Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Geoff Mclachlan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Geoff thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Being able to call oneself a “Professional” in any category is an accomplishment. The Professional is different than the hobbyist in that they have failed more times than the hobbyist has even tried. Look at any profession and they make things look easy. This is because they have dedicated thousands of hours to their craft, whatever that may be.

In my case, speaking and facilitating, are the craft that I have more time doing than most people. I started off doing long programs, 7-8 hours, with elementary and middle school students. The development of presence, storytelling, direction giving and facilitating are honed quickly because I had so much time “on stage.”

Honestly, it took 7 years before I considered myself a “Professional speaker.” It was right around the 1000 hour mark or in my case 150 ish repetitions of the program. Before that mark I was working multiple part time jobs to pay the bills. The first few years were really challenging. I was learning how to present as well as developing a curriculum. every time we would present the program we would change it to try and make it better. After 3 years we finally had something that was really solid that we could build different programs from.

I was lucky in that for the early part of my career I had a mentor and someone to give me constant feedback. This time was invaluable in many ways. To have someone with experience watch your craft and give you real time feedback so you can incorporate and adapt in the moment was integral to my success as a speaker. The next big thing was going solo. With no safety net I was responsible for everything. This boosted my confidence and skill set even farther.

If you are looking at any creative craft and you want to succeed and make a full time living at it there are a few things that you can do to speed up the process.

1. GET A COACH!
This will speed up the process immensely! I recommend a coach that you jive with and that has the experience you are looking for. Not every coach is great. There are a lot of bad ones. A good coach will ask you questions that move you forward. They will not be telling you what to do. If you want that, hire a consultant, they are more expensive but can also be highly beneficial depending on what you are wanting done.

2. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!
I can not repeat this enough. Repetitions will get you there. If you want to be good at anything, practice. If you want to be great at something you need 1000 hours to get to good and many more to get to great! The professional makes something exceptional look like anyone can do it. That is how much they have practiced. BE a professional.

3. MEASURE YOUR SUCCESS
If you don’t know where you want to go then how do you know when you get there? What is success to you? Is it a number of engagements/paintings/clients etc? Is it a dollar amount? Is it time freedom? If you know what you want and you are measuring your success, you can be intentional with the activities that create success. This allows you to become professional quicker!

If I had to do it all again, I would have invested more in the business side of things. I would have hired a small team of people much earlier to do the mundane tasks that take energy from me but are in their lane of genius. If you are embarking on this journey know it is not always going to be easy, but it will be worth it as long as you don’t give up! Work hard, play fair and BE KIND! You can’t loose with that combination.

Geoff, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Previous to getting my degree as a teacher I worked as a paraprofessional in a high school working with students with special needs for a couple of years. I returned to college and earned my Bachelors in Education with an emphasis in Reading and Early Education. I then started teaching in kindergarten, which is a wonderful age since everything is brand new! I taught reading programs in elementary school and then was moved up to a middle school where I taught wood shop and PE. I was then moved in the same middle school to the alternative programs for students with behavioral issues.

I was also working in the summer at a local summer stock theatre building sets and running sound systems. I met my mentor there. He was a former teacher who had been recruited to work for a company that did leadership trainings and welcome to school orientations. He wanted to branch out and work with school on creating a positive school culture and was given the green light to create his own programs. That’s where I came in.

He recruited me to come and see what he was doing. I KNEW that this was what I was supposed to do with my life. I started working with him to create programs for schools. It was not an overnight success like I thought it would be. It took years of iterations and working with students before we finally settled on something that was consistently good and impactful.

This was where I “cut my teeth” so to speak. I did a lot of work in front of students for thousand and thousands of hours. I worked on my craft before, during and after presentations. I dedicated time almost daily to saying things out loud that I would say during the programs and keynotes so I knew what it sounded like. I would practice in front of a mirror so that I could see what faces I made during the telling of stories.

After many years working with students and leadership I decided to start working with adults as well. Thus began Professionals at Play! I have now worked with organizations across the US on building a positive workplace culture and increasing communication and better mental health through play. This has been a very interesting, challenging and fun transition. Not many people get to play, especially with professionals in a work environment, for a career. Helping people realize that work can be fun and that the benefits of play are not just for kids has to be one of the biggest perks of the job.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Most people understand entrepreneurship. They get that you want to start a business. What they don’t understand is creative entrepreneurship. They don’t understand how you can make a living with your craft, whatever that may be. People don’t always see the value in the art or service that we provide to the communities in which we serve. I have to be honest, even as a professional speaker who makes a living through the spoken word, performing in front of audiences across the country, I still don’t always understand a lot of the creative work that I see. That does not mean is it not valuable and provides meaning for someone else! We have to find out tribes; the people that we find value in and who find value in us.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I was lucky to have a mentor who gave me valuable feedback and coaching early in my career. I would not be where I am today without his mentorship. Where he was brilliant at the craft, he was a terrible business man. I would have invested much earlier in my career in a financial planner and tax professional. A good CPA is worth their weight in saved taxes! There are so many things that we can be really great at, but none of us can do everything well or even competently. I highly suggest investing in finding the right team members who can help you plan, organize, strategize, execute, market, sell, or whatever it is that you don’t like doing, so that you can focus on becoming really, really good at what you do!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://professionalsatplay.com/
• Instagram: @professionalsatplay
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffprofessionalsatplay/

Image Credits

Hara Allison Photography