The antidote to the "don't give up your day job" blues: Chats with career crazies and freelance fun-makers on how to turn what you love doing into income!
Forty-two episodes! Does that mean my guest for this episode is the Answer to the Question of Life, The Universe and Everything?
Even if not, it’s great to chat with someone who’s found some pretty good answers to the Question of Getting Paid to Play – and I mean answers, plural! Ash Chain is not only monetising her hobby of cosplay through print sales at conventions, she’s also been able to get into a day job that is all about artistic expression and her personal interests: Tattooing.
Ash has already made her name in both the Brisbane ink and cosplay scenes, and just recently she made the move from the Big Smoke to Cairns, where she will be running a stall at our first ever pop culture convention, Tropicon!
Beethy is a photographer based in Australia who has chosen to focus his craft on portraits of cosplayers; people who not just make costumes based on fictional characters, but also go out in public and bring life to those characters. That focus has garnered him not just a living wage but also a fantastic reputation amongst the international cosplay community.
Cosplayers around the world know that the name Beethy means eminently sale-worthy portrait prints of their craft and art, but they also know it means a fun being who brings joy to the process of making great photos. I got to sample his warm personality in this chat, during which he tells his stories of the community and how he became so well known within it.
Beethy also gives a good chunk of practical photography of business advice, including a crash course in taking good cosplay photos and the rules that Beethy built his business around. You may find his experiment into who produces the best photo prints to be a real eye ear-opener!
Oh, and there’s some random geeking out about video games and consoles at the beginning too! I love asking folks what they’re digging right now!
I’m pretty sure that I said that Matt Bond puts the rest of us to shame when I first chatted with him at the beginning of 2013. At the time, Matt had successfully overcome the ongoing pain from a pair of broken legs that had put an end to his career in the music industry by becoming a freelance photographer.
Since then, Matt’s photography business has only flourished, but he’s also got back into music, returning to his beloved guitar and becoming a studio producer for local talent. On top of those, he’s added video shooting and editing to his already well-strung bow and is paying his success forward by helping community charities and fellow artists (not to mention the odd podcaster) out wherever he can. And he does all this while being a part-time Dad! I just had to get him back on the podcast for another chat.
Becoming a sex therapist in the cosmopolitan environment of a major city is one thing, but it’s another thing entirely to start a sexual health practice in a tropical town with canegrowing and industrial roots a good two thousand kilometres from anywhere.
Nonetheless, Isiah McKimmie has established a solid business helping the people of Queensland’s Far North and beyond with their most intimate troubles and has found that sometimes, a little distance can work to your advantage.
Though this interview was recorded in July of 2013, Isiah’s business – now rebranded from “Passionate Spirit” to simply Isiah – is still going strong, and there seems no better time to release our chat than just before the traditional celebration of love and intimacy on St. Valentine’s Day.
(UPDATE 7PM February 2nd, 2015: Isiah just told me that she’s relocated herself and her business to Sydney. I still reckon this chat has value for those looking to start a venture in a location considered out-of-the-way.)
Opening a friendly local game store in an out-of-the-way, tropical tourist town might seem downright crazy, but Cairns boy Mick Archer has not only done it, he’s made The Wicked Goblin a success. He focuses his store on the people who play tabletop games as much as, if not more so than, the products themselves.
The exterior of The Wicked Goblin.
In my latest location recording, Mick and I chat about his background in both gaming and hospitality, how Mick built his war chest for The Wicked Goblin and the importance of not just having friends and family in your corner but also having a true partnership in your business.
Thank you again, Adam at Sprue Grey, for your questions! I hope my chat with Mick helps you open your own Friendly Local Store soon!
Please stick around after the interview for an update on my own paid to play progress!
Ali Spagnola is one of my ultimate Career Crazies; she’s taken two things she digs – making music and making parties – and fused them into The Power Hour, an album of sixty one-minute-length sings that you drink a shot of beer in between. Rather than release the album on CD, she sells it as a USB stick – built into the bottom of a shot glass!
Not only has Ali taken the Power Hour on tour to university campuses across the United States, she’s started a YouTube show where she comes up with a new tune each week based on what was trending on Google and freelances doing sound design!
I chat with Ali about how she sustains her off-the-wall career, the pros and cons of touring and how she juggles her schedule. I also talk a little after the interview about my own progress toward getting paid to play – including some interesting possibilities for the future of the podcast!
Gerlinda Aras, owner, operator and chief stylist of Mirror Image Consultations. Image provided by Gerlinda.
Welcome back for the third edition of The Paid to Play Podcast released in conjunction with Brazen!
Having a child tends to put a cramp on your ambitions – a stable, secure income from an employer looks more attractive than the unreliable income of a freelancer when you need to feed, clothe and educate your kids.
Cairns local Gerlinda Aras, though, used the impetus of wanting more family time than her day job would allow to create her own business as a style consultant for individuals and clothing store chains. With a little help from family and friends, Gerlinda is now completely self-employed and has no shortage of work!
Listen in to find out how Gerlinda does it – and how I’m applying the lessons I’ve learned from her in my own search to get paid to play!
As this is cross-posted from the Brazen Careerist web log, I’ve closed all comments on this page. Can you place any comments on the Brazen page linked above, please?
Andrew Navaro, Art Director for Fantasy Flight Games.
It’s one thing to create the beautiful pieces of art that grace the pages and playing pieces of Fantasy Flight Games’ products. It’s another thing entirely to ensure that each image not only fits with the tone, themes and atmosphere of not just a given product but also a whole line of products.
Artist and tabletop gamer Andrew Navaro is the leader of a team of art directors at Fantasy Flight. It’s his job as art director to oversee the art direction of Fantasy Flight’s lines and manage the relationships between Fantasy Flight and its roster of freelance artists.
In this chat, Andrew and I discuss his love of gaming, how he came to work at Fantasy Flight Games, just what his job involves and the current state of art in the tabletop gaming industry!
It’s my pleasure to announce that the second episode of The Paid to Play Podcast produced in conjunction with Brazen Careerist is live – and it’s also my pleasure to announce the all new home of The Paid to Play Podcast, here on paidtoplay.com.au!
My guest for this episode is Vanessa Musi, who is on the way to opening her own bakery, the Edit Bakery, specialising in gluten- and sugar-free pastries. We had a fantastic chat about Vanessa’s journey all the way around the world from Mexico to the US!
You’ve probably noticed the headline that announces this episode as the first Brazen one. That’s because the Paid to Play Podcast has joined forces with Brazen Careerist!
They even made me up this neat logo, too! Now I just have to figure out how get it into iTunes…
The folks at Brazen and I have a lot in common. We both want to help folks get the most satisfaction out of their working lives as possible. Brazen’s team of bloggers – including my guest for episode 15, Kelly Gurnett – give out tips on how to thrive in the modern workplace without compromising what’s important to you.
Which, I reckon, is a pretty good definition of my guests on Paid to Play.
Once a month, I’ll contribute an interview to Brazen; I hope that my interviews can add to Brazen’s already massive library of work-life wisdom.
The first of these is already up; my chat with Trevor Longino, head of marketing and public relations at game distributor GOG.com. Formerly known as Good Old Games, GOG.com has expanded its mission from bringing classic computer games from the nineties back to life on modern operating systems into offering newer titles from indies like FTL to mainstream games like The Witcher DRM free.
Trevor and I discuss the classic video games of the nineties, just what marketing and PR involves in this social media age and how Trevor has handled relocating from the US to Poland in order to work for GOG!
