A new wave of entrepreneurship is here.
One that doesn’t hinge on a strategy. One that doesn’t rely on the latest trend. One that isn’t bound to any particular platform. But instead, one that originates from within YOU.
Let’s set the scene.
There are 3.05 billion monthly active users on Facebook, 2.4 billion on Instagram, 1 billion on TikTok, 482 million on Pinterest, and 310 million on LinkedIn. And yet, what do you see when you open any of these applications? Often, it’s the same exact things on repeat. The same trending audio, reel styles, caption structures, verbiage, and visuals. It’s why we get caught up in the infamous “mindless scroll.” There’s rarely anything of substance, rarity, or potency that grabs our attention.
This is an opportunity.
With so many users creating within the confines of “pleasing the algorithm” or “what worked for so-and-so,” there is a massive opportunity for creative entrepreneurs. An opportunity to shift, shake, and disrupt in order to create meaningful communities and explosive growth for our companies.
This is the new wave of entrepreneurship. We’re being called to leverage our creativity for greater fulfillment in our work and expansion in our companies. Although this is an opportunity, it’s even MORE than that. It’s becoming a requirement in order to capture the hearts and minds of our customers.
But before we can do that, we have to come ALIVE in our work again. And this is something we're helping our members with inside Vivid Creative.
So many creative entrepreneurs are tired, tapped out, and running on empty. We have to find the connection to our businesses again, the inspiration for our work, the motivation to create and innovate.
What’s holding us back from doing that? Here are a few of the primary reasons:
Often, this is happening at a subconscious level. Some of you may not even realize it’s happening.
So many entrepreneurs are working within the confines of the online space and essentially shrinking into the molds around them. That can manifest in the way they design their business, show up in their content, and/or build their products and services.
But you aren’t meant to shrink into molds. You are meant to shape the atmosphere around you. The people around you. The industry around you. And shaping requires original thought and ideas. It requires a risk in doing things differently. It requires a sacrifice of potentially being “misunderstood.”
So many entrepreneurs entered into business to create something new. But the longer we’re in it, the easier it is to lean more heavily on strategy. Here’s the thing though: Strategy without your creativity applied to it is stale, emotionless, and lifeless.
And this is what we’re repeatedly seeing in the online space right now.
Not only that, but strategies can become irrelevant. Your creativity - which comes down to your imagination and original ideas - is always alive. It’s always fresh. It’s always ready to produce something new and innovative.
As a CEO, you’re both a strategist and a creator. These two entities must come together for your business to not only feel alive to YOU, but to those engaging with it on the other side.
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The online space perpetuates the idea that “the answer” to [fill in the blank] is in some person, program, or methodology. But the reality is that so many of the answers are within you.
That’s not to say that investing in education to fill gaps, expand knowledge, and problem solve isn’t needed.
But it is to say that part of being a CEO is OWNING the fact that you’re responsible for creating and innovating at every turn in order to continue expanding your company.
Giving into the idea that “the answer” is outside of you allows you to become complacent in exercising the muscle of ownership and problem solving in your business.
To come ALIVE in your work again, you have to break free of these molds and start moving differently, thinking differently, and operating differently in your business and industry.
What does this MEAN? It means that you intimately know, embody, and tap into who you are to powerfully, boldly, and vibrantly innovate on this planet (and yes, in your business).
There are so many people saying so many things, but their words, their content, their brands are EMPTY. Because they don’t know who they are. And when you don’t know who you are, you imitate. You regurgitate. You recreate what has already been created.
It’s easy to follow a trend. It’s a whole other thing to create something from nothing - something that MEANS something to you, something that has moved YOU before it can move anyone else. And to be vulnerable enough, brave enough, and daring enough to share that with the world.
When your work speaks from a place of rootedness and groundedness in your creative identity, you’re not only fulfilled, but you move people.
And this is what people are CRAVING right now. As people. As community members. As customers.
Although you may be a creative first and CEO second, you need to know what it means to operate as the leader of your company. You need to know how to manage your time to create meaningful momentum on your goals, client expansion, and profit.
Ideating isn’t enough. You need to become an excellent actualizer.
A lot of creatives are feeling unfulfilled partially because they rarely ACTUALIZE their ideas. Without actualizing, your creativity never actually comes ALIVE. It’s just good ideas, thoughts, and dreams swirling around in your head.
No WONDER you’re frustrated!
Think about it like this. You have a DREAM trip booked to one of your favorite places in the world. You have the accommodations, you have the plane ticket, you have the itinerary. But if you don’t wake up, go to the airport, and get ON the plane, that dream trip still exists. But you don’t get to LIVE it. You don’t get to EXPERIENCE it. Imagine the level of FRUSTRATION this would create.
This is exactly how so many are treating their creativity.
We’re waiting for things to be “perfect.”
We’re waiting until we feel “ready.”
We’re waiting until our ideas are fully fleshed out.
But sometimes you have to STOP waiting and START moving. Sometimes you have to get out of your creative zone and ACTUALIZE.
That’s where the fulfillment is.
That’s where the impact is.
That’s where the money is.
This is the new wave of entrepreneurship at hand. The online space is full of products, services, and programs that share information around tactics, trends, and strategies to promote growth for our businesses. And we buy in.
But more important than ANY of these things is our ability to leverage our creative expression to innovate on behalf of our company.
This skill set doesn’t become irrelevant.
It doesn’t hinge on what’s popping in the industry.
It’s not even bound to a platform.
It’s easy to invest in a product that promises “the answer” to our problem. It puts responsibility on someone else to deliver. But it isn’t easy to take the time to hone your creative voice in a way that moves your people. That puts the responsibility back on YOU.
It takes time.
It can be vulnerable.
And it’s why so few go there.
Your creative expression isn’t just a nice thing that sets you apart. It can act as a primary growth tactic for your company. We HAVE to start flexing this muscle and developing this skill set in our businesses.
Your ability to create and innovate is your BIGGEST money maker in your business.
It can inform marketing.
Strategy.
Team building.
Product development.
Sales processes.
And in 2024, this will be the thing that sets lasting leaders and thriving creatives apart from the rest.
If you're wanting to do things differently in your business and unleash your creativity like never before, check out Vivid Creative, a program for creative entrepreneurs discovering their essence, establishing strong business structures, and bringing their vivid ideas to life.
Ashton Smith is the CEO and founder of The Awakening, a platform dedicated to helping women in business build intentionally so they can leave a powerful legacy behind. She helps early-stage all the way to established entrepreneurs own their power as CEO, deeply connect with their vision, & sustainably scale their businesses.
