We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Isabelle Rizo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Isabelle, appreciate you joining us today. Are you 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?

Earning a full time living solely from creative work was a process. As soon as senioritis hit in high school I knew I wanted to always be learning and having a sustainable life. The first few years were all about education – going to the library and learning about digital media, marketing, sales, design, etc. I also interviewed others that lived non-traditional lives to make their income. My first big moment was when I decided to take my tangible skills and support others strategically. This eventually led to a slow but steady increase in consulting clients which brought the opportunity to become a digital nomad full time. I still collaborated with a few agencies that sent me clients or I trained their teams in the various lessons I learned in storytelling marketing.

I shifted to focusing on my art after I began to see unethical trends in the marketing world – bots, inflated influencer gains, etc. And I began painting, storytelling, and making my own stories. I published an artist book and had my first international exhibition in Prague while also working a few part time jobs as I transitioned away from marketing. These part time jobs still were creative and I learned profound skills from them.

When I felt at a plateau with work and the pandemic hit, I decided to go to school and go into a new career that combined all of my previous work and interests together. Art therapy. I am fascinated with deconstructing ideas and looking at the ethics of the new digital media landscape. The trends that I saw in the mental health world alongside the digitization of our selves and our lives were harmful, so I hope to bring new life and research to these fields. I currently work as a peer facilitator and mentor to artists and creatives that are on the more non-traditional path as I continue my higher education and that has been the most rewarding work.

Isabelle, 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?

My brand is ever expansive and transformative, especially as I am currently a student of art therapy. So I am in the interesting liminal space of artist and artist facilitator. I work with a lot of artists but also non-artists that struggle with perfectionism, uncertainty of putting themselves out there, and life skills to honor their creativity. I believe that creativity is a balm for us especially in times of transition. Alongside my therapy studies I have a degree in Visual & Critical Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, which guides my frameworks and approaches to thinking, writing, and facilitating. I work as a death doula, hypnotist, herbalist, yoga instructor, and complementary support to the mental health field. My biggest medium is conversations.

I got into this industry because of the mental health crises I was seeing in the entrepreneur, tech, and high achieving spaces I was working in as a marketing consultant. What I am most proud of in this iteration of my career is the corporate workshops I can bring in personal and client experience as well as my new learnings as a complementary care facilitator. Having partnerships with licensed mental health care providers has also been very supportive as a bridge to folks that may be intimidated in finding care or do not know where to begin.

When it comes to my artwork, having an exhibition in beautiful and thoughtful spaces where conversation can be fostered has been exquisite. Be it at Ex Post Gallery in Prague, to Press Here Studio in the historic Fine Arts Building in Chicago. The mental health and diasporic storytelling brought fellow immigrants to discuss the hidden histories and experiences that we go through. I feel honored and so lucky to have partnered with these mental health forward spaces.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn was the idea that I had to constantly be on, 24/7, available. That was not at all sustainable. It was also difficult when jumping time zones to manage 30 clients, team members, and also enjoy myself. To spend money on non-essential work things, to actually engage in leisure and rest, to invest in personal restoration. Such an important lesson.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

To have money to start my business I worked a few years full-time at a health food store, a cafe, and an apothecary. That was able to fund my living expenses while I started to grow my client base. I then shifted solely to client work. Working remotely and having a solely digital business helped with cutting overhead costs tremendously, and if I didn’t have to buy anything extra for the client projects I kept my extra costs for myself and my clients to a minimum.

Getting really good with money management as an artist, consultant, and researcher is a non-negotiable and should be a basic skill that is taught in schools and community spaces. Knowing where my values are and funneling money and action into those things helps us live in alignment. Also flexibility with learning these things or realizing that values change over time is crucial too.

Contact Info:

• Website: isabellerizo.com
• Instagram: intagram.com/isabellerizobvp

Image Credits
Yes I have rights to all images. Isabelle Rizo