Stay In Your Power

Despite it being such a taboo subject, financial stability plays a major role in an artist's creative life. Whether or not anyone likes to admit it, stress around money can have a huge impact on our work or career opportunities at any given moment.

While many artists have a goal to sustain themselves financially from their creations, few are given the support or education needed to efficiently manage income and expenses as freelancers and business owners. It's difficult to avoid signing that bad deal when you have student loans on your back. It's hard to muster up the strength to keep your creative rights, or even know your value as an artist when your bank account is giving you a contrasting message.

The mission of this program is to equip artists with a new set of tools and financial principles that will keep them in their creative power, allowing greater freedom of expression while operating from a stable financial base.

What You Get

- Three online seminars (recorded for those who cannot participate live)

- Open discussion boards via the Sonic Identity platform

- Financial planning worksheets 

- Daily mindset-shifting practices

- Personalized action plan with budgeting and investment strategies that can be applied immediately

- List of supplemental reading and resources to explore following the course

Course curriculum

Whether you are working multiple jobs to support your art, or have been on the freelance rollercoaster for a few years, this 3-day course is designed to support you in creating a system of saving and investing that will support you long-term, not just over the next few months. It is a safe space to have open and honest conversations about the many intersections of art and finance, and set you up for a much healthier and more abundant future.

To be your own boss requires the highest level of financial and mental discipline, yet many are stuck in habitual patterns of thinking and spending that keep them on the month-to-month grind. Fear around money can lead to a multitude of poor financial decisions that ultimately impact an artist's work and wellbeing. It's time to break through the fast-or-feast mentality, and step into financial freedom.

Registration

Program Outline

Day One: Altering Perspectives

-Managing what you already have

-How to take an honest look at income and expenses

-Worksheet: calculate what you truly need to live on a monthly basis (both money and creative time)    

-Viewing money as a magnifier

-More money won’t solve all of your problems, it will just magnify them unless the underlying issues and patterns are addressed 

-Healing past money wounds and rewriting our personal stories around finances

-Worksheet: transforming old beliefs into new ones


Day Two: Increasing Income

-How to appropriately assign dollar values to your time and creative work

-Diversifying your income sources

-Brainstorming session on new streams of revenue that use your unique set of skills

-Worksheet: create (or revise) a customized business plan


Day Three: Bringing Long-Term Visions to Life

-Long-term planning

-Your career is a marathon, not a sprint

-Worksheet: define your financial freedom - calculating exactly what you need to never "work" again

-Budget management and better decision-making

-Risk mitigation and checking your ego

-Savings and investment strategies that you can start (or revise) at any level of your career

-Where to distribute your income (asset allocation), and best percentages to use

-Quarterly tax estimates

-Donations and charity work

-Worksheet: create (or revise) a customized 10-year plan for personal finances

Registration

  • About the Instructor

    Shaping the future of independent music has always been the guiding force for producer, engineer, and multi-instrumentalist Kate Ellwanger, who writes and performs under the name Dot. After nearly a decade-long career as an artist, DJ, and founder of the production company Unspeakable Records, Dot entered the Web3 space at the start of 2022 with her ‘Life Support’ series, minting 6 songs from the album in honor of the 1-year anniversary of its release, and is among the top-selling music NFT artists this year. The album also gained significant momentum on streaming platforms, earning her playlist covers on Spotify Fresh Finds and Creamy, as well as Amazon Breakthrough Electronic. Ellwanger holds a B.A. in Music from Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music at Chapman University, and a Master’s Degree in Music Production, Technology, and Innovation from Berklee College of Music. In addition to her background in classical and contemporary music, she has over 15 years of study in mindfulness practices from multiple traditions, including yoga, meditation, and psychospiritual development. Dot's return to the stage in 2021 brought her to some of the most highly-acclaimed venues and music festivals in the world, including Red Rocks, EDC Las Vegas, HARD Summer, Firefly Music Festival, The Fonda, Elsewhere Space, Echostage, and more. Dot is also one of the first artists to host a 3-day event exclusively for her NFT collectors: Sonic Summit launched this past labor day weekend in partnership with NFT SV in Sun Valley, Idaho, and included multiple panel discussions, visual art exhibitions, and two nights of live performances from artists in Web3. Her music has been praised by the best in tastemaker media, including features in Nylon, Pitchfork, Red Bull, LA Weekly, Okayfuture, MTV Brazil, C-Heads Magazine, Nest HQ, Ableton, and BBC Radio 1xtra. As an active supporter of her local and global music communities, Dot is also a voting member of The Recording Academy, and contributor to MusiCares. She has taught music production and composition at critically-acclaimed institutions including The Los Angeles Recording School, Dubspot, Point Blank, and Garnish.

    Kate Ellwanger

    Producer, CEO of Unspeakable Records

    Kate Ellwanger

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