Episodes
119
June 17, 2021
Pastor vs. Musician? Pursuing Unity in Music Ministry
There's nothing new under the sun...and that goes especially for musicians' often rocky relationships with their pastors and spiritual leaders. Thanks to a recently released video that went viral, debate is raging among musicians and leaders in many gospel churches about the professionalism and spiritual maturity of church musicians. We have a different response than those who point fingers at either late musicians or overly critical pastors. We draw insights from our previous episode guest Gr...
118
June 10, 2021
Remember Your "Why": How to Maintain Motivation as a Creative
Many of us set up big goals at the beginning of a year or a season. But usually, sometime in the middle, we lose our focus and our motivation dries up. The thing is, before you can make choices on how to move forward, you have to remind yourself why you want what you want. But if you found yourself getting off-track from your goals, it’s not because your goals weren’t admirable or worthy. It’s because you lost touch with the emotional decision those goals represent. In this episode we reveal...
117
June 3, 2021
This I Believe: How to Prioritize Your Spiritual Growth w/ Greg Johnson, Music Director
It’s one thing to be a creative who has a connection to God. It’s another to know why. If there’s any musician who is serious about knowing what you believe as a Christian, it’s Greg Johnson. With years of experience in music ministry, he has a passion for helping musicians and creatives to embrace an authentic relationship with God. Greg’s understanding of theology and ministry was a key element in landing his current role as the director of Music Ministry at Northview Christian Church un...
Guest: Greg Johnson
116
May 27, 2021
How to Start Your Email List and Own the Connection with Your Audience
If you're a creative, you need an audience. However, in a noisy world where everyone seems to have a product and a platform, it's getting harder and harder to rise above the masses to reach those that want to hear from you. The answer? Creatives have to own the connection with their audiences, and the only tried and true way to control that connection is through an email list. Unfortunately, many artists get stuck at the very first mention of email marketing...so this training will provide th...
115
May 20, 2021
Pieces of Joy: Discovering the Benefits of Therapy w/ Dr. Aprile Andelle, Psychotherapist
From a life surrounded by the arts, to being in the center of the entertainment world, and then finding her calling as a highly-trained and successful mental health professional - this is the journey experienced by psychotherapist, counselor and mental health advocate Dr. April Andelle. Having experienced the highs and lows of working in the creative industry, she now helps people to achieve better mental health through her practice, podcast and community resources. Dr. Aprile Andelle is a li...
Guest: Dr. Aprile Andelle
114
May 13, 2021
Crazy or Creative? Changing Our Attitudes toward Mental Health
The word "crazy" is no longer considered acceptable by most...but it seems to fit the way many creatives view themselves. At what point, however, does our creativity actually conceal serious issues that we should be addressing? Let's talk seriously about mental health and how we creatives sometimes cover it up with our 'personalities'. Links Related to this Podcast Episode: Suicide Prevention Hotline - https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ MusiCares Mental Health Awareness Resources - The Gr...
113
May 6, 2021
What to Say Day-to-Day to Your Audience
It’s easy to get excited about sharing your latest project, performance or product. But what do you share with your followers when there’s nothing to promote? In other words, what do you say day-to-day? Whether it’s via social media, your email list, or any other connection medium, we creatives have to consistently share moments and messages with those we want to impact - and not just when there’s something to sell. In this episode, you’ll learn why it’s so important to create a dialogue wit...
112
April 29, 2021
How to Overcome Adversity and Embrace Your Voice w/ Hope Sheree, Inspirational Artist
This inspirational artist relates with vulnerability how unforgiving the music industry can be on an artist’s self-image, and how she was able to find the freedom to be her true self and to embrace God’s unique calling on her life and career.
Guest: Hope Sheree
111
April 22, 2021
Why Your Audience Doesn't Know Who You Are (and how to fix it)
Does your audience really know WHO you are? While social media seems to encourage people to share a lot of personal details, that seldom leads to the kind of authentic connection that results in long-term commitment to your platform or creative business. The fact is, a lot of us don’t really tell the whole story of our creative lives well. If we show up to our audiences: Only when we’re selling something Only sporadically Only in social media ...Then we’re making a big mistake and missing ...
April 15, 2021
A Creative's Tax Turnaround: Keeping More Income w/ 3 Essential Strategies
In this episode, we unpack the three essential strategies / mindsets that can make a huge impact on your bottom line, save you thousands of dollars on taxes, and free you up to focus on the right things as a creative.
109
April 8, 2021
How to Discover Purpose in your Pivot w/ Melissa Vargas, Creative / Brand Strategist
In this raw, powerful and revealing talk, we unlock the source of Melissa’s confidence that helped her overcome the obstacles that nearly derailed her career. With clarity and passion, she shares how she maintained her faith, while enduring the worst and the best of the creative life - always seeing God’s favor through any circumstance.
Guest: Melissa Vargas
April 1, 2021
Coming Back to "Live"? Position Yourself for Future Success with Peter Moore, Music Executive
There are glimmers of hope beyond the horizon for the music industry and live events. But what can you do now as a musician or creative while everything is sorted out? Peter Moore, a industry veteran with over 30 years in the music business, has several key insights for anyone trying to figure out their next step in the music and art industry. He's been instrumental in dozens of music, film and and licensing agreements, and essentially helps to bridge the gap between artists, their audiences t...
March 27, 2021
Is 'Back to Normal' Actually Bad for Musicians and Creatives?
As hope appears on the horizon for a return to normalcy in a post-pandemic world, a serious question remains: Is 'going back to normal" a good thing? Like the majority of professions, musicians and creatives like you experienced extreme hardships during the heart of the pandemic. However, we also learned major lessons, grew tremendously in our ability to pivot and reinvent ourselves, and even became possibly more marketable and savvy in our businesses. With all of those positive effects, maybe...
March 18, 2021
Parenting while Creating: How to Pursue your Goals w/o Neglecting Family
Being a parent is already a tough enough job. Late nights. Unpredictable schedules. Having to always be available for emotional support and providing love and care to those who need you most. Now add on the role of being a creative professional with the responsibility of managing a family. What do you do when you have the privilege of being both a creative and a parent? How can creatives practically balance the passion to perform with the passion needed to be totally engaged with their childr...
105
March 11, 2021
How to Cope when Family Doesn't Support your Creative Career
They say family is everything... ....which means they can be one of our greatest assets as creatives, or possibly, one of our greatest struggles. When your family supports and celebrates your creative work, it can be one of the most rewarding feelings you can have. However, it can be equally devastating when those closest to you throw water on the fire of your dreams. In this episode, we point out three key strategies to help maintain your family relationships while simultaneously pursui...
104
March 4, 2021
Why Every Creative (Yes, Even You!) Should Have a Podcast
You've got SO MUCH to do, creative. But have you neglected one thing that could make everything easier? In other words, have you started your podcast? If you haven’t, you’re missing a golden opportunity. Despite the surge of podcast popularity, most creatives still are not particularly excited about creating their own podcasts. They’ve heard it’s hard, or that the market is saturated, or that it won’t really add anything to their careers. All of those reasons are simply misconcept...
Feb. 26, 2021
See Beyond the Screen: Film, Faith, and Creating Boldly w/ Christina Faith, Director
Every artist has to have a vision in order to create. But those creatives who make films and movies have a special ability to see beyond the screen, to envision what the audience will eventually feel. Director, producer and writer Christina Faith has a vision that is much broader than simply creating cinematic experiences. This bold creative has taken on dozens of projects in all areas of creative life without hesitation - all while maintaining a deep and powerful foundation of Christian belie...
Feb. 18, 2021
How to Find the Right Creative Mentor (and Why your Mindset Matters Most)
Are you struggling to find a mentor who can help you reach the next level of your artistic career? Finding it hard to connect with creatives who have more experience, more knowledge, and bigger audiences? Do you automatically assume that you’ll be rejected, ignored, or just plain “one of the fans?” Maybe the biggest issue isn’t whether you have a big name or big influencer who is mentoring and coaching you. Maybe it’s the way you’re trying to get in the room. Many of the most influential peo...
Feb. 12, 2021
Emotional Rollercoasters: How to Maintain Peace and Balance in your Creative Life
Are we creatives always “in our feels”? Emotional connection and expression is at the heart of most creative work. We think and feel, then we create as a response. But what do we do with the emotions that don’t get worked out in our performances and artworks? In this episode, we take a deeper dive into the emotions that can paralyze and trap us into a tailspin of imbalanced and rollercoaster feelings. As a remedy for this unhealthy cycle, we’re sharing three major mindsets that we all must ...
Feb. 5, 2021
Your Best Work - Everyday? How to Stay Extraordinarily Consistent as a Creative
What's stopping you from doing your best work every day? Maybe the biggest issue facing your creative life isn’t lack of money, lack of access, of lack of inspiration! It may be simply lack of a consistent routine. Many of the greatest creative minds of history were not only talented - they had incredible discipline to follow a system that worked even when they didn’t have great ideas to work with. Can we use the same process to supercharge our productivity and create our best work in the comi...
Jan. 28, 2021
How to Find and Cultivate Creative Relationships You Can Count On
We’re talking about how you can ensure personal and creative success this year. You don’t have to sacrifice your peace, your principles or your purpose to be successful while pursuing your God-given goals. But you do need one thing - other people! 2021 will be the year of collaboration, and without people in your corner, you’re going to find it hard to make the changes you need to make to improve on 2020. . In this episode, we’ll explain the basics of effective collaboration between creatives ...
Jan. 21, 2021
When Art Meets Marriage: Making it Work as a Couple in the Creative Industry
How can a married couple, both whom are aspiring artists, find their place as individual creatives AND grow together toward building a successful creative business? Michael and Simonie Hugue have successfully overcome major challenges and insecurities, and are now building their creative business the right way. As long-time members of the God and Gigs community, have put themselves in a position to learn and grow from other creatives, and they have a story to share. Michael is a visual and gra...
Jan. 14, 2021
20 Crucial Lessons to Future-Proof your Creative Career
For anyone that survived the roller coaster of a year that was 2020, it may seem impossible to reflect and learn from all we experienced, both good and bad. But without that reflection, we're doomed to repeat the mistakes and we can't capitalize on the successes. We want to highlight the things that will help us future-proof our creative businesses and avoid the pitfalls we experienced when 2020 hit our industries. In this episode, taken from our live Creative Check-up series, we’ve pinpointed...
Jan. 7, 2021
Word Up! How to Boost your Creative Career by Writing Better w/ Yoshika Green, Consultant
As a creative, words are the lifeblood of your career. The way you use them can either open the door to amazing opportunities, or keep you limited and stuck. No matter what your artistic discipline, you need to be able to communicate your message. That’s what creative, editor, entrepreneur and consultant Yoshika Green specializes in doing for entrepreneurs, job-seekers, creatives, aspiring writers, top companies, marketing departments and more. Her gift is being able to recognize talent...
Guest: Yoshika Green