Welcome, fellow creative.
I'm Louise: a Swedish multi-passionate creative who has spent my entire adult life avoiding traditional employment and instead making a living off of my art. In various ways, and with various degrees of success.
I've co-founded a creative tech start-up, freelanced as a journalist, copywriter & web designer, worked as an actor, made music and sung at weddings, built blogs and online businesses, sold non-fiction books, short stories, physical products, courses, and original artworks. I've grown a YouTube channel to over 20k subscribers. I've been in the "creative business" trenches for over a decade.
Here, I talk about everything I've learned along the way: About figuring yourself out, and finding focus (even if you're torn in a million directions.) About writing and art making and learning creative crafts. Dealing with the fears and anxieties of the creative life. Making a living on your creativity in sustainable ways that don't burn you out or kill your soul. And much, much more.
Fellow artists, writers, online creators and creative solopreneurs: Welcome. You are among friends.
Here's what you can expect:
Essays and guides on writing, art making, creative psychology, and running a (calm) creative business.
Regular episodes of my podcast The Calm Creative, where I talk about the many aspects of the creative life and answer your questions.
Occasional “off-topic”, more personal essays, for fun.
Monthly link roundups with all of the books/podcasts/articles/music/art/stuff I've enjoyed lately.
Why pay for a subscription?
I aim to have something new and valuable for free subscribers every week. You'll get the podcast episodes, the Favorite Things link roundups, as well as 1-2 select essays per month.
But you'll get much more as a paying subscriber:
Access to the full archive of 70+ posts.
Access to everything new I publish, including in-depth guides and personal essays that are only for paying subscribers.
Access to the comments field, Q&As, and discussions.
I believe creators deserve fair compensation for their work, and the crowdfunding model makes that possible. Without ads, expensive products, or a huge chunk of the earnings being swallowed up by a greedy tech platform. By paying a creator directly, you help build a more sustainable ecosystem where your favorite creators can keep on doing their thing without burning out. I'm immensely grateful for your support. 🙏🏻
But I also know that not everyone can afford a bunch of Substack subscriptions. If that's your situation right now: Reach out to me and I'll happily gift you a month's subscription for free.