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

London, appreciate you joining us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I’ve been running my business full-time since 2019. In May of that year, I quit my corporate career in IT to do music full time. Music has always been my passion. I was merely using my job as a stepping stool to get to where I needed to be to run my own business full time. I didn’t want to be a “starving artist.” So, I while I was working my day job, I paid my bills but I also invested into my craft. I paid for music production school, equipment, moved to Atlanta, etc. Additionally, I was learning project management skills, computer skills, business skills, etc from working my day job. Outside of work, I spent a lot time volunteering at studios, radio stations, podcasts, going to networking events, making beats, etc. All of this was preparing me to be in a position to quit my day job to do music full time. Then, I finally took a leap of faith in 2019 and haven’t looked back since. I don’t think I could have sped up the process knowing what I know now. Everything happens when it’s supposed to and you’ll never really know when it’s time to take that leap because it won’t come when you’re comfortable. I speak in depth about this in my book “PTO: Prayed Time Off.” It’s about living in your true purpose and my personal journey into full time entrepreneurship.

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

I am a music producer, audio engineer, author and film producer. I started my company to focus on music production services. Less than 15% of the music producers in the industry are women. As you can imagine, a lot of women who want to pursue music unfortunately have to do so in a male dominated environment which isn’t always ideal. I’ve experienced and heard many stories from other women about the issues this can cause from men who have ill intent. So, I am working to bridge the gap and set an example to younger women who want to do the same. Women feel comfortable recording their music with me. I create music for sync licensing and advertising opportunities as well as independent and major artists. Some of my credits include Got Milk, ESPN, HBO, Bravo, Estrella Jalisco, Dascha Polanco, That Girl Lay Lay and more.

While music remains the primary service of my business, a new demand was created after I quit my day job to do music full time. People wanted to know how I quit a high paying job to become an entrepreneur. This was something they also desired to do. This demand for information led me to author my book, “PTO: Prayed Time Off.” The reception was so great that I also converted the concepts from my book into an online course “BYOB: Be Your Own Boss” which is now available through learndesk.com. I desire to help others live in their true purpose by providing access to information about my journey into entrepreneurship and my experiences as a music producer.

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

Right now my goal/mission is to secure sync/ad opportunities on a regular basis. Although I enjoy producing for artists, it makes more business sense to focus on sync licensing. They have more clear cut budgets, expectations and deadlines. Not to mention, the budgets are typically more than what an independent artist might be able to come up with. Since my overall goal is to continue to run my business full time, creatively I focus on what will generate income for my business in the best way. I have had the most success in that area doing music for advertising and sync (TV/Film).

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I built my audience on social media organically. When I decided to get into music and created “London Elixir” I started a brand new instagram account specifically for that. So I started at 0 followers. I built my audience by going to events, meeting people and networking. I posted content consistent with my brand and what I wanted people to follow me for. I posted mostly beats and music related content as opposed to photos of myself because I didn’t want people to follow me for my looks. I wanted them to follow me for my music.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.LondonElixir.com
• Instagram: @londonelixirlx
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/london-elixir
• Twitter: @londonelixirlx
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjBJphLoViVhnJH5pzmIi1w
• Other: Book: www.LondonElixir.com/pto Online Course: https://www.learndesk.us/class/5998169903071232/be-your-own-boss-benefits-of-pto

Image Credits
The Fly On The Wall Sly Algernon