Financial Sovereignty As a Creative Freelancer
Day 4: Freedom
What if the ultimate creative achievement is the freedom to create what truly matters to you?
Welcome to Day 4 of our Financial Sovereignty Creative Sprint, where we're discovering that the path to creative freedom starts smaller than you might think.
Day 1, we identified and rewrote the money stories holding you back.
Day 2, we learned to work with natural seasons instead of fighting against them.
Yesterday, we explored how multiple streams create a resilient income ecosystem.
Today, we're focusing on the ultimate goal: sovereignty — moving toward a place where you're doing the work you were meant to do and getting paid to do it.
What Sovereignty Really Means
When I talk about sovereignty, I'm referring to the ability to determine your own creative path rather than having it dictated by market forces or financial pressures. It's about having both the artistic freedom to create what matters to you and the financial foundation to sustain that freedom.
Sovereignty doesn't mean rejecting commercial work or ignoring market realities. It means reshaping your relationship with them so that you're operating from a position of choice rather than necessity.
When I named this newsletter Ten Minute Artist, it wasn't just about finding small pockets of time to create. It was about the revolutionary act of claiming time for yourself as the first step toward creative autonomy.
This journey begins when you take ownership of your creative life rather than waiting for permission. It's the shift from "I'll draw what clients ask for" to "I'll attract clients who value what I naturally draw."
A Portfolio
I used to think that a portfolio was meant to be an archive of all the work you’ve ever done, and only client work went into a portfolio.
It took me years to realise that a portfolio can be professional quality work done on your own time. If you create work in your portfolio that both connects with your passion and interests but also addresses areas in the market where you can be most useful... you're golden.
Your freedom starts with the work you make on your own time.
You have the freedom to control the work you get in this way.
You can be true to yourself AND meet market needs.
It's about clarity and fit.
This was my first taste of creative independence — realising I could strategically fill my portfolio with work I loved making while simultaneously signalling to the market exactly what I wanted to be hired for.
I've intentionally added elements of non-fiction to my portfolio, including historical subjects and animals with slightly more realistic qualities. These were deliberate signals to attract specific types of projects I wanted more of.
Have you ever created something just because you thought it would get you hired, even though you didn't love making it? That's the opposite of sovereignty.
The Creative Freedom is a Spectrum
On one end: Taking whatever opportunities come your way, regardless of fit
On the other: Getting paid well to create exactly what you're meant to create
Most of us start at the "taking anything" end out of necessity. That's normal. But artistic agency is about gradually shifting the balance over time.
Each small move toward the self-direction end of the spectrum creates outsized fulfillment, even before you reach the endpoint.
Take Time. Start with Ten Minutes.
There are a couple of pieces that come before Financial Sovereignty and I thought I would unpack those pieces first…
Time Sovereignty
1st you need to take time out of your schedule to create regularly just focus on owning the time. If you’re not used to it taking this time away of family commitments, work commitments and addictive distractions can feel like the hardest thing in the world.
That’s why we start small.
Start with then minutes a day.
Creative Sovereignty
This is your time to create whatever you want.
A time to learn what it is you want to create, you can’t learn this by thinking about it, you learn by doing. By trying things and seeing how they feel. Notice patterns, you’ll be drawn to the same ideas and ways of working.
Soon you’ll catch yourself thinking about all the things you could do in your ten minute sessions. You might want to even start chaining multiple ten minute sessions together gradually taking more time and creative sovereignty.
Financial Sovereignty
As you start to get used to what creative play feels like to you. You can start to think about what problems you might solve that feel like play to you. The bigger the problems you solve, the larger the payoff.
This is exactly how I stumbled on Picture-books as a medium for my art.
You see I was creating comics for instagram, everyday in my Creative Playtime, I was writing comics that were 8-12 panels long. I was also very aware that the market for comics were dwindling.
One day I came across a picture-book with the title ‘Who stole my hat’. And the entire book played out over 12 or so spreads very similarly to one of my comic strips. So I thought that’s it. There is a market for my visual story telling that could allow me to do what I love and earn a living! PICTURE-BOOKS!
Publishers needed to fill Picture-books with art and stories, and that is something I already happily do for fun… now I just had to figure out how to get that work. But that is another story!
When Picture-books started becoming my work, I used substack for my playtime…
The Apparent Paradox (And Why It Isn't One)
Many artists believe there's an either/or choice: either create what fulfills you OR create what sells.
I think this is nonsense.
The deepest fulfillment often comes from solving real problems for people who genuinely need what you naturally love to create.
Remember what I said yesterday about marketing? It's about going into a room where people have a problem and saying, "You have a problem. I have the solution."
Professional autonomy is about carefully choosing which rooms you enter, which problems you solve, and how you solve them in a way that expresses your unique creative voice.
One of my biggest breakthroughs came when I realized my unique experience allowed me to create a unique offer, one that clearly stated the outcomes I could drive for clients and how I would deliver those outcomes on my terms. This approach enabled me to charge significantly more than I previously thought possible.
Your style, approach, and perspective are how you transform problem-solving into self-expression.
Finding Your Creative Sweet Spot
The sweet spot is where three circles overlap:
What you're passionate about creating
What you're genuinely good at (or could become good at)
What people actually need and will pay for
Most artists focus only on #1 and wonder why they struggle financially.
Most commercial artists focus only on #3 and wonder why they burn out.
True creative liberation lives at the intersection of all three.
When you find this overlap, you're not compromising your vision, you're focusing it where it can have the greatest impact while creating the greatest value for you.
I can't count how many times a personal project or self-initiated work has opened doors that commissioned work never could have.
This happens so often!
There were at least three series I created on Instagram that led to client work when the series was barely getting started. Other times, a single fun piece has resulted in multiple projects or approaches from clients.
Here
The Path to Artistic Independence
So here’s how you develop the capacity for Financial Sovereignty
Stage 1: Claim Time
It starts with those ten minutes. This is time that belongs entirely to you—not to clients, not to social media, not to anyone else. Just you creating what matters.
Stage 2: Develop Skills
Use that independent time to build capabilities that align with your vision while increasing your market value. What skills would allow you to charge more for work you actually enjoy?
Stage 3: Create Offerings
Transform these skills into offerings that reflect your authentic voice while solving real problems. This might be client services, products, courses—anything that expresses your unique approach.
Stage 4: Build Systems
Develop processes that protect and expand your autonomous time—systems for attracting the right clients, delivering work efficiently, and gradually increasing the percentage of your time spent on work you love.
Each stage builds on the previous one. You can't skip directly to offerings or systems without first claiming that initial time and developing the necessary skills. It’s not going to happen overnight but just getting on the path will give you an endless source of satisfaction!
Common Freedom Pitfalls
The All-or-Nothing Fallacy
You don't need to quit your day job to start building creative autonomy. In fact, dramatic leaps often backfire. Small, consistent steps toward self-direction outperform grand gestures every time.
Add more creativity to your job. Gradually reduce the amount of time at the job while increasing your creative time. A day job can actually help you create with more authenticity and take more creative risks!
Confusing Autonomy with Isolation
Work independence doesn't mean working alone or rejecting feedback. Some of my most self-determined work has come through collaboration with the right partners—people who enhance my vision rather than override it.
The Portfolio Mismatch
When your portfolio shows work you don't want to make more of, you're sabotaging your creative authority. Each piece you share is a signal to the market about what you want to create.
I learned this lesson the embarrassingly hard way! I spent years wondering why I kept getting asked to do the same type of work I didn't enjoy, only to realize I was the one putting it front and center in my portfolio.
Neglecting Market Reality
Creating only for yourself might feel freeing, but without considering what others need, you end up with "independence" without income. The trick is finding where your authentic expression solves real problems.
Signs You're Moving Toward True Sovereignty
Imagine waking up to a calendar filled with projects YOU CHOSE rather than ones you reluctantly accepted. Picture checking your bank account and seeing money from work that ENERGIZES you rather than depletes you!
The contrast between before and after sovereignty is dramatic:
BEFORE: You anxiously refresh your email hoping for any opportunity
AFTER: You choose your projects
BEFORE: Your schedule is dictated by client emergencies and external demands
AFTER: Your calendar reflects your priorities, with protected time for what matters most
BEFORE: You do uninspiring work to pay bills, then try to squeeze in "real art" during leftover time
AFTER: Your income increasingly comes from work that feels aligned with your purpose
BEFORE: You end each workday exhausted, dreading the next day's tasks
AFTER: Your work builds energy rather than draining it, with challenges that feel meaningful
This transformation doesn't happen overnight, but each step toward sovereignty creates immediate improvements in your creative life and wellbeing.
I've found that truly sovereign work is like cooking with ingredients you actually love. You're still following a recipe (meeting client needs), but you're using flavors that excite you rather than whatever happened to be on sale.
My Sovereignty Journey
I'm still on this path myself.
I've made progress—illustrating children's books I believe in, writing this newsletter that aligns with my values, developing courses that share what I'm passionate about.
But sovereignty is a continual practice, not a destination. There are still days when I take on work that's less aligned than I'd like. There are still compromises and trade-offs.
I've recently turned down projects that were looking more for technical skills than creative input. I'll be honest, most of the work I've turned down has been because the financial aspect didn't meet my expectations. Other opportunities weren't pursued because, after trying, I couldn't reach creative alignment with the other parties.
The difference is that now these are conscious choices I make within a larger strategy of increasing sovereignty, not desperate reactions to whatever opportunities come my way.
I'm not claiming to have it all figured out, but i’m enjoying a sense of growing autonomy and a feeling of fulfilling my purpose.
TEN MINUTE ARTIST CREATIVE SPRINT PROMPT
Your Sovereignty Blueprint
This is your DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE! Every minute you spend completing this blueprint is a minute invested in BREAKING FREE from the cycle of taking whatever work comes your way!
Step 1: Your Current Sovereignty Score
On a scale of 1-10, how sovereign do you currently feel in your creative work?
(1 = taking whatever comes your way, 10 = complete creative freedom while being well-paid)
My current sovereignty score: _______
What factors contribute to this score? ________________________________
Step 2: Your Ten Minute Claim
Identify when you will take your first 10 minutes of truly sovereign time:
Time of day: ________________
Location: ________________
What you'll create: ________________
How you'll protect this time: ________________
Step 3: Portfolio Sovereignty Audit
Review your current portfolio or body of work:
Work I'm showing that attracts projects I DON'T want more of:
1. ________________________________
2. ________________________________
Work I need to CREATE to attract projects I DO want more of:
1. ________________________________
2. ________________________________
Step 4: Your Sovereign Intersection
Identify where your passion, skills, and market needs overlap:
What I'm passionate about creating: ________________________________
What I'm genuinely good at (or could become good at): ________________________________
What people actually need and will pay for: ________________________________
Where these three overlap: ________________________________
Step 5: Your Next Sovereignty Step
Based on where you are in the journey (Time → Skills → Offerings → Systems), what's your next specific step?
My current stage: ________________
My next specific step: ________________
When I will take this step: ________________
## Step 6: One Immediate Action
What one small action can you take TODAY to move toward greater sovereignty?
________________________________
Tomorrow we'll bring everything together in "Your Creative Money Roadmap" - an integrated plan that combines your new money story, seasonal awareness, multiple streams, and sovereignty path into a cohesive strategy for creative financial freedom.