When Will You Get a Real Job?
A personal case study on becoming professional artists
A newsletter about the artist life and business from an independent artist of soon a decade, published author and mother of 2. Written explicitly to get you reflecting and feeling what your gut tells you to do (screw the external noise).
Hi there!
The day that we’ve all been waiting for (but nobody as much as this writer haha) is finally here!
It’s BOOK LAUNCH-DAY, which means you can download your own kindle version of When Will You Get a Real Job? immediately under the new “books” tab on my home page.
Ps. To upgrade you’ll unfortunately have to be on a desktop - sorry for this inconvenience.
Wait, what book?!
I first wrote When will you get a real job? in 2019 following my husband’s and my first couple of years of working as artists (2017-2018).
There were lots of question-marks, not only from us as to whether we’d be able to make enough money to sustain ourselves. But also from the surrounding constantly adding pressure on what most considered to not be a real job from the start.
The title, When will you get a real job?, is simply the most frequently asked questions those first years and it fuelled us to figure it out even more.
One of the greatest frustrations in the search for information was the lack of real time case studies. Vulnerable and reflective stories of people who were living it in the present.
From the perspective of imposter syndrome, I can understand why. Because who am I to give advice before I have years of experience and monetary success behind my back?
On the other hand, from an artist’s perspective, why can’t I talk about what I know to be true in the present? Additionally, what does it even mean to be successful?
Revisiting the book five years later, I can conclude that Following our guts since the beginning has paid off. The book is not a how-to guide or recipe for artistic success. Instead, it authentically and transparently shares the stories of artists trying to figure it out; what we did, why, how and why we think some things worked and others didn’t.
Even though we grew our first business on Instagram, the lessons learnt are not related to a specific platform. It’s about the experience of being an artist, a business owner and how to get people to connect with your mission (and make sales).
I truly hope you’ll enjoy the book and find some new perspectives to reflect upon as you move forward on your own journey. If nothing else, I hope it will make you feel less alone.
I want to share some of the feedback I’ve received from readers of the first edition, but first…
THANK YOU so much to you who’ve followed along the pre-sale of the book and launch of my paid offering over the past few weeks. I truly appreciate you all ❤️
As announced, the pre-sale offering of 30% off monthly and 50% off yearly will expire in about 24hrs.
Transparency disclaimer (because that’s my thing): Though I use the scarcity tactic to help those who know they want to read the book and support my venture (including the 30% that are dedicated to my non-profit for mother empowerment), don’t forget that someone else’s urgency is NOT your emergency. I’ll be here later too when you’re ready, I just can’t guarantee at what price point more than say it will definitely be higher.
What readers have said:
"I've read your book as I was on the train from London to Brighton. It was such a gripping read. I read it in one go and I love the energy and the optimism of it."
- Laure Fraval, Consultant, United Kingdom
"I was a little sad reaching the end because this is such an exciting story, I wish it would have last longer!
What I appreciate the most, and that I acknowledge since I follow you on Instagram (Since 1 year more or less), is that I can feel how you (Charles and you) are genuinely authentic, even though you run a business and make a living. You've mentioned how you were scared that people think that you just want to sell and I have to admit that I'm very sensitive to that,
I tend to reject (maybe too fast sometimes) each time that I have the feeling that some newsletter wants my money too much, even for interesting things, but you do it in such a smooth way that I have nothing to say about your process, in fact I'm even happy when I buy from you. The sale funnel was just an example, but I appreciate your authenticity on a larger scale. It feels like you hide nothing, so we can trust you.
There's a feeling of closeness even with such a big community, and a sense of generosity that is really appreciable. I discover that it's possible to make money and give our best to the people in the same time. I don't know how much this is related to reading your book (and having an increasing urge to step into action), but around halfway reading it, I created my first pair of brick-stitch earrings, a craft that I wanted to experiment with since a long time, so this was an accomplishment in itself, and following the advice of your book I was able to ask myself some good questions about the kind of business I would like to create.
I like the way you constructed the story, this is both a biography and an entrepreneur guide. I think that's what makes it so inspiring, as you seem reachable, kind of new in the market and genuinely sharing, there's this feeling that I can do it too. And even if maybe I won't do it, it makes me feel good in the moment and maybe gives me strength to take a positive action in any way in my life. And that's how you change the world ;)"
- Fanny Zennaro, France
"We all start our creative journey somewhere. I’m sure that not everyone is as lucky as Charles and Elin to start this road with someone, but this is why it’s important to see how other artists did it, what they got through and which decisions they took on the way.
Some of the parts were personal discovery for me and a great topic to discuss with other creatives. I recommend this book for all creative entrepreneurs who want to get an extra view on things.
And you should always remember: Believe in yourself and you will get there as well"
- Polina Laamanen, Embroidery artist, Finland
"I appreciate that you are sharing so much. Often it felt like a relief when I read certain topics. Perfectionism and productivity are also something that I'm dealing with.
The thing you said about asking advice from the wrong people is really smart. I never really thought about it in this way and it's something I want to be more careful with.
Again, I really enjoyed reading it and I learned a lot from it. It's gonna give me some direction on how to work and I might read some chapters again from time to time."
- Claudia Elodie, Aspiring artist, Netherlands
"I was looking forward to this book. I wanted to see Charles and Elin's path, go behind the posts on Instagram and find out HOW they actually did it. And more likely to understand that I can do it, too.
Read it in one breath. The book is full of practical advice and interesting questions to reflect on. For example, when you should say "no"? how to stick with your decision and continue the journey with no regrets? I was quite surprised by the story behind it.
Elin vividly describes their experience and inspires readers to start their own path. Thank you for sharing and your support."
- Aleksandra Antonova,
How exciting! Many congratulations! No pressure but any plans for a print edition? I'm one of those dinosaurs. I love my paper.
From the first moment I met you on here, I knew this is exactly what you are meant to be doing 🤍