HOW I CAN HELP YOUR COMMUNITY

I can create and deliver learning and development for artists, creative freelancers, small creative businesses, and communities. These include industry-relevant examples and sessions that are well-researched, fun, interactive, responsive and understandable.

My signature programme is Creative Business Essentials which is designed for early-stage creative businesses that helps them get their money, marketing and mindset sorted from the get-go. I’m also known for co-creating Music Leaders Network (leadership training for women in music).

I work with a talented bunch of associates to deliver learning, coaching and development both virtually and in-person that will deliver great outcomes for the people we develop.

I’ve been creating learning and development for over 10 years, and delivering online since 2014. This now adds up to more than 200 training sessions, networking events, conferences, intensives, residentials and away days for delegates from the creative industries. I’ve also coached and advised 150 individual businesses and creatives.

The individuals I train include those working in music, art, theatre, literature, audio-visual production, design, fashion and the wider ‘creative sector’.

My training has been shown to increase the confidence of participants in managing their businesses. As small creative enterprises they will need to be armed with a range of skills: securing funding, understanding their business finances, formulating their business model, negotiating with clients, protecting their intellectual property, selling what they do, diversifying their income streams, innovating new products, managing growth, writing business plans or setting goals.

Recent commissions include:

Organise your professional finances without the stress

A one-day workshop for artists’ consortium ‘Peterborough Presents’ aimed at instilling confidence in managing finances for artists and cultural practitioners.Covered: 1. What’s the Profit? Understanding the difference between turnover and profit, and identifying if you are carrying out a hobby or a business. 2. Dealing with the Tax Man: Walking through a basic tax return for an artist. 3. Administration: How to record your income and expenditure, what to put on your invoices, practical tips for making paperwork and record-keeping as simple as possible. 4. Personal Financial Action Plan: preparing a plan to take-away that sets out changes that you will implement to improve how you manage your finances.

Finance 101 for Young Creatives

A one-day workshop for new artists and creatives commissioned by Barbican-Guildhall’s Young Arts Academy on how to cope with the practical side of the creative hustle. 1. Creating a budget for a project or client. 2. Working with clients: terms and conditions; invoicing; getting paid on time; registering as self-employed and paying taxes. 3. Networking and pitching for business.

Creative Apprenticeship Enrichment Program

A bespoke five-session enrichment program for a group of Creative Apprentices at Westway Trust in London to help them understand the opportunities offered by different creative employers with on-site visits to Sony Music, Kings Place, The Roundhouse and Shazam. Covered topics were chosen by the participants, including Copyright & IP, Business Networking, Business Planning and Sponsorship.

Grant Funding for Musicians

A half-day workshop tailored for members of the Musicians’ Union in Manchester, Leeds and London concentrating on grant funding in the UK to address the most common misunderstandings, worries and problems for those trying to access grant funding. Topics included: 1. How grant funding works (what it is, how to get it, what funders want from applicants). 2. Developing your idea into a fundable project (concepts, marketing, budgeting). 3. Submitting your application and what comes next (timelines, dealing with rejection, acceptance, delivery and evaluation).

Effective Goal Setting for the Sole Trader

Facilitated evening networking event for London organisation ‘Start-Up Mums’, which supports mothers setting up their own small business as an alternative to returning to employment.  Included a group networking exercise and workshop on goal setting to motivate and encourage the entrepreneurs. Participants left with their own personal plan for their business for the forthcoming quarter and made connections with all the other attendees.

Business Planning for Creatives

This half-day workshop for the organisation Creative United’s ‘Creative Industry Finance’ program helped creative business owners to grasp the key information that they need to communicate using their business plans and financial information and to guide them towards completing these documents without fear or complication. It was delivered multiple times in London and in Kenya. Included content: 1. About the business plan: who are you writing for (i.e. lenders, investors)? 2. What to include (examples of stronger and weaker plans) 3. Exercise on writing your own business plan 4. How to use financial statements in your business plan.

Budget or Fudge-It

1-day workshop for the organisation OneFest commissioned by The Hub as part of a professional development program for the music festival industry.  The session covered budgeting and finance for a group including 1. Understanding the purpose and principles of budgeting 2. Understanding accounts terminology, how to read a set of company accounts (balance sheet, P&L), 3. Pricing strategy 4. Using break-even analysis; assessing fixed and variable costs; using cash-flow forecasting in business.