Don't Undervalue Yourself

I've been having lots of important conversations about this very thing lately. As someone with 27 years of arts industry experience behind me, and as someone who is constantly coaching other artists and artsworkers to value themselves - I felt it was time that I did. So I put it out there and that conversation has been respected. I was expecting some people to be dismissive - but no - to my surprise everyone gets it.

For many years my husband, who works in IT has been questioning why I do some of the things I do for the price I do it for. That price is not just the dollar value - although that is a big part of it. It is also the staying up late to get work done. The working weekends to catch up and tie up loose ends. The occasional rejection of contracts or funding. The burn out cycle. And he's right! I am writing this blog at 9.40pm!

In the arts we work in the industry because we are passionate about it. We love what we do. But sometimes we need to take our heart hat off and put on that business hat. In the arts we do have standards for rates of pay that we can call upon as argument for what we deserve to be paid - I tell artists to do that all the time. As some of my non-arts friends say:

you don't pay a plumber a discounted hourly rate do you? Just out of the kindness of their heart or because they love their job? As a contractor with expenses you deserve more!

Again - they are right! I need that reality check every now and then.

Sometimes we need to put on our self-care hat. Switch off that passion for some down time every now and then. Time for some of that now!