Hello, I’m Laura, a multi-passionate creative strategist, coach and mentor, professional singer and composer and music teacher. I write about our obsession with balance, offer ideas, strategies and resources that help us creatives and share honestly about this life with three noisy, beautiful children. Please subscribe to support my work and to join the community.
I am a people pleaser.
I like to be “the best” at things.
I hate rejection (less so failure, more so “not you, them.”)
I have to frequently turn off all social media because I get distracted and jealous.
I’m also bolshy, determined and almost constantly optimistic, so if something comes along that I would love to do, I adopt the “and why not me?” approach.
Two years ago I became happily obsessed with cyclical living and working with my energy as a small business owner, so I created The Key Cards: a set of 90 cards with prompts, tasks and affirmations for small business owners. I designed them from scratch. I found an ethical, U.K. printer. I marketed them. I made about £500 profit from the first print (and then I abandoned them for a bit because I get distracted, but they’re coming back big time thanks to the help of
VA extraordinaire and me being “full time” freelance for the first time ever this year! You can buy them if you reply to this as my website is being updated by me at the moment…)I recently became obsessed with wanting to compose and find my voice as a musician (as opposed to having to do what (frequently male) conductors say), so I decided to go for it, apply for Develop your Creative Practice funding and see what happened. Wonderfully I got it, and I am so excited to see how this develops this year.
I became obsessed with wanting to work with more creatives and to stop being shy about saying I worked with mothers, so I’ve started writing it down repeatedly and am redesigning my website to acknowledge that.
I want to earn below the U.K. VAT threshold but not much less… and why not?
In all this I recognise my immense privilege: a body that generally works with ease, steady mental health, a supportive family, being a cisgender white woman who was able to have a wonderful education, a home owner. I have so much and I am so lucky.
But I also recognise that I work really hard on this approach. I use strategies that include:
affirmations
making accurate budgets and forecasts
looking at what steps I’d need to take to make the thing happen
taking time on walks to dream and imagine the thing happening
surrounding myself with cheerleaders, both paid for (mentors, coaches, memberships) and free
making a well-considered investment in things that cost me more time than they make me money (soon to be a cleaner again when I’m up to my “enough” number of income, a VA, a CRM)
simultaneously cutting back on extras when I need to so I have the security of knowing I can take risks in other areas
diversifying my income
prioritising my physical and mental health (despite stupid chest infection)
forcing myself to say “it’s not personal” when work things don’t work out.
I love to listen to (see reference below…) my clients realising they really are capable of wildly brilliant things (and why not them? - with correct boundaries and rest in place…)
Today in the U.K. my kids have gone back to school: I am sitting in a cafe with my laptop, a notebook and a coffee. I am going to get a pedicure in an hour. I remember putting an image of a woman in a coffee shop working with her laptop on my vision board a few years ago, and thinking “and why not me?”
Turns out, it could be me. What would be the image on your vision board that you wish could be you? Why not you?
Laura x
P.S. I am back at work today, but you might not be and that is more than fine. I have the first meeting back of my group Simplicity Unlocked tomorrow - if you’d like to join us hit reply and I’ll send you all the details NOW!
I remember putting an image of a woman in a coffee shop working with her laptop on my vision board a few years ago, and thinking “and why not me?”
I love this. I live for "If it exists for them It can exist for me too". I love this approach and celebrating ambition!
Laura you’ve touched my soul , I adored reading your words ❤️ it’s heartwarming to realise that many artists or creative are struggling with the same things, we’re part of the same community