229: How to MAKE A LIVING Doing What You LOVE with Cathy Heller

  A few months ago, I had the honor of being a guest on Cathy Heller’s podcast, Don’t Keep Your Day Job, and I am thrilled that I get to have her on mine. Not only could I talk to her for hours and hours, but she has an incredible story that I know so many of you will resonate with.  From early on, Cathy knew she was meant for more and sought to find her purpose in the world (she admits there were multiple attempts). She changed her major to World Religions to truly find out if there was “more,” and ended up taking a life-changing three-year trip to Jerusalem. After returning, Cathy moved to L.A. to see if she could make a career out of her love for singing and music. It took a lot of work, but she eventually landed a record deal. Unfortunately, her record label dropped her before it even had a chance to release. Feeling defeated at first, she bailed on the music and landed herself other “practical” jobs ranging from real estate and casting to floral and interior design. None of these fulfilled her though and she set out determined to find other ways to make money singing and songwriting – and help others at the same time.   Fast-forward to today and you’ve likely heard Cathy’s songs on your favorite TV shows, ads and more. She cracked the code to making money while fulfilling her purpose and now helps others do the same. In the past year, Cathy has taken it to another level as well by creating her podcast, which takes her knowledge and easily parallels it to anyone else’s passion project.   Cathy keeps it real and is the first to say that no one wants to see perfect – they want authenticity. Once you listen, I know you’ll agree. Tune in to hear all the goodness Cathy shares with us. I know that you’ll wrap up your listening session feeling just a little lighter and like you’re one small step closer to stepping into your purpose.   --      Question Highlights: Can you tell us a bit about your background and your journey that led you to where you are now? What pulled you to keep going through the various stage of your career/life? How do we get people involved and excited? Outreach leads to some of the same questions when it comes to content too, right? What do you say to someone who struggles with perfection?   In This Episode We Talk about: Cathy’s life and career journey that led her to where she is today The many attempts made by Cathy to find her purpose – record deals, real estate, interior design etc. The online course Cathy created to teach others how to license their songs to TV and film How Cathy transitioned her knowledge to the podcast platform The difference between a hobby and business Finding your audience and who you’re creating things for How you can make a living by doing four specific things Why outreach and the value you can add is important Creating content Authenticity Why we must be willing to be uncomfortable Consistency and showing up And so much more…   Quotes “The mind likes to suffer, but I don’t need to.”   “The opposite of depression is purpose.”   “Success without meaning or fulfillment is an ultimate failing.”   “What makes any business works is radical empathy.”   “Vulnerability is the most powerful tool anyone has.”   “Wherever you are, there’s something you have that you can help somebody with.”   “We are all in beta – no one has it together.”   “Be willing to be a mess and do it anyway.” --   Cathy Heller is a fire hose of inspiration. She’s the host of the popular podcast, Don’t Keep Your Day Job, and was recently given the No. 1 spot on iTunes show recommendation list for the New Year. Each week, Cathy encourages thousands and thousands of listeners to find more purpose in their life and get paid to do what they love full time. She started out as a singer/songwriter and found success licensing her music to TV, film and ads. Quickly she became a stand-out in her field and was featured in magazines like Billboard, Variety and the LA Weekly. She started teaching online courses to artists which were quite successful and she’s been asked to speak at Podcast Movement, Social Media Worldwide, UCLA, Berklee School of Music, The Grammy Museum and the Billboard Film/TV Conference.   Since starting her podcast, Cathy’s show has been mentioned in the NY Times and Inc. Magazine’s “Top 9 podcasts.” She’s been featured several times by Apple and her fans are resonating with how genuine she is. Throughout the show, she has interviewed creative entrepreneurs like designer Jonathan Adler, make-up artist Bobbi Brown, dancer Mandy Moore, fashionista Tamara Mellon, novelist Emily Giffin and Gretchen Rubin to name a few. Cathy’s girl-next-door approach and out-of-the-box hustling style is helping so many people feel hopeful and excited about what lies ahead. Cathy often says “purpose is the opposite of depression,” and she truly helps lift people to be the happiest version of themselves. Resources: FB: https://www.facebook.com/cathyhellerbiz/ IG: @cathy.heller   Don’t Keep Your Day Job Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-keep-your-day-job/id1191831035?mt=2   The Creative Workroom Three-Month Course Thecreativeworkroom.com --   Check out my website at loriharder.com. Follow me on social media @LoriHarder on Instagram and Lori Harder on Facebook.