This week we’re celebrating the 5th anniversary of my first book The Right-Brain Business Plan and the video summit that helped launch it all!

To mark this milestone and as a special thank you to YOU for being part of our right-brain family, we’re doing something we’ve never done before…

TODAY, February 29th ONLY …

You can Pay What You Choose on our Greatest Hits video summit bundle!

This bundle includes 5 of our most popular sessions from the 5 years of the Video Summit and is valued at $97.

But today only, you get to name your right price! So there’s an option for every budget!

These luminaries share their practical and proven tips for growing your creative empire, showing up consistently to do the work, marketing authentically, and much, much more.

I personally refer back to advice from these experts again and again in my business (and life!), and now you can tap into their valuable wisdom at the touch of a button, too.

AND if you need a quick live video summit fix, I’ll also be trying another new thing today…

Join me at 10am PT for a live video stream on my Facebook profile (UPDATE: You can watch the replay here (we don’t have to be friends, you can just follow me as it’s posted as public). I’ll be on for a short bit sharing what I know now that I didn’t know then when I launched the first video summit back in February 2011.

P.S. Also, stay tuned… starting tomorrow, you’ll be able to get your hands on 5 more amazing bundles focused on Moola-Making, Getting the Word Out,Spirituality in Business, Artists and Makers, and Productivity and Team for an amazing deal. It’s a whole week of right-brain business celebrations!

As we gear up for next week’s 5th anniversary celebration of The Right-Brain Business Plan book and the summit that helped launch it, I wanted to share a couple of highlights from a past summit.

These are both from the 2014 summit when my 2nd book Building Your Business the Right-Brain Way came out.

Here I share about how the creative process relates to running a creative business.

And in this quick clip we explore the question, “What does success mean to you?” I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Throughout the coming months We’ll be sharing more clips from our video library, so make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Usually around this time of the year I’d be doing final prep for the annual Right-Brainers in Business Video Summit. Each year from 2011-2015 thousands of creative souls joined us from around the world to engage with the best and brightest entrepreneurial leaders.

Next week, to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the birth of The Right-Brain Business Plan book and the wildly popular summit that helped launch it all, we’ll be doing something we’ve never done before.

I can’t spill the beans just yet, but stay tuned! I think you’re gonna love it.

Until then, here are some highlights from 5 years of the summit…

• In December 2010, I attended my first in-person mastermind retreat with my mentor Andrea J. Lee where my fellow Diamonds and I brainstormed the Video Summit to help launch my first book.
• In February 2011, The Right-Brain Business Plan was published and we kicked off the launch with the very first Right-Brainers in Business Video Summit. My first interview was with Andrea and you can watch a clip about simple decision-making from that enlightening conversation below.
• At the 2012 summit I got to interview one of my favorite authors and inspirational leaders Jennifer Louden. We had so much fun there were fireworks!
• At the 2013 I was sooo nervous interviewing my business crush, Dan Pink, that I had a stomach afterward! Ha! He was amazing and we did a fun interactive exercise together (see all the E’s on people’s foreheads)?
• At the 2014 summit Michael Port, who wrote the foreword to my 2nd book, blew me away with his contagious enthusiasm and sage advice. Fun, inspirational and practical! Our worldwide community also took to Instagram posting tattoos of their core message.
• At the fifth and final summit in 2015 I got to sing with one of my all time creative heroes SARK at our summit send off – the perfect way to bring a close to this chapter.

The five years of my video summit took me through an amazing growth period – from my first 6-figure year to hitting multiple 6-figures. Our community has expanded in all sorts of new and exciting ways, we have licensed facilitators across North America, in the U.K, Australia, and now even in Indonesia, and my team of coaches has grown, too. I’m grateful that the Right-Brain Business Plan still helps creative entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses.

If you’ve been part of the summit over the years or our RBBP family for any length of time, I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to since our time together. You can reply in the comments or pop a note over to info @artizencoaching.com. I’d love to celebrate YOUR milestones with you!

As I close the chapter of the summit with this upcoming 5th anniversary celebration, I’m excited for more of what’s to come. The theme of the final summit in 2015 was “What’s Next?” and since then I’ve been living the inquiry. I’ve spent more time in my studio doing intuitive painting and connecting back to my own creative process, led my first in-person retreat at my creative space (it was such a hit that there will be more to come, I’m sure!), and I’ve had the honor of working with some awesome VIP clients and Stars in my programs.

In June, I’ll also be celebrating another milestone… my 10th anniversary of quitting my corporate job and going into my business full-time! Lots to celebrate in 2016.

If you’re a creative one with big dreams, remember, it can take some time for you to gain traction toward your goals. The small steps count and make sure to celebrate along the way!

Guest post by by Cass Mullane, Accountability Coach, Right-Brain Business Plan® Licensed Facilitator, Prosper Creatively, LLC

I recently wrapped up a six year stint on my local Women’s Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, the last two years serving as the President of the Chamber. While it was full of ups and downs, the experience was wonderful and the results of my hard work and the work of the many, many people who served with me are definitely evident in the growth and progress of the organization.

Now I find myself without the constant work of the Chamber. I equate this to sending my “child” off to college knowing I’ve done my best to set her up to make intelligent choices in her life. Tough to let go, yet exciting to see what blossoms.

So now I can attend chamber luncheons without wearing my “President” name tag, I can interact with my peers as a member without worrying about what’s next up on the event schedule and if everything is running smoothly. Yea!

But the best thing about completing this phase in my professional life is that I’m seeing some delightful white space on my calendar. And I have the delicious choice to either fill it… or NOT!

A huge benefit of white space on the calendar is that I can make sure that my self-care is always honored rather than making that the thing that was most easily given up. I can take time during the “work” day to get massages, get my hair cut, take walks and amble (not race) through the art supply store. I get to have lots more meals with my husband, hang out with friends more often, take a few classes and still have plenty of time left over to just be.

I’ve also noticed a definite correlation between having white space on the calendar and having clear space in my head. I know that’s no big surprise. Heck, I’ve even blogged about how important it is to not overfill our plates. The reality is that all our plates can get overfilled at times. The critical thing is learning to quickly get the overload off our plates and then leaving that spot open. I have to say that I’m enjoying the clear reminder that not having an overloaded plate is a really good thing!

An unexpected benefit of having white space is that I’m being asked to create more classes. But not my normal business type classes, exactly the opposite… ART classes! So now I’m adding bookbinding, art journals, felting, watercolor and ink, metals, textile art 101, and others to my repetoir. Who knew!

The real beauty is, I get to choose to fill the time or to leave it open. I get to choose when I have classes and what kind of classes I teach. I get to choose to join my wonderful husband for an impromptu lunch date and I get to choose to say no to things without any guilt.

So what can you change to ensure that you have some white space on your calendar? What are you choosing to add to your calendar, and what are you choosing to leave off? What will you do with your wonderful, delicious white space?
Here’s to lots of white space in 2016!

Cass Mullane is an artist with an MBA. Cass’ calm, comfortable approach consistently yields positive results for clients. Her business and personal coaching practice, www.ProsperCreatively.com, specializes in delivering solid left brain business skills to right brainers and creatives in a fun, visual way. She’s a best selling author, textile and mixed media artist and creator of the Cool Stuff Jar™ coaching program. You can also visit Cass on Facebook!

With Valentine’s Day less than a week away, love is in the air.

If you’re a creative entrepreneur, your business was probably born out of a passion. But if you’ve been at it for a while, it’s possible to occasionally lose that special spark, especially if you’re caught up in the day-to-day minutiae of running the business.

If you have lost the spark, how can you re-ignite it?

This year I’ll be celebrating my 10th year of being full-time in my own business. So you can bet there have been lots of ups and downs along the way. And yes there have been moments of wanting to throw in the towel when I let myself get overwhelmed our out of touch.

Last year was the start of a transition to re-evaluate what I love and what’s working (and what I don’t love and what’s not working). This ongoing exploration is helping me fall back in love with my business in a whole new way. I’m appreciating what is already there and being open to what is unfolding, like the new energy from my recent in-person retreat.

Here are some tips to help you fall in love with your business all over again:

• Be willing to take risks and be vulnerable. Perhaps it’s saying YES to an opportunity that fell into your lap even though it scares the bejeezus outta ya. Maybe it’s investing in a program where you can have a safe space to work through some challenges you’re facing in your life or business. For me it was getting the keys to my studio space 1 year ago this month. I didn’t quite know how it would all fit together (and I’m still figuring it out) AND I trusted that the space was part of my path right now.
• Have tough conversations and speak your truth. As with any relationship there are bound to be rough patches or sticky situations in your business whether with clients, team, or heck, even your darn inner critic. In order to show your business some love and to demonstrate your commitment, be willing to have courageous conversations to keep things clean and clear in your business ecosystem. If you find yourself complaining about something in your business, is there a request that needs to be made? Or a stronger boundary to put in place?
• Listen. What is your business asking of YOU? Is it calling you to go in a new direction, slow things down, speed things up? Does it need you to nourish it more or simply trust in it more fully?
• Assess your alignment. Are you working and living in alignment with your core values and big vision? When you’re honoring what’s most important to you you’ll feel alive and fulfilled. If you’re not feeling the love that way anymore, what do you need to re-adjust? For me it was re-prioritizing my health and personal creative practices.
• Follow the flow. Look at where you already have forward movement, whether it be creatively, energetically, and/or financially. Focus your attention on what is working to give you the much needed reserves for facing the things that may not be so full of ease quite yet.
• Take a break. Step away from your computer or phone. Go for a walk in nature. Pick up a paintbrush. Hang out with your family or your best girl friends. Take a vacation. Sometimes just being away from your business even for a bit can give you a whole new perspective and appreciation for what you’ve already created and the innovative boost you need to get to the next level.
• Spice things up. Be adventurous and do something fun that you may have only fantasized about doing up until now. Maybe it’s finally getting that professional headshot done (complete with fancy wardrobe and fake eyelashes!). Or getting on camera to record a short welcome video for your website. Or doing an online challenge that will help you connect with new people.
• Surrender. Most times the love/hate turmoil is simply your ego wanting things to be a certain way and then being disappointed that you or your business are not there yet. Remember, that things take time to build and change and all of that pushing and muscling through is probably just making things more painful. What can you embrace and accept? And what can you truly let go of or walk away from?
• Practice self-love and self-compassion. If you’re not taking care of yourself, how can you expect your business to take care of you? Treat yourself with utmost care and respect and you’ll have so much more capacity to be present in and for your business.

Healthy, fulfilling relationships in life and in your business require attention, awareness, intentional action, and more. So make sure you’re tending to what you and your business need, so that you can keep the spark alive!

I get so inspired when I see folks making their creative dreams real.

That’s why I wanted to introduce you to past two-time Cohort Circle participant Nicole Piar, an artist and healer who recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for her Spirit Cats Inspirational Card Deck.

Her campaign got fully funded on Day 1 and has continued to exceed the initial goal (how’s that for a stellar launch plan!). You have until March 4th to grab your own deck for a sweet deal.

Check out our quick video interview above to get a behind the scenes look at how this project came to life.

I remember when Nicole declared in our Mentorship program in the Fall of 2014 that she was launching a project called #MonthofCats where she would paint a cat a day in October. And now, less than a year and half later she’s taken that idea to the next level by making her Spirit Cats deck. This gorgeous deck includes 44 cards each featuring one of her whimsical kitty paintings plus a positive and inspirational message that can help to brighten up your day or give you a new perspective to move through a challenge you may be facing.

I just backed her Kickstarter project and can’t wait to get my hands on this magical deck. I’m allergic to real-life cats, so these cute card kitties are purrfect for me! Teehee.

Congrats, Nicole, on a successful launch!