Make your story, your business
Why it's time to say goodbye to the tie, and feel powerful about it
Your Story, Your Business: Strategic advice and creative business notes from Freshly Ground Stories where storytelling meets structure, to make your story, your business.
Think "businessman" and what sort of image comes to mind? Do the same exercise with "bosslady". It's likely that the imagery involves some sort of a blazer, tie, collars, heels, shirts and maybe a deep red shade of lip. The colour palette might be less rainbow, more royal.Who owns what, who gets paid what, what rights are (and are not) included, what happens if something changes, how your work moves - commercially and legally - through this wildly evolving world of systems, platforms and studios.
Aside from a few exceptional pioneers there has, historically, not been that many chairs left in the boardrooms for creatives or explorers to express themselves without reservation. The attitude has been "leave the business part to us, focus on the your craft". Whilst there's been a huge shift in the past decade (thanks to the democratising power of social media), there is still a common misconception that creatives need to earn the right to own the commercial narrative of their work by being (commercially) successful first.
Let's flip the script. What if you're a musician, writer, artist, filmmaker, creative business founder at the start of their career? To be clear, "start" does not necessarily mean young. A career can start (and re-start) at 18 as much as it can 68. Imagine how much time (and money) you'd save, knowing how the commerciality of your craft, from the beginning of your journey?
Whatever your creative endeavour, if you learn the basic vocabulary that your industry uses in deal-making, it equips you with knowledge. Knowledge is power. Regardless of whether you're wearing a suit or dungarees, that power dynamic can be felt in the rooms you are in, empowering you with the agency over where your work goes and how it’s used. This ultimately allows you to focus on where you shine: your story.
Freshly Ground Stories is here to add some democracy to the boardroom and make commercialising creativity more accessible. Making it just as comfortable (and fun) to talk about money as it is to describe colours. Imagine a creative seamlessly playing with vocabulary in the boardroom, negotiating commercial concepts that have typically been subject to gatekeeping? Unstoppable, even without a tie.
Businessmen and a bosslady, re-purposing a boardroom in their studio after work.
Join our community. We’re here to make business your creative playground.
A few times a month, we'll be sharing stories, tips, knowledge and supplemental information for our growing and global storytelling community, to inspire and empower. Resources will be a combination of free and paid (but, mostly free), with perks for early adopters.
Why this? Why now? As a creative community, we understand the zeitgeist of our time. Whilst systems are in place to keep the status quo, creativity does not always have to dimmed at the expense of commerciality. We are all for commerciality, especially if deals are done in a way that is sustainable for big businesses and your own business. In fact, the majority of our network is made up of global media organisations and creative institutions, so we’ll be sharing perspectives from a variety of perspectives.
Hit subscribe if you got curious. Comment if you felt something reading this. Share if someone you know will find it motivating. Let's talk about it. Speak soon
Our commitment to humanity
The storytelling community of the Global South, local and diaspora, are currently navigating an inner balance of re-charge vs. reboot, with a pull of duty and responsibility towards the latter. In a moment where there are rapidly increasing narratives that dehumanise or stereotype the global majority, Freshly is committed to play a part, however small, in humanising stories, especially when in rooms where decisions can be made.
