Genius vs. Audience: Finding Your Creative Balance

Genius vs. Audience: Finding Your Creative Balance

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Season 1; Episode 14- Genius vs. Audience: Finding Your Creative Balance

SUMMARY: This week we will reflect on a BIG issue for creatives: how to balance work and media.  We have all felt the emotional strain social media places upon us.  I will share three ways I have learned for better self-care as a creative online.

Hello everyone! ‘Tis the season to make preparations for the new year!  I am thrilled that we have gotten to this point together so we can progress into the BEST and MOST FUN part… the actual creativity.  January is going to be amazing.  I just know it.

I had originally planned to bring in content on mastering the creative message and tie in an Expander with that, but none of this aligned well for what we are doing, and what my gut was telling me would be the most impactful for you… so I threw everything out of the window entirely. 

Instead, today we will focus on how creatives are being asked to show up in media messaging… and the emotional and physical strain this ask places upon us.  And, I will share what I learned on how to remain focused on the work and avoid total burn out.  I think we can all agree… it is an almost IMPOSSIBLE task to be an artist or genius with amazing gifts and talents, and then have to market these within the constraints of an algorithm every single day.

Over the past several months, I have seen many posts from fellow creatives about their struggles, some hilarious and some pretty heavy in their emotional depth. Balancing social media IS a struggle.  IT IS limiting.  Just this week, I had to give up on social media fully because it was more pressing to prepare traveling abroad, tie up loose ends from selling my home and moving, manage my clients piling on months’ worth of work on top of me with a deadline of completion in 2 and a half weeks, and couch surfing.  My final social media post was on Monday, where I told my truth minutes after waking up to share with everyone what was going on… and since then I have just LIVED.  It has felt AMAZING.

Artists and innovators are not meant for quantity… these are the quality people of the world.  YOU are quality, my makers and shakers.  And I believe, and many others believe, that social media is finally shifting in this direction.  Some people will still mindlessly scroll for the new to get buzz hits off of each one.  But there is a growing group who is backing away from social media entirely, and even others who want to consume media in a more curated way.  Basically, people want more social connection… who would have thought.

I believe, and again many others are saying, that long form media will begin to take the place of the 30 second hits eventually.  I mean, wouldn’t you rather create something once a week that finds the right people who care about what you are talking about versus create something everyday that may or may not land in the void?  Me too, friend.

So.  Would you consider long form?  Why or why not?  How have you been using social media?  Has it worked for you in terms of finding clients, finding partners, and finding community?  Let me know!

Don’t give up on yourselves and your work!  Just adapt, try new things, and PLAY.  This is what I am trying to embody for you all.  Here are some areas that I plan to play with which I hope you will also consider in your own media.  Take the next few weeks to consider you own self-care needs as a creative.  I would love to hear about what you learned in self-discovery! 

First off: Moving away from short-form towards long-form content as the media lead. 

Even though less people are hearing it and seeing it this podcast has been more rewarding for me, the creative, than anything else I have done this year.  And now, I plan to make it more visual.  So I am going to take some classes while abroad to figure out the best way to move forward with this.  I may even look into recording studios.  Having the podcast as a visual will push me out of my comfort zone. I may even create episodes to be more of a mix of me in a studio and B-Roll footage of my explorations.  We shall see.

I am also about to travel to amazing places and want to bring everyone with me!  So, I will also be doing Point of View recordings of my long walks, either alone or with the dogs I am caring for.  POV videos are some of my favorites, so I hope you will enjoy them as well. 

From these long-form videos, I hope to grab bits to transform into short-form clips.

Building community through media are my ultimate objectives, so putting a ton of energy into areas which aren’t supporting my goals doesn’t make much sense does it?

Second: Offering content and services based on what people already love about me.

I have been paying attention to the feedback from my listeners and followers… and have been hearing some themes in the messages…  here is what I have gotten in the past week… see what you can make out.

“I don’t always understand what you are talking about with what you do for work, but I watch your videos anyways to try to keep up with you.”

“Have you considered applying a more generalized approach to what you offer so more people understand how you can help them?”

“You are going to lose people almost right away with this caption of what you do.”

“You need to figure out how to talk to the camera like you are speaking to a 6^th grader.”

“You are using too big words.”

“I don’t have the attention span to watch your full videos but I will try to like them when I see them.”

“I don’t go on social media every day, so when I check out your content it’s hard for me to pick out which ones to watch because they all seem to blend together.”

“You are really funny, why aren’t you doing that?”

“I feel like you aren’t showing anyone your real personality.”

“You are passionate and confrontational.  Give that strength to your content so more people receive it.”

Okay so what did you hear?

I heard that I am being too brainy and too controlled in my approach to both my content and the services I offer clients.  BUT WHY HAVE I DONE THIS?  Because I thought I needed to be a lesser version of myself to attract high end clients.  As someone born into the lower middle class, where I rarely rubbed elbows with anyone “fancy”, going out to dinner was usually a buffet, and Wal-Mart was a weekly excursion… becoming attractive to people outside of my present circles has been a frustrating, depleting, and minimizing experience.  It’s not feasible for me to guess what they are looking for and try to show up as this version.

I learned to minimize myself in my early years and have done this for others too many times to count. I thought I needed to edit myself and only give people the vanilla parts of myself… because everyone likes vanilla right?  No wonder I am over it.  And I think a ton of artists feel this way… we should NOT be made to feel like clowns dancing for royalty.  It’s terrible.  Let’s all just say no.

When I think of my creative self in her element I think of three photographs.  Two of my friends have pictures of me they bring up on repeat because they love them so much.  In the first, I am standing with a friend looking at someone else and going off on a rant on my 29^th birthday.  I look heated and on fire.  And she is eating it up, grinning from ear to ear.  This friend loves my passionate and confrontational nature.  The second is with a group of people at Disney World.  Everyone is standing and smiling politely next to Lightening McQueen, while I for some reason have decided to pull a Daisy Dukes.  Hands on the hood, booty in the air, looking over my shoulder.  Hahahah.  My friend not only loves to resend this photo of me randomly in group chats, but he will re-enact it every time the occasion arises.

MY favorite picture of me is when I was about 7 years old.  I am standing with my beautiful blond neighbor in the living room.  She is serenely posed with a pretty smile on her face.  Her outfit is neatly put together.  Next to her, I am completely covered in a mash up fairy outfit over my clothes… stirrup leggings, sweatshirt and coke bottle glasses wonky on my face as well as a tutu, sparkly tiara, and wand.  I am ignoring the camera entirely and instead am trying to use that wand to conjure something up into my hand, while also looking like I am about to fall over.  I bet I was spinning around to enhance my magic.

My ideal audience and clients would want to work with me as I am… so marketing myself as something else doesn’t make much sense, does it?

Finally: Creating better boundaries and balance with what I share online.

I already mentioned the quality over quantity and the long-form over short-form.  I don’t actually buy into the rule of posting every single day and even multiple times a day… FOREVER.  It’s unsustainable.  The algorithm cares more about what you can do for the algorithm… making other users interact with the platform more… making other users offer their minds as currency.  So, you could post every day until eternity swallows you up, but if you aren’t posting in the ways the algorithm likes, it will not push your content… even if it is amazing and you spent days filming and editing it together.  Good for the people who can do it, I hope they don’t end up in an institution.  Instead, I will respect myself more by posting in a way that I ENJOY.  Imagine that.  But also, posting in a way that let’s me be me, in a way that doesn’t bleed me dry.

So, I have been doing research on individuals who have mastered the public “persona”.  Think Merilyn Monroe, Princess Diana, Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, and even Jennifer Coolidge.  Guess what? These women are versions of themselves in public.  This has allowed them to build healthy boundaries and privacy for themselves… and that sounds like the best sort of self-care.  This doesn’t mean they are fake; this doesn’t mean they are liars, and this doesn’t mean they aren’t still THEM.  But they each have figured out a way to emphasize certain parts of themselves for the public eye, or through aspects of themselves that the public loves and needs the most. 

So, I talked to AI (don’t judge) about what it would take to create a persona of myself online for media.  Yesterday, it gave me EIGHT layers to explore with what my persona should be.  I had a great time considering each of these, and I decided to share them with you so you can explore and expand this week, instead of telling you a story of someone else who already has.  So YOU, my listeners are this episode’s Expanders of the Week!  Take your time in considering these over the next several weeks.

Persona First layer: Function before identity

What job does this persona do in the world? Not “what do you do,” but what problem does your presence reliably solve for other people. When someone encounters you, what confusion should lessen?

What tension should relax?

What possibility should suddenly feel more real?

If your persona were banned tomorrow, what would people suddenly miss that they can’t easily replace?

Second layer: Audience reality, not aspiration

Who is this persona for, specifically? Not demographics. I’m looking for a recurring inner sentence your people think but rarely say out loud. The kind that makes them feel seen when someone finally names it.

What stage of becoming are they in when they find you? Early chaos, mid-rebuild, quiet mastery, late disillusionment?

And just as important: who is this persona not for? Whose approval would dilute your signal if you tried to earn it?

Third layer: Your non-negotiables

What truths have you earned the hard way that you will not soften, market away, or make palatable? These are ideas you’re willing to lose followers, clients, or opportunities over. Every strong persona has at least three intellectual or ethical red lines.

Closely related: what are you done pretending about? Skills you no longer want to justify. Doubts you’re tired of apologizing for. Parts of yourself you’re no longer willing to shrink.

Fourth layer: Your natural mode of authority

How do you actually persuade people when you’re not trying?

Do people come to you for clarity, permission, reframing, depth, synthesis, or courage? When someone says “you helped me,” what verb usually follows?

When you speak at your best, are you naming patterns, telling stories, asking catalytic questions, or dismantling bad assumptions? This determines whether your persona leads as a guide, a mirror, a translator, a cartographer, or a quiet provocateur.

Fifth layer: Shadow and friction

What misunderstanding follows you around like a stray cat? People with strong personas are often misread in predictable ways. Too intense. Too idealistic. Too intellectual. Too soft. Too nonlinear. Too much. Too intellectual.

Also: what parts of your thinking make others uncomfortable before they make sense?

Sixth layer: Temporal orientation

Is this persona oriented toward the future, the present, or the forgotten past?

Do you feel most alive reviving overlooked ideas, naming what’s happening right now, or articulating what’s coming before others can feel it? This matters more than branding. It determines your cadence, your references, and how timeless your work feels.

Seventh layer: Embodiment and limits

How much of you is available through this persona?

Is your private emotional life mostly offstage, selectively referenced, or openly metabolized in public? Where is the boundary you won’t cross even if vulnerability performs well?

And practically: what level of output can you sustain without resentment or burnout? A persona that requires constant performance will eventually eat its creator.

Eighth layer: The long arc

Five years from now, what would make you feel quietly proud of having been consistent as this persona? Not famous. Not successful. Consistent.

What through-line do you want someone to be able to trace from your early work to your later work and say, “They never abandoned that.”

To recap, here are the three ways we can all work on better balance, boundaries, and self-care in terms of how we approach media for our work:

Move towards quality over quantity, playing with long-form over short-form content as the media lead.  Meaning, make-long form content once or twice a week, and use excerpts from this to build meaningful short-form content.

Offer content that more people can benefit from, especially yourself.  Watering down the best parts of who you are will not set you apart from the sea of media out there.  It is when you pay attention to what people already love about you for YOU and show up this way.

Create a boundary for yourself in terms of who you are publicly and who you are fully.  This will help narrow down your content, protect your emotional and psychological needs, and allow for freer expression of the aspects of you which you believe will help others the most!

If you plan to use these for yourself, I created a tag for us! 

I challenge you to add the hashtag #balancedmakersandshakers to ALL of your posts from here on out. 

Yes, hashtags are ALSO being phased out from platforms… but they are still active now, so let’s use one to find one another’s accounts!

Finally, let’s engage in conversation! Tell me all about YOU and send me YOUR questions. 

What do YOU think about these three ways to support artistic and genius self-care?

What would it feel like to identify the parts of yourself that you can lean into for your followers, your clients, your audience while keeping the rest of yourself TO yourself?  Does that sound helpful?  Maybe less draining?  Let me know!

And, as always, what projects are you working on?  How is it going?

You can add anything you would like to share in the comments section or email me directly at camelieleboeuf@gmail.com.  This will be in description for you.  No one monitors this email but me.  So, I welcome your thoughts.  And I would love to address them (with anonymity) in future episodes.  Let’s grow this community of creatives and innovators together!

Finally, one last reflection: Who is helping you reach your goals and dreams?

I created my business to serve as the partner and collaborator for creatives and innovators to bring their visions to life through grounded actionable steps.  If you would like to learn more about how I support my clients, please check out cameliedesigns.com.  That’s cameliedesigns.com.

Happy Holidays all!  I will see you in the New Year! From Auckland…

My name is Caroline Amelie LeBoeuf. I have a degree in art and in counseling and also professional level certificates in educational advising and learning design & technology. Roles I have carried include illustrator, photographer, writer, traveler, mentor, instructor and most recently entrepreneur!

If you are curious to learn further about the work I offer my clients, check out cameliedesigns.com, that’s cameliedesigns.com.

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Until next time – keep it up… keep it creative!