We recently connected with Fiona Flyte and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Fiona thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?

I learned very early in my career that to be an artist is to be an entrepreneur, that is IF you also want to make money. For me that looked like saying, “yes” to the first person who asked me if I could teach her how to sing.

It was my neighbor in an apartment building with thin walls in Oakland, CA. She’d heard me practicing and wanted to know if I would be open to teaching her.

This was a turning point, because of course I could have given into my own imposter syndrome. I could have said,
“I’m not a teacher.”
“I’ve never taught before.”
“I don’t know how.”

But instead, I said, “Yes! I’d love to teach you how to sing.” And I went on to teach singing for another 20 years, right up until I pivoted to business coaching.

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

In 2019, I booked my dream role singing Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music on tour for 2,000 people a night. It was a highlight of my performing career. The shows were sold out. The cast was phenomenal. I sang the curtain closing number standing in the spotlight as the curtain closed on Act 1.

It was perfect, except…

I realized that when I returned home from the tour, I’d have LESS money in my bank account than when I’d started.

NOT because I’d overspent…
Not because I’d partied…
Not because I’d been robbed…

But simply because the theater contract I’d signed didn’t cover my daily expenses. There was no per diem and the daily rate itself was pitiful.

In fact, given the student lessons I had to cancel in order to go on the tour in the first place, I was LOSING money.

This was the moment. These were the realizations that forced me to reevaluate my artistic, financial and overall life choices.

That’s when I vowed to figure out exactly HOW to make real money as an artist and that once I did to teach other performers to do it as well.

And thus my new business and signature program The Profitable Performer Revolution™ was born.

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

As a singer/actor/musician, I believed that I needed to be “discovered” by some important person in the entertainment industry. I believed this was how you made a name for yourself AND how you made money.

Someone else discovered you, booked you, paid you.

I wish I’d understood much earlier that the artists who make it believe in themselves FIRST and long before other people hop on for the ride.

I never needed someone to rescue me from obscurity. I only needed to believe in myself so much that my light could no longer be dimmed by fear, failure or my own inner critic.

Even as a business coach, this is one of the most important things I help my clients resolve. I show them how to stand fully in the center of their own power, knowing that their own success is inevitable.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

At this stage in my journey, I’m obsessed with helping my fellow artists to become profitable performers. This starts with the understanding that you are not the victim of your circumstances. Even if you’ve been living like a starving artist for years, you can change the trajectory of your life and bank account in an instant, the moment you decide to take total responsibility for your own success.

Stop looking for external validation and permission to build the career of your dreams. Decide instead that you DESERVE to be well paid for your time, energy and expertise.

You have a Voice. You deserve to be heard and the world deserves to hear you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.profitableperformer.com/Newsletter
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fionaflyte/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009907874240
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionaflyte/
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/c/FionaFlyte
• Other: https://www.profitableperformer.com/reel-magic https://www.profitableperformer.com/profitable-performer-revolution https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitableperformer/