Creative Careers

Are you a creative person? An artist, cook, crafter, quilter, designer, web developer, or musician? Have you ever wished that you could quit your 9-5 job and work in your passion full time? Well, it's possible. In the past few years more and more people have been trying their hand at making a business out of their creative talent. But it is not as easy as it seems. Just because you can design a logo, or play a guitar, doesn't mean you can run a business.

Figuring out how to make a living from your creative work poses unique challenges and obstacles. From choosing the right business model to building a brand, from managing your time to scaling up your production—starting your own creative business often means doing it all yourself. Enter The Creative Business Handbook by Alicia Puig and Ekaterina Popova, the dynamic duo behind Create! Magazine. With its conversational tone and accessible advice, this handbook lays an essential foundation for anyone wanting to earn a living with their art—no fancy business degree required!

As a musician, do you feel successful, respected, creatively fulfilled, supported in your creative goals, or inancially comfortable? If you answered no to any of these questions, you need to listen to The Happiest Musician.

An exclusive collection of incredible secrets, stories, tips, tricks, and information about the towing and recovery business. Great reading for people already in the business, or as a primer or textbook for anyone interested in the towing & recovery industry.

In this authoritative and fascinating new audiobook, Keith Sawyer, a psychologist at Washington University, tears down some of the most popular myths about creativity and erects new principles in their place. He reveals that creativity is always collaborative: even when you're alone. Sawyer's audiobook is filled with compelling stories about the inventions that changed our world.

Your Greatest Asset contains some of Nightingale’s most inspiring broadcasts on the subjects of brainstorming, problem-solving, decision-making, goal achievement, and interpersonal communication. Its simple yet incisive messages will teach you techniques and attitudes, which, if practiced regularly, will result in your living an even more creative, rewarding life.

In a world desperate for a glimpse of authenticity, Nobody Knows What They're Doing is a breath of fresh air that reveals the truths hiding between the lines of Instagram-friendly aphorisms and behind the words of the most inspirational TED talks. An honest look at the reality of creativity and the joy and difficulty of crafting good (and bad) art, this book is a must-listen for every exhausted creative, every starry-eyed dreamer, and every artist who is trying to make their way in the world - and keep a roof over their head while they do it.

It can be difficult to live according to our values in a complicated world. At a time when capitalism seems most unforgiving but the need for paying work remains high, it is important to learn how we can be more mindful and intentional about our impact - personal, social, economic, and environmental. As designer and creative director Kelly Small had to do to navigate a crisis of ethics and burnout in their career in advertising, we can admit our complicity in problematic systems and take on the responsibility of letting our own conscience guide our decisions.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the landscape of television began an unprecedented transformation. While the networks continued to chase the lowest common denominator, a wave of new shows, first on premium cable channels like HBO and then basic cable networks like FX and AMC, dramatically stretched television’s narrative inventiveness, emotional resonance, and artistic ambition. Just as the Big Novel had in the 1960s and the subversive films of New Hollywood had in 1970s, television shows became the place to go to see stories of the triumph and betrayals of the American Dream.

Are you an entrepreneur in a creative industry? Does your business struggle with consistent profitability and cash flow? Do you feel it is a never-ending struggle to choose between doing the work you are passionate about and staying in business? Christian Brim is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant with over twenty-five years of working with small business owners to grow profitably. Heavily influenced by a family riches-to-rags experience in his formative years, Christian has dedicated his life’s work to helping entrepreneurs have businesses that work for them.

Lifescale is a journey of self-discovery and growth. It's about getting back into balance and remastering our destinies. Author Brian Solis knows firsthand. He struggled with distraction and all of its ill effects. To get his life back, he developed a set of techniques, exercises, and thought experiments designed to tame the chaos, and positively and productively navigate our day-to-day lives. Instead of falling victim to the never-ending cycle of newsfeeds, Likes, addictive apps, and boredom scrolling, we can learn to manage our time and inspire our own lives.

Nearly all of today’s major innovation workshops and programs call on organizations to drive innovation. What they miss is that innovation comes from the personal creativity of individuals. And creativity doesn’t require an advanced education or technical skills. All employees can be creative. Often, all they lack is a fitting mindset and the right skills.

Have you just started using QuickBooks and found it rather scary? Maybe, you heard about this software and wanted to know more about it? Well, whatever the reason, you don’t have to worry anymore. This book will help you learn everything about QuickBooks and how it can assist in maintaining the finances and records of your organization.

“The Creative Dealmaker” isn’t a technical business book. It’s a fable. A story about a buyer and seller who meet and transact on a business acquisition. It’s a gritty tale of a motivated buyer and seller who embark on their first ever business acquisition and exit.

The Pop-Up Pitch is a radical new approach to help you create the perfect presentation, combining three key elements of persuasive storytelling - simple pictures, clear words, and powerful emotions - that together motivate audiences to pay attention, learn something new, and make effective decisions. The Pop-Up Pitch weaves together the latest insights on visual cognition, behavioral economics, and classic story structures in an easy-to-learn and inspiring storytelling algorithm.

Are you sick of barely scraping by as a creative? How long have you been trying to build your career? How many hours have you spent banging your head against a wall? How much money have you sunk into ads and marketing that just don't work? This audiobook can't guarantee you a successful career, but it can give you all the fundamental knowledge you need to set you up for success because it was written by a creative for a creative.

The Soul of the Deal effortlessly teaches unconventional transactional strategies that are radically changing the approach of business buyers and sellers, investors, CEOs, and entrepreneurs. Their origin? Selling encyclopedias door-to-door, following the Grateful Dead for a lifetime, and closing 400+ successful deals.

The Innovative Team is an engaging business fable that reveals the impact our underlying work style preferences have on our teams and their results. The authors present a breakthrough thinking process for developing successful teams. They introduce a uniquely effective set of tools built on FourSight, a measure of problem-solving preferences field-tested by top consultants, which can help anyone from professionals to novices solve problems and achieve performance breakthroughs.

Nancy Lyons started her career not fitting in anywhere. She was a loudmouth, shared her ideas too much, and brought big energy. But there wasn't room for that in a traditional office. Nowhere did she ever feel empowered as an employee and valued for what she brought to work. So when she became a CEO and business owner herself, she set out to cultivate a work culture unlike anything she'd experienced before, starting with her mindset. In Work Like a Boss, she teaches everyone boss or not how to do it, too.

Many of our experiences are compounded and complicated by the challenges of our fast-paced modern world, which can tempt us to compromise what we value most. Have your challenges overwhelmed you with anger, fear, and doubt, such that you have somewhat lost your confidence? Is your drive and determination not enough? Do you find yourself focused on the trivial and invaluable, rather than focused on what matters?