How I’m Building Financial Resilience

2020 taught us that ultimate stability is a myth.

The world can change in dramatic ways over the course of a few months, and with it the shape of our daily lives and the strength of our financial security.

How do we approach creative work, and the building of a creative business, with so much uncertainty?

To start, I’m embracing the ideas that author Todd Henry learned last year, shared in a podcast episode and summarized in these sketchnotes:

It’s that first lesson learned that I’m paying close attention to right now: diversify your portfolio before you need it.

Throughout 2021 (and in the years that follow) I’d like to broaden my portfolio of work in a way that leads to creative fulfillment and financial resilience.

Here are the four branches of my creative portfolio that I’m choosing to strengthen.

Verbal to Visual

The strongest branch of my portfolio is Verbal to Visual, where I teach the skill of sketchnoting.

In 2020 I made two major shifts to that online education business.

First I switched platforms, moving from a Wordpress site (with half a dozen plugins that allowed me to host courses and accept payments) to Mighty Networks (which…