Name: Jackie Blain
Company Name: Savvy Scribe
Website: www.jackieblain.com
Note from Jenn: The delightful Jackie Blain is a Right-Brain Business Plan e-Course grad and currently part of my Right-Brain Entrepreneur Mentorship Program. I love that as savvy scribe and writing coach Jackie found inspiration in the RBBP even if at first she didn’t consider herself visual or crafty (I’m sure there are some of you who can relate). Let her story inspire you to embrace your own creativity in your business!
What is your business and what makes your business unique?
I’m a writing coach/teacher/tutor, and I specialize in helping writers who are struggling to get a project finished. Everybody who writes gets stuck – heck, I’ve been stuck so many times, and for so many different reasons, that I stopped counting. So I help writers by identifying the problem, and giving them tools and strategies and advice to break through those blocks… and most of all build confidence in their writing abilities so they’re not afraid to take the next steps on their own.
One unique thing I do is work in real time on the internet. Facial expressions, body language, laughter, being able to bounce things off each other as we look at a project – those are my real teaching tools. And the internet now lets me connect with writers wherever they are, whenever it works for them, so they can get things done.
How do you use your creative intuition in your work?
Creative intuition is not simply an idea for me. It’s a fact, a way of living and working. I call it “trusting the Universe,” and when I ignore it, I usually get in trouble. As a teacher, intuition is an absolute essential. It’s how I know without the person saying anything when a concept is clear or fuzzy, or when they’re engaged or bored or upset, and what I need try next in order to solve the problems. That’s why I work face-to-face with writers – watching their body language is crucial because it allows my creative (teacher’s) intuition to kick into gear and change tactics so I can provide the best tools and strategies for that individual. It’s also more fun, and my creative intuition thrives on fun.
Is there anything you’d like to share about your Right-Brain Business Plan® in terms of what it’s made out of or how you made it?
The non-visual-artist, non-crafty writer in me got very nervous about doing a RBBP, until I remembered that I think in pictures. Movies, really. But pictures nonetheless. I also remembered that I used to do collages back in the day. So I got the RBBP Kit, followed the directions for doing the fold-up book, and created something very straightforward, but something that I love. It’s kind of a mish-mash of images, quotes, bits from the RBBP Kit, Jill Badonsky’s muses, and a couple of family photos. Best of all, it lets me pretend I am indeed a visual artist!
Illustration by Taylor Schwartz
What’s your big vision for your business?
My big vision is actually pretty simple. I’m not looking to create a dynasty, or a business that I can sell to somebody else, or that has real employees. My whack-a-doodle “career” has been full of twists and turns, and hard-won knowledge – one of my students calls it “eduexperience.” And my big vision is to put all of that to the service of other writers who struggle with the same kinds of blocks and bumps and bruises, to help them remember why writing matters to them and to the world, and to restore their confidence in their own creativity.
What advice do you have for other creative entrepreneurs?
Ask for help! I’m an introvert and have always balked at the idea of asking anybody for anything. But as a writer, I know nothing gets done without the input of friendly critics. So when my Creative Cohort– and Jenn and the RBBP – started pushing me to ask, I gulped, invoked the intention behind my Big Vision, and asked. Help started to materialize from places both expected and, most fun of all, unexpected. Of course, the other important part is saying ‘thank you’ and being willing to return the ‘yes’ when asked, but you have to ask first.
Illustrations by Taylor Schwartz
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Along those same lines, I have a big fat “Thank you” to Jenn and the Right-Brain Business Plan. I went from struggling to believing, from thinking I wasn’t creative to “hell, yeah, I am!” I now have plans and goals and hope for the future, and it wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
Want to create your own Right-Brain Business Plan®? The Right-Brain Business Plan® Kit includes supplies to make your own accordion book style visual business plan.
For more support with developing your RBBP, check out the Right-Brain Business Plan® Home Study program.
