From Performer to Entrepreneur: My 20-Year Journey | Showbiz Side Hustle Ep. 2

From Performer to Entrepreneur: My 20-Year Journey | Showbiz Side Hustle Ep. 2

Discover how a professional performer turned into a successful entrepreneur! In this revealing episode of the Showbiz Side Hustle podcast, host Nicole Louise Geddes shares her inspiring 20-year journey from struggling artist to thriving business owner.

🎭 In this episode, you'll learn:

Nicole's background as a professional performer
How she started her first business with just a handwritten letter
The challenges of the entertainment industry and why side hustles matter
Her pandemic pivot that led to creating PerformerPreneur
Why it's never too late to start your own showbiz side hustle

Nicole opens up about her experiences, from dancing behind Kylie Minogue to waiting tables between gigs. She shares how she built Manic Stage Productions in 2005 and later launched PerformerPreneur in 2020, proving that it's possible to create a sustainable business alongside your performing career.

💡 Key takeaway: You don't need to have all the answers now – start your journey, and learn as you go!

🔥 Whether you're looking for financial stability between gigs or planning an exit strategy from the entertainment industry, this episode will inspire you to take action and create the life and business of your dreams.

Don't forget to subscribe to the Showbiz Side Hustle podcast and leave a review to help us reach more performers like you!
#ShowbizSideHustle #PerformerEntrepreneur #PerformerSuccess #CreativeBusinesses #EntertainmentIndustry
Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
2:15 - Nicole's background in performing
4:30 - Starting Manic Stage Productions
7:00 - The pandemic pivot and birth of Performapreneur
9:45 - Why performers need side hustles
12:30 - How to start your own showbiz side hustle
15:00 - Wrap-up and call to action


🎭 Join our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Performerpreneur
📘 Download our free guide: https://performerpreneur.co.uk/free-time-savvy-tips/
🎙️ Listen to the podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2386041
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-showbiz-side-hustle-podcast/id1758059348
Connect with Nicole:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Performerpreneur
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/performerpreneur
Website: https://performerpreneur.co.uk/
#ShowbizSideHustle #PerformerBusiness #CreativeEntrepreneur

🎭 Join our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Performerpreneur
📘 Download our free guide: https://performerpreneur.co.uk/free-time-savvy-tips/
🎙️ Listen to the podcast: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2386041.rss
Connect with Nicole:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Performerpreneur
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/performerpreneur
Website: https://performerpreneur.co.uk/
#ShowbizSideHustle #PerformerBusiness #CreativeEntrepreneur

Transcript

0:00

You are listening to the Showbiz Side Hustle podcast powered by Performapreneur. I am your host here, Nicole Louise Geddes, and together, we'll be delving into all of the ways that a showbiz side hustle can support you now and long into the future. So sit back, relax, and listen in, and together, let's get inspired to take action to create the life, future, and business of your dreams. Welcome back to episode 2. And the bit that's gonna tell you a little bit more about who I am, why I'm here, and how I can help you. So my name is Nicole Louise Geddes. I am the host here of the Performapreneur podcast, the showbiz side hustle podcast. And I'm here as a professional performer turned entrepreneur, multi passionate entrepreneur to guide you, lead you, assist you, help you, support you, and cheerlead you, to showbiz side hustle success. If you listen to my intro, you will know how passionate I am about serving you and getting more performers to step outside of the just a performer box and become self sustaining individuals with businesses that can financially support showbiz careers and also exit strategies from the entertainment industry. So why do I feel that I am the person that can help you? Because I have been you. I am you, and I'm a future version of you. I am a professional performer by trade. I studied at Performers College, which many of you will know, and graduated many many moons ago. I had a fantastic career in the entertainment industry. It was very very varied. But there were highs and there were lows. Some months I was flying high dancing behind Kylie Minogue or working in New York, swinging around and blowing fire in the circus. And other months, I was sat waiting for the next paycheck, the next job, and even the next audition to come in. Now my performer tenacity led me to stand up and say to myself, you need to sort this out. You need to make sure that you are financially stable in between these big fabulous gigs and, make sure that I can support myself, which is why I know how you feel right now. Because I have been there. I have struggled. I have juggled. I've pulled pints. I've waited tables. I've done administrative work for other people. And then a light bulb went off in my head back in 2,005 that I was going to support myself. So there you go. And at that point I created Manic Sage Productions. And that business was a side hustle. It was small. It worked in between all of the other things that I needed to do. I picked it up and I put it down as and when it was necessary, but it was growing. And I knew that if I built it properly, it would grow and grow and grow and become the big business that would support my future outside of the industry. Now I know not many people want to admit that there is a life outside of the industry especially at that beginning point when you are working so hard to pursue your dreams. But if like me, you have a little itch, a little niggle, and even a worry that one day this life in the entertainment industry might not be for you, or you get too old, or you want a family, there's loads of different reasons, then starting a showbiz side hustle can absolutely become your exit strategy from the industry and help to support you financially long into the future. Fast forward 20 years in business, and here I am telling you, showing you and sharing with you absolutely what is possible for you too. I am 41. I am a mother of 1. I'm a wife. And I'm also currently an expat running 2 businesses from the other side of the world. So I know what is possible for you. And here I am sat in the sun making sure that I am helping and supporting other performers with their big visions to become sustainable, self sufficient, and rely on that business that they are starting now. So back in 2,005 Manic Stage Production started. And let me just caveat that with, it had no big plan. It had no support. It was just me and my business partner at the time creating a business and deciding that, hey, home. We were gonna do it. And we were gonna do it regardless of lack of knowledge, lack of funds, lack of understanding, and we took that leap. Now the thing is, this is different for you guys because you have me. So please do tap in to all of my experience and all of my knowledge because that is what this podcast is for. To help support you, need to be quicker than the 20 years that it took me. That first business started with a handwritten letter. Yes, a handwritten letter to a name that I found in a newspaper. And subsequently, that one handwritten letter, that ballsy letter, that bit of tenacity, that kind of belief that it was possible for me too, got me 5 years' worth of government funded work. And there is the start of Manic Stage Productions. Fast forward to 2020, and I do not have to tell you what happened then. The entity the entertainment industry, in fact, the whole world stood still. But for you guys here with me, you'll understand how traumatic that moment was for us in the entertainment industry. It stood still. It was one of the last industries to come back to life. And to make the situation even worse for me and Manic Stage Productions, my business at that point had started to supply entertainment and performers to cruise ships. The other industry that took the longest to return back to normality. So at that point, I created my pandemic pivot which is performerpreneur. And that is what I'm here talking to you about supporting you through My second business, Performapreneur, which was my pandemic pivot and is actually my biggest passion to date. I am so passionate about supporting performers to pivot, to create side hustles, to work for themselves, to feel confident and comfortable, and to have that future vision and that exit strategy from the industry. So Performer was born in 2020. And since then, I have helped so many performers build small businesses, create showbiz side hustles. And some of them are already skyrocketing to success. And I will be sharing with you those people who are really really using that small business to support their life and their dreams. But don't worry. We're all on different journeys, and we're all at different stages. So start. Just start now. And this intro, this intro to me, this podcast is to give you the energy and the enthusiasm and the opportunity to start and to do and to believe and to create. Because after all, we are all creatives. So sat doing nothing or pulling pints or working behind tables, waiting tables is absolutely viable and not But if you know in your heart you want to be creative, you want to express your creativity, you've got more to offer the world, then this is the starting place for you. My journey has took me over 20 years, as I say. 2005 was the start of Manic Stage Productions And 2020 was the start of Performapreneur. Among that time, I have done and tried and been various things. And I'm so passionate about pushing performers to evolve, to try new things, to find what is right for them. So please don't feel at any moment while you're listening or reading or asking questions or jumping into my Facebook group that you have to have all of the answers now Because you absolutely do not. And that is where I am here to help you. I wanna help you get your big vision, understand your why. Hopefully, from this introduction to me, you can feel how personable I am and how easy it will be to work with me. I want you to ask the questions. I want you to listen in. I want you to read the book. I want you to do the things. Do the tasks. Take action. Meet my members. And know that this is all possible for you too. There's gonna be gaps in your knowledge. I absolutely know that. There's gaps in my knowledge, which is why I'm gonna bring in experts to support you. So please do know that not everything needs to be known. You can learn as you go, And you can come into this safe space, and you can learn bit by bit, drip by drip. So please take a breath. Have a think. Pledge that you are gonna take action today. You're gonna turn that struggling performer mentality into a prosperous performpreneur with their own business, their own trajectory, excited to do both things, juggle, Juggle the performing career and the entrepreneurship and make it work just like me. If you want to see and be more in my world, then please do pop over to my free Facebook group. And also leave your love and your likes on the podcast review page as well, so we can reach more performers just like you. Okay, guys. That's it for today. I hope you've enjoyed the show. Thank you for joining me here on the showbiz side hustle podcast. So until next time, please do take a little bit of action, that very first step, and make sure that you are doing something for you and your showbiz side hustle this week to move you forward, and get you heading quickly, and swiftly, and strategically towards success.