Transcript
Speaker: Do you desire to turn your passion into income? Connect with other creative souls who also dance to the beat of their own drum?
Speaker: I'm Marie Nicole and I'm devoted to combining beauty, uniqueness and connection in everyday living experiences. As a creative professional and Dharma coach, I help people connect to the truth of who they are and facilitate them in embodying their uniqueness. It is my hope in this podcast that I inspire you to live your life on your terms and earn your income through being uniquely you.
Speaker: After all, it's the unique thread that we each contribute to the collective tapestry that creates the whole.
Speaker: Before going into today's podcast topic, I'd like to share some information from our sponsor, Hum Sound Therapy. Peter and Connie have been sharing their passions together for the past nine years, developing a unique heart -based sound experience, expanding hearts into the benefits of sound and energy healing, using a variety of instruments, including crystal singing bowls, gong Native American flute, didgeridoo, drums, chimes, and more.
Speaker: Peter is also a biofield practitioner, working one -on -one, in -person and distant sessions. They are both passionate about sharing sound vibration and creating an environment where you can drop into your heart and feel, enabling a full -bodied experience. A quote from these beautiful -hearted humans themselves. Our work is to be of service, to share our love, guide and nurture you back to your inner wisdom and reclaim your personal song through sound,
Speaker: and energy dropping into your heart, raising your hum of life. I can personally vouch for the truly magical and healing experiences you will receive through their sound journeys and biofield tuning sessions. So to connect with them and their offerings, visit their website and follow their journeys on social media. Links are in the show notes. Thank you Hum Sound Therapy for sponsoring this podcast and now for today's episode.
Speaker: Many small business owners start their journey working from home. Many mums start their venture doing so amongst family commitments and caring for children. Even without children in the mix, it's not uncommon for small businesses to be started as a side hustle while juggling other commitments. The dining room table for creative makers is often the first workbench, the sofa, the first office, the garage, the first workshop.
Speaker: Pulling everything out to create, then hesitating to put it all away again mid -creation so the family then needs to find somewhere else to eat, somewhere else to sit, somewhere else to fix and store things, so that the project in mid -creation is not disturbed.
Speaker: But a place to make is not all that you need as a creative starting adventure that you wish to turn into a serious income stream. You also need a space to dream, to plan, to do the administration and financial work that most creatives dread. And the last thing you need to be doing is looking for things in several locations around the house just to get started on a project or to complete a critical administration task.
Speaker: I cannot place enough emphasis on how beneficial it is to set yourself up a space to get into business mode. When I started my first business as a photographer, pre -children, I had a spare room set up as my office by day and darkroom by night. Yep, when I started that business, I was working with film. It was quite a luxury having a darkroom in the house and a space dedicated to my work.
Speaker: From there I opened a commercial space and then I fell pregnant with my first son and moved to be closer to family for child mining support. We'd moved over an hour's drive away from the commercial space and with the crazy peak traffic times when driving to and from the studio and leaving early to miss it and then working back late in the evening to meet with clients for consultations, I decided to close that commercial space and move back to a home base operation.
Speaker: At the time, we were living in a two -storey townhouse. At first, I set up my office upstairs in a small room, but it was not long before I had to move that office into the master bedroom downstairs, which opened up to the courtyard and front entry. And this enabled me to separate home and business life and for staff to come and go without having to be in amongst the home life activities.
Speaker: I did still run consultations and viewings upstairs in our lounge room of an evening once my son was tucked away and sleeping peacefully at night. Fortunately he was a very easy baby when it came to sleep which made this possible. But when I started my artisanal business we had two children and the second was only six months old and we were living in a house which had a small bedroom I dedicated to my studio space and it had a beautiful outlook over the back garden with a big sliding door
Speaker: But this also meant on the weekends when my husband at the time looked after the kids while I tried to get some uninterrupted work time. They often stood at the sliding door, peering in to see what I was doing. It was so cute, but also a little distracting. Again, it didn't take long to outgrow that space and I ended up taking over the master bedroom to create a more functional production space, which I also shared with my youngest son at his play space. One of his favourite things to do was to use a suitcase as his boat.
Speaker: He put all of his toys in the boat and he would tell stories of the adventures he was going on while I worked around him. We moved several times before buying our property which has two sheds and for those watching on the YouTube video you'll see that this is where I'm recording today. I did not move into my shed out here immediately though. Initially I set up my studio in one of the small rooms in the house with a north western aspect which gets beautiful all day light.
Speaker: which is now the room we call the Zenden. It's where I often record my podcasts and hold my coaching sessions. Back when I first had it as my tiny studio though, I was also using the dining room table, which was okay temporarily. I had done that in previous rentals along the journey, but having this shed set up as my production space made such a difference to my capacity to create on a greater scale.
Speaker: and have my assistant work in the same space as me, rather than being separated by the kitchen so we could talk while we worked. And it enabled me to completely separate my work and home life. It's amazing the difference that can make to efficiency and output, while still being conveniently just outside my back door.
Speaker: Shifting my workspace into a commercial space in town was great for that separation of home life and business, but there were times when I just wanted to duck out to do a quick repair job on something from home, but everything I needed was in town. So I am quite enjoying having my workspace back here on the property. I know it's a luxury and not everyone starting their own venture can set up a dedicated workspace for their business straight up.
Speaker: But I cannot express enough how valuable it is to at least have a room or a corner of your home where you can organise your work -related materials. Not only does it save you time, trying to pull everything out and get started on a project and then have to put it all away again, it also helps you mentally switch off from the home duties and commitments and tune into work mode. Previously, when I worked from home full -time, I used to struggle with the lack of interaction with others.
Speaker: So I would head into town with my computer and I'd work at a cafe every now and then. Which sounds great, but in truth it was never very productive. I always ended up talking to people more than actually working.
Speaker: This time around, though, I have found a happy balance by still being connected to others through collaborations, regular meetups that relate to and feed into my business activities. But when I am at home working, I am focused on getting the tasks required to be completed in an efficient, focused way. So when I'm socialising, networking or collaborating, I'm not trying to tie in, tie that in with completing critical tasks to sustain the business.
Speaker: Now as a single mum maintaining a small acreage caring for pets while sustaining the workload to keep my business growing, I need to be even more savvy with my time and energy. My experience of having an integrated workshop in a commercial retail space presented a different challenge, trying to keep up with production while being available to host a beautiful experience for visitors to the space. Now it's been interesting the journey of discovering what's effective and what's not,
Speaker: and what actually is serving the needs of my unique business. When you do business to your own beat, it's about trial and error. It's about testing, tweaking and adapting. There's no right or wrong, really. It's all learning. Right now, I'm in the process of preparing to open up my workspace to share it with others, offering intentional crafting workshops here in my studio shed. I'm really looking forward to playing around with this concept and seeing what comes of it.
Speaker: I'll be starting with offering a lunar crafting session where we will create a feather talisman based on the energies of the phase of the moon at the time of the workshop. These will be offered around the new moon or the full moon. The new moon session will be dedicated to setting intentions for the moon cycle ahead and the full moon session will be focused on what limiting beliefs we'd like to release. In both sessions, participants will learn
Speaker: some leather and feather crafting skills while being introduced to how we can work with the energy of that phase of the moon cycle to support them in creating flow while intentionally crafting a talisman that will serve as a physical reminder of what they're calling in or what they wish to release in their life's journey. As a creative, I need time to create in my own space at my own pace.
Speaker: Sometimes that looks like buzzing around at a great speed, other times taking it super slow. But I also love to connect and share processes, learnings and experiences with others. So having a space that enables this is amazing and not something I take for granted. If you would like to join me in a lunar crafting session here in my studio shed, sign up for the fortnightly newsletter to be the first to find out about what's on offer.
Speaker: which also includes the pottery classes with Helen from Good Hope Pottery, which we hold at Tiger Gallery in Yass. Providing opportunities to connect to self, others and the cycles of nature is an important aspect of Creator's Nest offering. So even if you don't sign up to the newsletter, be sure to check out the events and workshops page of the website to see what magical experiences we have been incubating and hatching for you to immerse yourself in.
Speaker: as a part of your journey of creating a life you love. I'll include links in the show notes. If you're in the early stages of establishing a business to your own beat, keep in mind the value of a dedicated workspace and be open to testing, tweaking and adapting things as you grow and evolve and as your circumstances shift along the way.
Speaker: Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is and I hope you got value out of listening to this podcast. If you are looking for a coach to support and guide you through your own unique journey of creating a life you love, then reach out for a connection call. And if you'd like to connect with other creative souls in person by joining us at a workshop or retreat or to book a unique shopping experience here at Creators Nest, I run those by appointment. So check out the website for more details. The link is in the show notes.
Speaker: Oh, and please leave a review. I'd love to hear any insights or inspirations that were activated in you from this podcast. And I look forward to drumming, dancing or soaring alongside of you.
