Navigate Well

February 28, 2024

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Navigate Well is an introduction to career planning designed for the specific needs of performing arts workers in the gig economy.

Working in the performing arts industry is exciting, rewarding, and challenging. It is also uncertain, unpredictable, and changeable. Everyone’s journeys and aspirations will be different. This guide has been created to support your wellbeing and find out what you value when considering, planning, or changing a career in the industry.

The strategies and tools in Navigate Well are applicable to everyone, from freelancers, casual and part-time workers to full-time employees. The career challenges facing performing arts industry workers are the same whether working on or beyond the stage. If you work in other creative industries, you may still find Navigate Well to be a useful resource.

And, yes, like all our Well Guides, it is completely free.

Navigate Well includes two sections:

THIS IS HOW I WANT TO WORK helps you to:
Realise your workplace values
Define what you do not want
Professionally decline opportunities
Calculate annual income as a freelancer
Uplift your rates
Avoid burnout
Discover what traits you seek in colleagues

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Page 5: Acknowledging Challenges and Opportunities

Regardless of the paths travelled in our careers and how our working models are shaped, we share these challenges:

Most performing arts organisations embrace the flexibility of a freelance, casual, and contract workforce
Challenges in balancing workload may impact mental health and wellbeing as there can be pressure to achieve more with limited resources
Occasionally, investments in developing, preparing, and rehearsing shows may not materialise due to cancellations or rescheduling
Entrenched or out of date expectations about professional success and failure.

We do this work because we love it. But that strong intrinsic motivation and deep desire to do the work may mask some of the harsher aspects of the portfolio or freelance model such as:

Balancing a mix of arts and non-arts work can be administratively challenging and time consuming
The nature of unpredictable work can lead to fluctuations between periods of overemployment, underemployment, and unemployment
Limited access to Human Resources expertise, paid leave, and Employee Assistance Programs can pose challenges
Engaging in work that is still under development may involve financial and contractual risks, especially when income is uncertain or low.

Despite these challenges, we also share unique opportunities and benefits such as:

The independence to design our career model, work hours and projects
The ability to use our creativity in multiple domains
The good fortune to work alongside brilliant, creative people just like us
The chance to make art and experiences that change the way people experience the world.

If we have learned anything from recent major global events, it is that uncertainty is the new normal in the performing arts industry. This complexity could make our career models more challenging, or we could choose to reframe the situation. A realistic and positive reframe would mean acknowledging the elements within and beyond our control, and choosing intentional steps towards a career model that supports positive mental health and wellbeing. We can choose to work with, not work against, the gig economy. At the heart of all career planning is the reality that we are more than our work. We are whole humans with emotions, values, needs and priorities that coexist with our working life.

Contributors

Navigate Well is a resource of the Arts Wellbeing Collective, an initiative of Arts Centre Melbourne. The content was created by Susan Eldridge, Notable Values and was informed by the stories, ideas and experiences of performing arts industry workers from a range of roles, companies and backgrounds.

Susan Eldridge

Notable Values is led by musician, educator, coach, podcast host and consultant Susan Eldridge. Susan is fascinated by what makes people tick, and how they show up at work – whatever their work might be. She is passionate about unlocking the potential in everyone and is renowned for her ability to help individuals and organisations create elegant solutions to complex problems. As an expert on creative careers, Susan has coached and mentored over 1,000 performing arts industry workers. She really knows the challenges facing creative, artsy people – because she is one! Helping creative people to build a life of means and meaning is her mission.

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