Season 1 Recap and Future of Minding My Creative Business Podcast

In their Season 1 recap of the 'Minding My Creative Business Podcast', hosts Ron 'iRonic' Lee and ShySpeak delve into critical insights, personal reflections, and advice on navigating creative entrepreneurship. They reference pivotal moments and key learning from the season, emphasizing the process of evolving from an infringer to a CEO. In the season finale, the duo discusses the plan for their upcoming season, inviting listener feedback to shape future content. They announce a brief hiatus to prepare for Season 2, and end with their podcast's mantra which reflects a dedication to nurturing creative businesses.

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

00:39 The Purpose of the Live Stream Episode

01:21 Recap of the First Season

02:11 Engaging with the Audience

02:53 Reflections on the Podcast Journey

05:02 The Joy of Execution and Expansion

07:25 The Importance of Structure and Contracts

09:18 The Power of Partnership

10:44 The Value of Creativity

12:36 The Impact of Responsibility on Business Growth

14:35 The Role of Creativity in Business Expansion

18:54 The Importance of Teamwork and Delegation

21:45 The Power of Legacy and Entrepreneurship

24:56 The Importance of Communication in Business

28:44 The Role of Leadership in Team Management

33:51 Delegating Tasks and Building a Team

34:21 The Importance of Self-Development in Leadership

34:47 Engaging with Live Audience and Addressing Questions

35:29 Understanding Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)

36:08 The Role of Training and Skill in Team Building

36:56 The Importance of Protecting Your Ideas

37:05 The Role of NDAs in Different Scenarios

39:16 The Journey of a Creative Entrepreneur

41:10 The Importance of Working in Relevant Fields

42:38 The Transition from Creative to CEO

42:39 The Importance of Identifying as a Creative Entrepreneur

43:31 The Journey of a Multi-Hyphenate Creative Entrepreneur

47:39 The Importance of Pricing and Return on Investment

56:33 The Importance of Identifying as a Creative Entrepreneur

01:01:50 The Importance of Community and Feedback

01:04:45 Closing Remarks and Looking Forward to Season Two

Key Topics:

• Journey of Creation: The process and challenges of creating the podcast.
• Emotional Reflections: Joy, pride, and optimism felt by the hosts.
• Entrepreneurial Insights: Lessons learned from interviewing successful creative entrepreneurs.
• Challenges and Solutions: Overcoming technical and marketing hurdles.
• Future Aspirations: Plans for expanding and enhancing the podcast experience for listeners.

Tips for Creative Entrepreneurs:

1. Execution is Key: Moving from idea to execution is crucial. Planning and ideation are important, but the real value comes from bringing those ideas to life.
2. Embrace the Highs and Lows: The entrepreneurial journey is filled with ups and downs. Learning from both the successes and challenges is essential for growth.
3. Seek Guidance: No matter your industry, learning from those who have succeeded before you can provide invaluable insights and help avoid common pitfalls.
4. Focus on Quality: Whether it's the content of your podcast or any creative output, striving for excellence will set you apart and resonate with your audience.
5. Marketing Matters: Understanding the importance of marketing and finding effective strategies to promote your work is critical for reaching your target audience.

This episode serves as a testament to the hard work, dedication, and passion required to create and sustain a successful podcast targeted at empowering creative entrepreneurs.

The ninth episode of the MMCB podcast, hosted by ShySpeaks and Ron

"iRonic" Lee Jr., marks a significant milestone in their journey to

empower creative entrepreneurs. Their reflection on the season's

achievements and challenges provides valuable insights into the

realities of content creation and the entrepreneurial spirit. Despite

facing technical and marketing difficulties, their unwavering dedication

and positive reception from their audience underscore the impact and

importance of their work. Looking ahead, their plans for expansion and

improvement reveal a forward-thinking approach, promising even greater

contributions to the creative community. This episode not only

celebrates their accomplishments but also sets the stage for future

growth, reinforcing the podcast's role as a beacon for creative

entrepreneurs seeking inspiration, guidance, and a sense of community.

Through their experiences, ShySpeaks and Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr. exemplify

the resilience, creativity, and commitment essential for success in the

ever-evolving landscape of creative entrepreneurship.

[00:00:12] ShySpeaks: And I am your host as well, ShySpeak.

[00:00:39] ShySpeaks: Alright, so, first and foremost, we are, this is our very first live stream episode. And so, uh, while, I feel like our intro came in kind of like, I almost really want to start this one over, but I haven't seen Ron hit the end yet, so I'm going to keep it going. The reason I want to point that out is because this is a live stream episode.

[00:01:17] So either way it go, we have, uh, we have a place for you. Now, one of the things that is our goal for this episode, this episode is episode number eight. And, uh, the, the, we, we decided to do a live stream episode because we want to be able to go back and recap. What all has happened? And then in this first season of MMCV podcast, right?

[00:01:58] So, you know, it's just gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna break it down in a certain way. So we're about to drop some gems and reflect. Um, we also are going to Like I said, we're going to ask them some advice from you here at the end. But before we ask that advice, I want you to know if you are tuning in live, you have the opportunity to comment and interact with us right here and right now.

[00:02:36] And again, if you're watching the replay, we have a moment for you, but you have to stick around to the end. That's the context. That's the goal of this episode.

[00:02:53] All right. So let's, I always like to do like a little check in, right. Just to kind of see, you know, like. Let's see. Listen, this is our, our tech, our eighth, but technically ninth episode. We had episode zero, but this is the ninth episode. Um, and with this, I want to know how was this journey for you? So like, how do you feel in a moment about the podcast and just, you know, what we were able to accomplish in this season?

[00:03:30] ShySpeaks: know, to be honest, I feel.

[00:03:55] So I'm, I'm just proud of, uh, us being able to like think through something, decide a group of people who we want to help, which is creative entrepreneurs, and then like deliver it to them. And what we would, what I would say is an excellent way. So I feel happy. I feel joy and I feel proud. What's up? How about you?

[00:04:33] Um, no, it's just one of those things to where definitely it's excitement. Um, I'm optimistic about. What is to come as a result of us doing this podcast and not just for us, but for the community that we're helping. So I feel really, really, really, really, really good about it. Right. I'm, I'm, yeah, I'm like I said, excited, optimistic are the two adjectives that are, uh, that are coming up for me in this

[00:04:57] Man, that's good. Excited, optimistic, joy, and proud. Like, and that's one of the things that I want to make sure that creative entrepreneurs understand that they have the opportunity to do when you fully, um, execute an idea. You, you, you have the ability to like, well, did this many people see it? Did this many followers do it?

[00:05:43] And that's what I love about this podcast because when we interview the people who are six, seven and even eight figure earners, you're able to get that guidance, you know, especially if they're, if the creative entrepreneur that we're interviewing is Like specifically in the industry that you're in, you know, but even if not, there's still some gems that's dropping.

[00:06:05] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: I want a high point before we get into the gems. I want to know like what was your high and then what was your low? Right. Cause once again, like this entrepreneurial journey, transparent

[00:06:17] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: here, we want to be transparent because we had, we had these rollercoaster moments, right.

[00:06:38] What, what was the low for

[00:07:12] We had a person that we found and we were like, okay, this person could help us. We contracted them and it didn't work out. Right. And so that was kind of a low point. So, and I'm happy you asked this question because that's very transparent. We knew we weren't going to be able to do all the things ourselves as it relates to like getting all the posts out, making sure we're sharing on YouTube, making sure we're sending out e blasts, text blasts, making sure we're letting media know, making sure we're letting the group, Facebook groups that we're a part of and stuff like that.

[00:07:53] Yeah. I don't want to do these things. I don't want to do these things. That's a low point for me. Not

[00:08:17] Three times

[00:08:23] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: what we gonna be doing. Right. Listen, we recorded episode one three times and just trying to keep that energy and synergy for what we actually was, was, was able to publish. Um, because we were having, it was like audio issues then visual issues. And it was, it was a, it was, it was, yeah.

[00:08:49] ShySpeaks: be doing?

[00:09:00] So, you know, it was, it was worth it. I don't know, I don't know about you, but I've been getting great feedback from people regarding the podcast as well. So, um, so yeah, so that, so I guess that'll lead me into, uh, I guess my high, right? I guess, uh, you know, that'll lead me to my high is that I've been getting good feedback, right?

[00:09:33] And I said, it hasn't been droves of people, but it's definitely been enough people where it's like, nope, keep going. Like we got to keep going. And like you were saying with that marketing piece, we definitely got to, you know, step up and up the game marketing to get it to more creatives that can benefit from it because it is, you know, it's, it's a good podcast.

[00:10:09] And so, one of my high points, uh, I will say I agree with you on, like, getting the positive feedback. Like, man, everything looks great. It looks excellent. And so, it's like To put, make things look excellent takes work, and that's the work you're talking about in the beginning. And it also takes perseverance.

[00:10:53] And so I started coming up with creative ideas on how we can like, not just marketing, but how we can bring this thing alive in person, maybe we can do, start doing that in the next season. Maybe we can, uh, like me and run getting live and then maybe we can do, um, a live event where we invite some creatives out and have a network, like networking I just, that's just two ideas.

[00:11:33] And then I told you some of the ideas run and then you were like, Oh yeah. And then we could do this and we could do that. And then, you know, so we, we, we started kind of ideating how we can even kind of make this thing even bigger. So that was a high point for me. Definitely a high point for me, which is kind of catching it.

[00:11:53] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: definitely.

[00:12:03] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: Ooh, wait a minute. Hold on. You said, say it again for the people in the back that didn't hear you.

[00:12:31] And people are wondering why they're stuck and they can't see the rest of the way it's because you haven't even really started. That's good. I actually, one of my friends, she said, uh, she's, she's like a believer. She's a woman of faith. And she said, I said, what are you going to be doing this year? She said, I'm going to be going back and doing some of the things I feel like God told me to do previously that I haven't done.

[00:13:06] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: Yeah. And let me kind of give you an analogy for that. Cause this is, this is why this happens. Right.

[00:13:36] But as I get closer, as I start moving, it starts to get clearer, right? So that's, that's what that is. It's like, as we move and we started moving to where, where we're supposed to be and what we're supposed to doing, it gets clearer as it gets clearer. We see it clearer than that excitement and stuff starts to build.

[00:14:05] And as you start going in that direction and moving closer, the light gets bigger, bigger, bigger than you there. So, yes.

[00:14:28] Yeah, it's, it's a cool feeling. It's a cool reality. So yeah.

[00:15:20] ShySpeaks: listen, but first of all, episode seven was the, uh, one episode that did not have an interview, like some of the episodes prior, we had people we were interviewing and they were dropping gems, but after us having talked to them and listened to them, we were ripe to talk about episode seven and it was like, protect your creativity.

[00:15:58] Like making sure you're going to be able to do it because you're protecting like your time and your energy and all that kind of stuff. So I just want to say the overall episode was fire. If you have not watched any of them, that will be the one that I would say, go check out first and then you can go see some of the interviewers.

[00:16:37] It's valuable emotionally and it's valuable financially. So just the fact that it even exists, but if I, are you going to make me pick one? I mean,

[00:17:00] See, one of the things that's what I'll talk, I'll, I'll, I'll start. Right. One thing that I enjoyed about it is that we talked about protecting kind of like your time and protecting your peace and things like that. Right. And I don't think that's talked about. Enough about how important it is. Cause it's like, it's one thing.

[00:17:33] Because it, it, it, it will wear thin on you. If you not putting the certain things in place to protect your, your, your, your peace and your energy and things like that.

[00:17:58] So it's interesting you say that because my mind will be, uh, the other, I like the fact that we talked about protecting, uh, their creative from the external stuff as well. Um, just because I think that Man, contracts, deposits. We talked about even if you don't want to do a deposit, you can do milestone payments.

[00:18:42] But not only are they unsung, they're underpaid, undervalued, and so forth and so on. And some of this stuff could have been eliminated by actually saying, this is my creativity, and I'm gonna protect it by making sure I get a deposit. I'm gonna protect it by everybody that I hire on this. Maybe I'm doing a mural project in New York and I'm going to hire and tag in a graffiti person.

[00:19:20] They're not entitled to, right. They're working. specifically on the area that they're involved in. Um, I need to make sure there's a contract between me and the client and, and also me and the people who I'm contracting. That's what the work prior agreement is. So now at the end of the day, everybody knows the scope of work.

[00:19:52] Yeah, I got you. Oh, we're going to do it. I'm going to take care of you, man. It's going to be a good payout. And you think you told them. That it was going to be 1, 000 just for this little corner, but you never really said that. And so then when you get ready to pay it, they're looking at the big project and they know you probably just got paid a bag.

[00:20:27] Sometimes you do business with people, they'll have a contract, but sometimes you need it, but all too often they may not. And they may be looking for you to have a contract. So many entrepreneurs, creative entrepreneurs, let me go Google something real quick. No, go ahead and get you a contract in place because as you have a contract, it's nothing to argue over on how I feel and how I perceive this.

[00:21:09] Uh, can I just add her onto the thing? And it's like, no, you contracted me for it. This is the vision we already have. I've already got all these people on it. Every area of the wall is really already accounted for, and this is the, I don't know that person, like, so it would be already clear that you're doing it, how you're doing it, you know what I'm saying?

[00:21:40] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: I want to reiterate. So remember, we're, we're, we're on here live.

[00:22:04] Reach out to us, right? Um, hello at mmcbpodcast. com with any questions, comments, concerns, we would love to hear from you. So yes, so that was episode seven. So then we go to episode six with the pharisees, which was one of my personal favorite episodes, right? Um, just kind of hearing their origin story of how everything came to be, but just seeing their dynamic.

[00:23:00] It's like a lot of times we spend time. Trying to develop those weaknesses, but it's like, nope, here, let me lean into my strengths, but let me find somebody else that can lean into their strengths, but their strengths is actually my weakness. And that's going to benefit what we doing. So that's one of the things that I got from that episode with the pharisees that I love seeing.

[00:23:22] ShySpeaks: of them. Yeah. And also if you, uh, uh, just for context, the pharisees is Josh and Karis Farris. They're a couple who started a film in photography. agency, if you will. They first started off with just him and her doing it, and then from there, they started realizing like, oh, we need to create an associate model, and that associate model allowed them to be able to not just be booked.

[00:24:08] Like. I can't be at all the places at the same time. You want to go definitely go check that one out. I love the episode as well. Just yeah. Partnership. But, but just man, things that they were talking about were, okay. So one of the things that they talked about was the fact that They were a Josh, for example, had a corporate job.

[00:24:41] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: Right, right, right.

[00:24:56] With their vision that they can do together and so forth. So, and so it was interesting for, to hear them talk about an exit strategy and how they got out of him getting out of that high paying wage paying job and beefing up the company in such a way that it sustains her salary. His salary makes profit.

[00:25:28] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: Yeah, and the fact that, like, even that, they, they weren't even, they weren't eye to eye initially, right?

[00:25:52] You can work full time and do it and whatever. And then once we get to that exit number, right, then I'll remove myself and whatnot. So yeah, so just, but yeah, just, yeah, just that though. Just, just being able to, uh, yeah, she's, he, he initially saw a vision, right. And then she caught wind of the vision and then just, when life was happening, it was almost like some, well, Hey, let me quit the business and let me do the job.

[00:26:23] ShySpeaks: it. I'm telling you, definitely. If you are a person who is like. your partners, like it, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a romantic partnership with y'all, a partnership business, or you're a couple, you want to go check that out.

[00:27:00] And he has a company called Cage Design Studios. And when we were saying, we're going to do a podcast, MMCB, Minding My Creative Business, we were thinking about like, who are we going to interview first? And we were like, we got to get up our boy. I enjoy being able to have like a mutual friend.

[00:27:23] And I, and one thing that, that, that was a through line that came through from episode with the Pharisees to, uh, we'd go back to Lorraine, but Lorraine to Frank, what we just mentioned, and then our first guest, Felicia, and one through line that I saw, and I know we, me and you have talked about it, but we, you know, so I, we have a chance to bring it up here now, is that everybody got serious about their business.

[00:27:51] ShySpeaks: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:28:09] Lorraine, she was like, I have my twin daughters. I'm trying to get money to, for daycare, right? And so I had to figure out how I'm gonna do this. And then Josh, he was like, yo. We had, we, you know, I, I'm, yeah, I'm caring for, for, for Karis, but we had, we had a child. So it, it was something about that, that responsibility piece that activated, you know what I'm saying?

[00:28:35] ShySpeaks: I also, man, that's so true that, that responsibility was like, okay, I gotta, I can't do this as a hobby. I gotta do this creativity stuff for real. But I also think that because it's like. Now that you say that with them having like children and like knowing that they need to provide on a better level, it also, it almost toys and leans into the idea that when you embrace uh, creative entrepreneurship and start to move from, from like a hobby mode, you realize that I have the ability to create a business and then create wealth.

[00:29:28] So it puts you in a, it was almost like they were in legacy mode, but didn't realize it. And so you brought up a good point because I thought about Frank, um, because that was just a mutual friend, but, but the episode before Frank's was Lorraine's and she, she had that same through line as well. So let's get into episode number five.

[00:29:45] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: yeah, no, um, so with Lorraine, one of the things that, that, that stood out to me, right, um, and, and you see that with a lot of them, is that this duality, like, I didn't know, like I said, I might just, so Lorraine used to be my, my business coach, right, um, so I've known Lorraine for a few years now, um, but I didn't know that she went to school for music, right, like I knew she went to school for pharmacy, right, I know she has her degree in pharmacy and whatnot, um, but no, she went for music as well, so seeing that duality of, okay, I have this creative.

[00:30:38] They come to her floor to write papers or write. You know, whatever, whatever they're writing. Um, but she said, in order for me to scale it, I had to bring on more people. I had to be able to delegate that, right? Um, but she equated it to being in a band, right? To where you have these section leaders, right?

[00:31:10] I can talk to these section leaders, and the section leaders, they can meet with the people one on one and things like that. So she was saying she took that concept and element from that, her being in the band, and put that into her business. And that's how she was able to grow and scale her business to, you know, six or seven figures and things like that.

[00:31:36] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: Yeah. Yeah. No, that's what I would say. What about you? What, what, what was something about that, that episode? Cause I mean, you see. Cause I know she, I know you liked that episode, you know what I'm saying? I think she was speaking your language when it comes to that, that delegation and that, that automation and things like that.

[00:32:14] other aspects of business, not necessarily like she does it with how she approaches social media. She takes science and then she turns it into like how she approaches the science of social media. And she takes music and turns it into how she conducts a team. And it's just like, I'm like, Oh, I like that. I like, I love it.

[00:32:55] You're like, Oh, it's just probably her. She'd probably influence her. Maybe one or two teammates. Like, no, it's got people. And she said that they were from all over the world because her business was coming from all over the world as well. And she talked about how to like really streamline a team when communications, when When they're not all in the same time zone, but she also talked about something that was really, really great.

[00:33:39] Yeah. You know, like, oh, what, what do I need to give them to do? So like, I mean, most of the time people think, well, I have to do it myself. I can't give it to somebody else. This is because you haven't trained them well, right? You don't know how to train somebody. Well, you don't know how to like, give them, give somebody something to do.

[00:34:12] Instead of saying I ain't hired the right people. Cause like I just need somebody with skill. They have skill, but have you trained them well to be able to be in that role? So. I thought that was really, really good because one of the things about our podcast, we say it's strategy. Yeah. We say it's structure, but we also say it's self development and it's who you have to become in order to be the type of person that can lead a team of one, two, three, or 30.

[00:34:47] ShySpeaks: yeah, I want to go with, because, uh, again, if you're watching a replay, then you are, you're, you're checking out, okay, I'm seeing what I'm learning and it's piquing your interest on what episodes you want to go back and watch.

[00:35:15] What is that used for? And at what, what point do you introduce that to your team? And so before we move forward into, uh, Frank's episode, episode number four, uh, I want to like go back and just kind of. Make sure we're clear on that part. Can we, can you lean into what's the NDA, Ron, a little bit?

[00:35:35] It just stands for a non disclosure agreement, right? So if you're sharing some information with somebody, um, that you don't want them to share this information that you're sharing, right? It's almost kind of like, You go to them by, listen, I'm gonna share something with you, but you can't tell nobody. So instead of trusting that they're going to not tell anybody, then you have them sign a NDA, a non disclosure agreement, right?

[00:36:28] She shares it with me and I'm just talking to one of my partners in past. I'm like, Oh yeah, my sis shy. She about to do this event. She about to do this, this, this. And she about to, you know, I'm telling them everything that she told me. Now, mind you, it was harmless. I'm just like, yo, hyping my sis up, but then they take that information, they could be malicious, or it just could be, yo, I heard this in passing, and all of a sudden, a few months later, like, oh, I want to do this, thinking it came out of the blue when it really came from our conversation.

[00:37:03] ShySpeaks: with anybody. Right. And when you introduce that to your team, we're not just out here putting together NDAs all the time, every single day. Like it's a specific time when you're sharing certain pertinent information that is like on your ideation format, when you're innovating something, maybe inventing something.

[00:37:38] Between you and that type of team member. But if you're just somebody who is like, Hey, I, I'm a photographer and I need an a, a second, a second hand, I'm a videographer. I need a second hand to get a second angle. Um, let's do an NDA. Like, that's not necessarily, it may not be necessary. I just simply need you to film this thing unless you guys are filming for a, maybe somebody who, you don't want anybody to know that y'all were filming this until the filming.

[00:38:25] Not a big deal. But let's say. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are two people who you're interviewing and they're going to like release this important announcement to the world about what's going on in England and America and and you can't, you don't want to make sure that it's not, you know what I mean?

[00:39:01] Because the people who are filming this are specifically asking that we don't share it until it's released. Right. So those are the times when things like that are important. Now, uh, we could keep it moving. I just want to make sure we clear. Um, yeah, let's, let's, let's keep it going. Hop, hop back to my boy, Frank.

[00:39:24] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: yeah, no, um, I, I, I liked his story. Right. So he, His words, not mine, but he was this knucklehead from Lima, Ohio, right? He, he had this gift for, you know, graphic design.

[00:40:10] You got, you got, your, your, your head isn't here, it's elsewhere. So I'm gonna let you go. But that was kind of him letting him go so he can go and spread his wings and do his own thing. Um, so then from, You know, freelancing to creating what is now Cage Design Studios to where it's the same thing, where he's employing other people, right, to be able to give the same results that he would give if he was doing it, but now it frees him up and not having to work in his business, but now he can work on it, right?

[00:40:48] ShySpeaks: Yeah, man. When you think about being let go and like the bird and we, we talked about all that in the, like in the episode, you want to kind of go listen to the episode.

[00:41:21] I'm going to be working a nine to five, go work in jobs and in environments for companies that can kind of spur on your gifts so that you can be there learning. It's like, it's almost like seeking out an apprenticeship, but you really needed just a job. It's not an internship. Right. It's not free. It is a paid thing, but I know that if I go here, it's going to allow my creativity to flourish.

[00:42:03] I don't care if your, your creative business is to have, uh, some type of makeup, uh, makeup line or a cover band or something like this. When you go work there, that person is going to cultivate you and they'll be able to tell you when like, you're ready. I think it's time for you to go ahead and do something else.

[00:42:38] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: All right. All right. So then next, right, we have, uh, we, we have Felicia, uh, what now?

[00:42:47] ShySpeaks: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So here's the thing. Felicia had recently, Felicia been, and she had recently gotten married, uh, in, in the past couple years, but I've known her for years. So I was like, introduce in. Felicia, old last name and not new Mary last name. So, uh, yeah, I, I struggled with that.

[00:43:10] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: right, my husband's episode and no, my, I am, I am, you know, so. So yeah, so it's Wilson, right? Felicia Wilson,

[00:43:34] So if you are watching this and you're like, okay, not a photographer, uh, not a writer, okay, not a graphics person, uh, she has created a communications agency and she did so because she, she actually has all the skills within her own wheelhouse to do all the things. So she knows photography, she knows videography, she knows graphic design.

[00:44:16] She, she still act actively gets into plays and stuff like that. So when on her spare time, that's what she does for fun and still gets paid to do it. So she, she's multi hyping it. And, and, and despite doing all the things she does have one thing that's. Locked in and secure. And that is, she owns a communications agency.

[00:44:55] And so she, she does works for like mayors and she does work for like companies, small business. I mean, she, she is so, it's so amazing. So getting into the episode beyond like Felicia, uh, what are some of the things that, that you would say that you enjoy about? The episode or like that you feel like, uh, is a gem

[00:45:18] 'cause I, I, I'm a, I'm a mentor, right? I'm a mentor at heart and I'm a mentor in vocation and things like that. So when she was in college, right? 'cause she went to college for, um, musical theater, right? Her daddy told her, well, listen, you gonna need to do something else . Like, that's cool, but I need you to do something else.

[00:45:57] And as a result of me doing that, I got to where I am today. So that stood out to me, just me being, I'm a mentor at heart. I'm always giving some kind of advice, some kind of guidance, some kind of direction or something like that. So that, that stood out to me and how, how important it is to have. Mentors in, in your life from her dad, her dad, her dad could have just been like, okay, baby, go on, follow your heart, do your thing.

[00:46:26] ShySpeaks: Right. Now, also, if you're listening to this right now and you're a person who's a creative and there's somebody in your life who is in that guidance or that advice role, and they're telling you how to like, hey, you You probably want to do this as well so that you can have like a baseline, a financial, um, stream that still draws on your creativity.

[00:47:02] What's the difference? Because we want to know. We, we, we want you to know, right? And so one of the things that she said, um, was the difference is like, uh, She got, she got to looking at what all goes into the work that she does and stop like, because we do these things as creators like, oh I do this naturally and I do that and I do that and you sit down with a client and you come up with like, hey, what all do you need from me?

[00:47:47] And then she decided to start pricing herself accordingly. Once she started pricing herself according to everything that she's expending, now she starts making a profit. And not only a profit, you start inching up into the higher contracts and easing your way on into the six figures. So I think that that's a gem because people need to think about that.

[00:48:31] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: That's, that's, that's a mouthful right there. Yeah.

[00:48:53] And so while I talked about using episode number seven, go back and watch that one, go back and watch the Pharisees and all that kind of stuff. These were the baseline of what it is To be minding my creative business from a podcast perspective. So we, we were talking, we was talking and talk. Ron, let's, what, what, what you got to say about those?

[00:49:35] ShySpeaks: a It's an either or, but it's a both and.

[00:49:39] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: an either or, it's a both and, right? To where, okay, you have to be a creative and a CEO. And it's going to be sometimes when you have to put that creative on the back burner, on the back seat, right? So that the CEO can Can drive and take lead. And sometimes that's going to be difficult for you as a creative where it's like, okay, what's the best thing for the business.

[00:50:17] It may be something else that you need to do. from a business standpoint. So just making sure that you're taking off that creative hat, um, or not taking it off, but just, you may, you may got to tilt it to the side and put the other one on the side and wear them dually, but you got that CEO.

[00:50:38] So that creator, we talked about how like a chief executive officer provides leadership in all areas with an emphasis on long term goals. Which creators do as well, because you could have a, if you're a music artist, you could have a project, an album that you're working on for months. So we got the long term piece.

[00:51:19] Not going to point no fingers over here. Not, no, nothing is happening. Who In their creativity as producers, they just like, man, I got to get this new mixing board. I got to go get this new software. I got to go get this other plugin. I got to get this. And producers are some of the people who will spend the most money.

[00:51:58] Not because you're not creative, not because they don't have the stuff, but because when they bought the things they weren't thinking as a CEO and a CEO is thinking, how can I get a return on my investment they were thinking of. I'm going to buy this, buy this, buy this. I'm not, I'm investing in myself.

[00:52:17] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: they wouldn't think about that return on investment. Listen, and I've been guilty of that. I've spent tens of thousands of dollars on equipment, VST software, and all those things. So yes, I could, I've been one of those people.

[00:52:57] So if you go out and spend 3, 000 on some, whatever thing you need for such design, you need to be thinking about what is the return on this thing. When I buy this, this is going to what produce more clients, or I can, I can raise my prices by this much, or I can. Not raise my prices, but I can go deeper with my prices.

[00:53:34] So that is a creative entrepreneur in my. And by all stretch of the definition, right? Which we're going to get into that too. What we talked about, what is a creative, like, let me, let me not skip ahead, but we talked about the definition of it and we're going to talk about it before we get up out of here.

[00:54:10] Because sometimes what he notices that a lot of couples will buy that from somebody else. And so now you got to pay for this DJ. And he's coming out and you got to pay for this person who's coming out and it's taking up their time. Well, he's like, I was already going to be there. So you don't really have to pay for my time.

[00:54:46] Not sure if that's the price. I'm just, we're just throwing out a number for simple math. They're going to put, book him for 2, 000 wedding package. He's going to be with them for all day with the pre event at the cocktail hour, the reception, the wedding, all of that kind of stuff. So cool. 2, 000 it is. And then he now tells them, Hey, for an additional 400 500.

[00:55:27] So now he made 2, 500. Now, when we say return on investment, what that means is if I keep bringing this out at 500, If I, if I do this over and over, this, this, this, this, uh, equipment cost me 3, 000. I need to at least make six sales and then after that, everything else is going to be profit. And so I'm going to get a return on this investment.

[00:56:08] Sometimes you need to be a CEO and think about how I'm just going to get a return on my investment. That's just one simple way. But for those people who are like, okay, I get it. Creator to CEO. I need to have a different mindset. I need to think long term. I need to think profit. I need to think return on investment.

[00:56:33] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: Yeah. And that's episode one is what is a creative fenor? So on that episode, we break down the four, it's four different categories, right? So if you, if you find yourself in any of these four categories, then the answer would be yes, right?

[00:57:09] But then we talk about makers, right? Makers, like, you might do jewelry, right? Actually, somebody, like, embroidered this hat. I'm wearing something that's, that was embroidered. Right. You see here, you know, what's the irony, right? Um, those would be considered makers because they're making a physical product.

[00:57:44] I'm a coach. Shy, she's a coach as well. Right? Um, uh, who else? I'm trying to think. Like, I'm, I'm, I'm drawing a blank here, um, when it comes to those shakers. Um,

[00:58:04] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thought, thought, thought makers, right? You got these people like, um, Emdom.

[00:58:32] Is a, is a shaker, right? Or is that your director is Shaker, so Yeah.

[00:58:51] Oz, we talked about that in the episode. So he's not just a doctor at this point. Right. He's creating recipe books. He's creating workouts. He's creating all these different creations that's coming from his wheelhouse so that like you, your life can be better so that the, the, the, that the patient could be served.

[00:59:30] So Matter of fact, there's an episode, I mean not an episode, an article that we recommend that you go watch, uh, I mean go listen to, go read before you watch the episode, right? Go read, read the article, type in Google Artists, Makers, Movers, Shakers, fire article, and then watch the episode and you'll have a really, really great context of what it means to be a creative entrepreneur.

[01:00:02] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: I had somebody actually reach out to me and they thanked me. They were like, well, thank you. I didn't identify as a creative preneur to listen to that episode.

[01:00:17] ShySpeaks: know why that's important for us is because there's so much information out here for entrepreneurs, but not all entrepreneurship is. Equivalent in how it's executed.

[01:00:48] So you're listening to people who are talking about how to like, man, they started some type of textile company or they started some type of, um, some type of, civil engineering thing where people rent out the big construction trucks from them and put the cones down and all that kind of stuff. That's a whole different type of business and business model than what it had, what it looks like when you are a creative entrepreneur.

[01:01:23] Ron "iRonic" Lee Jr.: So, so listen, so that's pretty much. All our episodes, except for Zero. Zero was literally just our, we were letting you know what we were doing and what you could expect for the, from this podcast, right?

[01:01:55] com, join the Creatives Corner community. Within that, you will get a newsletter, you'll be a part of our Facebook community that you'll be surrounded by other creative entrepreneurs who are on the same path and same journey as you. All right, so you have people that you can can relate that can that you can relate to and that can relate to you and we're there to help each other grow and to excel.

[01:02:48] It helps us show up in suggestions for other people that need this content. Um, if you know somebody directly that needs to share with them, right? Our, our, our goal, right? The purpose of this podcast is to be the number one podcast for creative entrepreneurs. Right. To grow in strategy, structure, and self development.

[01:03:16] ShySpeaks: I do. I, I said in the beginning of this episode that even if you not. You were not watching this live and you were watching this on a replay, we would have an opportunity for you to reach out to us. And you mentioned a little bit earlier, and that is if you have any questions or any comments, you can email them to us.

[01:03:52] Like, hey, y'all should have this person on. They know so much and other creative entrepreneurs can learn a wealth of wisdom from them. If there's somebody let us know and then also we want your advice on what topics that you want us to. to discuss, right? So we've kind of dealt with some things as far as like the associate model for photography.

[01:04:28] And you can do that by emailing us. Hello. at mmcbpodcast. com. Hello at mmcbpodcast. com. We really, really want to hear from you. Listen, your email could shape how season two happens and what it looks like.

[01:04:52] So As we're closing out this season, uh, we're, we're, stay tuned because we'll let you know when season two is going to launch and all those things. We're, we're in the, we're in, we're in the process of preparing for that, right? Um, so yeah, so it's going to be a little hiatus. You know how seasons work.

[01:05:20] So this is y'all podcast. This ain't me and Shy's podcast. This is y'all podcast. So, um, there's a mantra that we, that we close out with at the end of every show. So Shy, can I, can I put that in your hands to end, to close us out with, with our, uh, MMCV

[01:05:45] All it takes. All

[01:05:56] ShySpeaks: To my, my creative business.

[01:06:01] ShySpeaks: Thank y'all for listening. Peace out. Peace out.