Business for Self-Employed Creatives

In this episode, I am talking with the multi-talented musician, radio host, businesswoman (and so much more) about wearing a lot of hats, adapting to the current climate and being forward-focused in your career. Beth is a well established French horn player with the Las Vegas Philharmonic. She toured with Wayne Newton, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis and has played with a range of artists - Metallica, the Who, Elton John, Luciano Pavarotti, and so many more. Beyond her musical career, she works as a voice actor, a radio personality, a writer, a teacher, and a business consultant. She's currently the Director of Marketing and Public Relations at the UNLV School of Music. And she was nominated for an Emmy for playing herself, which is just a cool thing to mention.

Connect with Beth on social:

Facebook: Personal profile 

Facebook: Music page

Twitter: @bethlano

01:24 "I have a lot of interests. But I also realized that, in order to have a decent amount of income as a musician, especially as a freelancer, you need to wear a lot of hats. So why not explore those things that you want to explore? Why not use the talents that you have, and earn money for doing them, and enjoy them at the same time?"

03:53 "If someone suddenly loses their sight, the other senses takeover. Having a lot of irons in the fire is the same way. The other irons are taking over and help us get through a situation like this. I'm really grateful that there are other things that I can do besides playing music."

05:35 "Where my attention is focused has been in teaching. I've had students who have shown improvement beyond what I thought they would show, because I think psychologically they depend on these lessons as feeling that they can actually express themselves, which does my heart good, too."

10:13 "I think it's important for everyone to remain nimble, and flexible, and adaptable. This is survival now. No one knows what the future is going to bring. Going back to normal may not ever happen. So what we have to do is face the fact that with so much uncertainty, we can only take a day at a time and make it the best we can."

12:20 "I really hope that people can learn to adapt. When technology goes bad, you can't get ticked off about it. You have to just roll with it. And that's kind of where we're at right now with everything. We have to learn how to roll with everything. I understand frustration levels and everything, but this is just a fresh set of challenges. So be patient with it and work through it."

17:37 "I've gotten rid of nearly half of my stuff, either throwing it away or bagging it up and getting it ready to donate. And realized in doing that, that's a real metaphor for how I want to be in every aspect of my life, but especially in in business. Moving forward, I want to be agile. I want to be able to go in whatever direction that I need to go in, in order to contribute to the world but also to contribute to my own well-being, my own evolving."

18:57 "Regardless of which of my hats I'm wearing, I have spiral notebooks, and I'm taking notes on everything." 

21:48 "One thing that I've always done is, I put everything in my phone. I put everything in my calendar. I think all of this prioritization, and note taking, and reinforcing ideas that you have, is really critical to us as we go forward in this digital age. We can't space out on things. People depend on us too much."

24:29 "It's really important to stay focused as much as you can. Let yourself go every once in a while, and dive into a movie or a TV show and decompress, but when you're on guard, be focused. Be focused - not fearful, but focused."

28:06 "When I see questions on job applications and stuff, 'Where do you see yourself in five years?' I just look at that and I go, oh, that's adorable. Because that probably was a great question to have, maybe 20 years ago, but it's so outdated now. The honest answer is, I don't know."

28:52 "With the unknown, you can choose to be afraid about what's unknown, or you can choose to embrace what the possibilities are. And I think it's great to reflect on the past, but you can't live there. And if you cling too hard to what has happened, and the way things used to be, and all of that stuff you are… you're condemned to be stuck there. And I truly believe that my favorite gig is definitely the next one. I've had some wonderful experiences, but I'm excited about what the future holds."

29:38 "I love all of the different things that I get to do. But I think it's important to take time for yourself."

32:38 About revenue streams and bartering: "Look around and see what you need help with. And if you have a service that you can provide to somebody else who can help you, then allow that to happen."

37:16 "The French horn sort of chose me."

40:14 "I think more than anything right now, because I'm not playing to earn money, when I play I play because I love it. And I play to explore music that I love. It’s not for anyone else, it's for me."

42:15 "When this first started, I think everybody was just - was and still is - we're all thrown into all of this uncertainty. And I was thinking, what can I control? Well, I can control what goes in and out of my body, and I can control how I treat my body. If you don't feed your body good pure food right now, your brain is not going to respond very well, and right now you need your wits about you."

43:51: "Be open to learning. Don't be afraid to say 'I don't know how to do this.' But make it your business to learn how to do it. Just be prepared. Don't ever stop learning because with that learning comes growth, and comes so many opportunities."

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