“You don’t have to create a masterpiece every day. Some days you just need to paint.” – Jesyca Medellin

“Create! Focus on just getting it out of you: onto the paper, onto the stage, on the recording, onto the canvas, etc. the editing process happens after you’ve gotten it out of you, not before.

Progress isn’t a straight slope, it’s more like a wave pattern— the trajectory isn’t always upward. You don’t have to make your work perfect, or even better than the last thing you did. If you focus on making your work honest then, even when your trajectory isn’t upward, it will always be forward.

Art is meant to be shared, and it’s also meant to be consumed. So, sharing art is kind of like sharing food. Once it is shared, it no longer belongs to you. There’s no way to take back what’s been consumed, and there’s no way to control the digestive process. Don’t try to possess what doesn’t belong to you, and don’t stress over what you can’t control. Some things aren’t right for everyone to eat. A food pleasant to one creature may be toxic to another: one creature may be able to chew the cud but isn’t able to tear the meat from the bone. Create in consideration of the health of the ones you’re meant to feed, not the ones you aren’t.” –Nathaniel Rainey

 “Always stay true to who you are. Finding your ‘creative style’ does not happen overnight. Also, never be afraid of criticism or a challenge from those you look up too. And never stop seeking inspiration.” –Gabriel Garcia

“Force yourself to work. Sometimes as artists we wait for the right “mood” to use our creativity, and sometimes we get to reliant on that mood to be the driving force of our creativity. In order to be a productive, reliable artist, you have to train your creativity as you would a muscle. To take the time out of your day to challenge yourself to create without being in the mood.” – Caleb Gonzales

“Develop relationships with other creatives ….they will help you through the hard times and remind you who you are when the discouragement tries to sell you a lie that you’re less than…Our relationships have catapulted us over some deep discouragements and disappointments.” –Tanya Dillard

“Don’t be afraid to try new things or things that seem difficult. And don’t fear failure. I can honestly say trying something and failing has taught me so much more in life. The next time, you know what not to do. Take every failure as a stepping stone towards your ultimate goal. Learn from your mistakes and keep moving forward. ” – Becky De Leon 

If you are a creative person looking for a community, join the movement by clicking here.

If you would like more info about the RISE Movement, check out our mission presentation by clicking here.

Until next time! Share any advice or encouragement you may have for others on their creative journey, in the comments below.

After 13 years of being married to an artist, I can tell you there are pros and cons. Every marriage takes work, whether you’re an artist or not. But I must say, my marriage has been one of my life’s greatest works. It’s a work I have devoted a lot of time and effort into. My relationship with Jarrell has been the relationship that I have put before all others for the last 15 years. So even though we are sooooooo different from each other, we are still together. Even though we do not initially agree on a lot of approaches to segments of our life, we are still together. Even though he has lots of females around him all the time because he is an artist, I still trust him and we are still together. Despite these things, our partnership grows and expands each year. Even though right now we are in one of the most stretching and scary seasons of our entire marriage…we celebrate 13 years today.  Another year down. We are an anomaly. I want to see all of my married creative friends go beyond celebrating that their marriages have made it another year. Instead, I want to see their union and partnership get better and better as they simultaneously bring their creative visions to life.

3 Keys that I believe has helped our artist marriage thrive over the years:

1. Jarrell has always acknowledged our marriage and family to his fans, in his music, and from the stage- Sometimes we feel like the “odd man out” when we are at large industry events… simply because we are married with a family. Singleness is esteemed in the music industry sometimes. Maybe you’ve seen a few married artists choose not to wear their wedding rings on stage in order to give a “single” look to their fans. It happens, but I don’t know if Jarrell and I would still be together if he felt like he had to pretend like his family didn’t exist in order to “make it” as an artist. All that pretending on stage could definitely tempt an artist to act like it is true, even when the music stops.
2. He has purposely made space for me in his music career- Music isn’t “his thing” it’s OUR thing. I can’t play instruments, sing, rap, or produce music, but WE have music albums. You may ask, “How can you claim his hard work as an artist as your own?” While I haven’t played a creative role in the putting all of the music together, he has allowed me to play major parts behind the scenes of the album’s production. It is 100% a team effort. He has given me the freedom to insert my giftings into what he does. Over the years, I have invested more and more into the creative process as I have realized my talents and his needs. Music can never be “the other woman” if we are doing it together. In fact, every member of #TeamFlowers (our family) has consistently sacrificed to support his creative endeavors.
3. We both have submitted our lives to our Creator- I saved the most important key for last! Because we both strive to please our God, it can help bring closure to the disagreements that could destroy our union. I know that, if Jarrell is really in the wrong and not listening to me, he will listen to his Creator correcting him. That makes all the difference. I don’t have to nag or whine or manipulate to get him to see his errors. I just have to patiently allow the Holy Spirit to change his heart on the matter so that he sees the truth. And this happens vice versa too. Ecclesiastes 4:12 teaches us that one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves, but a cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Our Creator is our 3rd strand.

Today Jarrell and I have been married for 13 years. We would love to celebrate marriages with our friends. In the comments, tell us who we are celebrating by telling us your names and how long you have been married.

Bonus: Watch a music video of my family here. If you and your spouse are going through a difficult time let this song encourage you.

1. Work on your business, not just in your business – When you are a creator selling your art, you probably need to work in your business because you are the artist. But working on your creative business and not just in your creative business should be every creator’s goal. For example, an independent music artist should work on the structure that presents your art to fans & patrons instead of solely working on the art itself. Both are equally vital! Build your art business, not just your art collection.
2. Website > Social Network – Both a website and social network presence are needed in this day and age. In the online world, owning a domain where you house your website is like the concept of home ownership. It is to be aspired toward. Having a social network presence is like renting an apartment. It’s a good place to be, but it could be taken away at any time by the owner (the creator of the social network site). So putting all of your eggs in the social network basket, so to speak, is never wise. You must “own” a way to contact and present your art to your tribe beyond social network. Therefore, building an email list of your tribe and housing all of your business and art info on one central website is ideal for longterm communication. You may ask, “Why all the doubt in the life expectancy of huge social networks?” One word…Myspace.
3. Be “3 deep” – I suggest that you are “3 deep” in every outsourced position in your creative business. Do you hire a person to perform a task on a project by project basis for some of your business needs? That is called outsourcing. Some things we personally outsource to freelancers are graphic design, photography, videography, web development, performance musicians, etc…We may have a person that we have worked with in the past that comes to mind every time we are ready to make a new video for example. But what happens if that freelancer is busy or has a family emergency and can not complete our project by our reasonable deadline? Well, if we are “3 deep”, then we have no need to panic. We just contact one of the other videographers that we have enjoyed working with in the past. When we are “3 deep” we are bound to have someone available to meet the deadline for our project.
4. Choosing a tour mate is about more than talent – (This one is more music-specific, but it can apply to the process of finding the right partner in many aspects of your business.) The lifestyle and the personality of your tour mate are oh so important. This is something I have always encouraged my husband to consider when choosing who goes on the road with him. Yes, they need to be super talented, but they also need not annoy or frustrate him with their presence. LOL! You are a unique individual and you may not mix well with every artist you meet…and that’s ok! If you are spending days on the road together, having countless conversations over mealtime, and trying to present chemistry while on stage, then the entire person needs to be considered. Are you (and your family) energized or depleted after being around them? Spend some time with them AND their family (if married) off of the stage and make sure they are a good fit before adding them to the team. If your kids spend every encounter fighting with their kids, your spouses never speak to each other, and you have a completely opposite sense of humor…just keep looking. Even if you love their talent, keep looking. It’s just not worth it!

Creative friends, how will you find the people you need to become “3 deep” or tour with for example? My answer is COMMUNITY. You need community with other creatives in your industry. This is only one of many reasons why my husband and I believe in the RISE movement so much. Click here to join our RISE online community for creatives and join the movement.

What tip from the last two blogs will you apply to your journey? Let me know in the comments below.

Today, I am sharing 3 easy tips that you can implement that would empower you as a creative in business today.

1. Fail often!– Successful creatives that we admire always have an abundance of stories about when things went wrong. Have you ever thought, “How is it that this insanely successful person has had so many things go wrong? Most of the things I decide to do works out pretty well for me.” I believe that they have these kinds of stories because they are constantly taking risks. Brave people who step out and try new things will have more opportunities to fail.  If you aren’t failing, then you’re not trying anything. If you aren’t trying anything, then you have no opportunity to succeed. No Bueno. I’ve learned that taking risks and trying things that could either succeed or fail in front of my peers is a normal occurrence on a successful person’s journey.
2. Always pre-determine the ROI (Return On Investment)– Creative friends, this is so important to think about before considering ANY opportunity. Before accepting a gig from a new promoter. Before signing a contract with an agency. Before collaborating on a project with a new artist friend. Before doing anything new or anything you have done before, determine if there is any return on your investment of time and talent. If there is no return that you can verbalize, then ask yourself why you are drawn to participate. Sometimes, it’s because we don’t think highly about OUR time and talents so we treat them like something of no value. We aren’t treating them like our gift from our Creator. Sometimes, it’s because we sincerely feel like God wants us to do this specific thing. Unfortunately, we may also believe that He doesn’t care about reaping a return or multiplying our efforts. (That could be its own blog in itself. lol)  ROI = multiplication and the parable of the talents from the Bible tells us that is very important to GOD.
3. Under promise and over deliver– If you are a performing creative, this is how you keep your performance calendar filling up for your current project. A lot of places that book you will bring you back over and over for their future events! But they will not be inclined to do so if you or your representative talked you up and inflated you and your skill set just to get in the door. When a promoter or event planner requests a particular service and you show up to exceed their expectations, they WILL want to invite you back. What can you do to exceed expectations? This can be done in MANY different ways. One thing I see that Jarrell does often is that he makes personal connections with the people who brought him in AND with the concert attendees. He doesn’t hide out in the green room after the concert. He is often found talking, encouraging, or praying with staff, volunteers, and concert attendees until he is starving and exhausted. In this example, he may have promised to rap a few songs, but he delivered more than expected.

I hope this helped! I have 4 more tips coming in my next blog. Two weeks from now it can be delivered right to your inbox by simply leaving your email here: Click to Subscribe to Jeneil’s Angle

I would love to hear some of your tips for creatives who are on the journey too. Tell us in the comments below.

The same week of Jarrell’s last Sunday working at the church, we started touring his music. I call the July travel schedule “touring” because that’s what it felt like to our family, but really it was really what the music industry refers to as “one-off” concerts. The road trips included Mexico, Colorado, Mississippi, and Texas. Doing these trips as a family had its hard moments, but oh it was so worth it. Overall June and July were great!

So far this month, I have given a lot of time to helping Jarrell “write the vision and make it plain” in regards to what we feel called to do for creatives through this RISE movement. That has been interesting because we have not only been writing it down. We’ve been making business proposals in the form of visual presentations. I thought that these kinds of presentations were only done by professionals. You know, the people with masters degrees or something. But we are doing it. LOL! Every moment of planning and presenting the vision (over and over) is worth it when I think of this much-needed movement taking flight for all of my present and future creative friends.

We have also been planning for Jarrell’s next full-length album.  So that means it’s album production season over here. Fortunately, the funds for this next album have already been secured. “Yay!” for investors who know their business is their mission! They are anointed to go AND to send others. We’re seeking The Lord for more business owners with a clear understanding of their mission in regards to the great commission. 

These past 4 days are a good reflection of what life looks like for this artist wifey-manager this new season. We have slept in two different cities, we have done one concert, we have attended a Sunday service at our home church, I received a very needed deep tissue massage, we had two different RISE vision meetings with some successful business friends, and we have hosted one RISE group family dinner with 40 of our creative friends. It’s an interesting season. In one sense, Jarrell is home and we are together as a family more than ever. On the other hand, now that Jarrell doesn’t have a full-time job, we seem busier than ever. LOL!

I have enjoyed writing these weekly Jeneil’s Angle blogs for you this summer. I love giving advice to creatives from my angle as a co-owner of a creative business and wife of an indie artist. So far, my blog has talked about many helpful topics such as:

• The intersection of your greatest talent and your greatest passion
• Who makes up your tribe
• What to do with your pain points
• Do I have a creative hobby or business
• Is my creative ministry a business
• Project planning tips

(If you’ve missed any of my previous blogs, don’t forget that they’re archived for you. Just click HERE.)

I also homeschool my kids. We took a long summer break because we had a full summer which included transitioning Jarrell to work from home and music travel. Well, we’re getting back to our homeschool routine this week. This calls for a new blogging schedule for me. So my next blog will be two weeks from now and I will continue that bi-weekly pattern for the rest of the year. I’m excited to continue to help my creative friends with more tips and wisdom that I’ve obtained over the years.

I’m curious. What would you like for me to write about next in regards to business for creatives? Tell me in the comments below.

Here is some wisdom from our Creator regarding planning:

Habakkuk 2:2 And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

Luke 14:28-30  ²⁸ “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? ²⁹ For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, ³⁰ saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

Here are some steps to help you get started on a plan for your next creative project:

1. The Vision– This is the creative idea. It’s the foundation of the entire project. Without a clear vision, the entire work will disintegrate before it manifests. This vision must come out of your creative mind and land on paper so that your support team and tribe can help you bring it to life.
2. The Budget– This is a spending plan as you make the vision materialize. EVERYTHING that will cost you money should be included in the budget. This must be done before a single dime is spent on the new idea! There are many times when the details of an idea will change along this process, and you could spend money in an area that truly wasn’t needed if you spend before completing the budget. The second part of this step (once your realistic budget is on paper) is to determine where the money will come from. There are many ways to obtain money for your new creative project including income from employment, crowdsourcing, fundraisers, investors, your savings accounts, etc…
3. The Timeline– This is for building the system around your calendar for production accountability. Start with the ship date (the day you release your creation to the world) and then work your way back to the present day. It’s important to set your benchmarks in realistic segments of time. You are not one dimensional. You must consider your family calendar and your work calendar simultaneously in order for your benchmarks to be accurate. Also, consider the calendars of services that you choose to outsource. For example, if you have a deadline of March 15th to have your album mixed and mastered by, then you need to ensure that the person providing this service has time to work on it in that time frame. And also that they can have it to you by March 10th. Why? Because life happens, not just for you but everyone you work with. For this purpose alone, their deadline for a finished product must be BEFORE yours. Trust me, you will regret giving them the same deadline as you have on your timeline. Write your timeline down and put in parenthesis under each task what due date you gave the person you outsourced to.
4. The Marketing– This is how you present the vision to the public in a systematic way. If no one knows about your project, then all the planning was in vain. We create projects to serve and help people. One way of serving people is by writing a plan of how and when they will hear about your new project. People need to “hear” about something at least 7 times before they truly have an “aha” moment and buy-in to what you are advertising. Plan for them to hear often without being “spammy”.

If you have a creative idea that you are ready to start on and could use some specific project planning help, shoot me an email at Jeneil@freedommusicgroup.com.

Please share your favorite planning tips for creatives in the comments below!

This week, let’s see what the difference is between ministry and business. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “ministry” can simply be defined as “the period of service or office of a minister”. A minister is defined simply as an “agent”. Sometimes we over-spiritualize the term “ministry”. But based on a literal definition of the word, any person or agent who is serving their community is technically participating in ministry.

Rabbi Daniel Lapin, in his book Thou Shall Prosper, said, “Deep within traditional Jewish culture lies the conviction that the only real way to achieve wealth is to attend diligently to the needs of others and to conduct oneself in an honorable and trustworthy fashion.” Creative friends, doesn’t that sound just like ministry?  “…attend diligently to the needs of others and to conduct oneself in an honorable and trustworthy fashion.” That was practically my ministry creed no matter which non-profit I was employed with or where I was volunteering at the time. I was in ministry BECAUSE I was serving. Well, can you guess the context of Rabbi Lapin’s quote when he wrote it? It was written about BUSINESS in chapter 1 entitled “The Dignity and Morality of Business”. Selah. (Pause and think about that.)

I grew up with business owners all around me. To this day, my dad and all of his siblings own businesses. I always said that I never wanted to be a business owner. Mainly because it looked hard and sounded like a lot of work. Lol! After high school, I went to a Bible school where I was trained in Christian life studies with an emphasis in church leadership. In fact, I have 21 years of experience in church leadership. If there is anyone who would have to spend years of retraining their mind so that they could simply wrap their brain around the idea of business being their ministry, it’s me. Some of you may know that my husband (and I) just transitioned out of ordained full-time ministry at our local church just a month ago. The Lord had to renew my mind to believe that, though we are no longer employed as ordained ministers in our local church, we are still in ministry as creative business owners. Our clients, target market, social network followers, fans, patrons, fellow indie artists, and everyone we serve in our music industry world is our mission field. Going into full-time business didn’t take us out of ministry. Our mission field just expanded exponentially!

So my business is my ministry. Newsflash, your creative business is your ministry too! Serving your client is serving in your mission field. Biblical business practice is living out the gospel in a corrupt world system. Your business should be a light in a world of greedy business owners and shady industry professionals.

Creative friends, if you are feeling torn between doing ministry and doing business because you know that what you create has a truth attached to it that can change lives, be encouraged. That is actually the inherent goodness of business coming out of you. Attending diligently to the needs of your clients and dealing honorably in your business transactions is the ministry. Our community does nothing but benefit from creatives who do business in this way.

Like the Apostle Paul said in Colossians 4, I say to you, “See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.” How are you using your talents to serve (minister) to your community through your creative business? Tell me in the comments below.

1. Hobby- When you create as a leisure activity. It costs you money. You are not making a profit.*
2. Business- When you create your art as a profession by engaging in profitable commerce. Basically, your services and products make you money.

• Longevity- The only way for you to continually change your world through your art is to make a profit. If you work a 9 to 5 job and you only brought home what you financially invested into your work, you would not be working there very long. You would move on to a job with greener pastures that benefit you too by giving you a real return on your investment of time. We have to think the same way about our creative business, even if it is just a side hustle. We have to see a return on the time we invest into our art, or there will be no time or funds left to create more art.

“We don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies.” -Walt Disney

• Servanthood- When you build a business, you’re not just building it for your own pleasure. You’re also building it for the people you serve. As a business owner you know that, when you serve others well, they will reciprocate that service with “little green bills of appreciation”. That’s what Rabbi Daniel Lapin calls money, by the way. Lol! The amount of money you receive has a direct correlation with how well you serve others. If you are not profiting, you really have to assess how well you are serving.

“A hobby serves you. A business serves others.” -Cathy Heller

• To Thrive- I want to see Artists bringing home a profit so that they can take care of themselves, stay healthy, educate themselves to grow better in their skills, keep a roof over their head, etc. I believe that creatives feel more free to create when they live a life of financial dignity rather than a life as a “starving artist.”

“It all begins with you. If you do not care for yourself, you will not be strong enough to take care of anything in life.” -Leon Brown

• Giving- You also can’t give if there is not a profit. Some artists are “feelers”, making them compassionate and giving towards the plight of others. It is very common to find artists who are also spokespersons for organizations that help with all kinds of social injustices. We as a community must choose not to take advantage of your giving hearts, and to pay you for your creations that so greatly enhance our lives. This ensures you have a profit that can help you to freely give to community needs that tug at your soul.

“Being generous is the hallmark of people who live successful lives and who operate business with a soul.” -Dave Ramsey

Creative friends, when you win in business then we all win. Encouraging creatives like yourself to profit is not only good for you, but for our community. Serving people well through business is being a good neighbor. We need what you have to offer and we need you offering it while thriving and not starving. The more I learn about the goodness of business, the more I despise to hear those words “starving artist”. Friends, let’s make a promise to never accept the words “starving artists” as a badge of honor ever again.

In the comments, lets talk about how you are feeling about turning your creative hobby into a business.

Bonus: For my creative friends who want to read something more lengthy that includes the topic of “hobby vs business”, there is a great book by Christy Wright called “Business Boutique.” Another great read on the goodness of doing business is “Thou Shalt Prosper” by Rabbi Daniel Lapin. No link this time, but you may purchase either book wherever audio or physical books are sold.

*Note: If you have a hobby that doesn’t mean money is never exchanged for your art. It means there is no profit. So lets say you spend $500 a month on your online side business, and you bring in $500 a month (or less) from sales, you’ve got a hobby. Though money was exchanged for your art, technically it is not a business, because you have not made a profit at the end of the year. In fact, when you file your business income tax with the IRS each year, and it is a “loss” year after year you could find yourself getting audited. The government does not want to give tax breaks on losses to a hobbyist. Never making any profit year after year may red flag your tax return to the IRS. Please talk with your CPA for tax legal advice regarding this matter.

(If you haven’t read my previous blog on “Who you need in your tribe?”, click here.)

How could your tribe help relieve your pain points, you ask? Here are a few examples:

#1 You want to create something new, but have trouble staying internally motivated to complete your creative work. I would suggest using your fans as external motivation. You could set a deadline to have the project (album, book, apparel, etc…) completed and then tell your fans that this particular project will be out on such-n-such date. Then work backwards from that date and create private deadlines for yourself in order to meet that goal. Sometimes the embarrassment of not keeping your word of accomplishing or having to move the release date over and over will help motivate you to stay on task. Also, talking about that release date publicly will be good marketing for the new creative work you are about to release to your tribe.

#2 You aspire to publish a book that you know will benefit your tribe, but it will cost thousands to publish it and your savings account says, “No go”. Ask your patrons for help. Even if you don’t already have a website set up to take financial contributions, you could set up a Patreon account for FREE. Then ask your patrons to pay you $5 or $10 or $25 for every chapter you write. You will be paid to write and held accountable to accomplish all at the same time.

#3 You are motivated and determined to make your first album and national tour. Yeah! You’re on cloud 9 with excitement until you realize you have never done either before and don’t know where to start. You know there are half a dozen books on how to do it at your local bookstore, but you remember from high school that reading a manual alone never really cut it for your creative mind. You need a coach. A coach can mentor you on how to use your strengths more and to collaborate where you are weak, in order to meet your goal. Your coach can help you make a plan and budget that guides you away from the pitfalls on your journey to reaching your ultimate goal.

Your tribe, no matter how small or large, has everything you need for this leg of the journey. You may be only one degree of separation from who God has here as a solution to your present pain point. So I challenge you to be brave and reach out.

What is your most prominent pain point and how will you reach out to your tribe for help? Let me know in the comment section.

I hope the tips from “Jeneil’s Angle” have helped you. Click here to get more blogs and tips in your inbox weekly.

Here is this week’s coaching tip from my angle: Identify your supporters and what level of support they are presently in. Then, as much as it is up to you, keep healthy and whole relationships with this tribe. My artist husband, Jarrell, truly amazes me in this area. As I write, I hear him in my head saying, “Relationships are the currency of the Kingdom [of God].”  As a creative, you can build healthy relationships with your tribe of supporters by being authentic, honest, and courteous as you invite them on your journey. These relationships are worth more than gold.

If you are a creative that could use some guidance from a coach, I’d love to see if I can help you. Private message me by Facebook or Instagram at @JeneilFlowers, or email me at Jeneil@freedommusicgroup.com, to let me know some areas where you could personally use some guidance.

As you wait for next week’s Jeneil’s Angle blog, here is a great read from one of my favorite bloggers, Seth Godin,  “The perils of the discard” https://seths.blog/2018/07/the-perils-of-the-discard-pile/. It is a short read about not discarding ideas or people.