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Pros and Cons of Freelancing

November 18, 2024 by Steven Sparling Leave a Comment

  I’m currently writing a book on freelancing in the creative economy and I wanted to create a list of pros and cons of being a freelancer as I think it’s important that people considering going freelance have a realistic view of what it entails. This is not an exhaustive list, but what’s missing? Use […]

Filed Under: Freelancing, List, Uncategorized

It Doesn’t Have To Be Lonely At The Top

September 23, 2024 by Steven Sparling Leave a Comment

Introduction Being an entrepreneur or a leader in a small business can be a lonely journey. The pressure to make critical decisions, the weight of responsibilities, and the constant need to stay ahead of the competition can sometimes take a toll on one’s mental health. In this blog post, we will explore the challenges of […]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

When You Have TOO MUCH Work

August 26, 2024 by Steven Sparling Leave a Comment

For many freelancers there is a period where they are doing everything they can to find work and get their first few engagements, but with ongoing marketing and the development of a portfolio/good reputation you may find yourself in the enviable position of having more work than you can manage. Nice problem to have, but […]

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Freelancing, List, Uncategorized

Further Exploration of SNAAP 2022 Data Through an Arts Entrepreneurship Lens

June 10, 2024 by Steven Sparling Leave a Comment

Last post I looked at some headline findings released in April 2024 of the SNAAP 2022 survey of 54K arts, design and related graduates from American universities[1]. Here are some other interesting findings that give a good portrait of the working lives of creative graduates: For creative graduates work – 87% of the alumni between 18-64 […]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Artist, creative, creative career, Entrepreneur, freelance

Allegretto, ma non troppo

June 23, 2019 by Steven Sparling Leave a Comment

This blog post title is inspired by a Beethoven piano concert I recently attended. The pianist presented several of the Beethoven piano concertos, all multi-movement works, with descriptive titles such as the one above. If your knowledge of musical nomenclature and/or Italian is rusty, it means ‘quickly, but not too much’. Allegro/allegretto also has a […]

Filed Under: Random Thoughts, Uncategorized

Post-Colonial Voices

June 9, 2019 by Steven Sparling 1 Comment

At the moment I feel like a lot of my time as a teacher is railing against young voices that have been colonized by western elitist forms of vocalism. They have been taught rigid boundaries of what is acceptable vocalism which leaves students stuck in a narrow band of polite and cultivated sounds. They lose […]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

We Can’t Let Fear Win

July 30, 2018 by Steven Sparling 1 Comment

This past weekend I had the privilege of attending the Canadian Theatre Educators’ Conference where I met a number of really great people who all teach theatre at different institutions in Ontario.  For two days we talked about teaching acting, voice, dance etc – largely, but not exclusively, at the post-secondary level.  Something I heard […]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Putting it on the back burner is not the same as forgetting about it

July 3, 2018 by Steven Sparling Leave a Comment

I’ve been burnt. It’s my fault that it happened, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. You see, as you might be aware, I kinda put The Thriving Creative on the back burner 3 years ago when I got a full-time academic job. Between the job, 3 hours a day of commuting, and trying […]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Old Posts Are Like Old Photos

June 27, 2018 by Steven Sparling Leave a Comment

So you may have noticed that I have not been blogging much over the past few years. Or maybe you didn’t. Doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I find myself once again being drawn to putting some of my thoughts down on a page and out into the world. This is scary… and it’s […]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Supply & Demand – Are There Too Many Artists?

December 2, 2016 by Steven Sparling 2 Comments

As I continue my research into sustainability of creative careers, one thing keeps coming up: the subtle balance between supply and demand and the effect that has on opportunities for artists to be paid for their creative work. Historically, artists have done very well when Guilds and Unions have been allowed to control the flow […]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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Recent Posts

  • The Mindful Freelancer: Nine Attitudes for Thriving in the Creative Economy – Part 1 – Non-Judging
  • Pivoting When You Don’t Know Where the Other Foot is Going to Land
  • Help! My Child Wants to Go Into The Arts
  • Confidence Doesn’t Exist. Quit Chasing It.
  • IKIGAI: The Japanese Secret to a Creative Entrepreneur’s Success!

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