Podcast

Arts Grant Consultant Sarah Benvenuti joins host Vivienne Egan in a conversation about grants and fundraising for arts companies, the gaps in arts business practice, the importance of long-term planning and how to monetise and maximise your talents.

Comedy Festival Director Geoff Rowe joins host Vivienne Egan in a conversation about how he founded Leicester Comedy Festival and the Big Difference Company, the motivations behind his work, how humour can be used to connect with people and the necessity to be adaptable for evolving audiences.

Actor, Writer and Comedian Sukh Ojla joins host Vivienne Egan in a conversation about her journey to a full time creative job and writing a novel, managing imposter syndrome, the difficulties of saving for a house as a self-employed artist and forgiving past financial mistakes.

Poet, educator and performer Dan Simpson joins host Vivienne Egan in a conversation about creating a full-time self-employed poetry career, considering artistic work as an extension of the self, the trick to getting grant applications approved and how practices of teaching and self-reflection are helpful for writing poetry.

Artist, illustrator and map maker Sonja Bajic joins host Vivienne Egan in a conversation about how she created a sustainable income stream through creating maps, the difficulties of approaching businesses for work as an artist, setting yourself up to attract luck and developing new income streams through teaching your craft to others.

Actor, cake maker and calligrapher Benedict Salter joins host Vivienne Egan in a conversation about how he began his calligraphic cake business Baker and Scribe, the reliability and unreliability of taking up temp jobs whilst acting, managing industry expectations at drama school and navigating savings and pensions when self employed.

Stand-up comedian and pharmacist Ola Labib joins host Vivienne Egan in a conversation about juggling the comedy industry with an NHS job, valuing worth beyond financial means, the financial and family responsibilities of a Sudanese background, big dreams for meaningful causes and the exhaustion that can come with writing funny material.

Poet, community artist, social justice activist and The Tote Revolution owner Mia-Daliya Cunningham joins host Vivienne Egan in a conversation about managing a business without compromising socio-political values, the benefits to networking on social media, avoiding activist burnout, juggling income sources to support artistic work and learning from financial mistakes.

Actor and property auctioneer Oliver Burton joins host Vivienne Egan in a conversation about the surprising similarities between his two jobs, how having ADHD is a benefit to good business management and finding the knack to throwing yourself into new opportunities.

Stage & film director and piano teacher Charlotte Peters joins host Vivienne Egan in a conversation about the realities of earning money as a freelancer, breaking bad money habits, adapting theatre work to a digital screen and creating extra income sources when times get tough.

Stand-up comedian and sex worker Bella Green joins host Vivienne Egan in a conversation about balancing two portable income streams, defining your financial worth and asserting yourself as a woman working in two unpredictable industries. Tune in to find out more about Bella’s process of writing a memoir, the struggle of filing tax returns and some advice for her younger self.

Painter and Actor Alexandra Plim joins host Vivienne Egan in a conversation about how she got into selling art on Instagram, sharing lots of advice on how to get started and how to price you work. Tune in to find out more about how Alexandra discovered other sources of income and her experiences as a self-employed artist.

Britain’s Got Talent finalist Magical Bones joins host Vivienne Egan in a conversation about what success means, his unique career as a self-taught magician and break dancer, and the UK arts industry. Tune in to find out more about Magical Bones’ experience as a Black artist, his expectations for the future and how parental expectations have played into his decisions.