Our evolving world is causing many of us to rethink and redefine ourselves.  For many people this looks like working two jobs, starting a business or working at a day job while creating an additional revenue stream from something they are passionate about. Simultaneously, there is the transition we are all in now, shifting from an information age to a conceptual age.  This shift is requiring creativity of specialized kinds that authors such as Daniel Pink and Howard J. Blumenthal are writing about. They both, from different approaches, describe the phenomena of the emerging creative professional as “that of the individual worker now emerging as a serious business professional with specific skills on par with lawyers, accountants, doctors, and other workers who are perceived to be within a specialized class.”* This emerging Creative Professional is, essentially, a new professional identity forming in our culture.

Who is the emerging Creative Professional?  Are you one?  And why does this matter?

Traditionally, Creative Professionals have been found in the arenas of marketing, art, film making, graphic design, photography, music, etc. This narrow definition of the Creative Professional was further broken down into specific labels such as “graphic designer”, “photographer” or “musician” to name a few.   Today however, many of us are those things and many more. We may be a photographer and a teacher. We might be a painter and a web designer.  We are no longer one thing; our lives are colorful mosaics of constantly churning creative endeavors.  Our lives are rich tapestries being woven together with multiple “things we do”, no longer being narrowly defined by one discipline.

What specifically defines the Creative Professional that is distinct? Not all artists are Creative Professionals and not all Creative Professionals are defined by traditional creative professions. However, taking an inventory of some of the qualities of the emerging Creative Professional gives you a sense of whether you are one or not. (You’ll see some of these qualities listed in our mini-survey below). More importantly, for you curious folks still reading, here is why identifying as a Creative Professional might matter.

As you shift and grow, by necessity, your identity must shift and grow as well.  Who you were, is not who you are becoming.  But who are you becoming?  What do you identify with now and how is that supporting you or holding you back?  Our identities are places that we can stand in. Feeling good about our identity helps use take risks, feel more self-confidence and can help guide our actions.  Conversely if we don’t feel good about our identity, we can become stuck, slowed down or uncertain about what we are doing.  Do a check in now, and ask yourself what your work identity is?  How do you feel about that?

The emerging Creative Professional has specific characteristics that are distinct and recognizable. Now, more than ever, these Creative Professionals are becoming leaders and innovators as they develop new ways to make a living from, and continue to contribute, their skills and talents to the world.

The point here is that the landscape we now inhabit is becoming richly populated with emerging Creative Professionals of all kinds, who don’t identify themselves in that way yet. This is leaving them in a place that is vague and their emergent identities uncertain.  Simply by stepping into a more empowered identity, we have access to greater self-confidence and become connected to our own inner resources that can begin to move our lives forward in new ways.

Do you know what being a Creative Professional means today?  Are you one?  Take our little survey and find out!

1.  Are you a person that …

• Exhibits curiosity
• Likes to investigate new possibilities
• Tends to take initiative in most matters
• Is highly imaginative
• Is future oriented
• Tends to think visually
• Sees possibilities within the seemingly impossible
• Is not afraid of taking risks
• Is prepared to make mistakes

These are just some of the qualities of a Creative Professional.  You might also be the person who finds yourself thinking about what you want to create, in all aspects of your life most of the time, while other people are talking about the weather?   If you resonate with some of these characteristics, read on.

2. When people ask what you do, do you say:  ”Well, I am an attorney in private practice, but I’m also starting a small business”,  ”Well, I do a few things..I’m a web designer and I also teach yoga classes”,  ”Well, I’m a psychotherapist by training, but now I’m a trader and I’m starting my own business?”

3. Has you industry changed dramatically in the last 5 years and as a result you are seriously reconsidering how to package your life to meet your own needs, be fulfilled and make a contribution?  Does this look like a multi-faceted work life, that, although challenging you are also enjoying due to the creative challenges you are constantly being presented with?

4. Do you work from home, juggling self-employment that requires marketing efforts and life from one desk?  In other words, do you operate a home business that requires you to be innovative and creative on a regular basis?

If you answered yes to any of the above you are most likely an unidentified Creative Professional.  If this is you, try this out. The next two people who ask you what you do, respond in two ways.  First, respond with your laundry list of the things you do.  Then, if you identify at all with being a creative professional, say that out loud to the next person who asks you what you do, say first, ”I’m a Creative Professional” and see what difference it makes in how empowered you feel.  Also notice the response you get to your laundry list versus your statement, “I’m a Creative Professional”.  Please post a commnet below and let us know how that went!

Author:  Ruth Oprean Cardillo, CPCC

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Read the Keys To Living Blog featuring posts by Ruth Oprean Cardillo, CPCC and Maria Cristini, CPCC, PCC, Life & Business Coaches: Keys To Living

About Ruth

Ruth is a Creative Professional.  Her life is a mosaic of of coaching other Creative Professionals, teaching, writing, art, parenting other other creative endeavors.  Visit her site at Keys To Living, for more information and to read more, visit Keys To Living Blog.

*wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_professional