Plug Your Contract Gaps… Before They Bite!

Creatives are often so worried about the “right” legal words in their contracts, that they don’t even pay attention to the stuff that matters – the stuff that’s missing, the stuff that’s going to come back and bite them in the butt because it wasn’t said explicitly.

It’s less about what you DO say in your contract and more about what is MISSING.

Today, we’re deep diving into what to do when you don’t know what you don’t know, how to spot those things, and I’ll provide you with a free tool to use that will help you plug those holes and fill those gaps!

Picture this: A judge running out of his chambers, black robe flying like a cape, screaming my name, while I chase my client who’s literally RUNNING away from me…

Yep, that really happened. I was barely a year into my career, and that was the day I committed to getting crystal clear on client expectations.

This particular client (let’s call her “Blah Blah”) wanted me to do something I considered unethical and unreasonable. I refused—drawing a clear line in the sand. But instead of respecting my decision, she went behind my back to make it happen anyway. (Spoiler alert: I eventually had to refund her nearly $16,000 because of her antics. Yes, I’m still bitter about it.)

We were in court for her father’s succession hearing when everything exploded. During a break, the judge came bursting out from chambers, robe flapping wildly as he shouted:

“MS. WILKINSON! ARE YOU TRYING TO HAVE HIM ARRESTED?!”

I had NO idea what he was talking about.

I turned to look at my client—her seat was empty. She was RUNNING toward the exit.

I took off after her. “BLAH BLAH, STOP!” I shouted, chasing her down the hall until I spotted salvation: “BAILIFF! STOP THAT WOMAN!”

You’re probably thinking: “Jeez, Sheila. I hope you fired her on the spot!”

The painful truth? I couldn’t.

My contract had ZERO language about terminating clients—not for bad behavior, not for failure to pay, NOTHING.

I’d done my research on the SERVICES she needed, but because I was a newbie, I never clarified what our actual working relationship was going to look like.

I wanted to fire her, but I couldn’t for lots of reasons, and especially because of my contract. I had nothing in my contract about:

  1. how to fire her – you know, how to terminate our relationship
  2. when I could fire her
  3. who could decide to end the relationship
  4. what constituted “good cause” to fire her
  5. WHY I could fire her

So, I had to keep her. Not because I wanted to, but because I had no way out.

And when I realized that I had no way out, I did everything I could to ensure it never happened again with another client. I got super clear in my contract about the things that mattered to me, yes, but also, the things I didn’t think I would ever need to worry about. That was key.

So many creatives pretend like nothing’s going to go wrong. That just because they haven’t had a client dispute in the past, that they’ll never have one.

When you have comprehensive contracts, with clear expectations and boundaries around your time, energy, talent, and pay, with processes for how you’ll make decisions together as a team – you and your client – then you don’t need to keep hoping that nothing goes wrong, sighing a big sigh of relief every single time the final payment on a project comes in. You can actually focus on putting all of your creative energy into the project without having to micromanage the business stuff, too.

Chances are, one day you WILL have a dispute – and chances are it won’t be because you do anything wrong, but because there’s so much out there that you’re not in control of – like your client’s day-to-day, whether they get deathly ill, your client’s funding and THEIR clients, their staff and support, the way they drive, whether they let road rage get the best of them, even if they travel to a dangerous place or take unreasonable risks like skydiving without a parachute … a dispute can arise for lots of reasons, and not just because you have one with the client themselves. It could also be because all of a sudden, you might wind up dealing with someone who’s not your client – their lawyer, their assistant, the executor of their estate who doesn’t want to pay you for work you’ve done.

The real problem with pretending everything’s going to be okay is that when you don’t address the PROBABILITY that something can go wrong, you’re leaving yourself exposed.

And look, I know it’s hard to think about all the things that go wrong. We WANT to see the good in people. We WANT to believe that everything will go smoothly. And most of the time, honestly? It will. And that’s great. But it’s less about whether it will go wrong, and more about being prepared in case it does. That’s what lawyers are for – that’s what experienced business consultants and mentors are for. Because I have seen a TON – a lot – so much bad, so much slimy, mucky, foul play. I’ve seen people screw over their family members for a few hundred dollars.

And so, yes, you want to believe everything’s going to go well. A lot of creatives feel uneasy and nervous about including language in their contracts about what to do when things go wrong.

Maybe that’s because it even feels a bit superstitious, you know? That if we even THINK that things will go wrong, that will somehow put it out into the universe, and then things WILL go wrong. If we ignore the perceived confrontation or truth about the fact that things CAN go wrong, through no fault of anyone, then when it DOES go wrong, we’ll be left holding the bag if we don’t prepare for it.

Stop pretending that everything’s going to always go well with clients. Start preparing yourself – and them – in case something does go wrong. And the way to do that is with your intake, your onboarding, your proposal, your contract.

If I wanted a contract that prepared me for just about anything – good, not so good, and terrible – so I can feel confident I’m covered, then I would look through my contract for what’s MISSING.

Missing. What do I mean by that? How do you know what you don’t know? Simple: you ask.

So, “What Would Sheila Say” to Ask?

🎧 LISTEN HERE FOR MY ADVICE! 🎧

Ultimately, a contract is about preserving and protecting the value of your relationships – with your client, with yourself, with your community, your colleagues. Even potential clients you don’t even know about yet.

Had I looked at contracts this way from the start, I would have never taken on that client who turned out to be a nightmare client. And maybe your clients haven’t fled the courthouse (yet), but I bet you’ve experienced clients who:

  • Email you at all hours expecting a reply within minutes
  • Get confused about the process, even though you explained it (twice!)
  • Ghost on deliverables, then blame you for the delay
  • Or worse—don’t pay on time (or at all)

Clients (especially the wrong ones) will always test the limits of what they can get. And if expectations aren’t clear from the beginning, the line gets blurry, fast.

That courthouse chase? It was my wake-up call.

I realized that clients can’t meet expectations they don’t know exist. I needed to define exactly what they could expect from me: who, what, where, why, when, and how—and what I needed from them in return.

So I revamped everything:

  • A clear onboarding process
  • Transparent communication guidelines
  • Step-by-step clarity on how decisions are made and when deliverables happen
  • And yes, firm payment terms

I stopped being vague and started showing up with clarity and leadership—so every client knew what they were signing up for.

Maybe your “courthouse chase” moment hasn’t happened yet. Gosh, I really hope not.

I want you to have clear communication and calm client relationships.

I had to work on my boundaries, clarifying my expectations, and making good decisions. And all that was so that I could protect my peace and my heart and my reputation.

So, yes, I want you to go do the free interactive guide – the 12 Simple Tweaks. Because when you do, you’ll get clearer about so much that’s MISSING in your contract:

  • the general information and tone
  • drawing lines in the sand
  • how you serve your clients
  • determining client needs and scope
  • communication expectations
  • your internal strategy and processes, including project timelines
  • compensation, payment terms and cost breakdown
  • intellectual property ownership and access
  • enforcing your contract, applicable law, and dispute resolution
  • contract amendments and termination
  • miscellaneous stuff that can either help or bite you in the butt
  • even signature requirements

And as you go through the guide, you’ll also find your brain working hard for you – because lots of other things will come up for you about your contract, and you’ll have a place to pull it all together. Because filling the gaps, plugging the holes in your contract? That’s PRICELESS. And it will save you SO much time and energy. And money, too. Let’s be honest.

And I’ll be honest. The kinds of issues you won’t expect with a client come up. It’s a tale as old as time.

You’re in a hurry because you’re just starting out and a new client falls into your lap, but you don’t have a contract. You need something fast and hiring a lawyer takes time and money you don’t have yet, so you download a free contract template online, switching out some wording, thinking that your bases are covered, thinking you’ll worry about a “proper” contract later (but never do, because it’s good enough and hey, it hasn’t burned you … yet).

And here’s where I tell you what you already know: you’re so far from covered with those templates, it’s not even funny!

My client’s story is a perfect example of this. For confidentiality purposes, let’s call them BOB.
Bob reached out to me on Instagram because they were in a bind. They wanted to fire their client, but the client owed them money AND their contract said nothing about how to fire them. They didn’t know what to do, needed help navigating it, and honestly, they felt a bit foolish for not knowing that their clients had a reputation for stiffing creatives (which is why no one in town worked with them).

Bob was an artist – painting large spaces in private and public areas. And they weren’t only incredible at it, their work was so recognizable that you knew it was them before you even got close enough to see a signature. It’s the kind of recognition and branding that so many hope for.

Their crappy problem client knew that – and used it against them!

Bob wanted to cut ties and move on in peace—but didn’t want to poke the bear. They needed to reply with confidence, backed by something stronger than gut instinct (hi, legal receipts), and walk away without getting bullied into refunding a deposit they had every right to keep. Oh, and they definitely didn’t want to end up in this kind of mess ever again.

Sidebar: Their original contract came from a friend, who wasn’t an attorney. I did some research and found that the contract they were using was actually a free template off the internet – with the exact language to a T, no customization at all. This is a BIG no-no, so if you have a template, you need to tweak it so it fits you (my 12 Tweaks Interactive Guide is a great place to start).

🎧 LISTEN HERE FOR MY ADVICE TO BOB! 🎧

Bob ended up choosing Option 2—not ideal, but it allowed them to walk away without further loss, since the check hadn’t been deposited yet. Still, the lack of proper contract terms left them backed into a corner.

After we cleaned up the mess, we built a custom contract from scratch: clear expectations, dispute resolution, boundaries, rights—everything. Two months later, Bob was signing dream clients with confidence and dodging red flags like a pro.

So, here’s what I want you to know:
📌 A bad contract can be worse than no contract.
📌 Free templates aren’t enough unless you customize them—deeply.
📌 And if the legal stuff overwhelms you (especially if you have a learning difference like Bob), you are not alone.

And if you’re wondering whether your contract could hold up under pressure, take a hard look.
✨ What’s vague?
✨ What’s missing?
✨ What protections are in place for you—not just the client?

Because the truth is you deserve to feel protected before things go sideways. And look, this stuff’s not easy. It’s not.

  • Society tells us that if someone wants to pay us, then we should do the job they ask us to do, no matter whether we’re at risk.
  • Society tells us that we should avoid confrontation, avoid conflict, because it’s not “nice” or “polite” and all that gets us is headaches and stress.
  • Society tells us that we should take what we can get, and define ourselves by our productivity and deliverables.

And all these things Society tells us? They’re wrong.

I don’t want you to just take ANY project that drops in your lap, or ANY money that people want to pay you – even if it’s a lot. I don’t want you to take just ANY client.

I care about you – I care about you making good, safe decisions that ensures you have a great client experience, too! You’re also in that relationship. It’s not just what the client wants. You don’t have to play that game. You don’t have to go along for the ride just to keep the peace.
And sure, you can put this off. You can say your contract is “good enough” for now, and that’s probably true. It probably is “good enough” – but if you actually go to your contract and look for what’s MISSING from it, you might just find that you’re leaving yourself wide open for a nightmare client like I had, or a crappy refusing to pay but forcing the work to be done client like Bob.

I want you to do this for yourself because you don’t know what you don’t know. So, if you go and do the free interactive guide, the 12 Simple Tweaks form, then you’ll have a chance to see what you don’t know. And you can start to tweak your contract. At the end of the day, you have to make your contract YOURS.

And if – when! – you do that, then I’m confident that you’ll feel way more confident. And you’ll avoid a problem client you didn’t know you were going to have.

And, if you need support, I’ll be running an 8-week Contracts Course soon – I’ll throw the waitlist link into the show notes – but also, go do my free 12 Simple Tweaks Form to help you get a clearer client contract. I’m here if you need me.

Next Steps

>>> 

Hi! I’m Sheila, your guide to a Joyful and Thriving™ creative life! I have lots of titles: attorney, social worker, coach, consultant, keynote speaker, educator. And while I’m proud of those titles, I am a human first and a title second – just like you. I want to help you reset expectations, set boundaries, and make aligned decisions, so you can streamline and focus your energy on the people, projects, and pay that actually matter to you. 

Instagram: @sheilamwilkinson | LinkedIn

Rate this podcast/episode on Apple Podcasts, or leave feedback here, and be sure to leave me a voice note with a question for me to answer in a future episode!

>>> 

Unmasking Your True Self: A Guide for Creatives

 At the end of the day, we all want a life that feels good, that’s comfortable, and which gives us the freedom and the flexibility to do the work that lights us up.

Today, we’re talking about what it means to be YOU. To show up as YOU.

And Creatives have been taught what they SHOULD do, SHOULD think, and SHOULD feel – and it’s wrong. That’s the intellectual way of making decisions. And that’s wrong, too. Creatives need to acknowledge and tap into who they are – the emotional side of themselves that they fear showing to the world – because that’s where their creative spark lives.

Creatives need to reconnect their emotional selves to their intellectual selves (and ditch the intellectual when making decisions).

When Creatives know who they are and they infuse that into what they do, they can create without looking for external validation, trying to prove themselves, or avoiding confrontation and truth about what really lights them up.

Who you are. What you want. Why you want it. Then taking that disconnect from that truth, and reconnecting your intellectual self to your emotional self – that’s what we’re talking about today.

First, let me share three statistics with you:

  • Approximately 45% of the world’s population struggles with their identity, believing that the only way they belong is through validation and approval of what they produce. Creatives are often in this category. They think that validation and approval should come externally, but they know in their soul that it should come from inside. The worst part is that they know who they are, but they’ve been taught to question it.

Here’s the second statistic:

  • Approximately 65% of the world’s population struggles even more deeply, feeling like they have to prove themselves, feeling unworthy and undervalued. Creatives are often in this category, too. They think that if they work hard, produce more, and create the perfect deliverable, that they’ll somehow “win” the race of success. That finally they will be worthy of love and validation and approval. This goes hand in hand with the 45% struggling with their identity. They know what they want – and it’s not to work hard or burnout or die trying to prove themselves to their parents, their professors, their family, society at large. They feel deeply in their soul that they shouldn’t have to prove themselves. They know what they want, but they’ve been taught to question it.

And the third statistic? As if these two categories of struggles aren’t enough to make us all feel badly about ourselves: 

  • Approximately 50% of the world’s population struggles with confrontation. They struggle with the TRUTH. This is where the disconnect lives – in the truth, and in avoiding it in order to avoid confrontation. And Creatives are absolutely in this category, too. They know the truth about the art and music and beauty they want to bring into the world every day, itching to doodle in that meeting, desperate to run barefoot in the grass and dance to the beat of their own drum. They feel their WHY so clearly that they can taste it, but they question this, too – they’ve been taught to question their value, taught not to stand up for themselves, taught to be people-pleasers and not to bite the hand that feeds them.

I spent my entire life doing what I thought was expected of me. 

  • I studied hard in school – I got mostly A+s and occasionally, a rare B, studying when I should have been sleeping. Reading when I should have been resting.
  • I worked hard in my career – I worked 100, 120 hour weeks, not only when I was building a multi-million dollar business, either. I often worked three jobs, even when I had “enough” … I was taught, I understood in fact, that enough was never enough.
  • And, for a small window of time, I played hard – desperate to relieve the stress of all that working and studying hard, I drank. I danced. I never did drugs, but I certainly didn’t take care of myself – mind, body, or soul. 

Like most neurodivergent souls, growing up and into young adulthood, I looked to my elders, authority figures, teachers, to validate who I was, to confirm that what I wanted was the “right” thing to want, and wasn’t honest with myself about why I wanted what I wanted. I believed, erroneously of course, that the value of my life and productivity was measured by what other people told me was the right way to do something.

I spent my early life climbing the corporate ladder. Trying to prove that I was worthy of respect and that I belonged. Except it never occurred to me WHO it was that I was actually trying to prove myself to. With both of my parents gone by the time I turned 16, I actually didn’t “need” to prove myself to anyone but myself. But all that conditioning kept me tied to what I now know was people-pleasing. 

The moment that I started listening to what I felt was right – in my body – and I began validating my own worth and value, my own truth about how I felt about my life and the contribution I wanted to make to the world, my entire life flipped upside down, but in the most positive, kind, meaningful, not scary at all kind of way.

When I stopped looking for external validation, trying to prove myself, and stopped avoiding what I thought would be confrontation (but which never was), I found that the person I knew I was all along, was, in fact, valid. Worthy. Valuable. And when you, or someone you love, does that too, your entire world will change.

Creatives are spending a whole hell of a lot of time trying to live up to someone else’s expectations that have literally nothing to do with them.

When you understand that the expectations that you have of yourself are far more important than any expectations that anyone else has of you, then you don’t need to keep trying to live up to everyone else’s expectations.

But, the big problem I see with Creatives is actually not that they’re living up to someone else’s expectations, but instead, they ASSUME THEY KNOW what others expect of them. And you know why that is? Because in order to avoid confrontation, they make up a “truth” about what they THINK other people – often, elders and parents and authority figures – want from them and for them.

And that’s usually, in my experience, 98.37% of the time … a lie. False. FAKE. 

Most often, what Creatives are doing is just a reflection of what they perceive were the disappointments that their own parents felt about their own lives. 

Let me repeat that:

Creatives do what they think they’re supposed to do in order to make their parents feel better about their own life choices. 

Getting married too young. Not working hard enough. Having kids before they were ready. Not getting good enough grades for the scholarship. Not saving enough money for retirement. Not wanting to rely on their OWN parents for support (so they tried to prove they were fine all along, when they were clearly not).

So, what does this mean? It means most of our people-pleasing comes from showing others what’s possible, by sacrificing our own wants and needs, so that those authority figures can be “pleased” that we were able to do it when they couldn’t. 

But here’s the thing: most times, the people we’re trying to prove ourselves to COULD do what they wanted, but they also believed they SHOULDN’T. And that’s the rub. And it’s a vicious cycle.” I want you, me, Creatives everywhere, to stop doing what you THINK you SHOULD do, and instead, do what you WANT to do. Even if it’s scary. Because your creative spark – your talent, your energy, your treasure – it’s too precious not to.

In order to do what you want to do, even if it might cause a ruckus at home or work, you have to be HONEST with yourself about what your body is screaming at you.

Instead of spending your days laboring over the fifteenth tweak on something that means nothing, overthinking and overanalyzing, waiting for someone to notice you’re drowning in all these expectations you think others have of you to be perfect, waiting for someone to notice you need help, you need to do a little Elsa-ing – let it go.

  • To have confidence in who you are, start listening to what your body is telling you when you mask your true feelings in that meeting.
  • To have clarity about what you want, start listening to what your body is telling you when you do something you despise.
  • To have courage in telling others why you want what you want, start listening to what your body is telling you when you perk up and get excited about something geeky and nerdy.

At the end of the day, whether you consider yourself a Creative or not, we all want a life that feels good, that’s comfortable, and which gives us the freedom and flexibility to do work that lights us up.

I spent too many years trying to be the “Good Daughter” and the “Successful Professional” …

I spent all those years trying to get good grades, to work hard, to get promoted, to raise my sister (even though I was happy to do it, I made a promise to my mother on her deathbed that I would take care of her) …. and all I got was exhausted. When I got to whatever “success” was supposed to look like, I couldn’t even enjoy it because I wiped OUT. I was burned out. I didn’t know when enough was enough. I was in such a hurry to be “done” with the goal, that I didn’t enjoy it when it arrived and I certainly didn’t enjoy the journey getting there. And chances are, you feel – or have felt – that way, too. I spent too many years holding on to things, people, spaces, workplaces, relationships even, that weren’t good for me. I was trying to know everything and be everything to everyone. To be a people-pleaser. And all that got me was heartache and heartbreak.

In the end, I had to set strong boundaries around my energy and my talent. I had to reset the expectations that I had of myself which were just 100% not true for ME. I had to be clear about what I expected of others – including respecting my boundaries and decisions. And I had to learn how to listen to my body when it spoke to me… when it told me what decisions were good for me, and which ones were bad. And I had to learn how not to judge myself or to let my thoughts get away from me. 

It wasn’t easy, but that process of deconditioning, unlearning all those things I thought were true about who I was and what I wanted, and yes, even WHY I wanted those things … once I unlearned all of that rubbish, I was able to show up as truly me. Unmasked. Armor down. Joyful and Thriving Sheila. And only then was I actually able to protect my peace, and to protect my heart, and only then did my reputation start preceding me in a way that I felt GOOD about – not just that I was balls to the wall all the time, but that I was kind and took my time and showed up with a smile and with joy for the pure love of helping others.

For over 25 years, I’ve been feeling that joy, and I have to tell you, it’s worth every moment of energy it takes to reconnect who you are with what you do, and ensuring your WHY is your REAL why. Not someone else’s.

You can start this process anytime. Today, tomorrow, next month. Whenever you want. And however you want. It can be in your contract, specifically putting language in about how you protect your time and creative spark or even deleting language that doesn’t feel good and replacing it with something that does. Or, you could also just start with the people in your life, the things in your life that you might be holding onto that don’t serve you anymore. You have nothing to prove – you’re already here. You know your truth – you only need to listen to it. You know that you are worthy and valuable – admit it and embrace it.

Pretty much every single client I’ve ever had has struggled with this issue – and our work was about helping them reconnect who they are with what they want, with what they do. Making sure their WHY is the right why. The real why. 

Too many Creatives believe they have to shrink and hide themselves – their mind, their voice, their body, their identity, their feelings, their drive, their intuition. And they believe that because Society has taught us that if we share that, we’re not safe. If we take up too much attention, that we actually take attention from others who might be more deserving. And that’s so messed up in so many ways, I can’t even begin to get into it, especially since I’m trying to wrap up! 🤣 

But seriously. Working with me is about being Seen. Recognized. Appreciated. For all of the talents and knowledge and experience you have, they knew that coming to me. My clients are ready to lift themselves up, and be guided back from the places and beliefs that deceive them. 

My clients know that in order to protect THEIR peace, THEIR heart, THEIR reputation, that they cannot lie to themselves anymore. They can’t lie about who they are or what they want, or even why they want it. 

It doesn’t matter if it’s about who you want to work with, the kind of work you want to do, or the pay you expect for the amazing work you do – you are the one who knows what’s right for you. My job is to just present you with the opportunity to take action. To get to the root of the actual issue, and then make a plan to see it through.

And all you have to do is follow the plan. Work the plan. And be honest about what your emotional self already knows about you, and the joy that your intellectual self wants to keep from you.

I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it some more – in order to keep the status quo:

🎧 LISTEN HERE FOR WHAT SOCIETY HOPES YOU DO NOT DO! 🎧

If you start getting clearer about who you are, what you want, and why you want it, then you’ll improve your life. It’s that simple. Not easy. But it is simple. And it’s worth it. YOU are worth it. So now the question is: what’s stopping you?

So, consider trying to be more honest about who you are, what you want, and why you want it this week. See how it goes. And know I’m here if you want help with getting the courage to shout that from the rooftops. 

And, if you need support, I’m here – schedule a free chat with me about what a plan could look like, or, if you’re ready to create a mini-plan now, book a Roadmap to Freedom Strategy Session!

Next Steps

>>> 

Hi! I’m Sheila, your guide to a Joyful and Thriving™ creative life! I have lots of titles: attorney, social worker, coach, consultant, keynote speaker, educator. And while I’m proud of those titles, I am a human first and a title second – just like you. I want to help you reset expectations, set boundaries, and make aligned decisions, so you can streamline and focus your energy on the people, projects, and pay that actually matter to you. 

Instagram: @sheilamwilkinson | LinkedIn

Rate this podcast/episode on Apple Podcasts, or leave feedback here, and be sure to leave me a voice note with a question for me to answer in a future episode!

>>> 

The Art of Saying No: Mastering Client Boundaries as a Creative

Boundaries aren’t a one-way street.

You might think you’re the only one involved in setting boundaries, but that’s not true. Boundaries need to also be respected – by you, your friends and family, but particularly, by your clients – and if your clients don’t respect them, then you need to double down on them AGAIN. When you dilly dally about putting boundaries in place with a client, you’re only hurting yourself. You know this intellectually; but it’s the emotional knowledge we’re working on here.

So, let’s talk about boundaries – how to set them and how to enforce them.

When I was starting out in my career, over 25 years ago, I can honestly say that I RARELY set boundaries – with anyone. My clients, my friends, my family, my relationships, my colleagues. No one. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I was afraid. Being an orphan will do that to you. 

My parents died when I was young – my mom when I was 16, my dad when I was 12. I raised my sister, who is 8 years younger than I am. When people talk about trauma with a little t or a Big T? Well, that was BIG T TRAUMA.

So, when it came to boundaries, I just didn’t set any. I was so scared that if I upset someone, I would lose them. I was afraid of rejection. I was afraid of being alone. I was afraid that if I told people what I wanted, that they wouldn’t care, they’d laugh in my face and then they’d just walk away.

The effects of Big T Trauma.

But, I think you’ll agree that you can only put your needs aside for so long before you get smacked in the face one time too many. 

That one time too many was in the early 2000s. I was dating an addict, an alcoholic, an abuser – emotionally, not physically – or so I thought. One weekend, they went on a bender. I knew they didn’t want to be found, but what did I do? I canvassed the French Quarter in New Orleans with a photo and a pleading face: Have you seen this person? I finally pieced together where the trail took them that weekend. Not dead in a ditch, but close to it. When I finally gave up because my calls and texts weren’t being answered, I sat outside the house until they finally came home at 3 am on Monday morning. 

And that, my friend, was the first time I was ever punched in the face. Closed fist. Full-on, clocked in the face.

And that’s when I learned the hard way: boundaries are a two-way street.

I didn’t have any boundaries back then. But to be fair, my partner didn’t have any, either. 

I wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near that bender that weekend. I just didn’t want to be abandoned. Rejected. Not included. Not wanted. Not liked. Not loved. Not appreciated. And to be honest, if I pulled what they did to me that weekend, ghosting them and refusing to answer the phone, they would have gone all over town looking for me worried I was dead in a ditch, too.

And even though there was a very good reason I wasn’t supposed to know where they were, the more I was ghosted (before ghosting was a coined term we used to describe … well, ghosting) … the more silence there was, the more I pushed. The more I tried to PROVE that I was worthy of attention and being included. The more I tried to PROVE that I deserved to be as close to them as possible. The more I sacrificed myself for THEIR happiness and comfort and ease. I never once took into account what *I* wanted.

So what does all this have to do with clients and boundaries? Everything. 

Because I didn’t truly understand that I had a problem with boundaries until it literally hit me in the face. I thought that I was supposed to handle whatever was dealt me with a smile on my face, to suck it up and say “yes, of course” (even though my body screamed no), to push through exhaustion just to prove I could do hard things, to show how much I could sacrifice of myself in order to make the situation the best it can be for the other person. I didn’t know when enough was enough. I didn’t know how to let go. I was afraid to NOT have pressure, being left alone with my thoughts and feelings. I was so stuck on being accepted and loved, I avoided the truth of what was going on in my life.

I was a people-pleaser through and through. And maybe you are, too.

I tried so hard to know all the answers. I overanalyzed. I second-guessed myself. I spent decades trying to attract attention, hoping someone would love me enough. 

Except *I* had to love me enough. That’s how I got boundaries with everyone around me. I decided that I was important enough, that I was worthy enough, that I deserved MORE.

I was 23 years old when that punch came. 

I’m telling you this story because the day I got punched, my entire life changed. I started doing what was right for me. It was a practice. Freaking hard at first. But it was a practice. I gathered the right support around me – you remember me talking about Nadine last time, yes? – and I started to do what I knew was right for me. I started taking the steps to protect myself in every single exchange – because the truth is there’s only so much you can control. Recognizing what you can control and not is key to boundaries.

You know when a client has gone too far. And you don’t have to be subjected to a client’s abuse – even in microaggressions – simply because you think that it’s normal, or par for the course, or even deserved. You don’t. And no, it doesn’t have to be as obvious as a punch in the face, but when someone degrades you, someone doesn’t appreciate you, someone nickels and dimes you, someone tries to make you give them a discount even when you’ve worked your butt off – in other words, if someone doesn’t recognize your value and worth – those are the signs you need to start putting yourself first. 

But remember what I said earlier: Boundaries are a two-way street. You have to set them, but they also have to respect them. And if they don’t, then it’s on YOU to respect yourself and enforce them for yourself. That’s why having a streamlined intake and onboarding process is so important. That’s why having an air-tight contract, a living document that’s forever evolving, is so important. Because unless you’re paying attention to the lines in the sand that matter to you, no one else will.

The truth is, we think that clients will simply respect us just because we’re professionals. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

When you have strong boundaries that stick, then you don’t need to keep waiting for people to respect them. They exist. You communicate them. When they cross them, you enforce them. You take action, and you make sure the consequences become real.

The big problem with boundaries is that we’re all being too freaking polite. We’re all trying not to “lose the client” before we even have them. But I would suggest to you that maybe, just maybe, you don’t want every client. That in fact, for a while, you shouldn’t take every client. Maybe, just maybe, you should say NO more often than you say yes.

I mentioned earlier about all the things I feared when it came to setting boundaries in my personal life, but the truth is, the way we interact and hold boundaries in our personal life is, more often than not, how we handle boundaries in our professional life. Our personal lives bleed over into our professional lives, into our businesses, into our contracts, into our working relationships with our clients. How you learned to set boundaries in your personal life is how you set them in your business. 

A lot of creatives are people-pleasers and feel afraid when they try to set boundaries. They have a real, genuine fear of loss, a fear of rejection, a fear of abandonment. That comes from how we were raised, and not just by our parents or guardians. It comes from our teachers, our clergy, our friends, our elders, our books and media and music. Those messages of WHO we should be and HOW we should be? They run deep. So deep that we often don’t see the programming until it hits us in the face.

And that’s the stuff that will kill your creative spark – it’s the stuff that needs to be healed, which is why I encourage my own clients to do therapy while we’re working together. Together, we’re reconnecting the intellectual knowledge to the emotional knowledge. You need both in business.

Because in business, whether you call yourself a solopreneur or self-employed or a freelancer or even a creative entrepreneur, the fact of the matter is that when you trade money for deliverables, you have a business. Even if you don’t call it that. 

And the shifts in the mindset of being an employee to self-employed to a business owner is a subtle one, but an important one – and it all starts with boundaries.

I want you to stop pretending that being available 24/7, answering the phone anytime of day, even answering texts and emails right away, staying up late at night to work on a project, not taking time off so you can rush a project no one asked to rush … that somehow, that’s being a great service-provider. Because it’s not. Actually, it’s toxic. 

You remember my story about how I worked 100/120 hour weeks for 10 years, building a multi-million dollar business? Money is not my currency. Money is necessary, but it comes and goes. Instead of pretending that people-pleasing is the way to be “nice” and “a good service provider,” I want you to start setting boundaries little by little.

If I could tell Younger Sheila (I’m still young, you know!) how to set stronger boundaries with clients, I’d tell her to start small.

So, “What Would Sheila Say” to Younger Sheila?

🎧 LISTEN HERE FOR 10 PIECES OF ADVICE! 🎧

Which of those 10 stuck out to you? Whatever it was, I want you to start practicing it this week. Little by little. Tiny bit by tiny bit. And grab those scripts – they will save your butt.

Alright, let’s start wrapping up.

If you’ve been trying to let go of bad clients, terrible projects, and atrocious pay, then setting baby boundaries are your first step. You might have already said yes to something or someone, but my big takeaway for you today is that you can always, always, ALWAYS change your decision.

And, to help you start figuring out the right level of boundaries for yourself, I want you to go deeper – look to your contract. 

What does it say about terminating the agreement? Does it say anything about early termination? What’s the timeline on your projects? Are you biting off more than you can chew all at once? Do you want to take big projects and break them down into smaller, mini-projects, so that you can focus and not get overwhelmed? What does your contract say about availability? Response time? Communication expectations? Anything? 

These pieces are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to boundaries with clients. If you don’t have all of these things, then make sure you go do the free interactive guide that I have, it’s called “12 Tweaks for a Clearer Client Contract!” and it will help you start to formulate those words, formulate those boundaries, formulate that spark in your work once again. It’ll help you start working on your people-pleasing tendencies (we all have them from time to time, you know – it’s totally normal – and it’s up to you to work on them, because clients are not going to respect boundaries that don’t exist).

Obviously, the story I told you earlier was quite personal, and the important thing to remember is that I translated those lessons into my business. But it didn’t happen overnight. It took me a couple of years to get a contract that felt super solid and clear. I had to really work on laying out my non-negotiables, making sure that all my lines in the sand were clearly communicated with clients, both in writing and verbally. Because if I got pushback, I had to give myself permission to let that client go so that I had the space for the good client who would respect my boundaries. And you can do that, too.

Once I had the clarity about the boundaries I wanted, I had to practice setting them (and sometimes failing, too) in order to feel confident enough to create a contract that made ME feel COURAGEOUS. 

Us people-pleasers want to protect the peace. Except we fail to realize that protecting THE peace is not the same as protecting OUR peace.

At the end of the day, I wanted to protect MY peace more than I wanted to sacrifice it.

If you’re struggling as a people-pleaser, maybe even feeling shame about how hard it is to set boundaries, know that you’re not alone. Especially if you’re just starting out. Feeling joyful and excited about running a business is possible, but to do that, you have to set those strong boundaries, reset those expectations of yourself and others, and to make decisions that feel good – not forced. Your contract is a perfect place to start doing exactly this.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had this exact conversation with a client. I had a client a while back who was struggling with a client. Exasperated, frustrated, and annoyed, he was was fed up waiting to get the content he needed for a site he was working on. Together, we evaluated his contract, determined the exact language that applied to the situation, and drafted an email for the client together. (This is just a tiny bit of the work I do with clients). In that email, we respectfully explained the situation, explained that the contract required content within a certain number of calendar days of requesting it, and that if he didn’t get it, he would do no more work on it. And that if he didn’t get it within a certain number of days, that he would terminate the contract and they’d owe an early cancellation fee. That put a fire under the client’s butt and guess what happened? He got his content within 3 days. THREE. DAYS. That is the power of strong boundaries. And it’s a testament to a clear contract.

Having a contract that addressed what would happen in the event of a delay was the lifesaver in that situation. He didn’t need to be a people-pleaser. He just had to point to his contract and say, HERE. While for him, the section was about Termination, for you, it might be something different. That’s why I want you to go deeper into your contract and see where you can start setting little boundaries now, so that when you have to bust out the big guns, you can.

  • Society wants you to not respect each other as humans.
  • Society sets unrealistic expectations, convincing us that we have to be exhausted trying to make our clients happy.
  • Society tells us to look externally for validation and love and direction.

And Society couldn’t be more wrong. I care about helping you get it right – and that starts with your boundaries and expectations and decisions.

  • I care about helping you be more than just a service-provider. I care about helping you bring your creative spark to the world and to help make it better.
  • I care about infusing who you are into your work in a way that doesn’t drain you and doesn’t require you to be a people-pleaser.
  • You and I are better than what Society wants us to be. We can do what works for us, and still be incredible humans working with incredible humans.

And look, you could avoid this altogether. You could pretend that boundaries aren’t really the problem, and instead, it’s all the humans out there who are taking advantage of you. But the truth is, if you set boundaries, then you’ll feel more peaceful. More hopeful. More satisfied in your work.

So, try it this week. See how it goes. And know I’m here if you need or want help with that people-pleasing. You’re better than that. 

And, if you need support, I’ll be running an 8-week Contracts Course soon – I’ll throw the waitlist link into the show notes – but also, go do my free 12 Simple Tweaks Form to help you get a clearer client contract. I’m here if you need me.

Next Steps

>>> 

Hi! I’m Sheila, your guide to a Joyful and Thriving™ creative life! I have lots of titles: attorney, social worker, coach, consultant, keynote speaker, educator. And while I’m proud of those titles, I am a human first and a title second – just like you. I want to help you reset expectations, set boundaries, and make aligned decisions, so you can streamline and focus your energy on the people, projects, and pay that actually matter to you. 

Instagram: @sheilamwilkinson | LinkedIn

Rate this podcast/episode on Apple Podcasts, or leave feedback here, and be sure to leave me a voice note with a question for me to answer in a future episode!

>>> 

Price Yourself with Purpose: Achieving Fair Value as a Creative

You. Can. Charge. MORE. But to do so, it’s more than just believing in yourself.

When you charge lower fees, clients value you LESS. And when clients value you LESS, then you will believe you are worth LESS – while also feeling like you deserve MORE. Charging lower fees than your work deserves devalues your deliverables, which reinforces you don’t deserve more. It’s actually a vicious cycle. So, let’s talk about that cycle, how to break it, and how to move forward.

When I first started out as an attorney, I charged a fairly low amount for my services – about $100 an hour. I believed that because I was “young” and “inexperienced” and thus, that translated into the hourly rate I should charge. I was never more wrong in my life. Well, except for that one time in the summer of 86, which I won’t get into here.

I quickly learned that $100 an hour was not enough for the VALUE that I was providing to my clients. I was poring over very complicated legal documents. I was researching and writing and drafting communications and letters way into the night, when I should have been sleeping. I was thinking about my clients all the time – puzzling over how to give them the best outcome available to them.

Sidebar – I had an amazing coach and therapist. Her name was Nadine. Miss that woman every single day. One of the things we worked on together was clarity about my value as a HUMAN. We also worked on my confidence in my VOICE and saying what I meant and meaning what I said. But one of the most important things she and I worked on was my COURAGE. I would say to her, “but I don’t know what to say to XYZ (fill in the blank – whoever was causing me excessive stress that week” and she’d say, with a huge smile on her face, “Tell them to go f*ck themselves!” To which I always replied, “I can’t do that!” And she’d always say – “then what’s the next best thing you could say?” And I always came back to what I knew I wanted, what I knew I deserved, and together, we came up with a script of what to say to get the outcome that was right for me.

So, why does all that matter when it comes to what you charge your clients? Because when you believe you deserve more, but your ACTIONS are opposite of that, your VOICE says something different, and your CONTRACT reinforces that error, then it’s very difficult to convince yourself to do the next best thing for yourself.

What I forgot in the way I was pricing myself was that I actually had decades of previous experience in the law, but it was the first time I was working on my own. I believed that somehow, just because I was a new business owner, that meant that I also had to lower my fee. But in reality, I should have priced myself according to the decades of experience I had honing my skills – which, I am sure you also have. You’ve probably been creating your unique and wondrous thing for decades. Maybe you’ve always been able to pick up a pen and draw. Maybe you see the world in abstract colors. Maybe you see every blank wall or canvas as an opportunity to make the world more beautiful. Maybe you see the world as one big giant branding opportunity. And chances are, you’ve spent decades honing your craft, too.

And look, I’m not going to pretend that charging more is easy. It’s not. It’s a lot easier to tell you to do it than to actually do it. But that’s where the clarity and confidence and courage come in. That’s where knowing all the hard work – and heart work – you’ve put into something comes into play. So, yes, you might have clients now who need to be paying you more and that might make you resentful, or frustrated, angry, disappointed in yourself for not advocating for yourself, but here’s the secret no one tells you: you can raise your prices ANYTIME YOU WANT, even with a current client who’s already agreed to a rate. What it takes is communication – clarity in what you need and deserve, confidence that your client cares about the outcome, and the courage to know you can always tell them to go fuck themselves if you wanted … but you don’t have to go that far to get what you want.

Every single time you do an intake on a client, you can increase your rate. You don’t have to do it once a year. You can do it every single time – raise it by 5, 20 dollars an hour until someone blinks. If they don’t blink, you’re not charging enough.

I’m sure that you’ve been setting your fees by what you believe the going rate is, the “industry standard” is – but here’s another secret for you: no such thing exists. It’s a range of what I set, you set, they set, your friend sets … and everyone’s value of themselves and their work is DIFFERENT. Setting your fees based on what OTHER PEOPLE ARE CHARGING IS just plain WRONG. And it hurts you and it hurts your industry. It hurts your friends. It hurts your peace. It hurts your heart. It hurts your reputation.

In the US, we have this agency called the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They have an Occupational Outlook Handbook. There, you can find the range for every profession you can think of. It reports RANGES – hourly and salary, depending on where you are in your career, and what city you live in. In 2023, the median pay for a graphic designer was $58,910 per year, but I’m sure you know people earning more and earning less. The 2023 median hourly rate was $28.32 per hour. I’m sure you know people earning more and earning less. But these are not numbers to live and die by, because they are not YOUR reality. YOUR experience. YOUR vision. YOUR relationships. YOUR quality of life. YOUR needs and wants. Those numbers are not YOUR life. But the range of salary pay for graphic designers? It ranges from $36,420 to more than $100,450.

  • Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Graphic Designers (visited February 05, 2025)

When you have clarity about all of the tiny bits of value that you bring to the table – in your literal values as a Human, or in your literal creative value as a Professional – then you don’t need to keep trying to price yourself according to other people’s standards. You will price yourself according to YOUR standards – your standard of care, your standard of living, your standard of values, your standard of what you literally stand for.

The big problem with pricing is always that there’s so much out there in the world, telling and SHOWING creatives that they aren’t valued, when actually, all you’re hearing is the loudest talkers. Because creatives are valued. We could not have the world we have – for better or for worse, let’s be honest – if it weren’t for creatives. Who thinks up the designs for all these buildings we live in, or how water gets into our homes, or even what colors to paint a new therapist’s office so that her clients feel most at ease when they walk in? Creatives just like you. The problem is knowing YOU believe in your value, but allowing society and people outside of you CHANGE YOUR BELIEF in yourself.

And look, a lot of creatives feel scared, stuck, and unsure of themselves when they value themselves by what they believe OTHERS should value them as. That’s because when we value ourselves by other people’s standards, we will never feel like we are authentically ourselves.

So, instead of setting your value – your pricing, for example – based on what other people say you deserve, start valuing yourself – in your pricing, for example – based on what you KNOW you deserve. And more than just what you DESERVE – what you NEED to have the standard of living you want. We all have a survival number. We all have a living number. We all have a thriving number. What do those numbers look like to you? I don’t want you to just survive. I want you to THRIVE.

In order to have the life you want, you need to value yourself appropriately, yes, but you also need to demand that OTHERS VALUE YOU APPROPRIATELY, too.

So, let’s say you’ve got a long-time client that you’ve been giving a steeeep discount to. They have your original prices from when you just started out, but you never raised your prices with them because you value them and their trust in you. How do you raise your prices with them? If you were to ask yourself, “What Would Sheila Say?” –

🎧 LISTEN HERE FOR WHAT TO SAY! 🎧

Now, ideally, you’d say this to them in person first, before you put it in writing to them. Sure, it’ll be scary, but if you truly have that great of a relationship, then they’ll rise to the occasion. And if they don’t, then your backup plan can be to stop doing work for them as of December. So, there’s a runway of sorts, but also, so that they know you won’t just abandon them.

Having the understanding of what you want is not enough. You need to take action. That action can start with a conversation about what you’re doing for others, highlighting the exception to the rule that they are, and then asking for them to meet you halfway. Any time I’ve done this with a client, they’ve met me halfway. Not because they’re afraid, but because they value me and the work I do with them. Now, this isn’t the only way you can handle this, we’re going to talk about that next.

At the end of the day, what you want is to have the confidence and courage to have a hard conversation with a client.

I’ve outlined already how I have experience with this issue. And I’ve told you how it’s worked out for me. And when I’ve done this with clients, it’s been the same outcome. In fact, with one client, we doubled her 3-figure rates to higher 3-figure rates and not a single person bowed out. Not a single person said no. And what’s funny about that is that we actually doubled her prices in the hopes that clients would bow out, so she could have more time back in her life. Now, the next time, we’re going to double them again.

Remember: If they don’t blink, you aren’t charging enough.

At the end of the day, it’s about clarity in who you are and what you want, and particularly in why you want it. It’s reclaiming and redefining and renewing your faith in yourself. It’s about setting the right boundaries from the start in your contract, and resetting expectations you have of yourself and others. It’s about making decisions that make you feel GOOD, not just to avoid confrontation. It’s about protecting your peace, your heart, and your reputation. Because that person who’s paying significantly less than other clients, when they refer people to you, chances are they’ve shared how much they pay you – which means it makes it that much harder to set the right rate with the referral.

So, let’s start wrapping this up.

First and foremost, you can change your rate anytime you want. With every new client. Even with continuing clients.

Second, you want to be sure you have at least two kinds of rates in your contracts and proposals – maybe that flat fee for the project, but also, an hourly rate that’s much higher for anything outside of your scope. You’d put that into your Pricing Section on your contract. And we’ll get into flat fees later. If you want to dive a bit deeper into choosing your services and determining your prices, go listen to Episodes 24 and 25:

🎧 Listen to Episode 24 – Services
🎧 Listen to Episode 25 – Pricing

Society tells creatives like you and me that our services and our worth is tied to our time. That’s not true. Capitalism wants you to devalue yourself so that others can extract as much as they can from you. That’s wrong.

Society tells creatives like you and me that we should make money for the sake of money, to have more just for the sake of more, defining ourselves by our PRODUCT and not by our inherent value as Humans. That’s wrong, too.

Society tells creatives like you and me that we have to keep putting pressure on ourselves to do more, produce more, and BE MORE, but for LESS. And that’s wrong, too.

I believe that we can do good work for good people for good pay.

I believe that we can make a positive impact on the world AND be paid appropriately.

I believe we are service providers who deserve to provide that deliverable and still want more than just the money that comes from that deliverable – to beautify our world, to be mission-driven.

If you change your contract and your communications to ensure you’re valuing yourself properly and that you’re ensuring your client does, too, then I’m confident things will change for you, if this is something you’ve been struggling with. When you start making these changes – things like ensuring you’re paid properly – you will change not just yourself, but society and your community at large. When you start advocating for yourself, you will start attracting people who will advocate for YOU – and yes, that includes your clients. Because they’re as invested in you as you are in them, if you let them be.

And, if you need support, I’ll be running an 8-week Contracts Course soon – the waitlist link is below – but also, go do my free 12 Simple Tweaks Form to help you get a clearer client contract. I’m here if you need me.

Next Steps

>>> 

Hi! I’m Sheila, your guide to a Joyful and Thriving™ creative life! I have lots of titles: attorney, social worker, coach, consultant, keynote speaker, educator. And while I’m proud of those titles, I am a human first and a title second – just like you. I want to help you reset expectations, set boundaries, and make aligned decisions, so you can streamline and focus your energy on the people, projects, and pay that actually matter to you. 

Instagram: @sheilamwilkinson | LinkedIn

Rate this podcast/episode on Apple Podcasts, or leave feedback here, and be sure to leave me a voice note with a question for me to answer in a future episode!

>>> 

Beyond the Looking Glass

In case there were any questions about it: the answer is yes.

Yes, I’m deeply disturbed about what’s happening in the world – every rounded corner of it – from the depths of Africa & Asia to the breadths of the Americas & Europe.

My silence here on these matters does not indicate ambivalence. On the contrary.

Life is HARD.

Life is hard ENOUGH.

I aim not to make it harder or more stressful.

My mission has always been to provide a space of solace where you can have your thoughts and feelings, and still take action to make your tiny rounded corner of the world the best it can be. No matter how hard the outsiders try to break your resolve.

This is why I created two groups – one for business owners and one for professionals.

Because we all deserve a space to be ourselves, be supported, be cheered on, and to have space held for the real you behind social media. Behind the mask. Beyond the looking glass. 💕

You’re not alone.

Science and Strategies of Rest with Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith

If you’ve always struggled to feel fully rested, then this episode is for you! We’re unveiling the power of rest with Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, an internal medicine physician and award-winning author, to explore the concept of rest. 

We discuss the importance of recognizing and addressing different types of rest and how they impact our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Dr. Dalton-Smith shares insights from her book ‘Sacred Rest’ and introduces her seven types of rest framework. 

It’s all about the significance of listening to one’s body, setting flexible boundaries, and integrating restorative practices into daily life. The episode also highlights Dr. Dalton-Smith’s Rest Quiz, which can help you identify and address your specific rest needs.

Tune in to learn practical strategies for incorporating rest into a busy schedule and achieving a more harmonious, Joyful and Thriving™ life!

Resources from the Show 

Building Relationships and Trust through Podcasting with Danny Ozment

I’m thrilled to bring you another inspiring episode! Today, I have the honor of chatting with Danny Ozment, someone who has played a pivotal role in my podcasting journey. If you’ve tuned in before, especially to Episode 51, you’re already familiar with how instrumental Danny has been in helping me find my voice and create the space I needed to be my authentic self.

The Importance of Podcasting

Danny, a podcast consultant for busy professionals and solopreneurs, has a unique approach to podcasting that I find incredibly refreshing. Contrary to popular belief, having a business isn’t a prerequisite for starting a podcast. Whether you have one or not, you can podcast as you, the individual, or you can create a podcast for your business or even for your internal team. We explore this and more in our conversation.

Meet Danny Ozment

Danny is a sought-after speaker, online educator, and consultant to major corporations and thought leaders. He’s worked with Salesforce, LinkedIn, and many others, and his own highly-rated podcast, “Professional Services Growth and Marketing” gives a ton of actionable podcast strategies for growing your business, your community, and your influence. In our chat, we delve into his journey, exploring how he shifted from a career in music and as a conductor, to being a podcast consultant, and how he transferred his skills to an adjacent industry.

The Journey of Change

Growing up, Danny was drawn to music, which led him to pursue formal education in the field. However, life took an unexpected turn when his daughter was born with medical issues. This required flexibility in his work life, prompting him to shift from being on stage to working behind the microphone. Danny’s transition involved moving from recording music groups to helping professionals launch and grow podcasts.

From Plan to Execution

Danny is a planner at heart, making calculated decisions about career transitions, even while planning for the unexpected. He initially focused on editing and producing podcast episodes for others, which leveraged his technical audio engineering skills. With time, his business evolved from a one-man-show to a structured organization with a robust team. He now focuses on growing the business and stepping back from day-to-day operations.

Monetizing Podcasts

For those curious about turning podcasting into a revenue stream, Danny shares that traditional advertisements aren’t the only path. Instead, he emphasizes building relationships and generating trust with your audience, which can convert into customer leads. This is particularly valuable for professionals in service industries.

Enterprise Podcasting

We also discuss the innovative concept of enterprise podcasts. Imagine using a podcast as a tool for internal communication within a company, fostering a culture of transparency and trust among employees. It’s a unique approach to keeping teams informed and engaged, especially beneficial for large organizations.

Starting Your Own Podcast

For those ready to start podcasting, Danny advises beginning with a clear understanding of your business’s mission and audience. By knowing what you stand for and who you want to reach, you can create content that resonates and builds strong relationships with your listeners.

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Danny again. His mentorship has been instrumental in my journey to find my voice. I’m profoundly thankful for his influence and hope that his insights can help you as much as they’ve helped me. Danny offers resources for podcasting beginners, and I highly recommend checking them out.

Resources from the Show 

How to Use Yoga to Prepare Body, Mind, and Spirit for Birth with Bec Conant

📚 Psst – Links to the Free E-Books are ONLY available below in the show notes!

In this episode, we welcome Bec Conant, an expert in the prenatal and birth field. Bec is the founder of ‘Om Births,’ an online program for pregnant people and new parents. With over 20 years of experience teaching prenatal yoga, the discussion covers various aspects of the birthing process, preparation, and recovery. 

Bec shares her journey from a career in dance and movement to becoming a prenatal yoga instructor and birth doula. The conversation delves into the importance of physical and mental preparation for birth, the intersection of yoga with the birthing experience, and how new parents can continue to care for themselves postpartum. 

The episode also touches on Bec’s new book ‘The Om Births Approach,’ her techniques, and the support she offers through online prenatal and postnatal yoga classes. I highly encourage you to explore Bec’s resources, including free eBooks and her main book available on Amazon and her Publisher’s site.

  • 05:42 Bec’s Work and Support for Pregnant and Postpartum People
  • 07:02 The Importance of Postpartum Support
  • 09:41 Holistic Approach to Birth and Postpartum
  • 26:01 First Yoga Class Experience
  • 28:09 The Worst Yoga Class Ever
  • 28:59 Diving Deeper into Prenatal Yoga
  • 29:36 Becoming a Doula
  • 30:49 First Doula Experience
  • 34:02 The Power of Letting Go
  • 43:44 Writing the Book
  • 49:54 Advice for Pregnant Yogis

👉🏽 COMPELLING EPISODE QUOTES FROM BEC:

“The roadmap to motherhood doesn’t stop. When you birth the baby, that’s just one very, very cool rest stop.”

“Life is inherently uncertain. How we interact with that uncertainty is the foundation of every meditation practice, but it’s also really the story of how your life unfolds.”

“Every contraction you fight is one you have to do over.”

“If you go into a yoga class and you’re not a fan of the teacher, or it doesn’t feel right, don’t assume that it’s yoga that’s the problem. Don’t write off the whole practice entirely. Assume it’s them. Assume the teacher was the issue.”

“The focus of yoga really wants to be just feeling your body move, just feeling what it feels like to be in different shapes, to breathe in a different way, to shift your attention from our everyday, very outward, very judgmental, very categorizing lens to a more inward, compassionate, accepting quality.”

Next Steps – Resources

Connect with Bec

Grab Bec’s Book – The Om Births Approach: How to use your yoga practice to prepare body, mind, and spirit for birth

Links to the Free E-Books are ONLY available here in the show notes:

Share your takeaways and tag us on Instagram and LinkedIn:

Stay connected more regularly with Sheila!

Reigniting Creative Passions: From Burnout to Breakthrough

In this insightful episode, you’ll engage with creative consultant Mike Brennan to uncover the journey of rediscovering and sustaining creativity in everyday life and business. Together, we explore the vulnerability of creativity, establishing a daily creative habit, overcoming societal pressures, and the therapeutic power of creative expression. 

Mike shares his personal transformation from ministry burnout to becoming a creative professional through a 365-day art challenge, highlighting the importance of reflection, small consistent actions, and systematic approaches to maintain creative momentum. 

Listen in to gain practical advice on integrating creativity into your life, reconnecting with personal passions, and leveraging tools like the Daily Creative Habit journal to foster continuous growth and innovation.

  • 05:32 Mike’s Journey and Creative Philosophy
  • 13:17 The Daily Creative Habit
  • 21:32 Rediscovering Art and Creativity
  • 38:47 Integrating Life and Creativity
  • 40:31 Overcoming Creative Blocks
  • 47:13 Consistency and Prioritization
  • 59:40 Resources for Creativity

👉🏽 KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Daily Creative Habit as a Solution: Mike emphasizes the importance of establishing a “daily creative habit” to foster consistency in creative work, especially for those feeling stuck or overwhelmed by other priorities.

Everyone is Creative: The episode expands the definition of creativity beyond traditional arts, explaining that creativity manifests in various forms like organizing, cooking, writing, or even building systems.

Overcoming Creative Repression: The podcast discusses how many individuals, especially lawyers and other professionals, suppress their creativity because of societal or familial expectations. The message is clear: it’s never too late to reignite creative passions.

Intentional Creative Time: Creativity doesn’t just happen on its own; you must intentionally carve out time and space for creative exploration, even if you’re living a busy or demanding life.

Transformative Power of Creativity: The episode shares personal stories about how reconnecting with creative practices helped the speaker and others rediscover joy, passion, and a sense of purpose, highlighting how creativity can bring healing and fulfillment.

👉🏽 COMPELLING EPISODE QUOTES:

“I help people establish what I call a daily creative habit. It’s for those who want to engage with their creativity but have lost touch, or who have a creative goal yet struggle with consistency.” – Mike Brennan

“We need to expand our definition of what creativity is so that it’s more inclusive, not just confined to painting or performing arts. You can be creative in how you organize, cook, or even build systems.” – Mike Brennan

“So many lawyers are repressed creatives. They’re told, ‘You can’t make money with that. It’s a nice hobby but not a career.’ And then they choose a path like law, never realizing how creative they actually are.” – Sheila M. Wilkinson

“There was a time when you created something just because it brought you joy. What if you returned to that place, where your work wasn’t tied to clients or expectations, but simply to you?” – Mike Brennan

“Creativity is about showing up, doing a lot of bad work before you get to the good, and going on a journey of self-discovery and curiosity.” – Mike Brennan

Next Steps

📧 RESOURCES FROM THE SHOW 

✍🏽 LET’S CONNECT!

☑ PLEASE RATE & REVIEW

🔊 Do that on Apple Podcasts here, or, if you’re listening on Spotify, go back to the main profile for our show and click the 5⭐review option there!

🔊 Not on Apple Podcasts? No worries! Rate and Review on our site and make sure to leave a question for a future episode!

Unplanned Hiatus: Navigating Life’s Realities with Compassion and Clarity

Ever planned for success but felt overwhelmed when life threw curveballs? I adapted and here’s how you can, too! This episode is all about my unexpected summer hiatus (whoops!) and the life-changing lessons learned along the way. I open up about personal experiences with setting boundaries, resetting expectations, and making critical decisions in real time. You’ll hear about what worked, what didn’t, and how I reframed challenges to move forward. 

Whether you’re feeling overwhelmed by work or stuck in your current situation, this episode offers insights you can immediately apply to your own life. By the end, you’ll understand how to better manage time, communicate your needs, and shift your mindset for lasting impact. Don’t miss this chance to reframe your approach to career and life. 

Tune in for practical strategies you can use today as we dive deep into setting boundaries in your career, exploring practical strategies for resetting expectations for success and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. You’ll hear valuable insights on making strong, confident decision-making in professional life and how to pivot when things don’t go as planned. Discover proven work-life balance strategies that will help you thrive both personally and professionally, while building emotional resilience in business to overcome setbacks and move ahead with purpose. This episode is packed with actionable advice to help you elevate your career and life.

Key Takeaways:

  • Always Double or Triple Your Time Estimates: When planning tasks or events, overestimate the time required, as unexpected things can—and often do—happen.
  • Use Your Own Tools: Even as a professional helping others, you need to apply the same tools and strategies to your own life during difficult times.
  • Set Clear Boundaries: Whether in work or personal life, setting boundaries is crucial for maintaining emotional and mental well-being.
  • Communicate Your Needs: People can’t read your mind; it’s essential to communicate your needs clearly, especially when you’re emotionally stretched.
  • Treasure Relationships: Life is unpredictable, so it’s important to carve out intentional time for loved ones and meaningful relationships.

Compelling Episode Quotes:

“If birthing parents remembered how painful it was, the species would have died out long ago—just like I forgot how intense in-person events can be!”

“We don’t just flail through and keep doing the same thing. We change and shift in the moment, debrief, and make new plans.”

“I didn’t just wear my lawyer or social worker hat; I gave myself permission to experience grief moment to moment.”

Next Steps:

Let’s connect! 💌 Social Media is a place where we can get distracted by all the stuff going on in everyone else’s life, and it’s difficult to keep aligned for ourselves there. I prefer to have deeper discussions, kinder connections, and more “real” interactions. I send out monthly(ish) emails with ideas, stories, and baby steps you can take to improve your day-to-day. Sign up for my email list to get notifications on new podcast episodes, free resources, behind the scenes activities, VIP Pre-Public Access, discounts, and more!

YES, I want to connect, Sheila!
Exit mobile version