What happens when your career plans don’t end up working out? Independent artist turned community founder Jamie Smith will explain why it’s okay to allow yourself to shift away from your original goals and move forward with “imperfect” ideas. Afterwards, during the Mental Fuel® segment, I’ll share one of the plans I had for my own business that didn’t end up panning out.

Key Career Insights

1. You have the power to create the community you need. If you can’t find an existing, likeminded group of people, don’t forget that you can also take the initiative to organize a community yourself.
2. Don’t remain too rigidly attached to your original goals. Listen to what you need and what others need, then adjust.
3. Sometimes, you need to get out of your own way and stop fighting against the natural evolution of your career.
4. Instead of trying to get a perfect idea out there, get your best available idea out the door, then iterate & improve based on the feedback you get.

Tweetables to Share

Resources Mentioned

• I was first introduced to Jamie by our guest Sandeep Johal from Episode 20. Check out that episode if you’re interested in hearing more about another artist’s journey.
• Jamie mentioned Asana as a free tool she uses to stay organized and Canva, which you can use to create polished graphics and visuals to help you market your ideas.
• If you would like to hear more about the importance of letting your goals evolve, check out Career Relaunch episode 23 with Krishelle Hardson-Hurley
• If you happen to be an artist, feel free to apply for the next mastermind intake on the Thrive Art Studio community page.

Listener Challenge