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Piper | Business Strategist for Creative People

@thepiperwatson

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Helping creative founders build businesses that make financial sense ⚡️
Partnerships 💌 [email protected]
Strategy + coaching ↓

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I wish I had read these sooner

after 20 years as a creative multipreneur these 3 books are basically the instruction manual that would’ve saved me years of sleepless nights and hundreds of thousands of dollars 💸

at a certain point you’ll inevitably feel like you’re doing something wrong either earning less relative to your experience and talent or your successful on paper but a hot mess behind the scenes.

But there’s six books in total I would recommend you read for every important stage of your creative business

Comment BOOK and I’ll send you the link

What would you add to this list? by @thepiperwatson

Why I care about helping creative people make a lot of money.

If you’re new here, hello!

I’m not yacht rich, yet. I’m just a 20+ year creative multipreneur who had some success here and there and was just tired of feeling out of control of my finances and ability to make money.

i’m five years into making that change.

And this is my journey to become a wealthy weirdo.

Because I don’t think you should have to become normal to make adult money.

That’s why a lot of the content here is about entrepreneurship, money, and what it takes to do both well.

Not because I have it all figured out, and it’s not even about the money.

I think what we all want is to have the ability to get the very most out of our one precious life.

This account is just me sharing what I’ve figured out on my own path to do just that. ⚡️

Welcome home, aspiring wealthy, weirdo!💛✨ by @thepiperwatson

Comment PIVOT to figure out what’s next.💛✨

I wish I’d had this guide back in 2012 when I first became career confused.

Typically people want to change directions when they’re bored, broke, or burned out.

And for me, it’s got harder in midlife.

It wasn’t until four pivots, a whole identity crisis, and over a decade later when I realized there is a pattern to how people find fulfilling work that can evolve with them as they evolve.

The 40 year career doesn’t exist anymore. We’re all full aware of that.

So why do we still make it so hard on ourselves for permission to pivot?

This is exactly why I created this guide and developed it after five years of coaching creative unconventional people through their own pivots.

✨

I’m Piper -mediocre surfer,travel junky, and 20+ year creative entrepreneur. I simplify turning ideas into income and help creative people make a lot of money.
If you’re midlife, mid career, entrepreneurial and trying to fund an interesting life, welcome - you’ve found your people.

—

relatable business coach, strategy, personal development, entrepreneur, creator, creative, photographer, nonprofit founder, unconventional, midlife, mentor, career pivot, career confused, business pivot by @thepiperwatson

Hey 👋🏼 I’m Piper and I am a business strategist who would much rather be in sweatpants and flip-flops then have to get myself gussied up in full face make up just to help people make their creative businesses way more profitable

Most days I’d rather be outside with my dogs @daveanddusty than in front of my laptop, but that’s a small price to pay to be able to build an online business that can literally go anywhere.

And that was the ultimate goal when I started my Photography business back in 2008

now that we’re here, it’s funny that running your business is a lot like posting on social media.

Many days you’ll tell yourself it’s a grind, but when you actually get up and do it, you’re really grateful for the freedom it gives you 💛😅✨ keep going

Fast forward nearly 20 years and four businesses later. by @thepiperwatson

just sayin 🤷🏻‍♀️ follow along if you like business edutainment from someone who burned her blazers and doesn’t own one 1️⃣ pair of heels 🎢

If you’re new here, I’m Piper -mediocre surfer,travel junky, and 20+ year creative entrepreneur. I simplify turning ideas into income and help creative people make a lot of money.
If you’re midlife, mid career, entrepreneurial and trying to fund an interesting life, welcome - you’ve found your people.

—

relatable business coach, strategy, personal development, entrepreneur, creator, creative, photographer, nonprofit founder, unconventional, midlife, mentor, career pivot, career confused, business pivot by @thepiperwatson

what an epic day! turnstile at the monument to raise money for the people of Gaza, Lebanon, and Sudan.

every time I see these guys I’m always blown away by the kindness, positivity, and the care that they have for the crowd and that the crowd has for each other.

they’ve created something so special and it always feels so good to be a part of. 💛✨

this is truly what music and art all about.
bonus that I got to spend it with my Boo 👻 @davo_makes 👯 by @thepiperwatson

Just a check in 😏💛✨

fall feels like that time of year where you simultaneously want to get everything done that you didn’t do in your business for the first 10 months of the year, but also just wanna wrap yourself in a heated blanket and binge watch Dark Matter

I definitely think there’s room for both.

I think that’s the best part of entrepreneurship is what other job forces you to figure out that calendar math?

when there’s a time to be a machine
A time to be a couch potato
A time to dance lol.

it’s all necessary.

that is all. by @thepiperwatson

Things bringing me joy right now 🍁🍂
Life Behind the Business Edition 😄

1. FRANDS in the fall

you know when you have those friends that are your ride or dies? And you don’t even remember how long it’s been that way? Yeah I love that. And then they procreated, which is cool. #nowwearefive

2. Photo album flipping

October 1989 pumpkin patching 🎃
fun fact, this ford Thunderbird became my first car! My dad had gotten it at a police auction. It had a V8 engine and the driver seat was permanently reclined and had to have a suitcase behind it to prop it up. You know I was straight Pimpin in that thing driving to high school. #pedaltothemetal

3. Antique finds

YOU GUYS SOMEONE FUCKING MADE THISSSS 🐚🐚🐚

John hates it. I love it.

4. Early birthday gifts from friends who I swear can read your heart.

This book is everything I needed right you don’t even have to be religious.

If you’re one of the 3000 new people on this account, I will add this to the book list you followed me for!

5. Cabin weekends

No notes. But I can confirm that a $20 bag of potato chips is totally worth it.

6. Tiny coffees.

Actually, it was really hard to capture just how tiny this to-go cup was. And I just kept thinking about the manufacturing company who makes lids this small? Like is that normal?

7. Barbie Vermeer?

Someone please check my art history. But I’m obsessed with this.

8. More friends

Friends that are always down. That always check in with you. And that always get you.
@davo_makes

9. Parking lot pleasures 😂

I truly just love fun people who do fun shit with their dogs. Especially when they have convertibles.

What are you guys loving right now? by @thepiperwatson

Share this with someone who gets it 😉⚡️

The weirdest thing about running a business that no one warns you about is how much your success is 90% a personal development game.

What you think about yourself

What you believe about your possibilities

How you show up in the world because of all of the above

How you lead people because of all of the above….. and because it literally takes a village.

Whether that’s an army of Claude agents or just some help around the damn house.

But the biggest struggle for me has always been comparisonitis.

And thinking that because I’m someone who values adventure, the outdoors, flip-flops over heels, and baseball hats over blowouts…. That somehow success and wealth are not as readily available to me.

This is just a story

And I’ve decided to rewrite it.

Follow along on my journey to become a wealthy weirdo!

and raise your hand in the comments if you’re on that path too. 💛⚡️
—-
Special thx to @grainsurfboards for another rad Re-evolution event!

you know when you walk into a room and you feel like “these are my people“? I guess that’s why we keep coming back to this event every year to surf Maine! by @thepiperwatson

I was stuck in feast and famine for years until I started doing these 5 things:

☝🏼know your numbers

what you make, what your life costs, what your ideal life costs, and the gap between them. the gap is what your creativity can solve for.

when you don’t know your numbers, wealth (however you define it) stays a faraway “someday.” getting clear moves your creative brain out of problem-having mode and into problem-solving mode.

✌🏼drop your money baggage

every creative, unconventional person has it. “rich people are gross.” “money is the root of all evil.” “i don’t want to be a sellout.”

book the ayahuasca retreat, the therapist, the hypnotist. do whatever it takes to leave your money crap at the door.

3️⃣ package your “weird”

you don’t have to monetize everything you love. but figure out what it is about YOU that makes your skills a desirable solution for people who have money and a problem you can help with.

candles or couples coaching, i don’t care.

packaging your unique angle and selling it is entrepreneurship, and learning THAT is the skill that unlocks unlimited revenue streams = wealth acceleration

4️⃣ treat money like your friend

listen to how you talk about money. if it were a friend, would it sound like you like them?

when i did this, i realized i treat money like the popular girl at school. i really want her to like me, sometimes she does, and when she doesn’t i talk shit about her. if she found out, would she want to be my friend? probably not.

but when i talk about money like a beloved friend, it has a funny way of showing up more often.

🖐🏼make personal finance your bitch

jk. but seriously, make it your new hobby. f*ck the brainrot. cancel netflix for a month.

wealth won’t drop in your lap unless you’ve got an inheritance or a winning lotto ticket coming your way. and even then, knowing how to make it, manage it, and grow it are all learnable :)

Comment 1-5 which one you want implanted in your life MOST if I could wave magic 🪄 wand by @thepiperwatson

POV: overcoming the Depression-era grandparent programming to “not be a braggar, because I gotta eat ya’ll and bragging = sales basically

but I think it’s really easy to bulldoze through your days when you run your own business / provide a service and totally snooze on pausing to pat yourself on the back.

I’ve never worked in corporate, but all my creative captives, trapped in that 9-5 life that come to me for business coaching - tell me they HATE not being seen or recognized for their contributions.

welp - you know what I’m going to say here right?

don’t be that boss to yourself!

keep an “awe list” - a list of allllll your badassery from the time you won the spelling bee in 5th grade to the latest client you just landed. a win is a win. clock it.

keep a folder of any notes or messages from happy customers and clients.

There will be days when you need the reminders.

inventing your own income is so much easier when you work for a boss who celebrates you. by @thepiperwatson

a masterclass in 106 seconds that made me over $106,000 in 2024 ☺️

If you’re new here, I’m Piper -mediocre surfer,travel junky, and 20+ year creative entrepreneur.

I simplify turning ideas into income and help creative people make a lot of money.

If you’re midlife, mid career, entrepreneurial and trying to fund an interesting life, welcome - you’ve found your people.

—

relatable business coach, strategy, personal development, entrepreneur, creator, creative, photographer, nonprofit founder, unconventional, midlife, mentor, career pivot, career confused, business pivot by @thepiperwatson