Big Stuff With Danielle Colley
You know who's going through BIG STUFF? Literally everyone. But it's how you handle it that makes the difference.
Award-winning author and life coach Danielle Colley gets real about the relentless expectations we put on ourselves, the comparison trap, and the gap between how life looks and how it actually feels.
For ambitious women who may be crushing their goals but are feeling crushed by them. Conversations that matter. A little advice, a little inspiration, and a lot of humanness. No toxic positivity - just raw honesty about what it really takes to thrive.
If you're burnt out from achieving everything or tired of pretending it's all fine, this is for you. Because life should feel GOOD to live.
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Big Stuff With Danielle Colley
Redefining Success on Your Own Terms; Building a Life That Actually Fits
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In this episode, Danielle sits down with double ARIA Award-winning musician, Elana Stone, to explore what it really means to build a sustainable creative life when the entire economic system has shifted underneath you.
Twenty years into a career what looks successful from the outside - international tours, collaborations with incredible artists, awards and recognition - Elana opens up about the gap between external achievement and internal reality.
They dive deep into the brutal economics of streaming (spoiler: you need over a million streams a month just to earn minimum wage), the necessity of doing "everything" as an independent artist, and why creative sustainability often means piecing together multiple revenue streams rather than chasing the singular dream of "making it."
But this conversation goes beyond industry economics.
Elana and Danielle discuss the ego death that comes from loss and parenting, the tension between what we think we're supposed to want and what actually sustains us, and why community music-making - like the choir Elana leads - creates the kind of resonance and flow that reminds us why we do creative work in the first place.
From Elizabeth Gilbert's "one hour a day" practice to the question of whose definition of success we're actually following, this episode asks: How do you stay the course as a creative when it's so unreliable and uncertain? And what will matter more than any award or recognition when you're looking back at 80?
00:00 - Introduction03:45 - The Gap Between Success and Reality13:15 - The Economics of Streaming: How Musicians Actually Earn24:30 - Working in the Cracks: Multiple Creative Streams31:45 - Ego Death and Redefining What Matters40:30 - Why Choir Matters: Flow, Resonance, and Community48:00 - Creative Practice: Elizabeth Gilbert's One Hour a Day59:30 - What's Next and Letting Go of Old Dreams62:15 - Final Question: What Will Matter at 80?
Books mentioned:
- Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
- Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
You can find Elana's latest album tagged below, and find her at
WWW: elanastone.com.au
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