Creative Girl

You've heard this over and over again throughout your life. Your grandmother enthused over your fashion-forward paper doll collection, "You're so creative. What a wonderful gift!" A few years later your second grade teacher, Mrs. Darbyshire, cooed, "These watercolors are exquisite. What a creative girl you are." Then there was that ninth grade English teacher with the glass eye who called your parents—barely able to keep the emotion out of her voice—and told them she'd never read such promising writing from a fourteen-year-old. Of course, your parents nodded knowingly. They've heard this repeatedly, from those watercolors in second grade to your fifth grade performance as Rosie in Bye Bye Birdie (and, my God, how did you capture the desperation and longing of a thirty-year-old woman at age eleven?)

Welcome to your creativity. You've always had it, but now the real world is calling and it's time to make it—or break it.

When people asked me during college what I wanted to do for a living, I answered, "I want to act and write." This made well-meaning people so nervous that they couldn't help but ask about my back-up plan, as if my career was a birth control method destined to fail. I appreciate practicality as much as the next girl, but for me, the only work I've ever wanted to do was creative. Even my back-up plans were creative. After I graduated from the University of Notre Dame, I arrived in New York City with my theater degree, $239 and incredibly high hopes. I wrote short stories in the morning, auditioned in the afternoon and bartended at Tavern on the Green on the weekends. After dropping a rare and very expensive bottle of champagne on my way to deliver it to Robert De Niro's table, I realized I needed a way to fund my creative aspirations that didn't involve balancing a tray full of cocktails. So I announced my backup plan to my family and friends at my grandfather's eightieth birthday party. It went something like this:

Aunt Posie: "Would anyone like more cake?"

Me: "Yes, please."

Grandpa: "So, what are you doing for work these days?"

Me: "I've decided to support my acting habit by designing jewelry."

The reaction to this plan was like I'd said I wanted to breed unicorns. Fair enough, really: I didn't have any design experience. But I ignored the naysayers, taught myself how to make jewelry, and launched my line in 2004. Before I knew it, major fashion magazines were covering my work and the Olsen twins were strolling around L.A. clutching Starbucks cups and wearing my jewelry. I capitalized on my previous acting training, got an agent, and started appearing on TV as a style expert, eventually co-hosting a television show on The Home Shopping Network. By the time I was in my mid-twenties, I was able to support myself creatively. I haven't looked back since.

Of course, I made a zillion mistakes along the way. The first time a magazine editor asked for images of my work, I put the jewelry on a photocopier and sent her color copies instead of taking digital pictures (I couldn't afford a camera). I mixed up a jewelry sample I designed for Target, and the piece that appeared on their website ended up being different from the one customers actually received. A necklace I designed broke ON AIR while I was chatting with the ladies from The View. While I was talking about my jewelry, it fell from my neck to my lap because I didn't spend enough time getting the clasp right. That glorious moment is preserved, forever, on a DVD at my parents' house.

Trust me, there are plenty more where those came from. Everything I learned from my mistakes—not only about sturdy clasps, but the actual business and career lessons—is in this book, along with the guidance I wish I'd had then. I interviewed other creative professionals about everything they wished they'd known, too. I made it my goal to write the book my creative colleagues and I needed when we embarked on our careers.

A creative career path is winding and very different from a traditional one. This book will support you from the first moments of assessing your talent to building a financially solvent livelihood. Together, we'll debunk the starving artist cliché and become successful, self-supported artists by focusing on the financial, emotional, and spiritual fulfillment attainable in a creative life. Age doesn't matter here; you'll find guidance whether you're a college student wondering what in the world to do after graduation, a thirtysomething stay-at-home mom, or a retiree who wants to launch an interior decorating empire. This guide gives you a bird's-eye view of how to achieve the happiest creative life possible.

While you're reading, keep your mind open to the myriad options for bringing home the bacon with your creativity. You may decide to work at a creative company, freelance, or open your own business. Many of you will follow the order laid out in these pages; you'll start at a creative company and transition to freelance or a small business entrepreneurship. Some of you may work in the opposite direction—you'll start off on your own and segue into an exciting creative career with the company of your dreams.

You'll get the real story from creative girls (CGs) living life in the creative trenches. Their careers range from lipstick moguls to voice-over actors, and their positions range from interns to full-blown creative superstars. You'll discover a resounding message in each anecdote and every chapter: you can do this. You can make a career with your creativity, you can turn what inspires you into what pays your bills, and you can grin like the cat that swallowed the canary every time someone asks you what you do for a living.

The book you're holding is laid out in two parts: Part One is a welcome-to-your-creativity party where we'll figure out exactly what the heck you want to do. You'll evaluate your talent and your current job situation. If your job stinks, we'll talk about strategies for making it work before taking the leap to full-time creative girl. Because as tempting as it is to storm out of your non-creative job shouting, "Next time you'll see me, I'll be holding an Oscar!" the truth is, you want to be financially savvy and strategic about your next move.

Part Two is your roadmap for getting where you want to go. Once you're there, we'll talk about finding emotional, spiritual, and financial fulfillment. To reach career nirvana, you have to take into account your day-to-day happiness and wellbeing. That means making money a priority, too. Financial freedom plus emotional freedom is freedom, and that freedom allows each creative girl the healthiest space possible to peacefully create.

You'll find numerous ideas for creating an inspired career that provides you with the ultimate in creative fulfillment. Bring your most idealistic self and approach the material with healthy curiosity. I'll discuss hundreds of practical career strategies, so the realist in you will be satisfied, but give yourself room to dream big. Resist the urge to judge your ideas. If you're not going to make great plans for yourself, then who is?

Have a pen ready for journaling exercises. If you're on the go, scrawl ideas in the blank pages at the back of the book. Any time an urge or inspiration strikes you, jot it down. Let the material marinate, and use whatever resonates with you to move forward. Remember that wherever you are on your career path, being open, aware, and mindful will serve you. I'll give you some simple tips for meditation—it's not just for enlightened yogis, and I promise not to make you wear white—so that you can sit quietly and allow your body and intuition to give you feedback. Sometimes, after you've examined all the facts, you just need to quiet down and reflect in order to make a difficult decision.

Creative success is at your fingertips. Put your intention there, allow new adventures, and see how the world opens up for you.

Let's get started.