We were lucky to catch up with Sonya Highfield recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sonya, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Defining what success looks like and FEELS like for you personally is one of the topics every business owner should reflect on, repeatedly, for themselves. I find that people who don’t do the internal check-in with themselves around what success is, more often than not find themselves running a business they don’t enjoy or feel purposeful in. And it’s something we all can look at in our personal lives as well!

I found once I defined my version of success, I stopped viewing so much of my efforts as failures. Success for me is about honoring my desires, intuition and values, and continuously recommitting to my dreams and unique path in life. In general, success to me is a holistic contentment with your daily life choices, your contribution to the world, and taking responsibility for your healing and growth.

Sonya, 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?

I started my first business (commercial & fine art photography) right out of art school in 2011 and always knew I’d be my own boss! I wasn’t expecting to start a second business, but I found I had moved myself successfully through the starving artist phase to thriving creative business owner, and I wanted to help other talented folks do the same!

I founded Real World Creatives in 2015 and began speaking to art students, young professionals and seasoned artists about pricing themselves and best practices for business. I soon learned that coaching was a very natural fit for me, and allowed me to help people with a variety of the challenges that come along with creative business life. My workshops and talks focused a lot on money mindset and that’s a niche I’ve really loved becoming an expert in over the years.

I also prioritize intuition in my work, both my own and my clients, and we take a very holistic approach to building their dream business and life. You get both strategy, mindset support and intuitive guidance when you work with me!

The original definition of wealth is the condition of well-being, and that creates the basis of my coaching philosophy- how can we create wealth in every area of your business and life? With this lens my clients tell me they feel heard, calmer, empowered in their visions, and cultivate more self love and confidence, as well as experiencing major progress in alignment with their desired lifestyles and dreams.

I currently offer one-to-one coaching in both single sessions and longer term support programs. And people can binge my free content through my podcast Wealthy in Pajamas (also on Youtube)!

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

A big lesson I had to unlearn was what it meant for me to be a “professional”. In my first business, I was so young, and so concerned with being taken seriously and just getting hired! I thought I had to not be very personal with clients and that it wasn’t appropriate to share my real opinions or quirks. I was very much in people pleaser mode, bending over backwards to deliver and ignore my own needs and boundaries, just so others saw I was a “professional” who could be trusted.

I found that being a professional looks different for everyone, and is not standard across industries. Shifting into a mostly online business, building a personal brand, and working more intimately with clients through coaching, I found being my authentic self created more genuine and enjoyable connections, built trust on social media, and my “people” don’t think my weirdness is all that weird, because they relate to it!

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

One of the things I get complimented on the most is my consistency on social media, so here’s my advice:

-Decide what lights you up to talk about and feels meaningful to share (what are the top 3-5 topics?)
-Figure out what consistency is feasible for you, knowing you can start simple and add on, but if you make it overwhelming or unrealistic for yourself from the start it will feel impossible to start and see plans through
-Choose 1 place your audience can count on to find you in a weekly or monthly manner
-Share your wisdom!! You know a lot, you have a perspective, you don’t need to feel like an expert to share what you know
-Your message and marketing will always be evolving, keep learning, tweaking and growing your skills

For me, I loved having a Facebook group for a long time, building community there felt easy to me. But whatever platform(s) you decide to use, know that you need people to support and feel included in your mission, it will never be a solo adventure to build a business! And there are plenty of people out there who WILL get it, no matter how weird or unusual you think your work is, they are ready and waiting for you to show up and share. Don’t overthink it, dive in!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.realworldcreatives.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/realworldcreatives
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/realworldcreatives
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgFBQWmcHJQYJKWTmlkihBg

Image Credits
Jessie Wyman Photography