Hey, what's up? I'm Bret Shuford. Welcome to The CreativiVisibility Podcast. I am really excited to talk today because this is probably the number one problem that most people who come to me ask. And that is that they want to have a plan, they want to know the plan, so that they can move forward in their creative careers. For those of you that don't know me, I've spent the last 22 years working on Broadway theater was and is a huge part of my life, it was the childhood dream of mine to pursue a life on Broadway.
And luckily, I did, and I met my husband, we are now expecting a child. And there's another dream happening.
But I like to really take those years of succeed success at such a high level, because Broadway really is sort of the hot top level of what you can achieve when it comes to a career in theatre. And apply that for creatives who want to make money doing what they love, especially people who want to use social media and digital marketing to do that.
And so this podcast, we're gonna address all sorts of things from marketing and business tools to mindset. And also just practical things so that you can really start to move forward on whatever career path you're choosing. So I hope you will consider clicking that subscribe button. And of course, what always helps any podcast is leave a review on whatever podcast platform you're listening to this on.
So I, you know, always have learned, okay, if you don't know if you've never heard this about me, I've been sober for a very long time I've been sober for. And I'm so grateful for it for 17 years.
And previous to finding sobriety, NAA, I felt like I did not know how to plan I did not plan I was impulsive. I like kind of flew by the seat of my pants, and always sort of had faith and trusted that God or the universe, or whatever you believe in would catch me. And for the most part, he did, she did.
But I feel like there was such an easier way. The you know, there was such an easier way that I just wasn't willing to pay attention to one of those was maybe looking at some of the addictions and things that were getting in my way, right for me sobriety, drugs and alcohol at the time, were a big part of my addiction. But addiction shows up in so many ways for different people.
You know, codependency is a huge part of my story growing up in a very codependent household having a brother of a special needs having a twin brother, that might be a whole episode. But you know, for me not having a theater or arts oriented family, who understood the journey of what that was.
And I'm sure a lot of us have that if you're a creative entrepreneur, who don't really understand.
And so finding a path or making a plan is really, really hard. When you're insecure. You're feeling like you're not sure that this can be successful, and you have everyone around you questioning it. So for me, the biggest number one tool I can give you is that success leaves clues. If you have a goal or a vision of what you want to achieve, look to the people who've already succeeded.
Look at what they're doing. What are the things that they're doing what you know, you can literally find anyone's path and just study it.
I wouldn't even study one person's path, I would take five to 10 people that really inspire you. And I would look at their paths and notice the things that feel like possible for you maybe relevant to you or your audience, depending on where you're at.
Looking at where success already lies. And so one of the reasons why I brought up sobriety is one of the great things about finding a 12 step program is you go to a meeting on a daily basis and you meet people who've already who are one day ahead, right sometimes they're just one step ahead. And that success can be all I need right? All I would need to get through that day sober.
These same rules can apply for you as a creative person, can you look at one person who's maybe a step ahead and see what they're doing? Finding a community of people who are already successful in the area you want to be? I had a client recently, who really, really, you know, I don't really focus so much on actors anymore.
But this particular client has been a long term client whose goal is to be on Broadway. And she's not taking any classes, right. She's not working with any other people and the classes that she has been taking.
Were with people who've never been on Broadway. And there's that Jim Rohn, quote, right, you become like the five people you spend the most time with, I find that to be completely true.
For me, when I got made the decision to get sober one day at a time, I also then started to be courageous enough to immerse myself in classes with people who were better than me, to train my, what I call training up, right, I started to work with people who had multiple Broadway shows in their resume, who maybe have done television and film work at a high level.
And I would study with them, study with their teachers, and surround myself with people who were better than me. And that is intimidating. For so many of us, especially so many of us who maybe grew up bullied, or as outsiders and really want to have that feeling of belonging, and you go into these environments with people who perhaps are, you know, at a higher level, and you can feel intimidated.
But I'm telling you, it's when you start to have the courage to surround yourself with the people who have already accomplished what you want at a high level, is when you start to uplevel, right, you become like the five people you spend the most time with. So for you right now, whoever's listening to this, have you taken an inventory of the five people you're spending the most time with, and are those people performing at a high level.
That doesn't mean you got to like, you know, knock your friends to the curb. But you do need to have a real clear conversation with yourself, or even with these people that you love, and say, I need to, if I want to accomplish this, if I want to succeed at this level, I need to really look at where I'm spending my time.
So I'm going to maybe be spending less time here and going over here, I'm going to be investing my money and my time into this. Your friends, your real friends will love you and support you for it. promise you that. And then you might even learn who your real friends are.
The other thing that I will say, you know, when it comes to creating a plan, or a strategy for your creative career, is knowing that, you know that wanting a plan in and of itself can be a trap.
Because no path is the same for every individual. You know, you can constantly get into this state of what I call preparing to get ready to begin, which is where we're looking for all the tools. And maybe if I take this class, or if I pay for this workshop, or I learned this thing, then I can start.
The truth is you're going the opposite is true. It's when you start that you will learn the things you need to know. So I encourage you, if you're waiting for a plan, the plan will come when you start. So start messy, be willing to start in a way that feels unstructured in a way that feels like you might be flailing or you might be failing, right? But you don't actually fail you learn being willing to start messy. I know I started my YouTube channel in 2000. I mean, this podcast is a great example of this. I'm just starting there are days where I'm like, I'm not sure what I'm going to talk about.
But I'm thinking about how I can serve who I can serve. How can I serve my audience today. And when I started my YouTube channel 2016 was when I really made a commitment. What had started for me was I noticed myself consuming, consuming a lot of YouTube. I'm a huge fan of Colleen Ballinger. I just love her willingness to just try and to see her create this media empire really, and growing her family and just being so vulnerable. Love her.
I was inspired by Todrick Hall, of course, and I noticed myself consuming this content and I was like why am I consuming when I could be creating? And instead of figuring out how to pay for things or what What's the right things to do? Or what you know, I just said, You know what, I'm just going to start, I have an iPhone, I'm just going to start recording videos, I'm going to edit those videos, I'm going to post them.
And I'm going to commit to doing this once a week for an entire year. And if there's one thing that anyone who knows me knows, when I commit to something, I commit to it wholeheartedly. I say, I'm gonna do something, and I do it. And if I don't, I am devastated. Right. If that doesn't ever happen, you will know because I am just mortified. I love if I make a commitment. And that commitment is all about following through. It's all about loyalty. A high value of mine is loyalty.
So I did that. I did a video for a year. And it was hard. It was hard work. I learned so much. I learned I love video, I learned I can talk for hours. But I also learned I hate editing. So maybe I need to outsource editing, right, I started to learn all these things. And then started to learn that maybe I like working with my husband, Steven a little bit more.
And through that we started probably husbands, which was this sort of offshoot of my YouTube channel, which has now grown to 67,000 Instagram followers, which is now you know, we're getting brand deals and sponsorships. And we're, it's create a whole nother level to our business that I'm so proud of.
And the visibility that that's giving to LGBTQ marriage means the world to me, because I didn't have that example growing up. So I'm going on and on and on. But I want to encourage you that if you can just start and make a commitment to some thing, not everything, whatever that is, you're going to learn the tools you need to in order to have a plan. And then the third thing that I think is so valuable in creating a plan is being willing to ask for help. Right? There are people who offer services, coaching.
There's so many coaches now life coaching, career coaching is is huge is a whole other industry. So hiring a coach hiring somebody who can hold your hand through whatever steps you want to go through. I would love to be that coach. If you're someone if you're interested in learning more about my coaching services. There's a free masterclass happening this month.
You can I would love to see you there. It's called the imposter to influencer masterclass. But if it's not me, look for someone who is, you know, reputable, whose values align with you who's not just about the sales, who's really there to build community and help and serve, find someone who can work with you, and give you a plan, I would encourage you to find someone who's certified life coach, because at least there's a base training there.
There are people out there who say their life coaches or career coaches who have no certifications. So I, I am personally a fan, I've been ICF certified, I think that having that base level of validity is very helpful. But whomever you choose to get help and support with just remember that it's about energy exchange, even if you feel like you may not be able to afford it.
You want to be able to invest in order to get to where you go. So if you think you can't afford it, just be curious and ask them, Hey, I know like this is an energy exchange. I know that like Is there something I can do to support you, My skills are this, like everyone needs support, even those people who are a step ahead of you. So don't knock it. If you're afraid you can't afford it. Just be curious, set up a meeting, meet somebody who you feel aligns with the goals and the things you want to accomplish. Because you never know the timing could be exactly right.
And if it's the right fit for you, they may offer scholarships or work, study or internships, all those kinds of things. So be willing to ask for help. Those are the three things. Three things I think are most important before getting too stuck in trying to plan there's of course, time management. And there's other things that we can talk about, we will talk about in other episodes. But if you're somebody who's thinking, I need a plan, I wish I had a plan. I wish I knew what I what I needed to do what's the right way to be successful.
There is no right or wrong way. It's just about getting started. So start by looking for where people have been successful and you can copy you can mimic right, starting messy and then asking for help.
Being willing to be curious enough to ask for the help that you need. I hope this helps you get your feet off the ground get your get you start to creating because the world needs to hear your message they need to see your work and I'm here to help support you do that I'll see you in the next episode.