It can be gruelling. You want to run a creative business that will give you a more meaningful life. But you are beset by doubts, fears and worries. Creative entrepreneurship is hard.

Sometimes, we need a pep talk from those who are further up the road than we are. And one of the best ways to do that is through podcasts.

The following podcasts are ones I listen to almost every day. They are geared towards creative entrepreneurs who are not out to create million-dollar mega empires full of hustle, hustle, hustle. Instead, they want to create a business that will support a freer, more holistic lifestyle.

If you’re a creative entrepreneur who is not a fan of hustle culture and craves freedom and work life balance, these podcasts are for you:

1. Michelle is Money Hungry

When I found Michelle’s podcast, I devoured all her episodes because it was so addictive. Besides interviews with fellow entrepreneurs, Michelle also shares about the ups and downs of her journey as a creative entrepreneur who is trying to be financially independent. Years ago, Michelle quit her job without the another lined up because she was so burnt out. Despite having massive debts to pay off, she didn’t run back to a full time job. Instead, she experimented with a number of side hustles and businesses. I love Michelle’s bootstrap, gritty approach to her business. However, despite being so driven, Michelle is very conscious about living life holistically and doesn’t believe in driving yourself to the ground to get a quick buck.

2. Letters from a Hopeful Creative

Jen Carrington is a creative coach and Sara Tasker makes a living through her Instagram wizardry. Together they give heartfelt advice about the realities of running a creative business. Both offer very down-to-earth advice untinged by hustle culture. Instead, they are all about building a business that will enable you to live the life you want. There’s a good reason for this – both deal with health challenges. However, they’ve never let that define them and have gone on to build successful creative despite businesses. Inspiring!

3. Make it happen

Can you tell that I can’t have enough of Jen Carrington? When I listen to this podcast, I feel as if I’m sitting with a friend in a cafe, talking about our creative dreams. Not only does Jen interview fellow creative entrepreneurs, she has solo episodes about having the right mindset to run a creative business.

4. Grow with Soul

A lot of times, our businesses can end up running our lives. We become exhausted, burned out and dispirited, which defeats our purpose for going solo in the first place. Kayte Ferris is a simple living advocate; she believes that creative entrepreneurship can be simple too. Her podcast is an exploration of implementing simple living principles into running a business. Kayte talks about how we can create a business that supports not just our lifestyles but our health and soul.

5. The Quitcast

Becca Symes’ podcast is more focused on writers, but other ceative entrepreneurs can learn so much from it too. Symes believes is that we are all equipped with a number of strengths, and we should work with our strengths, not fight to overcome our weaknesses. This means that there’s no one size fit all advice for being a great creative entrepreneur. As we all have different strengths, we all thrive in different ways. As the podcast focuses on the CliftonStrengths assessment, it can get technical and jargon-y. So, I will recommend that you start slow with Becker’s content, because it is really full of useful and helpful information.

6. The Creative Penn

Any indie author would know about Joanna Penn’s podcast. She’s not just a pioneer but a crusader in the indie publishing field. In the podcast, you get meaty interviews with the movers and shakers of the indie publishing world, so the budding creative entrepreneur will get many tips on how to succeed in the business from these folks.

For many years, Joanna was an office worker who hated her job. Eventually she thought that perhaps she could try her hand at being a writer, so she started interviewing authors in the business. Over the years, not only has she left the job, she’s now making a great living writing books and speaking about being an “authorpreneur”.

7. The Worried Writer

In her podcast, British novelist Sarah Painter talks to authors about building a creative business while grappling with mental health challenges. I find Sarah’s voice really soothing and I find her content so relatable. How do you overcome feelings of uncertainty and anxiety as you’re starting out? How do you write despite not knowing if your book will ever take off? How do you keep on going when your mental health wobbles?

So there you have it, a list of my favourite, hustle-free creative entrepreneurship podcasts.

How about you, do you have any podcasts to recommend about for creative entrepreneurship? Do let me know in the comments below.