The Multi-Passionate Entrepreneur's Guide

Multi-passionate entrepreneur Najela Carter explores how to thrive with multiple interests in a world obsessed with specialization. Having succeeded at balancing a school psychologist career with three businesses, she shares her journey of monetizing diverse passions while maintaining her 9-to-5 job.

• Multi-potentiality defined as the ability to adapt skills across various occupations
• The dangers of overspecialization and getting pigeonholed in a single career path
• Breaking free from systems that keep you pursuing a "one true calling"
• Challenging the belief that work you love means you'll never work a day in your life
• Why online business advice to "niche down" and "burn all boats" often fails
• The benefits of being multi-passionate: generation, synthesis, experimentation, adaptability
• How to manage common challenges like analysis paralysis and feeling scattered
• Asking yourself whether a passion project is for you or for others
• Building a business model that accommodates multiple interests while maintaining clarity
• Reframing failure and removing "quit" from your vocabulary
• Using transferable skills from various interests to strengthen your unique offerings
• Defining personal success instead of accepting externally imposed standards

If you're a multi-passionate person struggling to embrace all your interests, connect with me at multi-passionate entrepreneur to discover how to monetize your passions with joy and ease.

Transcript

Introduction to Multi-Passionate Entrepreneurship

Speaker 1 0:00

I'm Nigella Carter and I'm a multi-passionate entrepreneur . I'm a school psychologist . I am an educational consultant . I consult with early career school psychologists . I'm a writer . I write fantasy of all kinds . I'm currently working on portal fantasy isekai , I think like sword art online type stories and I also run multi-passionate entrepreneur . So I have three businesses and I have my school psychologist job . I combine my unique skills and talents to help entrepreneurs discover and monetize their passions with joy and ease . I was able to do this for myself . I'm maintaining my nine to five . I love my job , but I also love a lot of different things that my job can't always provide me the opportunities to pursue , and so I started multiple businesses and that allows me to bring in a little extra money as well as fulfill my needs to others in a variety of different areas .

Speaker 1 1:14

What does it mean to be multi-passionate ? This term has evolved over the years . H Fredrickson , in 1975 , noted these people as multi-potentialites , so they are able to adapt themselves and develop the necessary specific skills to perform well in a variety of occupations . Manpower needs , the geographic mobility of industry and automation all contribute to the importance of a need for vocational adaptability among today's workforce at all levels . That just means . You know , multi-passionate people are an asset in the world . Like we have so many different skills , we have so many different talents that translate across different industries .

Speaker 1 2:10

What does it mean to be multi-passionate in a specialized world , for whatever reason ? The idea of being specific and specialized is the one that took off Over the years . That's morphed into people having to find their one true calling in life . We've been taught that we need a job that we can tolerate . Do that job until we drop dead . Maybe you'll be lucky enough to do the things you love when you retire , if you can retire .

Speaker 1 2:38

I know millennials we're , I don't know , but I went down this path , committing to being a supervisor for in-home

Multi-Passionate in a Specialized World

Speaker 1 2:46

therapy and then committed to being a school psychologist . The little cushy job I had as a school psychologist was actually in jeopardy when our district went on strike . I was a contractor at the time and if schools were shut down I didn't have any work . I have heard this story so many times of somebody has specialized in something and then all of a sudden that job gets cut , for whatever reason and because they specialize so deeply , which is not a bad thing . Unfortunately , it's so specific that you can only do that specific job , like a psychologist .

Speaker 1 3:25

It's easy to be pigeonholed by being too specialized , like down the school psychologist path . And if I wasn't a multi-passionate person and I got tired of doing school psychology , there's nothing else I can do with my degree besides be a school psychologist , like , without getting more training , without going to school for a higher degree . I opened a private practice in my current home state because they won't let you unless you have a psychology doctorate , which I don't have , and I don't want to spend the money for Easy to get pigeonholed by being too specialized , again , my job being a school psychologist . But I could only be a school psychologist . There's no upward mobility in my field unless I want to spend more money to go into even more debt and to spend more time at school getting another degree , become multi-passionate and at the time I thought I was just like oh , I just can't figure out what to do , so I end up having like two masters .

Speaker 1 4:29

Um , essentially , like , how many times , like I said , have you heard this story ? Person spends their whole life chasing down one career path , staying with one company , doing that job for years , only to get laid off and unable to move forward because that was the only thing they knew how to do . I also couldn't see myself being a school psychologist for the rest of my life In my 30s . I started being a school psychologist at 29 after spending way too much time in the therapy field . I couldn't see myself doing that for the rest of my life . It sounded kind of miserable , especially with , you know , the ticks and the culture wars and the school um dealing . I rate parents like I can't see myself doing that for 30 plus years . I would be remiss if I didn't bring up the systems that keep you from embracing your passion .

Speaker 1 5:27

Briefly , about whether I was going to mention systems in our topic , a lot of people felt like they were broken or doing something wrong because they couldn't figure out what they wanted to do . I felt that way I would jump from . You know , I would see within the field , but I would jump from job to job , just kind of look the right fit . It's important that most people believe that so-called call to work . Personally , I put up with a lot of unethical and toxic behavior in workplaces because that was my one true calling themselves to the bone for this quote-unquote purpose . Um , our city doesn't want you to pivot to another job because I mean , what benefit does that have for a corporate business that has a constant rotating door ? But that definitely speaks to a larger issue within capitalism .

Speaker 1 6:39

But thing to believe your passion and pursue that passion . And then there's another thing to and do that passion believe that's your passion , but be mistreated or undervalued while you're doing that . The idea

Systems That Keep You Trapped

Speaker 1 6:59

of doing work you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life um , that's a sentiment but it's not realistic . I remember having this conversation with my mom and she was like oh , wouldn't you just do your job for free ? Don't you just love it ? I was like , no , it's paying me enough to show up to work every day and sit in my office . I do , but I also would like to get paid a livable wage for that . But I also would like to get paid a livable wage for that .

Speaker 1 7:29

The matter is to challenge a wide-held belief that our society and think about the systems that uphold it . You have to specialize if you don't want to . But a lot of the messaging you'll hear is like niche down . You need to be specific , you need to specialize , but I don't subscribe to that . Being multi-passionate doesn't mean you're flighty , flaky or indecisive . You might be overwhelmed and not sure how to prioritize pursuing your interests , but that's a common problem for anyone who's a specialist or a multi-potentialite and embracing .

Speaker 1 8:05

I used to drink the pro marketing kool-aid for a long time . I came into the online business movement . At the same time , my job went on strike . In 2019 , all the big gurus will tell you to niche down , burn all the boats and go all in on your dreams . That's probably why I didn't have a huge following . At this point , I don't have a huge following . I also don't want to be on social media . Media is draining , but I couldn't do any of the things that they told me to do .

Speaker 1 8:36

Like , I have too many interests , too many unique strengths and viewpoints that I wanted to share with others , and I had too many passions to stick with one thing . For a long time . I experimented with a few things , but it felt really weird to charge people high ticket prices for services I wasn't sure I wanted to provide long term Like , for instance , I chose book editing because I'm like hey , I enjoy books and I don't want to talk about school psychology all day long , and I tested out a lot of different things . I did children's books , I did comic books and graphic novels . I did fantasy and turns out I hate editing other people's books Sorry , red , were fantastic . Like if I was a

Challenging Traditional Success Beliefs

Speaker 1 9:22

publisher publisher I would love to have those books on my roster , but editing them is not something that I want to do . Um , it argued that maybe I didn't charge my prices high enough until that I wanted , but I like I don't know you , but like I feel really weird charging like high ticket stuff , like there's nothing wrong with high ticket , but like if I committed , like I'm not sure I want to do that , I don't want to charge a lot of money for something I'm not even sure I want to do . Um you that if I had done you know what the marketing bros told me , I could have found success with editing . I could have probably charged thousands of dollars and probably ended up with the same conclusion , though I just don't like editing other people's books .

Speaker 1 10:11

It took fantastic stories and I hope they make their way in the world , but it took away time for me to write my own stories . I did the online business Kool-Aid about the hustle grind , charged a lot of money . I believed I was a failure because I didn't like the thing I had chosen and didn't know how to pivot to something I did , like Much of my time specializing . I didn't have the brain capacity to think of something different at the time . A failure watching everybody burn their boats and sail off into the distance Well , I was still stuck at the safety of the shore . A different mindset about it , though and this is what I could teach you is not the . You just have to want it bad enough and discover your why and the pseudo-mindset stuff that's based on magical thinking , but an exploratory mindset about the things I was passionate about Somewhere down in our full educations , and me being a school psychologist and just seeing this everywhere got that exploration and fun part of ourselves beaten out of us .

Speaker 1 11:17

I went to the quirky school that was ahead of its time . We had a unique opportunity to learn music , art , drama , science . We rotated classes , we had music every day . We had seasonal plays , we read opera like we created skits and dances . We had world fair for food and like we had young authors , we had ample time for recess . We learned spanish , like we did . It was such a fantastic school that no longer exists , unfortunately .

Speaker 1 11:52

Um make is that like that exploratory and fun aspect of childhood um , beat out of us . You know whether you had teacher or just a bad school experience , like me as a school psychologist . You know watching the kids in class , all they're doing . You know it's a fault to the teachers , it's just this got . You got to do what you got to do . But like I go in there and I just see a bunch of kids on their ipads , like I don't see them being with each other , I don't see them creating anything . You know , I'm glad the school I work at has like the children's work just posted everywhere . But I just made failing unsafe for children and they . You know , and I'm used to this way where you thought doing something well and you get that red mark all up on your paper and it just crushes you .

Speaker 1 12:47

Um , your multi-passionate nature is to make fast friends with failure .

The Online Business Kool-Aid

Speaker 1 12:52

You also have to unlearn what society's definition of success is . Some of the same people who are doing the photo shoots with other people's lambos and making all the millions of dollars who burned their , but now slinking back tiny little juice slivers of driftwood , saying that scale at all class model is not sustainable . And I don't know if being multi-passionate , generation and synthesis , so taking a bunch of different ideas , combining them , remixing , throwing them out there , getting feedback . You know a willingness to experiment and adapt . You're willing to dive deep into a subject and you know just being persistent and having resilience to get up when you know you feel like you fail . Um , some of the come , and you might be in this area more so than the other , which is perfectly fine . Um , it happens to all .

Speaker 1 13:49

So , analysis , paralysis , like I , options that you just get overwhelmed and you kind of just shut down . Um , you get too much things . But when it's time to implement , you're like oh , I need the next class to take what I've learned and implement it . But then next minute you know you've consumed a lot of material . You might feel overwhelmed and scattered with all the different projects and you can get sucked down rabbit holes and follow ideas that don't pan out Goodness . So , overcoming the cons , you can dream big , create a strategy , execute , delegate , automate and eliminate different tasks , see a project through to the end and remember seasonality . You don't have to do all of the things all the time , all at once , and be everywhere .

Speaker 1 14:47

So , clay , is this a project for yourself or are you presenting this for others ? You need to answer . Is this for me or for other people To get better at knitting . But I know I'm not nearly good enough to sell like blankets . Like I feel bad for anybody who gets a ask me for a blanket at this point , because I'm not . It's gonna be having holes in it , it's gonna be messed up . So if I happen to be at a level where someone wants to buy something for me , I'm not gonna be mad at me . Who's gonna turn down free money to do what you love ? But I'm pursuing this passion because I find it calm and relaxing and it's something I want to do for me for . But on the other hand , like music is definitely something that can be for me and for others um , be in the giant symphonic orchestra or even make a career out of that . When I say for others , that means playing Christmas or Disney songs during the holidays and seeing if people recognize them , and that could also be a part of being in a large band or with the occasional solo , especially when I was in high school . That was more of what I did back then , but I don't need to do more on that .

Speaker 1 16:02

I have included some myths that I realized just researching this topic was , I think , a big one is that it's a niche and have a client inventory , reframe that in a different way in a portfolio , and so what I mean by that is a niche . I can't argue for this one . I'm personally leaning more to not needing one . Um , you know , a lot of people are , um , that are multi-passionate , kind of put that under their personal brand , um , and I just got off a call um who someone convinced me to do a personal brand . I was going to brand is something different , but , um , a personal brand makes complete sense . So , uh , package .

Speaker 1 16:52

So I know a big problem with being multi-passionate is choosing and committing to a niche . I know this was something I really got hung up on because I'm like , why do I I'm not sure , like I've never done this thing before for pay um , and I actually have no idea do this as a business until I actually start trying it ? Um , editing piece

Multi-Passionate Pros and Cons

Speaker 1 17:15

again . Um , I can't imagine much effort into getting an editing certificate , finding clients charging them a lot of money for something I didn't really like to do Personally . That would be keeping my normal day job . Like , at least I love that and I think we all become entrepreneurs so that we can have some level of freedom , but we end up recreating the patterns that kept us stuck . Level of freedom , but we end up recreating the patterns that kept us stuck , and so I couldn't something I actually love to do to something that I was like I don't think for me and I don't want to charge people like that .

Speaker 1 17:50

So be your lovely , multi-passionate self and just put that out there in the world . You'll attract other people who want what you have to sell . So , in order to make money off your various passions , all you really need like don't let someone else tell you otherwise , but you need an album , you need to create a solution to solve their problem , you need a way of getting the information out to them whether it's a video , e-book , course , whatever and you need a way of collecting payments . Um , some fiction here , while people get confused if you're all over the place . Being multi-passionate isn't about being all over the place . Um , is being about very , very intentional about your interests and pursuing your passions .

Speaker 1 18:43

Marketing will tell you that people will get confused if one day you're talking about manifestation , next day you're talking about podcasting , but I don't think that's an absolute truth . It's also not respectful of your audience . Like , for instance , selling deodorant while neglecting everything else they sell . Sometimes ads you see will be about back to school . Other times you'll see them talking about sunscreen and pool toys . Other times it's about parents Like . The point of the matter is like people go to Target because they know what they want and they can get it there .

Speaker 1 19:23

I'm not saying that you need to become an . They're sophisticated , they always have it . You need to trust your audience . You know you can talk about manifestation podcast . If that's something you're interested in could definitely make sure that things are clearly marked on your website who it's for . You could find your expectation . You say what problems you solve , how you do it and what transformation your audience can expect to receive by engaging with the product .

Speaker 1 20:00

You don't need to overthink things Like that's the thing that kept me stuck is getting so stuck in my head of like , oh , I have to do this and I have to do this niche and I have to do my branding . You really don't need any of that . In fact , that probably more than anything , especially if you're a perfectionist and you're like I can't get my graphics to look the way . You know somebody to get my graphics to look the way . You know somebody with like 20 graphic designers on their team is going to look so , um , I think , complicated , with wow sales funnels and all the good things , but you don't really need that . When you first start out , I wish I knew that . I wish I found somebody who was teaching the most basic thing that you need , but it is what it is . You know , that's how you know being multi-pionate .

Speaker 1 20:41

You come out from the other side and you're like , hey , I learned a lesson . I'm either going to take that with me moving forward or I'm going to leave it behind . Uh , fails . Won't it feel like a waste of time , money or energy ? I used to think this way and I used to get so mad because there were so many things I could have spent my money on um , and I want to say I spent way more money courses than I care to admit , but part of it was just learning a new strategy . Part of it was thinking about that one course would have all the magic bullet that would solve all the problems , and I'm really susceptible , for all I went through were like fluff , vibes and smoke and mirrors , um , and some of them were truly all life-changing . I remember one course I spent like a lot of money on um and I got a one-on-one call with the course and she told me like hey , you know , your business doesn't need to be of the things you're trying to do too much . You're trying to solve too many problems for yourself by setting your goals too high . And I carried that with me . It was worth the price of the course alone because I don't think anybody would have told me that Everybody's always saying hey , you know , make more , make more , make more . Oh , there's nothing wrong with all to start Like we got to start somewhere . That doesn't mean I didn't learn those fluff and vibes courses .

Speaker 1 22:01

Being a multi-passionate person means you know you can kind of take what you need from the course and leave the rest , um . But it also means having to in your level of discernment and intentionality . Better than most people want to learn all the things . And you know we , if someone shows us this shiny carrot in our face , you know we're gonna probably tip up on that offer and people's you

Pursuing Passions for Self vs. Others

Speaker 1 22:29

know I was just got out with someone and some people's sales page are better than what they actually offer in the class . So just be mindful of that . Um , if you fail it doesn't mean your character or that was a waste of time . At some point you realize everything's the same . Everybody's taking the same idea and just presenting it in their own different way . But each time you start a new venture you're not starting from scratch . You come in with all that knowledge you learned in other fields and applying that to your new venture .

Speaker 1 23:04

Um , and majored in neuroscience when I first started , and then I jumped ship and went to psychology and creative writing . I studied behavior . I got a credential on school psychology , um , but I don't like regret the time . I , as a neuroscience major even if I didn't finish the program I gained new skills and perspectives that are for my practice as a school psychologist , as a jack of all trades and a master of none . Let's be clear . The full quote is a jack of all trades , is a master of none , but oftentimes better than a master of one . To me that sounds like it's better to have knowledge in a lot of different things than to be specialized in just one Case . Sympathy is very highly specialized and it's a degree I can't do a damn thing with , unless I go to school for more . Like another six figures worth of debt , like who wants to do that ? But , um , hey , if I just guess what skills I learned trying to start an online business . Um , that wasn't technically remotely close related to the field , so I had to learn to another stage in life . That's just how it is .

Speaker 1 24:21

People don't just learn one skill at a time . As we pursue something we're interested in , we learn a variety of different transferable skills . And if you the big fail , this goes back to asking the question is this project for me or other people ? Because that'll change your perception about the project . If it's just for you , does it really matter if the project gets finished or not ? If you want to finish it , you should , but it's not a requirement If it's for other people . Is it for the masses or is it just for friends and family ? Person who wants to write a children's book for their grandchild requires a different set of skills than someone who wants to do so commercially and with a larger audience . So stopping finishing things and engaging in any of these activities is not a sign of failure . I want you to remove the word quit from your vocabulary , not because of its actual meaning , but the connotation that is associated with quitting . Quitting isn't failure . One of the people in the back Quitting is not failure .

Speaker 1 25:29

I was a kid , I wanted to do all of the things and I wanted to try cheerleading . There's nothing wrong with that . You're like what the heck ? Why would you like ? Like , girl , please stop . I don't know what I saw that made me want to do cheerleading . I don't know , it doesn't make any sense , but I wanted to try it . Um , I did all the things . I did the practical outfit . I sold the chocolates to get the pom-poms . Um , I gave it all my , gave it all during the city parade and I haven't been a cheerleader since . I have no desire to be a cheerleader . I wasn't very good at it . I tried it , I didn't like it and I never had to sign up again . I didn't fail because I quit being a cheerleader . It wasn't something I was interested in , so I stopped . Cheerleading was something I was interested in , so I stopped . Chilling was something I was interested in .

Speaker 1 26:23

If you're doing something for other people to consume and engage with in some way , you're also allowed to stop . I stopped editing . I stopped putting stuff out there that I did editing . I take on people that I feel . You know , I took on an editing story because the author really wanted to work with me

Debunking Multi-Passionate Myths

Speaker 1 26:42

. Okay , you know I can do that , um , but I don't put there . Uh , I'm juxtaposing .

Speaker 1 26:49

I played the recorder since I was in first grade . I played the saxophone for seven years . I played the trumpet for two years . I casually played the piano for two years and when I got to college I had to stop . Um , music , like opportunity . I was good at it , but I still stopped because my saxophone for , like , I guess I played it too hard and the keys fell off . I don't know , but like we didn't have the opportunity to fix it for whatever reason , and partly because life just got in the way it happens . We're human , we're not robots . Um , I've always had , or had , the opportunity , and it's literally because the place I lived in before I moved to washington didn't fix woodwind instruments . Um , and it was just and put it down because of a lack of opportunity to continue to engage in it .

Speaker 1 27:43

Um , the problem becomes stopping doing things for other people . If you're exploring something new , you may want to start off small . If you're learning to write and that's not your forte , then writing some blog posts or short stories to share with others is likely to be easier than ask about writing and publishing , and you need to give yourself the space and the grace to keep it to yourself until it's ready and finished . That doesn't mean you can't share it a little bit , but you just want to be mindful of who you're sharing with . You know you can't share with just anybody , especially if they're looking at you thriving and you engaging with your passion . It brings up a lot of stuff for people . But , again , just save it and share it with , like a safe space or safe community . It doesn't have to be bigling audience , you know either . Um , stopping things .

Speaker 1 28:45

There are plenty of projects that I started and never finished , but I didn't quit being a writer because of that . Said , I looked at the reason why I started stories and never finished them . So let's look at these reasons and see if any of these resonate with you . So I tried to tackle too much too quickly . I was too scared to put something out there . I got bored with the project and I tried to do my project based on what other people said , but that wasn't conducive to my writing style . So we'll tackle these more , reflecting on your multi-passionate journey . All these more reflecting on your multi-passionate journey . Um and this is reframing failure .

Speaker 1 29:25

One of the most impactful conversation I've had took place during one of our school's equity team meeting again , multi-passionate , you take your one thing from something else and applying it to something entirely different . Um , this particular meeting was about grading practice and it was fascinating because they said the key takeaway from that was that success and failure is often defined by other people , their biases , their anxieties and their values . Our culture puts a high value on success and winning , and success is defined as money , fancy cars , big houses , et cetera , et cetera . Get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable about staying stagnant and stagnation . Develop yourself . Create an environment where it feels you know you can finish your writing session or your drawings , the painting session . You step back and be like you . I don't really like that and it's okay . You know I didn't fail . I just don't like the particular aspect of the project that I did um , build resilience and perseverance . So one of the that is just being persistent , trying to learn more , learn more about your process that you're trying to pursue . Um , and we select on what way . So that's again goes back to that other piece of being resilient and persevering .

Speaker 1 30:59

I I think when you reflect on like , hey , you know , what responsibility did I have in this thing ? What external factors happened , like , say you were painting a picture , you're like , oh crap , I ran out and the picture doesn't look the way I thought it was gonna look , was blue , like well , obviously what went wrong is that you didn't have blue , simple , simple explanation . But didn't have blue , simple , simple explanation . But next time have blue paint . It could be that simple or it can be more complex , just like , for instance , I lost the joy in writing .

Speaker 1 31:35

Things happen and you know , learning to get the joy back , that resilience and perseverance like you don't have , get the joy back , that resilience and perseverance . Like you don't have to be get back on the saddle and meet the Mustang all the way to the town , like you can just take baby steps . You might have to ride the little cone circle for a little bit before you're ready to jump out and that's perfectly fine . Like it goes , like that's how you create passion . You know , if you feel like , hey , I really wanted to do this thing , but you know my grandmother was in the hospital or dog got sick , just acknowledging that and honoring , like , hey , you didn't have the capacity to do the things that you wanted to do , but you stuck with it and that's what mattered . And

Reframing Failure and Quitting

Speaker 1 32:23

it's about adopting a journey mindset . So , knowing that you're like , hey , you know , my grandma was sick and I tried to do this thing and it didn't work out for one reason or another , but it's a journey , you're still on that journey .

Speaker 1 32:35

What do you define as success and how do you know when you've reached your version of success ? Is it when you have , like , a certain number of projects out in the world ? Is it when you get a certain number of reviews , or like money in the bank ? I don't think we as individuals get the right to judge people on whether their motivation is intrinsic or extrinsic . So intrinsic motivation is something that comes within , something you want to do , fulfill like a certain purpose in life , opposed to extrinsic motivation , where you're driven by external factors . I don't think we get to judge what people are motivated by , because , as long as they're doing things ethically and in the service of the greater good , getting to define those goals for yourself and celebrating those small wins and milestones along the way . I just wanted to share my thoughts about being multi-passionate with you and help you understand what it takes to embrace your multi-passionate life .