You are auditioning against actors who are walking into that room knowing that even if they book the role, they might not be able to even do the job because they might have already booked something else. They are bringing in that lightness and that’s really what you’re competing against. — Kristine Oller
Now today we once again have a bit of a different episode: I’m talking with actor and strategic planner Kristine Oller about cashflow for creatives. Kristine has absolutely been a mentor of mine—I’ve taken numerous in-person workshops from Kristine, and I’m so grateful for all she’s shared with me over the years.
She is here to discuss a rather tricky topic for creatives: having enough money to really pursue your career. Sure you can get that stereotypical job waiting tables, but is that really going to fuel you, or stress you out more? What would it look like to have a truly amazing side business that gave you the resources you need (and more) to fully pursue your dream, and to lose the desperation of needing to book a role to make rent? And Kristine was in this exact position: working jobs that drained her, and she found something else that helped her thrive.
Now yes, Kristine does have a course to help you with all this: it’s called Cashflow for Creatives and I even have a discount code for you which I’ll share in a second, but that’s not what this episode is about! You won’t even hear us mention the course during this chat, so don’t worry: this is not a hard sell, it’s not an hour long sales pitch. This is a fun and important conversation about how to sustain yourself as a creative until you get your next break, and the one after that and the one after that!
Just a bit of what we DO cover:
- Her journey as an actor and beyond
- Finding her first side biz and pursuing it
- How that gig made her a better actor at auditions
- Stories that artists tell themselves that keep them AWAY from cash
- Why it’s unhealthy to hear stories of being down to your last dime before your “big break”
And because I always have several ideas floating around in my head, Kristine even helps ME validate a couple of my side biz ideas, so you even get a bit of a preview of what she offers in the course! Total bonus!
I hope you enjoy this conversation and this experiment—I’d love to hear what you think about this kind of episode, if it’s helpful, and if you’d like to hear more like it. Reach out to me on Twitter @theworkngactors, or if you prefer, you can send an email here.
About the guest
Kristine Oller guides successful creative professionals through the process of designing and aligning the next chapter of their lives and careers – always with an eye towards helping them expand their brilliance and increase their resilience.
For over 10 years, she worked – as in: actually earned money and health insurance – in Los Angeles as an actor via SAG, AFTRA, and Equity. She was a Power Group facilitator at The Actor’s Network for 11 years, supporting and coaching over 400 actors.
Kristine discovered the job of “professional organizing” and immediately started her biz, Personalized Organization, as a way to earn money to support her acting career. She wrote the book Feeding Your Focus: How Creative People Can Move Forward Faster And Achieve Sustained Success. She has served as a monthly columnist for two national publications (Backstage and The VoiceOver Insider).
Currently, she teaches the semester-long Los Angeles Internship Course at Columbia College Chicago. Over the past 20 years, she has mentored men and women at the top of their game (Oscar nominees, published authors, international experts, full-time artists, TEDx speakers) as well as hundreds of folks who were beginning, changing, or expanding their businesses, and/or creative pursuits. And every single month for the past 17 years, Kristine has lead multiple, ongoing mastermind groups – in person and online. There’s more about Kristine and some excellent free guidance on her site.
Please enjoy my chat with Kristine Oller!
Total Running Time: 57:16
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What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let us know in the comments.
Kristine’s Cashflow for Creatives Course
This course is highly-structured and organized (you would expect nothing less from a former professional organizer) – and as I’ve been reviewing it, I see items that I learned from Kristine years ago that were so helpful—alongside all new stuff, so I’m excited to dive in more fully!
It’s a 6-part audio course, covering everything you need to know about starting and running a side business, from generating your idea, to ideal clients, pricing, support, accountability, and a ton more. There’s over 6 hours of content, and if you also like to read, there’s a beautifully formatted transcript of the entire course, and she completes the whole package with a step-by-step workbook to guide you through it all. You can even check out two chapters from the course for free!
This could be a great fit if you’ve thought about a side hustle but aren’t sure how to do it, or maybe you have a side biz, and want to run it more efficiently, or you’re looking for new marketing and client attraction ideas. Learn all about it here and type in the discount code JOURNEY to receive a special discount off the course right now.
Scroll below for additional links mentioned in today’s episode and additional show notes…
Are you looking for more info from industry insiders and great teachers about being an actor?
And do you want this as something you can listen to on the go? Well you’re in luck.
As a listener of The Working Actor’s Journey podcast, Audible is offering you a free audiobook and a free 30-day trial. Whether it’s one hour or 15 hours, it doesn’t matter—whatever you want, that first book is totally free. To download your audiobook today go to workingactorsjourney.com/audible.
Here are a few recommendations:
- The Actors Life by Jenna Fischer (from The Office), read by the author and others, including our guest Reed Birney
- Secrets of Screen Acting by Patrick Tucker (a TV and film director), read by David Lawrence XVII
- Respect for Acting by Uta Hagen, read by Angele Masters
Get one of these or anything else at workingactorsjourney.com/audible.
Show Notes
Kristine Oller around the web
- Website
- Her Podcast “Cashflow for Creatives” (also in Apple)
- Her Course “Cashflow for Creatives” [code: JOURNEY for a discount!]
Highlights
- Knowing she wanted to act from Day 1
- Kristine growing up in LA with parents who had no clue about show business
- Going to college and learning ALL the different jobs in theatre
- Finding her first side biz and pursuing it
- Taking a “new mom” hiatus without the baby
- The decision to grow her business and what happened
- Letting go of the desperation and need to book acting work
- How her side biz made her a better actor at auditions
- Putting your side biz on hiatus or growing it – it’s your choice
- 5 stories artists tell themselves that keep them away from CASH!
- Why it’s unhealthy to hear stories of being down to your last dime before your “big break”
- The risk of staying with jobs that only provide your monthly expenses
- Will having a side biz crowd out your creative pursuit?
- The thing in your life with the most structure wins: your day job vs your creative career
- Kristine helps Nathan validate a couple of his side biz ideas
Selected People and Items Mentioned
- Glendale Center Theatre, where both Kristine and host Nathan have performed
- The WAJ episode with Dakin Matthews
- Elizabeth Gilbert’s book Big Magic
- Wendy McLendon-Covey WTF episode (now a premium episode, though you can find it online)
- Actor Geoffrey Owens working at Trader Joe’s, discussed on In and [Out of] the Arena
- Derek Sivers: Obvious to you, Amazing to Others
- Ben McKenzie, actor on The OC and Southland
- Lauri Johnson, actress and career coach
- Kristine’s podcast Cashflow for Creatives
- Lifecast, an oral history business
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