29 Ways to Become the CEO of Your Creative Career

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BOSS TINGS

Hey, Reader,

There’s artist Felicia and there is CEO Felicia.

Even when it was just me and I didn’t have reps or a team, I looked at my career the same as I do building a business.

Because essentially that’s what we’re doing.

I know the idea of heading up a business is overwhelming to many of us.

Some of us don’t consider ourselves business people.

We don’t like the mix of business and art. And I feel you.

But the truth is, we are a business.

And some of us will be the CEO of seven figure businesses.

There is no better time than now to act like it.

Step into the role of CEO of You, Inc.

BTW: In the Build Bundle, there’s a creative career planning workshop as well as several other tools on a lot of the stuff I outline below. The Build Bundlewas designed to help you become the CEO of your career. The price goes up $100 on Dec 3.

29 WAYS TO BECOME THE CEO OF YOUR CREATIVE CAREER​
Here are 29 ways to become the CEO of your creative career:

1. Develop a vision for your career. How do you want your career to look? Is there someone’s career that you’d love to have? Share your vision with reps, team members, collaborators, etc.

2. Set obtainable goals. Goals that you can actually control. For example: Develop a pitch for a feature film vs sell a feature film. You can’t control the latter and that fact will only breed anxiety, desperation, and resentment.

3. Your career strategies should align with your goals. Often the decisions we make and the actions we take do not match with what we truly want. Be honest with yourself.

4. Put your foot in your work so that folk bring you on for future projects.

5. Organize and track your contacts. You can use a spreadsheet or Google contacts or a fancy CRM. Regularly follow-up and reach out to folk. Stay in touch. Speaking of, if your reps set up meetings for you, ensure you get the contact information of everyone you meet with. You want to establish your own relationships.

6. Go after IP. Hollywood loves IP. And going after IP directly and securing rights to it, will give you leverage. BTW: The Build Bundle includes our Adapting IP workshop which covers how to secure rights and more.

7. Develop multiple streams of income, which will not only help you with financial stability, but will also expand potential opportunities.

8. Think entrepreneurially. Are there additional ways for you to make money as you build your career? Membership community? Coaching? Consulting? Is there a problem you can solve? A mobile self-tape van, anyone? Or do you want to start a production company so you can work to cut out the middle people between you and buyers.

9. Build your audience from Day One. Check out this episode of The Creative Cut Up about that very topic.

10. Keep your lifestyle in check. A lot of folk in Hollywood have to do things they don’t want to do because they have expensive lifestyles. Along those lines, keep an F-U fund.

11. Keep a list of project ideas and work to finish drafts of them one by one.

12. Make something. A short. A play. A woman show. A TikTok series. And try to find ways to make thangs on a consistent basis.

13. Share and promote said thangs consistently. A project is new to someone who hasn’t heard of it.

14. Keep in touch with your audience by email or text. You want to have a way to stay in touch with your audience in ways that aren’t owned by others.

15. Do not put your career in someone else's hands, including your reps. No one cares about your career as much as you do. Thinking otherwise only breeds frustration.

16. Hold regular meetings with your reps. I have a weekly meeting with my manager. I have monthly, separate meetings with my TV and film agents. I hold a once-a-year meeting with my entire team (including my lawyers). Maintain the agenda.

17. Learn how to pitch. Your ability to pitch well will set you apart. It will help you sell projects. It will help you convince potential collaborators. It will help you sell your vision. The Build Bundle includes a Pitch Workshop, sample pitches, and a pitch template.

18. Stack projects. I always have a few (sometimes several) projects that I am working on at one time. That way if one stalls or falls away, I’m not left empty-handed.

19. Stay on top of happenings in your industry, but other industries as well. Every day, I read my Feedly of curated Hollywood trade news. But I also try to keep up with what’s going on in the creator economy, music, tech, and publishing.

20. Invest in yourself. In your craft. In your business. Take the class. Buy the course. Get the coach. Buy the camera.

21. Find ways to be of value. Volunteer. Give back.

22. Rest. Manage your stress, understand your emotions, choose your battles.

23. Have a committed creative practice and protect it with your life.

24. Get a good ass lawyer. Have her walk you through standard contract language. Review every contract and tell your team what you want.

25. Set the tone with your reps. Share your vision for your career and work with them to craft goals and strategies to make it a reality.

26. Fire folk who have shown that they do not believe in you.

27. Be clear on what you write about and who you write for. And freely share that with your team and in meetings.

28. Think freakin’ BIG (however you define that) and don’t let anyone - not reps, bosses, friends, family - try to bring you down to earth.

29. Go after opportunity. Do not wait for jobs, opportunities to come to you. Track the trades. Consistently ask folk what they have cooking. Generate material. Follow up with your network.

BONUS: Know that you are the prize. And act accordingly.

THE SWEET BUILD ​
​See why I named this newsletter, The Sweet Build?

My goal is to encourage and embolden you to:

• Become a master craftsperson
• Take control of your career and gain agency
• Take care of yourself so that you can be of service to others
• Make work that reaches people and makes them feel
• Unabashedly serve your audience

We’re building careers on our own terms. We’re building our audiences. We’re building new tables. We’re building companies. We’re building ecosystems. We’re building new ways of doing things.

And we’re building artists who know their value.

Who’s with me?

BTW: Bring your community along, forward them this email and encourage them to subscribe.

Felicia Pride TV Writer. Filmmaker. CEO. Building HONEY CHILE, an indie media company serving Black women 40+, and empowering other niche storytellers to tell their stories and reach their audiences.

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The Build Bundle All of the tools you need for developing your writing craft, pitching your tv/film projects, making your work, and strategizing for a long-lasting career. It's what I wish I had starting out and even mid-way through my career—tried and true tactics, examples, and strategies to help you accelerate your journey. ENROLL TODAY

The Creative Comeback Workbook by Felicia Pride It's time for you to start writing again and tell the stories burning within. Through 30 prompts, you'll discover your why, develop a writing schedule, outline your projects and unearth what's holding you back from the career of your dreams. These are the exact steps I took to make my creative comeback. Purchase on Book Shop.​ GET THE WORKBOOK

tender: the official script book by Felicia Pride Specially designed, the script for Felicia Pride’s award-winning short film tender! Also includes an original essay by Felicia and never-before-seen behind-the-scenes photos. A PDF eBook sent immediately upon purchase. GET YOUR COPY

LOOK BACK AT IT: The Official Script Book by Felicia Pride Specially designed, the script for Felicia Pride’s award-winning short film LOOK BACK AT IT! Also includes an original essay by Felicia and never-before-seen behind-the-scenes photos. A PDF eBook sent immediately upon purchase. GET YOUR COPY

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING...

Promote your project or business in The Sweet Build. Want to get in front of 1,300+ motivated storytellers? We're offering an introductory flat rate of $500. Inquire today by responding to this email.

This email was sent by Kit. And I really enjoy working with them because I can also sell products through them. I sold the first 21-Day Creative Comeback Challenge completely through Kit. It's an awesome one-stop shop. Here's my Kit affiliate link.

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How do I stay organized? I feel like I've tried all the productivity software girls. And none can really compete with Notion. She has it all. It takes some time to learn, but chile... once you do! You can build custom databases (we track contacts, projects, more), create custom pages and more. I LOVE it. Here's my Notion affiliate link.