Nurturing Creativity as an Entrepreneur

Creativity is crucial to your title.

As a creative entrepreneur, your attention is always divided. Answering emails, sending invoices, networking…

That all has to do with the “entrepreneur” part.

But what about the “creative” part?

What are you doing to stay creatively fresh? How are you staying inspired?

Sadly, we don’t always think of creativity as a top priority. It gets pushed to the back burner in the shuffle of entrepreneurial life.

But I would argue that it’s actually the most important aspect of your job. Your creativity is the reason you got into this gig in the first place. Your creativity is what makes you (and your business) unique. Memorable. Sellable.

It’s well-worth the extra time and effort to prioritize creativity in your business. But what exactly does this look like? How can you stay creatively inspired in your work?

Build it into your schedule.

If you’re anything like me, if it’s not on the calendar—it doesn’t happen. This applies to creativity too!

If you want to push creative boundaries and hone your skillset, you have to build it into your calendar.

What does this look like? For me, it means I start every Monday with free creative work. I’ve blocked out a few hours to create, learn, and explore. It can be anything I want, as long as it’s not business-related (no client work, no marketing graphics… no plans for monetary gain).

It helps me get into the groove for the work week, so I can start on client work feeling refreshed and creatively inspired. As an added bonus, I always look forward to Mondays!

Here are just a few ideas for how to spend your free creative time:

• Paint, draw, or sketch. Do something outside the realm of your usual skillset. It doesn’t have to be good! Remember, this is just for you and your own creative exploration.
• Write. Journal. Free-write. When was the last time you wrote a short story or a poem? If your answer is uhh… middle school?—give it a try! It will work a new creative muscle… and remember, you don’t have to share it with anyone. Haikus are a fun place to start!
• Take a Skillshare class. Skillshare is a wealth of creative knowledge. The classes are inexpensive, and you can really learn a lot. Watch the videos, and be sure to do the class project as well: it’s a great way to explore something new with a guided structure.
• Learn something outside your industry. Take a cooking class or join a dance studio or enroll in a figure drawing course. Do something creative, but unrelated to your primary skillset. You’ll be surprised how it influences your everyday work.

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Do non-client work.

I cannot stress this one enough: non-client work is so good for our creative souls.

In this industry, we are so fortunate to do what we love as a job. But when you attach monetary value and client expectations to your work, the work loses some of that creative magic.

Do non-client work for your own creative fulfillment: what would you create if there were no limitations?

Give yourself a pretend dream client and create a project for them. Join a styled shoot or collaboration that suits your dream aesthetic. Start a passion project that fuels your creative fire.

Find that shiny spark of inspiration again. Remember why you love what you do.

Some of my favorite portfolio pieces are still non-client projects… designs I’ve created with total free rein. They’re opportunities to do my best work—to showcase what I can do and how I want to do it.

On a more practical note, non-client work is important when you’re building a portfolio (hint: you should always be “building a portfolio”). The type of work you put out there is the type of work you’ll book. If you’re only showing recent client work, you’re missing an opportunity to attract your dream projects right into your inbox.

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SEEK inspiration… or you’re not going to find it.

Creative inspiration ebbs and flows… but I’ve always found that it’s more likely to flow when I actually seek it.

Keep a pocket journal (or start a new note on your phone!) to list inspirations you find in your daily life. I also use my phone to snap photos throughout the day… maybe a bathroom’s floor tile or hotel lobby wallpaper.

Best of all? Sketch. Again, don’t worry about whether the sketches are good or not… just use them to record your inspirations. I love sketches because they automatically put your spin on whatever it is you see in front of you. By translating it from the real world, through your mind, to your hand… you’ve already created something new. Plus, it trains muscle memories: maybe the contour you just drew will serve as inspiration for a future project.

This will get you into the habit of looking for inspiration and taking note of it—building inspiration into your everyday mindset.

Where to start? I’ve got a few ideas:

• Go outside. Get away from your computer. Put down your phone. Pay attention to the world around you—whether it’s people-watching during lunch at a busy shopping center, or immersing yourself in nature on a solo hike.
• Read books. Yes, read books about growing your business or about your own creative niche. But also, seek outside of your industry. What about an architecture coffee table book? Pick up a literary classic or a light fiction read. Spend the day at your library flipping through renaissance art or European gardens or fashion magazines. Soak up all the visual inspiration you can find (and keep your journal or phone handy to take note of it).
• Visit museums. Take yourself on a museum date. Give yourself an afternoon to wander the galleries. Here in Dallas, there are constant exhibits popping up at our local art museums—and many of them are even free. Get inspired by master painters or contemporary sculpture or the architecture of the museum itself.
• Keep a Pinterest board. Pinterest is another wealth of inspiration, but it’s also a dangerous rabbit hole. My advice? Start an inspiration board but use it only for pins outside your industry. Pin colors, interior design, interesting furniture… anything outside your own industry that won’t tempt you toward comparison (or worse—copying).

Be open to the inspiration around you. Take yourself on creativity dates; allow your mind to wander, to soak in the environment around you. And document it!

Sounds pretty do-able, right? If you’re willing to give your creativity the opportunity to grow, it will.

So that’s it:

1. Build creativity into your schedule.
2. Do non-client work.
3. SEEK inspiration.

Start small. Start today. What’s one little thing you can do to stay creatively inspired?

Looking for more ways to cultivate creativity in your life? I’ve prepared a comprehensive checklist for you right here! This free resource will help you build creativity into your life and find fulfillment in your work. Enjoy!