Mindset Artistry
Mindset Artistry Empowers Corporate Creatives and Fashion & Entertainment industry professionals to discover their purpose and achieve career fulfillment through inspiring content, personalized coaching, and a supportive community.
Mindset Artistry
Financial Freedom for Creatives: Navigating Income, Contracts, and Self-Worth
This is the Mindset Artistry Podcast. I'm Amanda DeWoe, an actor or actress per your reference and an inner voice life coach, and I'm Janelle Pulaski, an actor and career and mindset coach.
Speaker 2:We're your hosts and we're here to flip your mindset, to teach you the artistry of what we learned, to keep your mind in check.
Speaker 1:Over the course of our lives, we've taken on the journey of healing, living and being authentically ourselves as we successfully built our individual careers in the entertainment industry.
Speaker 2:This podcast is designed for you, so you can discover your goals and courageously reach them at your highest potential, while being a hundred and thousand percent yourself.
Speaker 1:What you'll get from us is real dirty and okay, a little more like a lot of quirky, along with special elite guests that nurture empathy and create a safe space without judgment. So get ready to build a mindset that is unapologetically you and excel beyond the stars. Welcome to the Mindset Artistry Podcast.
Speaker 2:That's good. Hello everybody, and welcome back to Mindset Artistry Podcast. This week we're going to talk about something that's really fun financial planning for creatives. Yay, and I want to talk about it because we all know that there's the rollercoaster ride in the industry of irregular income or maybe you can't estimate each month. It feels crazy You're undervaluing your work or you're letting other people do this and you're avoiding finances altogether. So financial planning can help. It feels crazy You're undervaluing your work or you're letting other people do this and you're avoiding finances altogether. So financial planning can help. It's helped me immensely. It put a fire under my ass to pursue all these different types of creative jobs. I have, and actually finally made the income consistently come in. So we're going to talk about setting financial goals, practical financial planning steps and negotiating and pricing your work.
Speaker 2:The gigs, as we call them, can be very unpredictable, and so the way that I fixed that for myself, as I looked into my heart and into my skill sets, what excites me and what am I good at and part of the way I found that was either through market research or talking to other creatives about the jobs that they do or, I believe, turning one job into two.
Speaker 2:So if I would be hired on a commercial set like one time I was hired as a print model and we did a little bit of a commercial as well, but it was a non-speaking role and as a very small guerrilla style shoot and I got close to the producer it was her production company and at the end of the shoot I was having a conversation you know I'm trying to get more work in the industry.
Speaker 2:Do you have any ideas or what do you need to hire people for? And she said well, based on how I've gotten to know you, I feel like you would probably be really good as a field producer because you can direct people on site and I've seen how you've interacted with everybody we're working today, from the shop owner to the people working at the restaurant, everything. You're very good with people and you seem extremely analytical and organized, based on how you answered every single email in a timely manner. That's how I created a job for myself. I booked one and I collaborated with the people that I met and built relationships, and then that was two jobs out of the one. So before I move forward, amanda, can you give your insight on how this has worked in your own life and how you've found more financial opportunities based on different things that you've done.
Speaker 3:Sure, I guess I would say the luck of working in corporate. So that really helped nurture skills that I didn't think were going to be a skill set to be used in the creative world. To be very honest, you know I worked a lot with spreadsheets and creating platforms and programs and implementing. You know I worked in human resources. I worked with, you know, helping other recruiters and helping them manage their process of recruitment, from the initial interview with the department to actually hiring the person and getting them onboarded. I did onboarding. So you know I did a lot of this presentations and onboarding people with you know, fine stuff. It's like I didn't think that any of that was a skill set that would transition over to being an actor. I'm going to be very honest. I was like I don't know what use is going to be.
Speaker 3:And then, as years went by, you know I dived into the creative world and I realized that those skill sets are actually valuable. As I stopped and sat down, I was like, oh, this is kind of the back end of production. Spreadsheets, reports, money management, all of that goes into the project that gets produced and then you go from pre-production to post-production. All that is a skill set. So I was like, oh, I can utilize this to my advantage to be on set in different ways, and so I started connecting with people that I worked with in the past whether it was commercials, or friends or family and I started working on set as like a PA or helping with spreadsheets and creating these, you know, call sheets, things like that. All the things that I didn't think were valuable became very valuable and a skill set that I now have that's transitioning into organizing and management. It is the management behind production, it's the management behind digital marketing, it's the management behind social content, and I really, truly, truly enjoy it. It's fun for me and it still allows me to be creative. I get paid for it, I, you know, and I can collaborate with people and be creative in ways that I didn't even know were possible, and I'm learning that now, too.
Speaker 3:Skill sets that we started this podcast and we could talk a little bit about that later. It's like you know, starting this podcast was a whole another skill set that Janelle and I had to learn. No one literally no one taught us how to do this. We literally were doing our own research, taking the time to understand what a podcast was, what we wanted for our podcast and all that research, and then we just kind of went with it and took it step by step and I'm sure Janelle's going to talk about what that's going to look like for you when you are exploring different avenues of your skillset and how that can benefit you and negotiating that with people and having that conversation in a confident way and not in an insecure way. I don't know, but I could find out. There's so much information that you can find out. Yeah, so I definitely worked in my favor in in collaborating with people and I feel proud of that now and I say it with my full trust that I worked in corporate. Now I can do these things and I really enjoy.
Speaker 2:So yeah, the beauty of getting older is you learn that everything, all life experiences, whether at work or just walking through life you can use. You're never truly starting from scratch and even when we started with the podcast, we already had a little bit of editing skills from having to edit self-tapes. So we encourage you, as you're listening, we've shared these personal stories and I'm gonna get into some practical, very specific steps. But think of your own life and think about your skillsets and how you could monetize them and also enjoy what you're doing. So keys to setting financial goals you have to define your needs and wants and you have to be open about it.
Speaker 2:I met this print model that was making six figures. She was on voiceovers, print commercials, and I was sitting next to her in audition. And what do you do other than this? She said nothing. This is what I do. I was like what? Like it was the first time I'd ever had a conversation with someone like that. And then she started telling me how she broke down goals for herself and she really pushed this mess and leveraged her experience and her manager and all this information. And so I sat down and was like I want to make a hundred thousand a year. If she can do it, I can do it. What does that look like for me? So really break down what you want.
Speaker 2:You know, when, looking at like a business as an actor, model, photographer, makeup artist, director, writer, there are things that you have to invest in. So, actors, we have reels and headshots. You need to write this out on a piece of paper. And the biggest thing with finance is sometimes people are afraid to look at it still exists, my friends, just like your feelings. So you got to write it down and be honest about what you need, because I've never really thought about like I can't afford this. It's always been how can I afford this? And that mindset shift has helped me approach everything differently. So you know your basic bills, rent, of course, and all of these things, the tools to pursue your business, whatever type of creative you are. Then create goals for yourself. So I had monthly financial goals or quarterly financial goals, and then you reverse engineer it, and that's where it kind of becomes fun, because then this is where this actor I'd met at this commercial audition told me everything. I'm telling you now what are you good at? I'm like? Well, I book commercials, I book print and I do a little bit of modeling and I'm interested in voiceover and she's like write it down. So I did and I wrote down how much you could make potentially at the level I was at I was entry level, you could say at some, and mid level at others and write it on a calendar. How many jobs would that have to be? And it seems silly but it really makes you a lot more focused and, like you, have a direction.
Speaker 2:I'm going to quickly go over practical financial planning steps beyond this whole dreaming and reverse engineering, and then we're going to go back to Amanda before we get into the negotiation side. But number one you got to track your income and your expenses. So I like to use Monarch or you could just use your own spreadsheet, but then you can really see where your money is going or how much things really cost. And, just like we spoke in the episode before this about you know your career goals or your health or goals with your family and your friends. You also have to do that with your finances, because then you really know where you stand and then you create the budget for 50, 30, 20. 50% for essentials like rent and things like that, 30% for creative and professional development and 20% for emergency saving funds. And look, it's okay if you're not making a lot yet.
Speaker 2:Just work with what you have and then use what we just spoke about to try to build and when you can, you build an emergency fund, even a small one, because a lot of times and I know this is a luxury, but you have to start having this mindset that it's not a luxury, it's just how I live my life and it comes to me because I have a question for all of you in a moment. But I'm going to say from my experience, I was coming from a certain mindset that I grew up with and when I changed that, my money situation changed and I was kind of doing a lot of similar things. Mindset is so powerful. Obviously, mindset artistry. So you've got a budgeting tool, you're creating the budget and checking in with it, eventually building an emergency fund, so you're not relying on credit cards and this could just be even one month and eventually you move it up to six months.
Speaker 2:Taxes, my friends, independent contractors, you have to, you know, take 25 to 30% of what you get as a contractor. That's going to get the tax man's going to call you for that, and there was a time where I did not budget enough and I got a $14,000 bill and I paid it off, luckily, within time but please also plan for taxes. And lastly and this is something I'm trying to do now in my thirties, but I hope you can get it to it sooner If not, anytime is the right time investing in your future. I didn't learn about investing growing up. It wasn't something that people in my family did, but that is definitely a step I want you all to get to.
Speaker 2:So I've covered a lot. Take your time listening to this episode. But the last component Amanda and I are very passionate about. So I wanted to get through these practical steps first, and the question I have for you, amanda, and our audience, and we really want you to ask yourselves is how are you blocking yourself financially with the way you were taught to interact or ideals about money when you were growing up? How is that blocking you now?
Speaker 3:Good one.
Speaker 3:Good one, you know it's the opposite. So I grew up with my parents both working on Wall Street at some point in their early careers. So I was taught very young how to budget a checkbook. Yeah, okay, great, in like two seconds. This is when you had to write it down. Like I have $2,000 in my account today. I just spent $30 on groceries. Okay, I've got to write that down, just just, you know, subtract that Like. I literally was taught that. And I had a bank account very young.
Speaker 3:It wasn't much, but my dad definitely did teach me that, and so my mindset was very different. It was a total opposite. It was like more of a budgeting. It was more strategic. It was more of like is flowing the way that it's like you're doing less and receiving more because you're recognizing where your skill set is. You're not overdoing it when five and burning myself out and burning the candle until it was done, and still being depleted creatively, emotionally, physically, and still feeling like I wasn't going to get any further than that, because I wasn't valued in my job. And that came from my own worth too, because I didn't actually want to be there. Acting was really my passion. Acting was like that's where I want to be and I didn't value enough of being in that career at the time.
Speaker 3:But so I grew up and I really had the privilege of understanding a 401k, a pension. I understood that at 18 years old I was putting in 10, 15%, and I'm just saying that the business was going to, or the company you worked for was gonna, you know, add five to 10% on that. Like, I understood all that. I understood that you you know investing in all these things and having an IRA, and you know, I understood all of that. So I kind of had the opposite. And so getting out of that was a bit of a challenge for me because I had quit my job and I was like all right, this is where I'm at. I'm going to have to now be creative with my money, in the sense of I'm not going to have a check coming in every two weeks consistently. That was comfortable. That was comfortable.
Speaker 3:This was a creative field that I was going to be like all right, I can work today and maybe get five to 10 grand for a commercial but then not get anything for the next six months, which had happened. So it was like what do I do? How do I budget that? And so I really had to learn how to budget. Look the thumbs up here All right. I really had to learn how to budget in that mindset of like looking long-term and then setting aside money for taxes, because when the tax time came about, I already had the money. I didn't just pay it as I got paid or put money aside, but it was really really thinking further out and figuring out how can I use my money in the best possible way for my own investment as far as my career and my future.
Speaker 3:And it was a struggle. It was definitely a struggle of understanding what that looks like and getting the odd jobs in between, because I never had had that before. I really started working in the corporate world since I was like 18 until I was like into my late twenties, so over 10 years. So this was very, very different for me. I did the kind of odd jobs during that, but that was modeling and acting. That was, for me, passion. That became a career path, but it was very, very, very different. So my mindset had to change.
Speaker 3:My mindset changed and I struggled for a while understanding what money looks like for me and getting out of that corporate mindset and getting out of that Wall Street mindset and understanding what that looked like for me. And it just looked like, okay, like you said, the 50, the 30, the 20 and creative world. Where can I use my skillset? What do I need to learn in order to be on set again? And that became me being a PA, that became me helping other people run their own classes to host and teach other actors or creatives. And that came down to me asking casting directors if they needed a reader or helping with workshops. It just came down to me asking what could I do, what could I learn? And this is what I've done before, this is what I can bring. And it really amplified my leadership skills and learning how, like you said, like a field manager, like I've really learned how to manage people on set and and helping them with that and then helping streamline other people.
Speaker 3:So for me, that was it was a challenge and understanding that money is accessible. It may not look like how you expected, but money flows from all areas of your life, whether you realize it or not, especially in today's world and content creation. There's just so many ways to make money that can be a little easier and may not be like. You know I'm making $2,000 a day but you can make 200 and that can like alleviate the stress of well, there goes my groceries for the month. Now I can focus on other things, like if I get $10, $100 here and there, I can invest that. Or I can put that towards a class, I can put that towards, you know, a coaching session with someone. I can put that towards my bank account. I can save that, I can, you know it's. Or I can put that towards a vacation next year, like it. It allows you to start looking forward. So for you know, and you know, it's money is still going to be always a struggle until we're all billionaires for real, like it's still going to be until you really have an understanding of that and like investing.
Speaker 3:And you have to level up too with your money, because when you start making a certain amount of money, that means that requires certain taxes. You talked about a certain level of tax bracket that you've reached, which means they take more money from you. 25 to 30, it turns to 40. You're like oh so I made 300,000 this year but technically I got to pay 50, 60, 70,000 in taxes. So it's understanding the progress you make. It's understanding money and how you view it, your relationship with money, all of that and having that conversation and being honest with yourself like I don't know how to manage money. That's okay. That is absolutely okay.
Speaker 3:Ask a friend. There's so much on YouTube. There's so many things that people talk about money so many ways. So just do your research and feel comfortable with that. And I had to do that. I had to ask friends, I had to. I even asked Janelle, like Janelle, how do you freaking, do this in your way and understanding, like, well, I don't know how to bring my set or my craft into this and that? And it's just trusting that you'll get the answer and trusting in your own abilities that money is hard to get. Money is easy when you find what works for you.
Speaker 3:And yeah, so it's not saving for that rainy day. Sometimes it's enjoying life too. At the same time it's like, oh well, I it's enjoying life too. At the same time it's like, oh well, I'm not going to. I bought these fancy shoes or this one thing I'm going to wait until one particular event to go to. It's like, at the end of the day, we could all die and then you'd have missed your opportunity to wear those boots or those shoes or go treat yourself once in a while and make it a priority to treat yourself in that too, and it can be something small, a cup of coffee, because that's going to energetically elevate you as well. To see money in a different way, to see money as accessible, to see money as enjoyable and fun, to not only spend but to receive. So yeah, that's what I had to say.
Speaker 3:Whether that was you know, yeah, that was helpful because I had to remind myself. I remind myself all the time about these things I do, I have to, I'm like, oh you.
Speaker 2:I know, and I love that you brought up the energetics, because that's the next thing I was gonna touch on, because we're also gonna dive deep into something that I see creative struggle with all the time is negotiating and pricing your work. You know, like knowing your worth, setting the boundaries and communicating your value is super important, because one I had to shake that energetic barrier. I had to believe that someone in my family could make that much money doing something they loved. That was hard. It's got to light you up. I've met a lot of people that I worked when I was doing the home healthcare that they were like, oh my God, I never want to be in front of a camera. Like I want to be as far away from his camera as possible. So we always talk about if you have the desire, the dreams within reach. You have that. You have to listen to that. So I really had to be comfortable like saying out loud I wanted to make that money. There was a lot of guilt around that because that was more money than other people in my family had made. And the judgment, when you're negotiating and pricing your work, that will come up because people might be like, well, why should I pay you that much or I want to give you nothing. You're an actor, so you just you love your craft so much I know you'll work for free. And if you haven't worked out the kinks within yourself to know what you bring to the table and to stand in that in a grounded way, you're going to be swayed more easily. So I wrote down how much I wanted to make each month and it made it easier when these jobs came up, because certain rates like with production, fit, modeling, that's a certain rate, but maybe with a commercial uh, production or working as the field producer, I might be like hey, you know, if we bumped it up, a hundred dollars Amanda and I were just talking about this or even $200 working on a film, that would make the difference because I was looking at my month and how much money I needed to make and I'm like a little extra 50 here, a little extra a hundred here, and it was completely fair for what I was bringing to the table.
Speaker 2:And what you're going to find is when you know you're worth. You're going to run into three things when you're trying to negotiate with people. One, someone is going to be willing to have the conversation but, being quite honest with you, they don't have the money, and it's your job then to decide whether or not that's going to be worth your time. And why are you saying yes if you're going to go through with it without money? And that's okay.
Speaker 2:Maybe it's a passion project, maybe it's that you really believe in and that you need it for your real or you really love the people that you're working with. But you have to understand when you're saying yes to no money, you're taking yourself away with something else that could have paid you for that day. So you got to be really intentional about this. Two you'll have a conversation with a person and they'll be like, oh, I didn't think about that, I'm sorry. Well, how about an extra $50 and I'll pay for food and for your ticket? Great. And then the third thing and I really need y'all to watch out for this is somebody getting angry with you because you just want a conversation about money.
Speaker 2:Because let me tell you, if you come to me and you want to have a conversation about money, I know my worth. I believe other people have worth and they deserve to be paid, cool, let's have it. But if someone tries to make you feel some type of way because you came to the table and was like I need to negotiate this because these are my boundaries, and they try to tell you there's something wrong with you, you don't want to work with that person, and this goes with work. And even in your interpersonal life, you're trying to have financial conversations with those that you love and they want to make you feel bad about it. There's nothing wrong with knowing your worth and stating that and then having the conversation. You're not saying this or nothing. Maybe you are and then you decide later. Or because we all have our different, um, you know boundaries around it.
Speaker 2:But if you're just saying I need to talk about this and they're coming at you so harshly, run, run, far away, it is not worth it. So please sit with yourself. Especially actors, I see this all the time. You're worth some type of payment. You know I've hired photographers for modeling and they always want to be paid because they're like my equipment or the space I'm renting, and I think with actors, because we don't have some type of physical equipment, they'll work for free, and that's just not how it is. You're bringing your craft and your instrument. They can't do the project without you, so you should be compensated. So, amanda, I would love to hear what you have to add to all of that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's such a delicate conversation because it's so sensitive with people who may potentially be struggling and people who are just not willing to give you the money because they, just like you said, they just don't want to or they'd rather give it to someone else. It's being confident in having that conversation. I've had that conversation many times over. I remember I had to start taking my autonomy back and take control when I worked in the non-union world. Unfortunately, we don't have when you're in the non-union world, you know, unfortunately we don't have the. You know, when you're in the non-union world, it's like it's a wild wild West, honey. It is the wild wild West out there. And when that word in perpetuity is in the contract, be aware of what that actually means is they have your image, they have everything that they filmed for you that day and beyond, especially with AI nowadays, that they can use that forever like forever, and so it's understanding what you're also signing, like looking at these contracts and asking a friend who's already at a level that you're not and saying, hey, do you mind looking at this contract for me and tell me what this is? If you don't know, use Google all the things that. There's so many tools out there that you can use, that you can drop it in and I'll explain it to you in layman terms. Which is a person that's not in that field, that can teach it in a way that it's like you're in first grade and you go oh okay, I get that now Because the language in there tricks you. It took me a while to understand certain languages too. I'm like what does that mean? Let me look, hold on, I'll get back to you tomorrow, let me look this up. And it's also not being afraid to say you don't know and to give you time to find out. Don't let them rush you on contracts either. Do not let them rush you oh well, I need to check in with my agent, even if you don't have an agent or a manager. Say that. Or a lawyer, say it, so that you have that space to look at it, ask a friend or Google it or whatever. And then you come back and you ask questions and say so, can you have you know? Can you explain this, this and this to me? Great, thank you for that. Understand, okay, great, I'm okay with that. Thank you so much. And you have that conversation because you gain your power back, you understand.
Speaker 3:It also feels better that whenever you get the check or whenever the money comes in, you're not like, oh, this could have been more, oh, I should have did this, the shoulda, coulda, wouldas. You got to step that aside and start asking them now, asking them now. So understanding what that looks like. You are a business person, you are the CEO of you, your brand I am Amanda Dubois, that is my brand, this is the brand, this is the parent company. And then there are companies below that there's actor, model, host, podcast host, doing social media content, all the things that go under that. It's now understanding what that looks like for me and who I have on my team and around me and surrounding yourself with people who are curious and want to understand and know more.
Speaker 3:But it's going back to the negotiation and everything is. I remember in the non-union world, doing a commercial and having an agent at the time and I won't say who because out of respect, but you know and I did a commercial and six months went by. I got paid for the day of work, of course, but the actual running of the project I never did. So I was like, oh, curious, okay, and you know the non-union work, sometimes you may not get paid for two months. Sometimes I may not get paid for three months, which is really really annoying, but I get it, cause this is again different rules and regulations and all that stuff.
Speaker 3:I actually know rules and regulations, really, and three months go by, I'm like all right, I asked my agent hey you know, I haven't really heard anything about this project, and do you know what I'm gonna get paid, kind of thing? Oh, I'll let you know. We haven't heard anything yet. Okay, great, cool. Six months go by. I'm like all right.
Speaker 3:This is why it's really good to track when it comes to actors. I have a spreadsheet that I work with as far as tracking auditions and the process that I go through, as well as the projects that I book, what I was going to get paid for and when do I get paid. And being busy and you forget, like wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, I didn't get paid for this project, or okay, great. So it's really useful to track these things because it also shows you're a business woman or a businessman or a business person. This is how you are running a business, you are a brand, so tracking that. So, as I was tracking that and I realized again, six months went by, seven months went by, eight months went by I kept asking my agent hey, what's going on? And they just kept saying, oh well, there's some issues we'll get back to you, we're handling. I'm like great, what are the issues? May I know what those issues are? Because at this point now, money's involved and you know it's your money, not only mine. You get 10% of that. So what's going on? Like I'd like to know? Oh, especially because my face is on the project and the project was actually airing. What's the problem? What's going on? And so, sure enough, legit.
Speaker 3:A year went by and I did not get paid for that project and around the time that this happened the year, full year I started transitioning and I became union. So I really had to leave that agency because they weren't allowed to work with union actors and so I had to move on and I was like I got to close out all the projects that I worked with this particular agency and at that point I was like F it, I'm going to look through my call sheet and I'm going to call an actual production company. I'm going to call a production company. I'm going to ask hey, hi, my name is Amanda DeWalt. Respectfully, you come respectful, come respectful as a business person. Never, would it add to. At that point, of course, I was frustrated, but I'm never going to disrespect them because they may not know what's going on. They're going to get a lot of miscommunication. That could have been emails. It could have been handled already. I don't know, so I'm never going to assume that they know.
Speaker 3:I went in respectfully, so be respectful, because you don't know, someone could have just been hired yesterday and they're answering your call. It's like hi, I don't know, so be respectful. And I was like oh, hi, my name's Amanda DuPont, I worked on this project at this day and so, and so I got paid initially for the day of work, but I never got paid for the running of the project. It's like oh, oh, wow, that's so odd. Okay, let me look that up. And they did. And no lie, within 24 hours I had the check being issued to me. So, and I still gave my agency a 10% out of respect. I'm not going to not do that. And they weren't happy with me, and I understand that too. But at the end of the day, it was a year and you weren't giving me any information about this project it had. You told me there was something going on, but at that point, if I got the check issued to me within 24 hours, paid in full to me directly, so all that to say is and then again, once I got it, I did respectfully, I took the copies and you got to understand. Take the copies, you give a 10% to your agent. And I said and I said here, here you are, thank you for this particular project.
Speaker 3:But at that point I felt so empowered because I understood now oh, this is how business people work, this is, you know, money is money, but like it's, it's out of respect, it's understanding that. And then I didn't want to work with that agency anymore because at that point I didn't feel valued as well and I again, I was transitioning. So it kind of all happened at the right time and I felt more comfortable speaking up for myself, which is why I'm such an advocate as a coach empowerment coach these conversations matter. You need to be able to articulate yourself in those ways and practice it in the front of the mirror if you have to. But I had gotten that call and that was a corporate world in me and saying, hey, this is it, this is the information. Tell me more. What do I need to know about this? Do you need anything from me? Can I provide anything? Offer that too. Don't like expect them to have be respectful. Again. I said I'd be respectful because there I get it. We can get attitudes and upset and frustrated on money, but again it worked out.
Speaker 3:And from there on again, what do I do? I am particular and meticulous about everything when it comes to a contract. I look at everything, I confirm with people, I sign everything, I keep copies, keep copies of everything, track things, and I know it may sound like so particular and nuanced, but at the end of the day, when you come across something like this, you have all the information. You don't have to search for it, you don't have to go to anybody else. You know this is what it is and you can communicate with your agent and manager if you have that. And if you don't have an agent or a manager, you still can have that power of having that conversation because you have information in front of you. Or talk to a friend who's in a level above you. Don't be afraid to ask. There are casting directors that when I was non-union they helped me negotiate contracts, thankful because I asked. I said they're more than happy to because they understood the difficulty for non-union actors at that time.
Speaker 3:And now I'm union, so it's a little bit different now. I'm navigating different conversations, the status quo and all the things, but this is what it is running a business, being your CEO, being the brand of you, is every time you level up. You got to level up your mindset, you got to level up your knowledge, you got to level up the conversations you're having with people, and that energetically allows you to receive more as well. That means that you're here. You're no longer there up there, but it also allows you to have that confidence to go well, this person's doing so much I should be. We're at the same level, sir ma'am. We're here. We can have this conversation.
Speaker 3:I value myself as an actor, as a creative, as a whatever that may be. Let's talk about it and tell me what I don't know, and that's okay. I don't know because I haven't had the exposure to it or the knowledge. Ooh, I didn't go to college for that, but I have a parent that was teaching me these things. That's okay. We're not meant to know everything. We're meant to be learning as we go. That is the whole purpose of this journey.
Speaker 3:I know this is a long-winded conversation and a long-winded answer, but I just had to share that because I had been through many situations where I had to advocate for myself in these conversations and say, well, let's talk about what would look like what if we raised it $100 more? It's the what if? What if? What if we can? What would that look like? Great, that's it. It doesn't hurt asking, it doesn't? It may feel that way, but it doesn't. And if it does, in that sense of like wow, how dare you? That's not the right people you want to work with anyway.
Speaker 3:Again, always be respectful. Consider other people and where they are in a situation, the project or whatever it is. Just take a whole look at the situation before jumping in and go I deserve $3,000 more. It's like, all right, great, you sure the heck do you do. We all deserve more. Look at the whole picture and see what the value is as well. And there are many times where I didn't get paid a lot of money but the project really benefited me and I have long-term friends. I have people who now are reaching out to me five, seven years later. It's like, yeah, let's work together. I have a budget of, you know, two mil. I'm like, whoa, great Relationships, building relationships, is also a thing with finances too. So yeah, that's my three cents, two cents, 10 cents, 50 cents, whatever.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's important and what I'm hearing is ask man, ask the question, don't be afraid to ask and there will be people that say no, you're not meant to work with them. You got to get to the yeses quickly and it's so wonderful that you took that extra step to just call, and it's okay if people listening you don't know to do that because you just you don't know what you don't know, and it can be very scary. But I was telling Amanda before we jumped on here. I've talked to my finance friends. I've had them look over emails I was going to send people regarding negotiating and they're very bold. People can be quite bold. It's okay and it's still respectful. They're just very simple.
Speaker 2:I was dating a producer lawyer for a long time and I would send him contracts and he would always say take the emotion out of it, you don't have time for all those words. What do you want? You know? I was like, okay, and because you're so respectful, building the relationships or doing the project for less, we can trust her. She knows what she wants. I always admire people that know what they want. I've figured it out and they really are good at their craft. I think these are the things and it's just like you know what you're getting with them. So I love everything that you're sharing and everybody's listening. If there's more that you want to know about this cause, I'm about to wrap this up, but please, anything we said today if you want to know more about it.
Speaker 2:Or you know, I listened to a lot of audio books about topics if I don't understand them, or the YouTube or Instagram or TikTok. I'm learning a lot about investing now because it's something that's super important to me at this point in my life. What's that book? You are a badass making money. I love that book and there's so many more out there. So some tools. We talked about Monarch. You can listen to audible books. Just find different. You can find a coaching service if you want. There are different levels. Somebody can hold you accountable and I love that. You brought up, you know, like watching your money. You know, because sometimes with modeling, I'll go in. I'm only supposed to work so many hours. The client asked me to stay. I could still bill for that, but if it wasn't the original agreement, it's up to me to be like wait, you missed this because you asked me to stay and I can't tell you how many times I've done that? Yeah, because people will try to keep their pennies sometimes so yeah and you know what?
Speaker 3:that's okay we get it budgets, things and expectations and their businesses and corporations, that they only have allocated amount of money for this particular campaign or whatever it is. And it's like great to agree to this. And you said after eight hours I would get so again. That's why it's so good to really understand what you're signing. Never just sign something just to sign something. I was taught very early on as an actor. The minute you walk on set, you find the PA and you go into your trailer or you go into the waiting room, whatever. What do they do? They hand you your contract and you look it over, Even though you've had a conversation with your agent and they've seen it before you. It doesn't matter, Look it over, Take your time, Don't just sign it and they seen it before you. Doesn't matter, Look it over.
Speaker 2:take your time, Don't just sign it.
Speaker 2:I've worked without signing it for a little bit. Yes, like I'm like you can do my hair and makeup, but like and they were like we need you to sign this I was like you need to answer my question and that was, you know, maybe a little scary for me because I'm on this big set, but I was like I came and I was there five, six hours and that's I need you to put that in. They quickly fixed it and they sent it to me, you know, and it was respectful. And then they were apologetic and there's a lot going on. People just might miss stuff and they don't know.
Speaker 2:So just just take accountability for your career. Show up boldly, shake these mindsets. Of creatives can't make a good living, or money isn't as important, as long as I'm passionate, or the starving artist mindset, you can have the abundance. You can have both. It doesn't have to be one way or the other. And so just you know, leaving you with these key points Financial planning isn't about restriction, it's about freedom, sustainability Amanda was speaking to this just the planning, and it empowers you to take control of your career, in your life.
Speaker 2:And so we would love for you to just start small, start tracking your income or set a savings goal and know that your body might feel a little funky. Maybe your chest gets tight listening to this, or you feel certain something in your stomach, and that's okay, just acknowledge it. And maybe you got to breathe, meditate, cry my favorite thing but then just please get back to it, because the only way you make progress is like these small actions, and your creativity deserves a solid foundation. It's okay to make money doing what you love. You're taking control of your future. Because I was able to build up a savings, I could fly myself to be a local hire in Atlanta. You're investing in yourself. You are your business.
Speaker 2:So we've been talking a long time. It's been 45 minutes. We love you. There's so much to say about this topic. We really care. Ask your friends if you need help. Everything we've told you I can't even remember because we said so much. It's so amazing. So we love you so much and remember you can reach out to us. Please let us know your answers to the questions we brought up today and we will see you soon. Bye, bye. What are your thoughts about this episode?
Speaker 2:Drop it in the comments and let us know what you want to dive into next. Subscribe, like, share and click the link below to book a free consultation and we'll see you next time.