The Artistic Approach to Business
I experienced a spectacular mid life crisis.
I was simultaneously humbled by the unimaginative text book nature of it all and the incredibly personal individuality of it all.
And it happened at exactly 50 years old.
At 50, it was possible to split my career and identity into two: Before immigration and after immigration.
Before immigration I was an actor. I did not know it then, but I was firmly engaged with the gig economy and was very successfully creating and managing diverse income streams, which included:
Acting - stage and screen
Voice Overs - radio, documentaries
Storylining - story arcs for television dramas
Scriptwriting - television, theatre, documentaries
Copywriting - advertisements, creative pitches
Producing - theatre, cabaret
Directing - theatre, cabaret
On any given day I was doing almost all of these roles.
After immigration I was a Trust Administrator, Grants Writer, School Administrator, Teacher Aide, Copywriter and now business founder.
Enter Mid Life Crisis stage left.
It has taken me a minute to regain my footing.
It has taken a year of therapy and very hard work to consolidate, integrate and now move with intention into elderhood, or at the very least, post mid life.
I knew I had to find meaning in my new life, and I knew I had to find a through thread from the past that could help me gather and weave my rich, joyful, creative past into my present; so that I could recognise myself.
Quite by chance (or not), I came across Megan Macedo who speaks about an artistic approach to business and curating your career as a body of work.
Then I looked up “curate” and one definition was “making sense of”. (If you know anything about me, you would know that sense making is literally my life’s work; so you could not ever imagine the rabbit hole that I leapt into with the gayest of abandon!)
And I have come out of it so much richer.
I have learned that the key to sense making is starting with context…environment. Where am I now and how do I make sense here?
My career in the arts has a language to it; I know it well and I am at home in it.
I am startled every time I write “storyliner” as a descriptor of my work as apparently, Google has no idea that that is a thing. Something I am, is not recognised in the mainstream.
How can I be relevant and of value if my greatest gift is not a thing?
I understood that I needed to put my writing skills to the test:
I needed to put my career into context.
Here goes:
Acting is about communicating a message. It’s about engaging an audience. It’s about storytelling and it’s about performance. The wealth of experience I draw from 20 years of performing on stage enriches and brings my current leadership practice to life.
Voice Overs make me very comfortable in a studio, especially in the context of podcasts. I know how to work my voice and the microphone, I know how to transmit personality, intimacy and connection through the air waves.
Storylining is Content Strategy - constructing messaging arcs that hold true to a vision or value or pillar of a brand; and then breaking them down into bite size, digestible and entertaining chunks that attract an audience or community.
Scriptwriting is storytelling; which I use to enhance a brand or to help educate the community. This has been fundamental in all the work that I do, but mostly for sharing context. Storytelling tells a tale in a specific environment - vital for innovators and entrepreneurs as they deliver products that may not yet be understood.
Copywriting is concise storytelling.
Producing is what has enabled me to build businesses and create philanthropies - it is vision combined with pitching and presenting for investment. It is thrilling, risky and a constant reminder of being very much alive.
Directing is…. Directing. Keeping the team, the product and the execs all on the same page whilst progressing towards delivery - which is performance.
So over the course of three years I have curated, consolidated and integrated my life’s work.
I am back to creating and managing diverse income streams. All to do with people, building communities and educating.
And the result is two private businesses and one very public one: TouchPoint NZ. My leadership consultancy.
Because I know people - I have studied them, played them, written for them, directed them, spoken to them and performed for them.
And I know performance - how to be part of it, direct it, fund it, lead it, add to it and write for it.
And I know about working in concert (!) with technology - it has enhanced performance forever.
And I know about intergenerational teams and neurodiverse teams and dysfunctional teams and narcissistic leaders and leading men and lack of support and believing in a dream.
And I know success and I know failure.
And I know invention and innovation, and iteration and pivoting.
And I know what keeps people coming back.
I cannot wait to share my experiences and learnings with you.
They have been a lifetime in the making.