Artist or Entrepreneur?
It wasn’t that I wasn’t making money
How are your sleepy wintery eyes?
Are they starting to wake up and see life sprouting? 🌱 Maybe new ideas are shining within you as well. 🌞
In many traditions, Spring is considered the new year. Things begin to wake up — both around us and within us.
And so, I’m finally ready to have that New Year reflection. And wake up to the transition I’m taking spiritually and entrepreneurially.
I hope that through my reflection, it begins to sprout your reflection on your spiritual and/or entrepreneurial (or artist!… keep reading) journey.
Entrepreneur or Artist?
"An entrepreneur envisions a story to create and bring to market, while an artist does the same, aiming to execute their vision and share it with the world."
- Gwyneth Paltrow
I’ve been pondering this pendulum of either artist or entrepreneur for the past year, if not more. And of course, I then run into this quote by Gwyneth Paltrow. Love her or hate her — she is an embodiment of both, in some ways.
And yet something I learned on my entrepreneurial journey is that it’s really hard to do both.
Entrepreneurship and owning a business are dependent on one thing: Cash Flow
Aka bring it to market.
If you don’t have cash, then you don’t have a business. If you don’t have a cash-flowing business then you don’t have options.
Without options, it’s hard to meet all your needs and feel creative. You'll perpetually stay in survival mode (or psychological needs). Are you familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
And yet it wasn’t that I wasn’t making money
My business made $92,524 last year (hello tax season 🧾 for that exact number).
I took home ~$70K of that. Why am I so transparent about that? If you’ve been here for a while, then you know I’ve shared a similar blog in the past.
As a woman-owned small-business owner, I see it as one of my duties. For much of my self-employed life, it’s been a mystery how much anyone else makes. All I saw was that one coach on my feed. You know them…they claim they make $10K per month but they want to coach you their formula *eye roll* is that even real?
I digress, but why am I bringing this up?
Owning a business means, for the most part, you’re working 24/7 (not 9-5). Or working on your vacation. Or pitching to clients that don’t want to pay your full fee.
And when the term “multiple streams of income” comes up, it’s often mistaken to mean multiple streams of business income, or even thinking you need multiple businesses.
But I’ve learned that it could mean so much more!
Multiple income streams could be cash flowing from a traditional (9-5) job, with other streams of income flowing from creative projects, investments, assets, and so forth.
This year, I’m choosing ARTIST instead of the entrepreneur path.
Artist feels more spacious.
Artist feels less constrictive.
Artist feels like there’s more to explore.
And as I think back on my year — gone are the days of spreading myself thin. Of consistently needing to sell and pitch my services to sustain my livelihood and meet my financial well-being.
I’m incredibly proud of what I created in OM Marketing. I am damn good at it, and my cash flow is one indicator to validate me.
But the past year was devoted to making a switch - financially, socially, and spiritually. And that meant looking for and accepting a full-time job with a local business here in Chicago — as their first Marketing Director and now managing a portfolio of 100+ brands.
The full circle moment for me is that before I was self-employed - this was more or less the dynamic I had 🫠 I worked a 9-5 job, taught yoga, led retreats, and pursued various creative projects allowing myself to move up that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs 🔺
Artist Mode
The intention that comes to mind in this mode is: PATIENCE
In the past, perhaps out of survival mode, I often rushed through services or offerings.
But now in artist mode, I want to take time with my craft.
I recently graduated from Light Owl Healing’s Mediumship Circle.
So much to unpack but it provided a new type of depth for me. One that may completely impact the way I present my personal brand beeumana.com… but still, TBD.
And I will at some point revisit om.marketing and see how I present things there…but not right now.
I’m down for the slow nurture.
Regardless, I know that part of my energy will be devoted to publishing my first poetry chapbook.
After trying the poetry competitions and hearing rejections like “We received 800 applications, we’re sorry you didn’t win!” I’m choosing to self-publish. And honestly, that feels much more aligned. I want this labor of love to be out there, not to compete.
The Contentment Corner is here to stay
Many people have asked what’s happening with many of my lines of work. And while yes, OM Marketing is going through a transition (aka Spiral), and in some ways so is Bee Umana — I’m here to stay. My vision is always steadfast, unwavering, yet agile and flexible.
At the heart of it all, I am a teacher, a student, a mentor, and I’m honored to hold space for folks in many ways — and sharing my journey is part of that.
We are all artists of our life
And so I’ll end by asking - what are you putting out into the world?
Your growing family?
A new book?
A new offering?
Your gratitude?
Or perhaps you're starting your entrepreneur journey. There’s no right or wrong here. It’s simply a matter of evolving - and continuing on your own unique path.
In gratitude for this wild journey,
Brenda
△ what I’m listening to:
△ what I’m reading:
△ what I’m wearing:
Not exactly wearing it, but this eyelash curler is amazing.
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Really enjoyed this email. Thank you for sharing these generous insights with us!
Love this so much 🤍 always cheering you on ✨