Mark: The advice 'follow your passion' is a trap. Michelle: Whoa, starting with a bold claim today, Mark. But I think I know what you mean. It’s the kind of thing that sounds great on a motivational poster but feels terrible in your bank account. Mark: Exactly. It's incomplete, and for a lot of creative people, it's the fastest path to being broke and ending up hating the very thing you once loved. What if the real secret isn't just passion, but a specific, learnable mindset? Michelle: Okay, now I'm intrigued. A mindset that pays the bills? That sounds like the holy grail for anyone who's ever tried to sell a painting, write a novel, or start a design business. Mark: It’s the core idea in the book we’re diving into today: Being Boss: Take Control of Your Work and Live Life on Your Own Terms by Kathleen Shannon and Emily Thompson. Michelle: Ah, the Being Boss ladies! I know their podcast. They’re kind of legendary in the creative entrepreneur space. Mark: They are. And what's so fascinating is that this book didn't come from some lofty academic ivory tower. It grew directly out of their massively popular podcast. They are self-proclaimed "business besties" who built a huge community by being brutally honest about the messy, unglamorous, and often terrifying reality of turning your creative spark into a sustainable career. Michelle: That’s what makes it so compelling. They're in the trenches. They're not just talking theory; they've lived it. So, this 'boss' mindset… it’s more than just telling yourself you're great in the mirror every morning, right? Mark: Oh, it's much more than that. It’s about reclaiming control, and it starts with a story that sounds almost like magic, but is grounded in some seriously powerful psychology.

Mark: The authors argue that before any strategy or business plan, you have to adopt the "Boss Mindset." This is about ownership and intentionality. And the best way to understand it is through Kathleen Shannon’s own story. Michelle: I’m ready. Give me the details. Mark: It’s 2010. Kathleen has just taken a huge leap. She quit her stable, senior art director job to launch her own branding agency, Braid Creative. She has the cool website, the sharp branding, everything looks perfect on the outside. But on the inside? Panic. Michelle: Oh, I know that feeling. The terrifying silence after you hit "launch" and expect the world to show up, but all you hear are crickets. Mark: Precisely. Weeks go by, and she's struggling to land clients. She's filled with anxiety, questioning if she made a catastrophic mistake. Her home office has this big chalkboard wall, and it’s just staring at her, blank and empty, a perfect metaphor for her client list. Michelle: That sounds rough. A giant, black void reminding you of your failure every single day. Mark: Exactly. So she calls her executive coach, a guy named Jay Pryor, and basically says, "Help!" And his advice is deceptively simple. He tells her, "You need to create space for the clients you want." Michelle: Create space? What does that even mean? Like, tidy up your desk? Mark: It was more literal than that. He told her to go to her chalkboard wall and draw ten empty lines, each one representing a future dream client. Then, he gave her a mantra to repeat: "I am attracting dream customers with cash." Michelle: Okay, hold on. I'm getting a little skeptical here. This is starting to sound a bit… woo-woo. Like 'The Secret' for Etsy sellers. Are we just talking about manifesting? Because I can "manifest" a million dollars all day, but my landlord still wants actual rent money. Mark: I hear you, and that is the perfect question. This is the critical point where the book separates itself from just wishful thinking. The authors are clear: the chalkboard wasn't a magic wand. It was a tool for focus. Michelle: How so? Mark: Think about it. Every day, Kathleen woke up and saw ten empty lines that she had committed to filling. It wasn't a vague hope anymore; it was a tangible, visual goal. It organized her conscious mind into action. She wasn't just wishing for clients; she was now actively hunting for ten specific names to write on that wall. The mantra wasn't a magic spell; it was a tool to fight the "fraudy feelings," that impostor syndrome that tells you you're not good enough. It was a confidence booster. Michelle: Ah, I see. The lines on the wall created a psychological container for her effort. It wasn't an infinite, terrifying void of "I need clients," it was a finite, manageable task: "I need to fill these ten spots." Mark: You nailed it. It transformed her anxiety into a focused mission. And the result was staggering. Within one week, all ten spots on her chalkboard were filled with the names of potential clients. Soon after, she even had to add "unexpected extra" spaces for more projects that came her way. Her business took off. Michelle: Wow. One week? That’s incredible. So the "magic" was really about creating a system that forced her to combine intention with action. It’s not enough to want it; you have to make a physical space for it and then do the work to fill that space. Mark: That's the entire philosophy of the Boss Mindset. Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality. The chalkboard was a system for subtracting the doubt and clarifying the goal. Michelle: I like that. It’s practical magic. So, the mindset creates the focus. But you have to have focus on what? You can’t just hustle randomly. You still need a plan, right? Mark: Absolutely. And that brings us to the second, and arguably most practical, part of the book. This is where they give you the actual blueprint for building your creative empire.

Mark: This is where Being Boss gets incredibly tactical. Once you have the mindset, you need a map. But the authors know that the term "business plan" can be terrifying for creative people. Michelle: Whoa, you said it. The phrase 'business plan' gives me hives. I immediately picture a 50-page document filled with spreadsheets and five-year projections that feel like complete fiction. It’s the opposite of creativity. Mark: They get that. So they redefine it. A Being Boss business plan is simple, maybe just one page. It asks you to define a few key things: your revenue goals, your different revenue streams, your job title and duties—even if it's just you—and what you need help with. Crucially, it also asks for your mission statement and, my favorite part, your desired feelings. Michelle: Desired feelings? In a business plan? Mark: Yes! How do you want to feel running this business? Creative? Free? Secure? Abundant? By putting that in your plan, you ensure that the business you build actually serves the life you want to live. It’s not just about making money; it's about making a life. Michelle: That’s a game-changer. It reframes the whole exercise from a cold, corporate task to a deeply personal act of designing your future. Okay, I’m less scared of the business plan now. Mark: To make it even more actionable, they introduce a brilliant core concept for how to grow that business: the dual mindset of the 'Farmer' and the 'Hunter'. Michelle: Farmer and Hunter. I like the sound of that. It feels primal. Mark: It is. The 'Hunter' is the part of you that goes out and gets immediate results. This is active selling, networking, sending proposals, closing deals. The hunter brings home the food for tonight. Without the hunter, you starve. Michelle: Right, that’s the hustle. The part that a lot of creatives are uncomfortable with because it feels 'salesy'. Mark: Exactly. But then there's the 'Farmer'. The farmer is playing the long game. The farmer is nurturing the soil, planting seeds, and tending the crops that will feed the village for years to come. In business terms, this is building your brand, creating consistent content, growing your email list, and fostering a community. Michelle: That makes so much sense! It’s like you can't just live off what you forage in the woods today. You have to be planting a garden for next season. Most creatives I know are one or the other. Mark: Tell me more. What does that look like? Michelle: Well, you have the 'Hunters' who are amazing networkers. They're always at events, they can sell anything to anyone, but their brand is a mess, they have no website, and if they stop hunting for a week, their income drops to zero. It's a total feast-or-famine cycle. Mark: And the 'Farmers'? Michelle: The 'Farmers' are the perfectionists. They have the most beautiful Instagram feed, a thoughtful blog nobody reads, and a brilliant product they've been perfecting for three years but have never actually tried to sell. They're great at their craft, but they never tell anyone about it. They starve waiting for the harvest. Mark: That is the perfect summary. The book argues that to be a successful boss, you have to be both. You need to dedicate time each week to hunting activities that bring in cash now, and farmer activities that build your reputation and audience for the future. It’s this balance that creates sustainable success and breaks the feast-or-famine cycle that burns out so many entrepreneurs. Michelle: I love that framework. It’s so simple and intuitive. It gives you two clear buckets to put your tasks into. Am I hunting today, or am I farming? And it makes you realize if you've been neglecting one. Mark: And that 'telling people about it' part, as you put it, is the final piece of the puzzle. It’s about how you show up in the world, which connects directly to the farmer and the hunter.

Mark: The final core idea is about synthesizing the internal mindset and the external strategy. It's about making your authentic self your biggest business asset. Michelle: You mean personal branding. That’s another term that can feel a little cringey, like you have to create a fake, polished online persona. Mark: The authors push back hard against that idea. For them, personal branding isn't about being fake; it's about strategically blending your actual personality, your unique values, and your personal stories into your professional identity. The goal is to create a memorable impression that attracts your dream clients—the people who not only want what you sell, but who also get you. Michelle: So it’s about being more of yourself, not less. The idea being that the right people will be drawn to that, and the wrong people will be repelled, which is actually a good thing. Mark: It's the ultimate filter. When you're authentically you, you build trust and connection. That's the 'farmer' side of branding. But this is where it connects to the 'hunter' side, and to the part that makes most creatives want to run and hide. Michelle: Let me guess. We’re about to talk about money and numbers. Mark: We are. Because how do you know if your authentic brand is actually working? How do you know if your business is healthy? You have to know your numbers. Michelle: Honestly, the 'knowing your numbers' part is where most creatives I know, including me sometimes, just want to stick their head in the sand. It feels like opening a report card you know you failed. There’s so much fear and shame attached to it. Mark: The book is so empathetic about this. It acknowledges that fear. But it reframes the whole concept. Knowing your numbers—your income, your expenses, your profit margins—isn't about judgment. It's about information. It's just data. They quote business mentor Tara Gentile, who says a business model is simply a system for creating, delivering, and exchanging value. Your numbers are the scorecard for that exchange. Michelle: A scorecard, not a report card. I like that distinction. A report card feels final, like a judgment on your worth. A scorecard is just feedback during the game, telling you what plays are working and what aren't. Mark: That's it exactly! The numbers tell you which products are profitable, where you're wasting money, and when you can afford to invest in yourself—whether that's a new piece of software, a training course, or just taking a much-needed vacation. Financial literacy, in the Being Boss world, isn't a chore. It's the ultimate act of creative freedom. It's what allows you to keep being a boss on your own terms. Michelle: When you put it that way, avoiding your numbers is actually giving up your power. It’s letting fear make decisions for you, instead of letting data guide you. Mark: And that's how it all ties together. The mindset gives you the courage, the blueprint gives you the strategy, and the numbers give you the clarity.

Mark: So when you step back, you see it's really a three-legged stool. You need the 'Boss Mindset' to believe it's even possible and to focus your energy, like Kathleen did with her chalkboard. Michelle: Right, that’s the foundation. Without the belief, you won’t even start. Mark: Then you need the Blueprint—that simple plan and the Farmer/Hunter strategy—to ensure you're acting effectively for both the short and long term. You're not just hustling, and you're not just dreaming. You're building. Michelle: The structure for your action. It gives your energy a direction. Mark: And finally, you need the Metrics—your authentic brand and your hard numbers—to get feedback from the world and know you're on the right track. It’s the guidance system that keeps you from flying blind. Take away any one of those legs, and the whole thing wobbles and collapses. Michelle: It’s about redefining 'boss' not as someone who manages other people, but as the CEO of your own life and work. The book is so highly-rated for a reason—it gives you permission, and more importantly, a practical framework, to take that control. Mark: It really does. It’s a powerful combination of inspiration and incredibly down-to-earth advice. Michelle: It makes me think... the question for our listeners is probably this: what's one small 'boss' decision you can make today to take back control of your work? Maybe it's drawing ten lines on a whiteboard. Maybe it's finally looking at your bank statement. Or maybe it's just deciding to spend one hour 'farming' this week. Mark: A perfect takeaway. It starts with one small, intentional act. Michelle: This was a great one. I feel more 'boss' already. Mark: This is Aibrary, signing off.