PLEASE NOTE: Applications are now closed for the Fall/Winter 12-week course. If you are interested in participating in a future course, online or in person, please get in touch by clicking here.

a 3-part online course

MAP YOUR PROJECT, DESIGN YOUR PRACTICE

MOVE YOUR CAREER TOWARDS RADICAL SUSTAINABILITY

A live, community-based online course for artists, musicians, and creative humans.

After working with over 100 people this year, and leading more than 20 workshops and retreats, I’ve built this course to be the most comprehensive dive into the creative career design process I’ve been researching and developing for the past six years.

Learn to navigate your career landscape with a confident clarity of vision, making choices that are in line with how you actually like spending your days on this planet.

We will be learning to use new tools, having important conversations, and working together to move closer to a radically sustainable creative practice.

Interested? Let’s talk by email or phone to see if this course is the right fit for you.

"I walked away with more clarity than I have felt in years re: where I should be putting my time, energy, and efforts when it comes to my career. It's f***ing great and you should do it!"

-Tiffany Topol, songwriter/producer/musician/actor extraordinaire

A Flexible Commitment

The course is split into three 4-week sections. Not sure if you want to commit to all 12 weeks? Just sign up for the first four and see how it goes. I’ve designed the course so that even if you choose to just do Section 1 or Sections 1 and 2 you’ll come away with critical knowledge and life-changing resources.

Weekly Call

Each week we will gather on a Zoom video call. Our time will include a teaching session, Q&A time, and co-working session where we tackle the coursework and exercises together.

Digital Resource Library

Each participant will have a personal online workbook, updated throughout the course with new exercises, explorations, and mapping canvases. Additionally, I will add extra videos, case studies, articles, and other resources throughout the duration of the course in case you want to go deeper on any subject.

Call Recordings

Can’t make it to one of the calls? Want to review something we learned a few weeks ago? No problem! Participants will have access to recordings of every call from the course.

Ongoing Community

You have a team now. There is a growing community of talented, driven artists and musicians who have gone deep with this material. Even after this 3-month course is complete, you (along with dozens of other folks who have taken a long-form workshop or online course) are automatically accepted into the exclusive Creative Career Design Community. This includes access to the soon-to-launch online forum, free periodic group calls with me and other course alum, and regular free resources like case studies and new career design strategies I’m developing. For so many of us who are working independently, having the support of a team of like-minded creatives can make all the difference.

three 4-week sections

section 1: Your Holistic Navigation System

A holistic decision-making system that brings clarity to your small and large decisions so that you can move systematically closer to your career goals, while simultaneously respecting your quality of life goals.

We'll do the deep work of identifying the core of what makes you feel most fulfilled, and mapping it into a personal navigation system that directs you towards the most sustainable paths. Move through your projects with confidence and clarity. It's like having a night sky full of familiar constellations to guide you towards your own true north. Navigate beyond frustrations and obstacles and practice designing your life to be fulfilling at any stage of your career process.

Section Two: Sustainable Project Mapping and Life Inventory

In order to design a smart, sustainable career, we'll first take stock of what resources you have to work with. Using the concept of the Eight Forms of Capital, we'll do a holistic life inventory, identifying your areas of greatest abundance and greatest need, as well as any rare resources you have access to.

Everything you dedicate time to—every job, project, relationship—is a trade; sustainable project mapping is a tool that you can use to analyze your current projects, and assess future possibilities. If a project isn't working well for you, mapping it will help you pinpoint exactly why so that you can decide whether to redesign, or start something brand new. Either way you'll come away with an understanding of the mechanisms with which your projects operate and how to optimize them for the healthiest yield.

Section Three: Regenerative Action Plan

Having gained a clear knowledge of where you want to go and what resources you have access to, we can plan your most vital next steps with a wider understanding of the whole journey.

In this section you'll gain clarity about exactly which parts of which projects to focus on now. We'll outline a prioritized list of actionable steps that will move you measurably closer to your ideal sustainable career, while developing practices that help you experience fulfillment at every stage of the journey. Additionally, we'll study the business models and life maps of other creative humans, extrapolating patterns that will inspire our own designs. You'll come away with your own personal Creative Atlas, a collection of maps and tools that you can continue to hone, and which will apply to any project you encounter throughout the rest of your creative career.

The schedule is simple.

We will have one group video call each week, split into two 45-60 minute halves. Typically the first half will include teaching and Q&A time, and the second half will be group workbook and mapping time. Every 3rd call will be in workshop format.

The course is designed to leave a very light footprint on your week; while there will occasionally be coursework that doesn’t fit into the co-working sessions during our weekly group call, we’ll do our best to cover almost all of it on the calls. I will provide optional explorations and mapping exercises for folks who want to do more throughout the week.

Dates

*Exact call time will be based on the time zones and availability of the participants, but will be on Sunday afternoons Eastern (or late morning/early afternoon Pacific).

The first group call is scheduled to take place on Sunday November 11th,* and calls will take place once per week on Sundays. There will be no call on November 25th or December 23rd (unless all participants decide otherwise).

*This schedule is tentative. Once we know who is on board we will do our best to arrange timing to accommodate everyone’s schedule. If you’re interested in taking part of the course but unsure about scheduling, get in touch and I’ll do my best to make it work for you!

"I'd recommend this workshop for anyone who is unwilling to compromise the well-being of their soul for their career goals. Yes, there is a practical way to analyze decisions about creative endeavors! Chris has got that mapped out and his excitement to share that is quite obvious. I love learning about myself, so I really appreciated the enthusiastic and focused container this workshop provided to dive deep into my core values and true visions." 

-Jess Kin, performer, artist, sacred-space creator

"The career design retreat led by Chris was so nourishing emotionally, creatively, and spiritually. Since the retreat, I've used the value mapping and holistic context tools on several occasions in different areas of my life. I found the entire experience very grounding. I feel confident in my choices even as I am simultaneously scared while taking big risks because I've done the work to identify my values and goals. I am really grateful to have these tools, have met wonderful people, and had the space and environment to check in with myself and honor my creative aspirations. Thank you, Chris!”

-Emily Bold, performer, writer, social-justice activist

“The one-weekend [intensive retreat] version of this course was so nourishing and energizing! Chris’s enthusiasm for whole-human values, growth, and sustainability are very contagious.”

-Elizabeth LaPrelle of Anna & Elizabeth, musician + multidisciplinary artist

"I went into the retreat with a clear sense of my passion and purpose yet no idea how to translate that into making a living for myself. I came out with an overarching vision for my life and tools to build it. I now feel more confident supporting the evolution of my vision in a less confused and overwhelming way. What I learned helped me begin to fill in the gaps between what I know I have to offer the world and how to best provide it and support myself in doing it. Setting boundaries and saying no to people has always been difficult for me and I love being able to quantify what I give and get out of job opportunities. This way when I need to make decisions I don't have to fight my own feelings to make a decision. It's all right there on paper. I feel like I grew my own teammate in my mind and now we can achieve anything together."

-Emily Ritz, musician & interdisciplinary artist

Cost

The cost for this course starts at $54 per week.

If you would like to pay less, I offer a discount for full payment upfront (10% if you enroll in sections 1 + 2, and 15% for all three sections).

Further discounts are available for anyone who has worked with me in the past one-on-one, or in a paid group workshop.

Special Arrangements

I want to keep this as accessible as possible. If you would like to participate for a 4-week segment of the course only, or if you would like a significant discount on the 12-week course in return for being part of my beta-tester group (which will give me regular feedback during and after the course), click on the Beta Tester Application button at the bottom of this page.

Buddy Discount

If you refer a friend who ends up being accepted into the course (and who hasn't taken one of my workshops or talked with me previously about career design), you will both receive 40% off.