4. Cultivate Your Creative Community:
Connect with other creatives: Surround yourself with a supportive network of creatives who understand the unique challenges and joys of the creative journey and living with a creative brain. Share ideas, collaborate on projects, and find inspiration in each other's work.
5. Invest in Creative Growth:
I've witnessed the power of creative investment many times. My client Maria, a writer and poet, felt stuck in her career as a communications manager for a big soda brand. She decided to invest in a writing workshop focused on a new genre and to attend slam poetry contests. This changed everything for her. Her passion for writing led to a successful career change as a full-time freelance writer and published poet.
6. Take Action to Get Unstuck:
Break free from fear, worry, and "just thinking about it": Creatives often struggle with self-doubt and perfectionism, which create difficult-to-escape cycles of overthinking and worry. Don't let these fears hold you back. Take the leap, experiment, and embrace the messy, imperfect uniqueness of the creative process.
Ask yourself:
What small step can I take to move closer to my creative goals today? Once you have it, DM me on Instagram or LinkedIn and let me know!
How can I overcome my fear of failure and embrace creative risk-taking?
7. Embrace Unconventional (Creative!) Strategies for Career Change:
Side Hustle Exploration: A side hustle can be a playground for your creativity, allowing you to experiment with new ideas and build a portfolio while maintaining financial stability from your day job. Nothing is set in stone, so as long as you keep costs low and have fun while developing your idea, you have nothing to lose. And remember, you can always change your mind!
Creative Sabbatical: Take a break from your routine to recharge your creative batteries, travel, explore new interests, and return to work with a fresh perspective. It doesn't need to be a month or a year. Even a few hours or a long walk can be enough! I've had one-day sabbaticals that gave me the best ideas for my business.
For creatives, entrepreneurs, and creative generalists in particular, feeling stuck in your career can be exactly what you need to finally get up and change.
By understanding and focusing on the unique needs of your creative brain, embracing self-reflection, and taking bold action, you can get unstuck and unlock new levels of fulfillment, purpose, and creative expression. Now, get off the couch and take that first step!
Ready to get unstuck and create a career that will keep your creative brain happy and engaged?
I can help. As a career and business coach for creatives, I am dedicated to helping you bring more joy, purpose, and success into your career while giving you the tools to understand your creative brain better.
You deserve fulfilling and sustainable work that allows you to thrive creatively and financially. Are you ready?
How to Create a Portfolio Career as a Creative Generalist
Throughout my life, I never set out to stay doing the same thing for too long. It’s always been my dream to live in NYC, for instance, and while it might not happen for a while, it makes me think about how I organize my life and career into buckets and how unusual that is for entrepreneurs. Most people I meet think they have to stick to one career for their entire lives, but really, we have the power to change and evolve whenever we want.
In my coaching business, I hear all the time how my clients are being pulled in all these different directions and they don’t understand how to rationalize their innate need to do different things, take on different roles, with society’s need to settle them into a specific box. For instance, doctors aren’t supposed to be coffee shop owners who sit on the board for toy companies. And entrepreneurs who own companies that distribute luxury amenities aren’t also supposed to have kitchen cabinets importing businesses…right?
Well, why not? Why can’t we do everything we dream of doing and every opportunity that comes our way that lights a spark inside of us?
Here’s the truth: we can. And I help clients do it every day.
Take my own story for instance, my career portfolio includes business and career coaching, writing books, speaking engagements, investing in small businesses, and creating new businesses - like my conference in the fall and my soon-to-be-launched Creative Generalist Network (more to come on that below!). And before that, even though I went to university to pursue a masters’ degree in philosophy and ended up working for, and founding, several web agencies.
The path we are on right now doesn’t have to be the path we stay on forever. There is no shame in jumping around - in fact, it’s empowering. This need for variety is what makes us creative generalists. We were never meant to fit into the classic 9-to-5 life, and when we fully embrace our creative generalism, we have a leg up when it comes to pursuing our dream career paths!
So how do we pursue a portfolio career that bolsters our ability to excel as creative generalists?
Various income streams. Have various income streams so that as you flow between the different roles, you never have to sacrifice your wants for your needs. You might try adding to your earned income with investments, online courses that require upfront effort to create but quickly produce passive income, and freelance consulting. However you choose to gain income, there’s power in having multiple streams at your disposal.
Don’t choose, combine. Stop trying to choose a particular career or project, learn to combine them. The beauty of a portfolio career is that there are no rules. You can do anything you want! (This is one of my superpowers. Let’s talk if you want help with this!)
Talent stack. Figure out your talents and skills and start stacking them to create a sweet spot that will raise your value in whatever field you’re interested in. For instance, if you are a copywriter who is also an audio engineer, pitch your talent to a podcast production company looking for a marketing guru who can also clean and treat the sound on the rough recordings.
Learn new skills. Are you a web designer who’s always been interested in teaching ballet classes to preschoolers? Or a college student studying molecular biology who also wants to write fiction novels about underwater gateways to other planets? Whatever it is that you think you might enjoy, go after it. Never stop learning. Go where your inspiration takes you!
Stay open-minded. You never know what you might learn from other people’s perspectives. Staying open-minded allows you to connect easily with others, building networks, and furthering your work and life in ways you might not expect.
Find a work-life balance. While individuals in mono-type roles don’t have to worry about their work invading their personal lives, creative generalists do. Our work is so varied and flexible, that sometimes that flexibility works against us, allowing business to bleed into our personal lives. The best way to combat this is to create a work-life balance that is sustainable to maintain.
Embrace change. Instead of trying to fit into a particular role, embrace jumping from role to role. The beauty of a portfolio career is that you don’t have to stick with the traditional career path, which includes sticking it out in a business or job you hate. Feel free to shake things up!
Find your community. Creative generalists tend to be isolated because of the solitary nature of their careers and work versatility, but finding your community is the best way to help you succeed. As a creative generalist myself, I created the Creative Generalist Network to help my clients and readers engage with like-minded individuals who will help them find inspiration and opportunities to grow.
Understand your why. Many people fall into a portfolio career, while others plan extensively for them. Either way, you should know why you are pursuing it now. Do you want more flexibility? Do you want to pursue every idea you’ve ever had? By knowing your why, you will be able to identify your creative generalist values more easily, which will in turn help you create the life you’ve always dreamed of!
Keep at it. Don’t give up when things get tough or confusing. Keep going and know that it will happen. The roles will come. The income will flow. And the fulfillment and success will bloom.
Building a portfolio career - like we generalists like to call it - is a lot easier than you think. There’s no need to toil away at work you don’t enjoy, or to sift through ideas and goals until you find the one most acceptable by the internet. You can have multiple passions or interests, pursue them all, and be better for it. It’s a lot more beneficial to your soul! When our work is aligned with our hopes, dreams, wants and needs, we can achieve anything.
Take small steps everyday and before you know it, the life you want will be right in front of you.
Scared to embrace your portfolio career?
Stepping outside the “norm” can feel overwhelming for anyone, especially if you’re a creative generalist with a streak of perfectionism. But pursuing your portfolio career is less about nonconformity and more about embracing who you are inside.
You were never meant to sit in a job or career you don’t enjoy. It’s time to follow that little voice inside you that tells you it wants more, it needs more…it deserves more. So stop limiting yourself. In our coaching sessions, I not only help you take that first step towards the life you actually want, but I help you build a roadmap to the exact spot you want to land!