Hi! Emily here! A few months after this episode was recorded, tax season came around and I had to file my taxes for the first time as a person who had made real money from her creative business. I was so freaked out about doing something wrong that I big-brain-smartly waited until the literal day before the filing deadline to even start. Dan, being the dad-type that he is, saw my obvious panic and invited me to come sit at his venue while I filled out the tax paperwork. He promised that he would do his best to help me out if I got stuck or confused. So Dan and I hung out all afternoon on that overcast Monday, and he went about his normal weekday tasks in the music hall while I sat in the corner and did my honest best not to commit any tax related crimes. We spent about four hours that day in a focused silence sparsely interrupted by my calling out to ask him whether or not something counted as a write off. No matter what he was in the middle of, he always paused it to come help.

When I listen back to this episode now, it's super apparent to me that Dan was coming at this conversation with the same desire to help -- both me, in that moment, and you listening now. He and I both want to live in a world where people can be creative and make a living while doing it. This episode is our way of trying to make that world a little more possible. We sat down at the mics and he told me everything he could think of about how to be my own creative business in hopes that I might be able to benefit from his hard-won wisdom.

Thanks for listening. Thanks for tuning in and chatting with us on Instagram and generally being very nice to us. It's been the most fun thing giving this podcast over to you guys after months of it just floating in the timeless ethereal space that exists between my and Dan's microphones.

And on the topic of business, here's the things I like to remind you:

We're getting scarily close to hitting our first 1k followers on instagram @unexpectedmentorpod !! I think once we hit that number I'll make a little t-shirt to celebrate. I think I'll make it look really bad, like a child drew it, because I know Dan is gonna look at it and say "No one is going to buy this" and then I'll have the chance to prove him wrong.

Also if you'd like to help make my taxes next year really scary consider supporting us on The Unexpected Mentor Patreon.

Also also, Dan and I are hosting a LIVE PODCAST EVENT in like 3 weeks but I'll tell you about that later I'm tired of typing.

Other links:

• The Unexpected Mentor official website
• The Art Boutiki official website
• Me on Instagram: @indie.sweetheart.emily
• The Art Boutiki's Instagram: @artboutiki

Bye I love you happy Thursday. Next week is Dan's favorite episode ever you definitely are going to want to hear it.