We were lucky to catch up with Michelle Matlock recently and have shared our conversation below.

Michelle, 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?

In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s I lived in New York City. I was an actor and struggling to make a living. While auditioning for mainstream entertainment I always had side gigs that had nothing to do with being a performer. In the year 2000 I got an amazing performing gig. I spent the year working and training as a clown aboard cruise ships. This was the first time in my life that I had a consistent decent paycheck solely from working as a performer.

When I returned to NYC, I decided that I could not go back to shuffling plates, answering phones or any other side gigs. I decided that everything that I do to make money must be from performing or adjacent to performing. I began creating a plan for my future in the performing arts. I made lists of all of the things that I could do to earn a living that would make me happy. Of course performing was at the top of the list. I also added teaching, directing, and producing.

I started with what I thought was the lowest hanging fruit, which was teaching. I began submitting teaching proposals for after school theater/circus programs to every public and charter school in the city. I must have submitted to 50 schools or more. 5 schools accepted my proposal and I began teaching in the afternoons everyday of the week at a different school each day.

I also began submitting for extra work in television and movies. I had earned my SAG card when I was 17 but I wasn’t really interested in TV and movies, however at that time being an extra paid $100-$300 per day and it was definitely in line with my decision to only do work that was adjacent to performing. It was an excellent way to earn cash and I got to work on some cool projects, including Sex in the City, Spike Lee’s “He Got Game” and a Western Union commercial with my hero, Lily Tomlin.

Added to my plan was writing and producing my own one person show. This was a longer term goal but I did achieve making it a part of my “full-time living” as a performer. My solo show played all over New York, the US, Canada and Argentina. It also led to one of the most incredible experiences as a performer that I would have. A casting representative from Cirque du Soleil walked into one of my solo shows in NYC and this eventually led to them asking me to create a clown character for one of their new shows. I accepted that offer, and created the role of “Ladybug” for Cirque’s show OVO. I travelled with that show and earned a very lucrative full-time living as a creative for 10 years.

Earning a full-time living from creative work is hard, but I can say from 20 plus years of experience that it is possible and still remains true for me today. What is important and what I learned from my early years of success is that making a DECISION to do what you want is key. Second, using your creativity to make a PLAN for yourself is imperative. Last but not least you must take ACTION toward what you want everyday.

I currently live by these principles and I am still earning a full-time living from my creative work. I consider myself an Independent Performing Artist. I teach acting/clowning workshops across the country. I am an Adjunct Faculty at Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theater. I direct circus and theater shows. I curate special events/festivals and I have been awarded a 2023 grant from the NEA to remount my solo show (The Mammy Project) for performances and touring starting in October of this year. I am a Creative Coach, helping other artists that want to make a living from their passions. Over the Pandemic I developed an 8 week course that teaches independent artists how to embrace, develop and implement a creative business plan to thrive.

My life as an Independent Performing Artist is a beautiful puzzle. I get to shape the pieces and put them together in my own unique and creative way.

Michelle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Michelle Nicole Matlock and I currently reside in Tacoma, WA. I am an independent performing artist, creative coach and creative entrepreneur. I have been performing professionally since I was 11 years old. I attended Western Washington University for three years and went on to graduate from the National Shakespeare Conservatory in New York City.

I moved to New York to study acting and to work in the performing arts when I was 19. I didn’t have a back up plan so I had to make it work. While in NYC I got pulled kicking and screaming into the circus and clowning world. I was kicking and screaming because I did not see anyone that looked like me in that world. I am an African American, generously proportioned, non-binary Woman. The clown world was mostly made up of cis white men, but they kept offering me paid work. Eventually I realized that clowns get paid (even if it’s a little), actors work for free. I slowly but surely embraced and began to love clowning and the circus.

I’ve been in the circus industry for over 20 years. I played with Circus Amok, The Bindlestiff Family Circus and Cirque du Soleil. I was the first African American person to create a clown character for Cirque du Soleil and I travelled with them for close to 10 years.

I also use clowning to create theater. I developed a solo show, The Mammy Project, which explores the stereotype, icon and myth of “Mammy” in America. I have travelled all over the world performing my solo show and recently was awarded a 2023 NEA grant to remount the show for performance and touring.

I am passionate about the performing arts, teaching clowning & solo performance workshops, curating events, directing and producing shows. I am even more passionate about artists of all kinds not only surviving but thriving as creatives. This is most likely the number one reason I was drawn to being a teacher and a creative coach. I truly believe that if performing artists are thriving, our neighborhoods, cities and the whole world is a better place.

The problem is that we do not teach artists the real skills that they may need to thrive. Society gives us a message that you either have to be famous or you better get used to living in poverty if you want to be an artist. I reject this idea. I am not famous and I do not live in poverty. I thrive as a creative person, intentionally.

Yes, I am a Performing Artist, a Creative Coach and I am a Creative Entrepreneur, which means that I invest in my own talent and the talent of others with an expectation of a return on my investment. This last part, “an expectation of a return on my investment” was a challenge to prioritize for myself. There is a limiting belief out there that if you are an artist and you prioritize making money, you are somehow a sellout. Well, I’m claiming it! I’m a sellout! I sellout every darn workshop, special event and show that I produce.

As a Creative Coach, I help Performing Artists and Creatives who are struggling to make a living with their passions, use entrepreneurial tools to crush scarcity mindset, uncover multiple streams of income, and design a strategy, so that they can become creatively free, thriving and independent. In addition to offering 1;1 coaching I created Passport to Thrive Academy, an 8 module online course for artists to do the work at their own pace. In 2020/21 I guided over 100 artists through Passport to Thrive Academy. I’m just getting started.

I teach clowning at Dell’Arte International. Dellarte.com

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

Imagine when a young person discovers that they are an artist and it is the path that they want to take in their life, that society completely celebrates that choice by sending a message that it is absolutely possible to thrive as an artist in this world. Imagine that parents and our education system teaches them that artists not only have to practice and be the best at their craft but they will also need to practice and learn the tools of the entrepreneur. What if from the very beginning we teach young artists that being an artist quite often also means that they will have to learn how to create their own economies? And that is absolutely wonderful, acceptable and possible. What if the education of artists included not only the tools for them to discover and grow in their disciplines but the tools they will need to discover, cultivate and grow their own audiences, the tools they will need to market their work, the tools they will need to create a unique creative business plan that is a map to their wildest dreams and aspirations? How many more artists could have thriving careers if society instilled in them that their ideas and their work are valuable assets? That their ideas and work are their intellectual property that quite possibly builds multiple streams of income, passive income and even builds wealth? Thriving as an artist should be a creative endeavor that is prioritized and folded into each artist’s journey. If society had this mindset and then instilled this mindset into artists through parenting, mentoring and education no person or organization would ever undervalue or under pay artists for their work. The best thing that society can do to support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem is to change their mindset to one that sees every artist as valuable.

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

In 2019 I started a live entertainment and education company called Circle Up Productions in Tacoma, WA. I grew up in Tacoma but I moved away over 20 years ago and had just returned to the city in 2018. I spent most of 2019 getting to know the city again and trying to meet performing artists that wanted to create original shows and comedy skits. I met a great group of poets, musicians, actors and artists. My plan was to produce monthly eclectic performance parties in the downtown area starting in 2020. I had finally attracted a bunch of performers who were into the idea and we began rehearsing each week.

I also found a great space to hold the parties. It was an old courtroom at the old courthouse that was in downtown Tacoma. It was a unique unused space that I thought would work for a performance party. I worked out a deal with the manager that would possibly make money for everybody if we could sell out the parties. I was able to book once a month the whole year.

We would call the monthly party Short Bits. Our first show was February 28, 2020. It was a total hit. The Party sold-out and everyone loved it! Everyone in the troupe was so excited because not only did people enjoy the party but there were so many social media shares and video clips of the show that went viral, It created a bit of a buzz in the city. We were pumped for the next month’s party and couldn’t wait to see the result from the word of mouth publicity.

Well, our next show was scheduled for March 27, 2020, but I don’t think I have to even explain what happened one week before our second show. March 17, 2020, shutdown due to a pandemic! I was devastated, not only because of the horrible pandemic but because I had invested so much money in producing that first show in the hopes that I would see a return from all of the future shows that we would do. After that first show I was even more confident that this party would survive and thrive. I just couldn’t let it go. This was the first time in my life that I had started a business and planned out a whole year of events and workshops to kick it off. It was devastating.

A few days before the date that our second party was supposed to happen, I had a zoom meeting with the troupe to discuss what was happening. It was the first of many Zoom meetings to come. I’m not sure how the idea came about but we decided to do the show on Zoom! March 27, 2020 we did our second Short Bits but first show on Zoom! It was amazing. Just to be clear we had no idea what we were doing technology wise but almost 100 people showed up for that show and paid what they could through PayPal and Venmo. It was incredible the support we had. I was able to pay the whole troupe. We continued to do our shows through the end of 2020.

I also decided to move all of my acting and clowning workshops to Zoom. People showed up and they paid! I basically took my plan and moved everything to Zoom events. This pivot opened up a whole new world for me. It allowed me to book artists from all over the world for Short Bits Zoom and it also allowed me to teach acting and clowning to people from all over the world.

This pivot not only allowed me to survive during the pandemic but it allowed me to thrive. Word got out about what I was doing which led to other organizations hiring me to help them put their events on line too. It was an incredible experience. No, it was not the same as in person events but it was better than nothing.

Pivoting my events and workshops to Zoom during the pandemic was hard and the learning curve was brutal, but I stuck with my plan and I grew. I met so many new people and organizations through Zoom during that time period. And I had cash flow during the entire shutdown!

One of the most incredible results of pivoting to zoom during the pandemic is that now that we are back to in person events, many of those organizations that I met and worked for on Zoom over the pandemic have hired me to come to their cities to teach, direct and perform in person for their communities. I’m still reaping the benefits of my pandemic pivot today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.michellenicolematlock.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michellenmatlock
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michelle.n.matlock
• Linkedin: Michelle Matlock

Image Credits
Headshot- Sara Brown Photography Ladybug- Courtesy of Cirque du Soleil