Sustainable Career Incubator

buddy discount

What's better than doing something you love? Doing it with a friend!

Friends keep us accountable, help us see what we can't ourselves, and make everything more fun. That's why I'm launching a buddy discount for the Sustainable Career Incubator.

Sign up with a friend (or 2) and get 35% off per person for the standard course package.

Join the 2022 Incubator:

• 8 weekly course calls

• A small cohort of like-minded creatives in your discipline

• Ongoing access to the community app + call recordings

• 3 pricing options so you can find the experience that’s right for you

• up to 35% off if you register with a friend.

The best time to plant a tree.

I can’t wave a magic wand for you.

This isn’t a ‘get rich quick’ scheme — if anything it’s more of a ‘get sustainable slow’ scheme.

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago; the next best time is today. I’ve created a course that gives you the tools that I wish I’d had 20 years ago when I was starting out as a musician.

You know you're good at what you do.

But even though you put your heart and soul (and SO much time and money) into your creative projects, your work’s not getting the attention or appreciation it deserves. It’s hard to do your life’s work and feel like you have everything you need to survive.

That’s why I’ve created the Sustainable Career Incubator:

Learn to navigate your career landscape with a confident clarity of vision, making choices that are in line with how you actually like spending your days on this planet. 

After working with hundreds of people, both individually and within organizations, I’ve built this course to be the most comprehensive dive into the creative career design process I’ve been researching and developing for nearly a decade.

Eight weeks of live group sessions and more: March 4 through April 29, 2022.

Read more about the course schedule and expectations below.

Interested in the other plans? Visit the main sales page for subscription, DIY, and Deep Work options.

Course Itinerary

Week 1: Intro to Creative Mapping Why do I take a design approach? It costs less (time, money, and/or effort) to design something on paper before you build it.

It can make or break your burnout level, stress level, enjoyment level, fulfillment level, if you have systems that can help you design before you actually dive into something.

In week one, we’ll get to know each other and I’ll introduce you to the process I use to make important decisions regarding designing and redesigning my career and life.

Week 2-3: Your Needs + Values Map This is a physical map, unique to each human, that acts as a reference point in navigating towards the most fulfilling projects.

At this point, I won’t work with anyone until they’ve created a Values Constellation Map.

Everybody wants to make a plan of action. This is important, but I’ve learned the hard way that it’s vital to take a step back and start with the big picture before we jump into executing a plan that isn’t aligned with our deepest needs.

If you know what you want at the deepest level, it’s easier to navigate towards it.

Week 4: Integration Week While most group calls will include members from all tracks across many disciplines, this is a chance to meet with the other members of the creative track to apply what we’ve learned so far to our specific careers.

We’ll have space to share, go deeper, or catch up if you need.

Week 5: Your Life Inventory Once we’ve gotten clear on what you want, we’ll take stock of what you’re working with. Money isn’t the only valuable thing you have access to.

We’ll dive into the Eight Forms of Capital, make a list of what you have and what you need.

Week 6: Project Mapping Every job, project, relationship—everything you say ‘yes’ to, is a trade. Most people aren’t aware of what they’re trading.

I’ll show you a way to draw a sustainability analysis of each project in your life. This really helps folks pinpoint exactly why their job (or project, collaboration, etc.) is or isn’t working.

Week 7: Moving Forward Make an action plan that uses what you have to take steps in the right direction.

Now that you’ve defined success (you have a literal piece of paper that maps the patterns behind what you find fulfilling) and a clear list of your financial and non financial resources, it’s time to put it all together into a navigation system that will help you move forward.

Week 8: Integration Week Wrap up with deliberate time to revisit important conversations, crosspollinate with your cohort members, share examples, and decide what’s next. While most calls include all course members, integration calls will be a chance to meet with the other members of the Creative Career Design Track.

After the 8 weeks: An extra 4 months* of access to Chris, the community app, and the course materials so that you have plenty of time to digest, review, integrate, and catch up on anything you may have missed.

You will also have ongoing access to the community forum in our Mighty Networks app.

*Available in the Deep Work and Standard Course Packages. Read more about what features are included in the 3 different pricing tiers below.

COURSE FEATURES

The Creative Mapping Circle

You have a community now.

All participants will have 24/7 access to our community app on Mighty Networks. This will be a place to brainstorm, converse, share new ideas, and get support from Chris and the other participants throughout the duration of the course.

Integration Weeks

Every fourth week, you’ll have the opportunity to go deeper into the maps and learning we’ve done up until that point.

Participants will have a chance to share their maps or other coursework and get focused feedback and support from me and the rest of your cohort.

You’ll also have the opportunity to catch up on anything from the past few weeks.

*Live calls are included in Deep Work and Standard Course Packages only

Personal Accountability

After the first week, participants have the option to be paired into accountability partnerships. Partners will check in weekly to give each other support and camaraderie throughout the course.

Optional for those in the DIY Package.

Frequently Asked Questions

Words from past participants:

Here is what past participants have said about their experience with this same material in past courses and retreats:

“Through the course I learned that music is one of the most fulfilling and important things to me... I am playing live shows in some big venues that I have always wanted to play at!

The Creative Mapping Project has been one of the most helpful tools in finding alignment in my life!”

-Mal Holladay, musician

"I'd recommend this workshop for anyone who is unwilling to compromise the well-being of their soul for their career goals. Yes, there is a practical way to analyze decisions about creative endeavors! Chris has got that mapped out and his excitement to share that is quite obvious. I love learning about myself, so I really appreciated the enthusiastic and focused container this workshop provided to dive deep into my core values and true visions." 

-Jess Kin, performer, artist, sacred-space creator

"The career design retreat led by Chris was so nourishing emotionally, creatively, and spiritually. Since the retreat, I've used the value mapping and holistic context tools on several occasions in different areas of my life. I found the entire experience very grounding. I feel confident in my choices even as I am simultaneously scared while taking big risks because I've done the work to identify my values and goals. I am really grateful to have these tools, have met wonderful people, and had the space and environment to check in with myself and honor my creative aspirations. Thank you, Chris!”

-Emily Bold, performer, writer, activist

“The one-weekend [intensive retreat] version of this course was so nourishing and energizing! Chris’s enthusiasm for whole-human values, growth, and sustainability are very contagious.”

-Elizabeth LaPrelle of Doran and Anna & Elizabeth, musician + multidisciplinary artist

"I went into the retreat with a clear sense of my passion and purpose yet no idea how to translate that into making a living for myself. I came out with an overarching vision for my life and tools to build it. I now feel more confident supporting the evolution of my vision in a less confused and overwhelming way. What I learned helped me begin to fill in the gaps between what I know I have to offer the world and how to best provide it and support myself in doing it. Setting boundaries and saying no to people has always been difficult for me and I love being able to quantify what I give and get out of job opportunities. This way when I need to make decisions I don't have to fight my own feelings to make a decision. It's all right there on paper. I feel like I grew my own teammate in my mind and now we can achieve anything together."

-Emily Ritz, musician & interdisciplinary artist

The long one:

(for those of you prolific readers who have made it this far)

“Often when I've tackled a big project or considered making a major change, I've felt stuck on a hamster wheel of overthinking. ‘Is this the right thing? Is it too risky? What if nobody gets it? Are the trade-offs really worth it? Can I make money with this? Should I trust my gut? Wait, what is my gut even saying?’

The Creative Mapping Project helped me step off the wheel.

I used the course to give myself the space and the structure to consider things calmly and really tune into what felt right, while still considering the actual nuts and bolts of each project (you know — time, space, rent). Too often, career advice focuses on one model of success while sidestepping the stuff that really matters: your values, the future you want, your relationships. Meanwhile, platitudes like "follow your heart" tend to ignore the practical question of how. The Creative Mapping Project is for people who want to live authentically and stay true to their values while also, like, paying the electric bill.

Somewhere partway through my Creative Mapping Project course, I noticed my shoulders were no longer around my ears when I thought about the project I wanted to start. I was paying attention to my work in a new way. I turned down a potential collaboration that didn't feel right to me because I could recognize the values I'd be compromising. And I was able to identify those values with a clarity that surprised me.

That clarity has carried over into other career decisions. It’s not like I have zero doubts or worries — that’s part of being human — but I do feel in charge and intentional. I also feel better equipped to notice when I’m heading toward burnout and need to make a change. And just as importantly, I notice when things are going really well — and I can articulate why. It’s the difference between keeping your head above water while you paddle frantically and just...swimming.

The combination of hard-won insight, useful prompts and mapping exercises, and community really made a difference to me. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't get something out of an eight-week CMP course.”

-Catherine Lea, Founder: Stir The Pot Kitchen

Important Acknowledgements and Commitments:

Hopefully lots of this goes without saying, but I’m still going to say it:

I want to acknowledge that the concept of ‘career design’ contains inherent privilege. To design anything you need to be able to have some control over the matter.

I acknowledge that in the context of colonization and capitalism, the onus should not be on us as individuals to create basic quality of life for ourselves. Change needs to happen at a massive systemic level.

I acknowledge that we live in a system that does not default to equity, and marginalizes certain groups, and is designed to take away control and autonomy from the folks in these marginalized groups.

I acknowledge that as a white, cis male with U.S. citizenship, I have an unequal amount of privilege, access, and control.

I acknowledge that many elements of the ‘permaculture’ and other ‘regenerative design’ tools and ideas that inspire Creative Mapping originated with indigenous land stewards who developed these ideas and practices for many centuries before colonization.

On a personal level (as Chris) and an organizational level (the Creative Mapping Project), I commit to being active with my time, money, conversations, and efforts to work against oppressive systems, and to try to create resources that help us individually and collectively survive capitalism, control what we can control, add beauty and meaning to the world, and move our communities towards justice, equity, sustainability, and creativity.

Please reach out with any questions!

hello[at]creativemappingproject.com

Or if a phone chat is more your speed, you can click below to schedule a call!