We recently connected with Charlotte Piper and have shared our conversation below.

Charlotte, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I’m reminded of an Anaïs Nin quote, “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

From my own personal observation, we are socially conditioned from a young age to believe that there is a singular path to success and that coloring outside the lines is generally frowned upon. Those who buck the status quo are seen as “strange”. Authenticity is denounced, while uniformity is encouraged.

But human beings are naturally curious creatures and exploration is part of our nature. The beauty of this existence is that no two beings are exactly the same.

What I think Anaïs Nin was trying to say in her quote is that no matter how tightly a person clings to their cocoon of comfort or familiarity, eventually the calling of one’s heart will leave them restless. Eventually, our soul’s purpose will seek ways of expression that contradict the “pre designed” destiny most of us receive growing up.

Those who decide to “take the risk” of following their True North are often innovators, artists, and entrepreneurs. Those who choose to follow their own star; think out of the box–these are the people who often seem like risk takers when they are simply blossoming into their most authentic expression.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

It all started when I worked for a local music publication as a freelance writer, marketing consultant, and brand ambassador. This led me to discover the world of content creation and social media marketing.

Since 2011, I’ve become an avid student of digital marketing and have conceived of, and managed, several full on brand build-outs. Since 2020, I have fully immersed myself into content creation and marketing full time, and successfully executed strategic digital marketing initiatives from conception to completion.

During my time working in digital marketing and content creation, I’ve come to recognize the disparity in representation amongst marginalized communities, specifically the 2SLGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities. With this knowledge, I choose to predominantly work with creators, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits in these communities.

My foray into event coordination and content curation began in the past year, when I was asked to consult and curate for a local art gallery that specializes in public programming featuring marginalized creators. This opened up a whole new avenue of creative visioning for me, one in which I could utilize many of my developed skills and contacts to produce and participate in meaningful content that uplifts and edifies the communities that I serve and humanity as a whole.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The story of my life as a professional marketer, content creator, and event coordinator/curator is the pivot. I could cite so many examples in my own life that reflect the importance of being able to pivot.

For example, one client I was working with was launching a brand new Twitch channel. I helped them with everything from the initial concept of the channel, to the branding and marketing, all the way until the first day of broadcast. I was asked to co-host and moderate the first broadcast as I had familiarity with Twitch and livestreaming from my own past projects in that space.

Anyway, the day of the launch came and an hour before we were supposed to go live, we had an internet outage in our neighborhood. Knowing that my mobile hotspot would not provide enough bandwidth to accommodate a live Twitch broadcast, I packed up my entire rig and moved it to a friend’s apartment 15 minutes away. We got everything hooked up and connected just in time to go live, and the broadcast went off without a hitch.

As an entrepreneur, I think it’s important to embrace the pivot and often when life presents a challenge that takes me in a direction I didn’t anticipate, I simply shout, “PLOT TWIST!” and move into pivot mode.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Again, I’m reminded of a quote that was especially prevalent at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic: ” ‘Earth’ without ‘art’ is just ‘eh’.”

Often art and artists are significantly undervalued for their contributions to society but art drives society and vice versa. This is especially ubiquitous amongst our society as it pertains to the entertainment industry, which is comprised largely of performers, musicians, actors, photographers, and videographers; all who tend to be creative types.

This became glaringly obvious to me during the lockdown and social distancing that came as a result of the pandemic. All of a sudden art became infinitely more relevant and important than before.

Suddenly out of this worldwide lockdown, our artists and entertainers became a source of joy and recreation. From online concerts to web-based art and music lessons, it was the way that we sought out art as a society during this particularly scary and uncertain time that proves to me just how relevant and valuable artists and creative types are.

With that said, the best way to support an artist or creative is to simply show up. Engage and connect, Go to their shows, support the art. Purchase their art. Share their art with your friends. It doesn’t cost a single dime to share a social media post yet it can make a huge impact.

Mostly, never undervalue or underestimate the significant contribution that artists and creatives contribute to a thriving creative ecosystem. Without them, there is no creative ecosystem. Many artists and creative types have invested thousands of dollars and hours into honing their craft, so don’t nickel and dime them to death. It’s almost an insult to ask or even expect any artist to participate in your thing “for the exposure”. Exposure is nice, and even though, in some cases, it can lead to other opportunities, it rarely pays the bills and we all have bills to pay. The “starving artist” trope is tired and toxic in a society that quite legitimately thrives on creative contributions to the world. It’s time to embrace the idea of the “thriving artist” and treat them with dignity and respect for their contributions to society by compensating them fairly.

Contact Info:

• Website: level11content.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_oracle11/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlottedpiper/
• Other: All of my most relevant and/or transitory links are here: https://linktr.ee/the_oracle_11

Image Credits
Headshot is a photo of me by me.
First two photo collages are from an event I recently curated in Boulder, CO at East Window Gallery and are credited to Niko Laurita.
The remaining images are projects that I’ve worked on over the past few years and are provided courtesy of Level 11 Content.