Name: Tricia Ballad
Company Name: Tangled Spirits Studio
Website: TangledSpirits.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TangledSpiritsStudio/
Instagram: @TriciaBallad
Tricia Ballad is a Right-Brain Business Plan® licensed facilitator based in Illinois. She’s the March guest host of our RBBP Facebook group so make sure to stop by and get some support and encouragement from her. Also, check out her free gift the Medicine Basket.
What is your business and what makes your business unique?
I work with teens, young adults, and moms. My focus is on helping them discover and choose the story they will tell with their lives, and offering tools – like Right-Brain Business Plan! – that help them bring their stories into reality. Our work often begins with working through anxieties and insecurity around the Inner Critic, and culminates in crafting a unique plan for their work in the world. I try to balance the inner work – dealing with blocks, anxiety, and feelings of self-worth – with the outer, “practical” work of helping my clients discover their Soul Work, then creating a hands-on plan for bringing that work into the world.
How has the Right-Brain Business Plan® helped you? What is different for you and your business after approaching planning in a creative, visual way?
Before I discovered Right-Brain Business Plan, I would write up 100-page business plans that looked like what a business plan is “supposed” to be, but by the time I finished such a massive undertaking, I was completely sick of the entire idea. It felt like writing a business plan sucked all of the life and joy out of my plans. Since I began using Right-Brain Business Plan, I have a much fuller understanding of my business ideas – because I’m not just trying to come up with the “right” answers, but authentically exploring and experimenting – and I’m even more excited to move forward on them.
What goals (big or small) on your business plan have you already accomplished or have made progress on?
Recently, I was offered a chance to work with teens through with a local foster agency, because I met a member of the board at a social event. Because of deep work I’d done on my business plan, I was able to speak passionately about my work and the benefits I’ve seen for my clients. I knew exactly what to say, without resorting to a rehearsed elevator speech. The board was so impressed, they asked me to submit a proposal on the spot.
Why do you love teaching the Right-Brain Business Plan® and using it with your clients? What are some client success stories?
I love teaching Right-Brain Business Plan to my clients because it allows them to approach starting a business – something that often triggers terrible anxiety and insecurity – with a sense of play. This allows them to do the work without getting mired in negative self-talk. I recently led two women through the process, and even though they were each at different stages of entrepreneurship, they both had major breakthroughs and “ah ha” moments. I loved how collaborative the small group was, because they were able to bounce ideas off of each other. This was so great because it allowed each of them to take their minds off their own work for a few moments and come back with fresh eyes.
Both women officially launched their businesses within a month of our workshop.
How do you use your creative intuition in your work?
My intuition is my greatest asset! I use it when I’m deciding which projects to add to my business and which to keep on the back burner. I also use it when I’m working directly with clients, to get a sense of the energy in the room and to know when it’s time to stretch boundaries and when we need to pull back into supportive structures.
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?
I love to experiment with the format of my Right-Brain Business Plan! I re-do my plan every 12-18 months, so that gives me a chance to try new things. My 2018 plan consisted of a large symbolic painting of my Muse, and an art journal where I recorded intuitive drawings, notes, ideas, etc.
I’m currently working on my 2019 Right-Brain Business Plan. This time I’m challenging myself to make it more portable and easily understood by others. I’m using a manilla file folder, which will hold hand-made booklets for each section of the plan. My Big Vision will be a mixed-media spread on the outside of the folder.
What’s your big vision for your business?
My big vision is to help my clients take ownership of their lives and livelihoods. The job market is uncertain, and the days of working a stable job for your entire career are over. I see entrepreneurship as a way to break free of systems that require us to spend the best hours of our lives doing work we don’t care about and aren’t well paid for – when the jobs are available at all. Instead of working two or three completely interchangeable jobs just to pay the bills, I envision a world where each of us is able to live comfortably doing the work that we are uniquely capable of doing, each making our own contribution to the world. Every time I help a young adult start a summer business or a mom open an Etsy shop, I am making my contribution toward that vision.
What advice do you have for other creative entrepreneurs?
Make friends with your Critic. It’s not going away, and the sooner you can work with it rather than fight against it (or try to ignore it) the easier your entrepreneurial journey will be.
If you’re not sure what type of business is right for you, or how your gifts and talents might translate into entrepreneurship, this free class will help you find the answers within. In Medicine Basket, we’ll use guided visioning, symbolic painting, and journaling to discover what gifts want to come forward for you at this time.
This class is a perfect lead-in to Right-Brain Business Plan! Medicine Basket
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.
