The Entrepreneurial Musician

I had an inspiring time speaking with Andrew Hitz for his podcast The Entrepreneurial Musician.

Here’s Andrew’s summary of what we talk about:

Dana Fonteneau, the woman behind the WholeHearted Musician and the author of It’s Not (JUST) About the Gig: A Musician’s Guide to Creating the Mindset Which Leads to Career Success and Fulfillment, speaks about getting to know your why and how that informs everything you do as an entrepreneur.

Topics Covered:

  • 5:54 – Dana’s journey from chamber musician to licensed psychotherapist, mindset coach and consultant
  • 10:43 – What exactly is The WholeHearted Musician and how she chose to structure it and what to offer (and how that’s morphed over the years)
  • 15:07 How she got her first consulting clients before she had a proven track record (and how that relates to her most effective marketing tool today)
  • 21:38 Why her book is “backwards” compared to a lot of entrepreneur classes in that it first makes you ask questions of yourself to figure out your why before starting with the how like resumes and websites
  • 29:57 – An example of someone who “made it” in the music business at an early age and was miserable because he spent no time envisioning what traditional success was going to look like
  • 32:49 – Holding yourself accountable and how all entrepreneurs can struggle with that (and the formula she uses today to hold herself accountable)
  • 42:30 – How getting to the bottom of your “why” specifically relates to being an entrepreneur

Links:

  • It’s Not (JUST) About the Gig: A Musician’s Guide to Creating the Mindset Which Leads to Career Success and Fulfillment by Dana Fonteneau
  • Susan de Weger: Episode 71
  • Brené Brown’s Ted Talk “The Power of Vulnerability”
  • Start with Why by Simon Sinek
  • Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
  • Lance LaDuke talking about his successful audition prep
  • Noah Kageyama’s The Bulletproof Musician
  • I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
  • John Beder: Episode 83
  • Dr. Dimartini’s Value Determination
  • MIchael Jr.’s What vs. Why
  • Parker Mouthpieces
  • Victor Wooten Commencement Speech

Favorite Quotes:

“Nobody wanted to hear it because I was just screaming about what I thought people needed and not really addressing their needs.”

“I still think that face-to-face connection is essential to building trust in a relationship. That’s probably my most effective marketing tool.”

“We have these external models or we have these external should’s that say ‘This is the only way you’re going to do it and if you don’t do it this way you’re a failure’ and nobody stops to questions ‘What is success for me? What would I love to do and what do I need to do it?’ So in a way I think we’re asking all the wrong questions.”

“To know ourselves is our greatest resource.”

“It’s really about failing over and over and over again and saying ‘Thank you for the failing. Thank you for the learning. Thank you for the course correction.'”

“When you have an inspired purpose, success is a byproduct.”

Here’s the link again: https://itun.es/us/r0N36.c

I hope you enjoy our discussion!

MKI Artists