Was Tabitha Brown Right? Creators, Steady Jobs and When You Should Pivot

The internet is abuzz about influencer Tabitha Brown's assertion that some creators need to get a 'real job' and stop chasing ineffective business ideas. Was she right? Should creators willingly give up their dreams and settle for traditional careers? 

We discussed this on one of our recent Creator Checkup livestreams, and the answer isn't as simple as it seems. In this conversation you'll discover why there isn't a one-size-fits-all answer to earning a living as a creator. 

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Transcript

This is one of those topics that we tried to avoid but could not avoid. And when I say we try to avoid it, I don’t mean that we shouldn’t talk about different creators, topics—things that are affecting us and are buzzing and viral in the internet space. I just try my best not to be reactive to different things that are on the radar that everybody wants to talk about. I try my best to be proactive and think more about what affects us and how we can address it as a community.

However, the more I was reading into this—this debate on what influencer Tabitha Brown said on her Instagram channel—I realized this is literally right down the path of what God and Gigs deals with. So we should not avoid it because we don’t want to be that kind of channel. We don’t want to be that kind of platform that just spits out hot takes. And again, I’m not throwing shade at anybody who has already done their think pieces on Tabitha Brown. I get it. I read a lot of them. I just don’t want to be someone that comes out right away with my take. I want us to discuss this as a community. How can we learn from this? What can we learn? And how can we apply it to our lives—often we get off track just by trying to do a little bit too much.

Basically, what Tabitha said—if I can summarize—is that for struggling entrepreneurs who have been trying an idea for two or three years, they’ve been “robbing Peter to pay Paul,” in her words, trying to make a new entrepreneurial idea work and the income is just not coming in. She basically says, “Hey, if that’s the case, you need to step back and find some steady income and a job that will actually pay the bills.”

I’ve seen all sorts of commentary on that advice. It ranges from “She’s tone-deaf because there aren’t any jobs available—people are already looking” (so it sounds like a backhanded way of saying, “You should just be working” when people can’t find work), to “You didn’t give up on your dreams—lots of artists struggled for years and eventually something clicked. She’s telling people to quit before they hit that milestone.” And then there are those defending her who say, “She’s telling you the truth: if you’re not making it financially, you need to find income that works.”

So how do we address all of this?

First, using my own experience—not as the example for everyone, but just being real. I’ve been in all three stages of the creator lifestyle. I’ve been a full-time creator, relying on nothing but my creative freelancing income. I’ve been full-time in a job as a teacher, where maybe I had some side income from creative work but nothing that really made a difference—my full-time job was my full-time job. And I’ve been where I am right now: a very blended mix of income from what could be called a steady job and from my creative passions and entrepreneurial pursuits. They go back and forth—one might be doing really well while the other isn’t.

I’ve left jobs. I’ve walked away from full-time positions with nothing and taken the leap of faith—“God, you’re going to provide; you showed me where to go, but you didn’t tell me how I’m going to make money, and I’m just going to figure it out.” I’ve done that. God and Gigs is partly a result of that leap of faith—going from a steady job to leaving everything without necessarily a plan to pay for things. I’ve also been on the very calculated side of “I need to make more money, here are places I can fill in the gaps, still pursue my creative pursuits, but have something more—quote—‘steady.’”

Before we go further, I’d love to hear from you in the comments or replies (if you’re watching the replay) below:

• Where are you in this debate right now?
• Are you the person who has taken the leap of faith and is relying solely on your creator business income?
• Are you living the hybrid lifestyle I’ve been advocating—where you have a more traditional 9–5 and your creative business, blending the two without a hard divide?
• Or are you totally on the side of needing a full-time position—your bread and butter—while your creative work is a hobby that might create income someday, but you’re not putting your eggs in that basket right now?

I need to know who we’re talking to as I share this so we don’t get twisted in our focus. And that leads to my second point:

There are many different creator lifestyles. There’s the 9–5 with creative as a hobby. There’s the blended approach—a flexible position that allows you to pursue your creative purposes but also make an income from a steady job.

And I want to stop there and define “steady,” because that’s the biggest misnomer. What is a steady job anymore? Is there such a thing as a job that doesn’t carry inherent risk of being cut off at any point?

One of the reasons Tabitha got some blowback—and this is reasonable—is that “steady” isn’t really steady, and “secure” isn’t really secure, as many have pointed out. It was a 30-second clip; it makes no sense to make so much of one statement when she’s clearly lived an entrepreneurial lifestyle and taken risks. But the key is that steady isn’t perfectly steady, and a 9–5 isn’t a security blanket.

So I think it’s more important to take what Tabitha said as a warning that you should always have a financial plan and an idea of how to make it when either your creator work or your 9–5 steady job isn’t working, doesn’t pay the bills, or gets cut. The goal is to have the mindset: I don’t put all my eggs in one basket—ever. I don’t put them all in the “steady job” basket, and I don’t put them all in the “my creator business will make all my money” basket.

There’s simply no one-size-fits-all creator lifestyle. You’ll hear me say this until my dying day: the creator lifestyle is not one-size-fits-all.

Love to have this conversation. Let’s pull up what Pamela is saying: “I love the way you start the conversation. I’ll be real—you share your experiences, and it’s refreshing to hear one’s perspective when they’ve been there, done that.” I have nothing else to offer but my real experience.

I wish I had more brilliant strategies—“Do X, then Y, then land Z job”—but I don’t. One thing I can say I haven’t “been there, done that” on is the job hunt through classifieds or LinkedIn. I haven’t had to search for a position since my first teaching job 25 years ago, fresh out of college. So I can’t speak for job seekers; thankfully, God has been good to me and laid things in my lap—I took them. But I have been on the “where is the money really going to come from?” side: do I step away from a full-time position and take the leap of faith, trusting God with building my creator lifestyle and income streams? That I did.

Some would say, “Allan, you jumped out; you didn’t settle for a ‘real’ job. You created this hybrid of different streams of income—with my wife working.” And that’s another key: my wife was working, so we had something else coming in that was somewhat steady. Everybody’s situation is different. The problem is we think there’s a one-size-fits-all.

So, Pamela—you’ve been in both spaces. You’ve been in corporate; now you’re building. Where are you in your thought process? Is it “settling” for a real job if your business doesn’t take off in three, four, or five years? Is it a bad sign that you should quit and stop?

I think people upset with Tabitha feel she’s telling folks to give up on their dreams and settle. I did not hear that in her commentary. (Side note: I wish I could get the audio to work; I have two different videos in my backend I can’t get rid of, causing an echo. As long as you aren’t hearing it, I’m good.)

This is where I’ll leave the conversation for now—there’s much more to talk about. Please leave in the comments what you think: is “settling” for a job some kind of defeat or failure?

My answer: No. It’s not settling; it’s a pivot. It’s a change that keeps the big picture in mind: you need to be your own biggest patron at the beginning. Bills need to be paid.

I’ve been very clear on God and Gigs: when the cash flow isn’t happening, I very rarely—if ever—take personal funds to keep the business going. Of course I did at the very beginning. But now, if cash flow isn’t covering it, it doesn’t get paid. I’ll figure it out without it. I’ll lean down, streamline my business, and do things the bootstrap way—like we do with Bootstrap Biz Advice with Shaunda Brown.

That’s how I run my business: if it’s not paying for itself and not creating more income, I have to streamline and change things. But again, I’m not looking for one-size-fits-all. If this business grows and I can move away from my 9–5, then God will allow that. If I need to dig more into 9–5 work to take care of my family, the Bible says, “He who does not work, does not eat.” That’s the principle.

Pamela adds: “I was 100% committed to my business and now I’m a hybrid. As a career coach, the job market is tough, but I encourage people to be true to themselves and don’t give up on their dreams.” So well said—thank you. That’s exactly it. I don’t think Tabitha was telling people to give up on their dreams—she was saying, be realistic. In fact, getting something to pay the bills can give your dreams a longer runway.

And yes, it’s harsh, but if you’re struggling with the job market, you may also struggle with entrepreneurial work. Both require faith, tenacity, a sales mindset, and a refusal to take “no” for an answer—a stand-out-and-be-heard attitude. In both cases, you need a growth mindset versus a scarcity mindset. Whether searching for a job or going fully entrepreneurial, you can’t have a victim mindset.