5. Your Profession vs. Your Artistry

I’m pulling back the curtain and giving you an exclusive sneak peek into something deeply personal and foundational to my upcoming program, Truth or Dare. 

This episode features an audio excerpt from the Pre-game Workbook — the part most business programs completely ignore.

We’re talking about a concept that will change how you see yourself and your work forever: the difference between your profession and your artistry. 

Your job title? Irrelevant. 

Your latest pivot? Not the point. 

Your artistry? That’s the unshakable through-line that makes your work matter.

Let me show you how to find it.

Inside this Episode, I talk about:

• How your artistry (and yes, you have one, I promise you) is the hidden force behind everything you do... even if you don’t see it yet.
• The critical mistake most entrepreneurs make when they confuse their profession with their deeper purpose.
• How anchoring into your artistry makes boldness effortless (instead of a constant struggle to “be brave”).

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Want More? If this episode resonated, Truth or Dare is for you. It’s not about forcing yourself into scary action. It’s about deeply aligning with your artistry so that every step forward feels inevitable. Registration is open right now — come join us HERE.

Transcript

 Hey friends, thank you so much for joining me on my podcast, Liberatory Business. I'm your host, Simone Seol. Today's episode is a little different. I'm going to give you a sneak peek into something I've been pouring my heart and soul into, an excerpt from the audio accompaniment to the Pre-game Workbook that comes as part of my upcoming program, Truth or Dare.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. Truth or Dare? Is this just another take massive action kind of business program where someone tells me to be brave until I burn out? 

No, that's exactly what it's not. 

And what's been fascinating for me is how many people assume that Truth or Dare is about pushing people into uncomfortable action, regardless of whether they're ready, regardless of their values, regardless of whether the direction is aligned. Just another hustle culture program with a different name.

But the reality is so much more nuanced and, honestly, revolutionary. Before I ever ask you to take a single bold action, True or Dare begins with pre work, which is why we're devoting the entire first week to something most programs completely ignore: understanding the deeper essence of what you're bringing to the world.

What you're about to hear is a foundational concept from the Pre-game Workbook and the very backbone of Truth or Dare: the distinction between your profession and your artistry. This isn't just philosophical musing, it's the bedrock that not only gives your courage meaningful direction, but makes it sustainable.

So settle in. Let me share with you why knowing what your unique artistry is -- and yes, you have one -- changes everything about how you show up in your business and life.

-- from the Truth or Dare Pre-game Workbook --

I have been having a lot of conversations lately with clients who say, “Simone, I don’t want to be a coach anymore. I’m tired of so many things about the coaching industry!” And this could be a very painful place to be, because it often means breaking up with an identity that they were invested in for years. What are they supposed to do next with their business? Do they even have a business anymore? These are the questions my clients wrestle with.

When they ask me for coaching, here is what I ask them next: “What drew you to coaching in the first place? What are the parts that you did love about coaching?” Here is how the conversation went with a client called Merrie.

Merrie: “I was drawn to coaching because I always loved being able to see the deeper part of someone… sharing an empathetic, safe space with them… and helping them to make decisions that express their deepest truths.”

Then, I asked them: “What are the things about coaching that you won’t stop doing even if you stop doing this thing called coaching?” 

Merrie answered: “Caring about people. Being deeply interested in their inner lives. Trying my best to help people live their biggest, most authentic lives, without regrets.“

That, my friends, is Merrie’s artistry. What they called “coaching” was just one way their artistry expressed itself. It was just an outfit that their artistry wore. But the core of that never changed, and it will never go away. Now Merrie gets to practice their artistry in a different way, without the label “coaching.” Maybe it will be even more powerful because they shed a coat that they outgrew.

I also got to talk about this with my collaborator Sam Garcia, the author of the bestselling book Regenerative Business. When I shared the idea of everyone having an essential form of artistry that runs through what they do, which is deeper than their “job title,” she told me: “I’m not sure I have one artistry. I feel like I went through different seasons as a creator and they were very different from each other.”

I said, “Tell me more. How so?”

She said, “Well, I started my business by teaching about how business is a magical practice. I helped people to incorporate spiritual practices to grow their businesses. Then, years later, I eventually transitioned to teaching business by learning from nature’s systems and drawing from the metaphors of regenerative farming. That was a whole new chapter that felt so different. In fact, I didn’t even feel like the same person at that point!”

I asked, “Could it be that, even though those two feel like very different chapters, your artistry is seeing the connections underneath the surface that are normally invisible to people? And articulating those connections and using them to help people? Most people don’t think of business as having anything to do with magic, but you saw those connections. And in the same way, most people don’t think business growth has anything to do with nature’s systems, or regenerative farming. But you saw those connections. These are all very non-intuitive to everyone but you. And you turn these invisible connections into pragmatic tools that solve people’s problems and help deepen their connection to themselves and the world. THAT is your artistry.”

She responded, “OMG! You’re right. And you know what else? When I was a child, 10 years old, I remember wanting to be a philosopher. That’s another way — I suppose — I was trying to find invisible connections!”

If you feel like you have many interests, many chapters, many iterations of your creative journey, I nudge you to look underneath the surface for the common pattern underneath those. 

Here’s the critical point: what you DO (your professional work) is not the same as why you're HERE (your artistry).

Many of us mistakenly believe our professional work defines us. This creates confusion and chaos when we change our offerings, niches, or business models. 

Your professional work is simply how you make money, which can change and evolve. Your artistry is the unchanging truth of (1) how you’re designed, and (2) what you're here to contribute to the world.

You don’t have to articulate it perfectly. It doesn’t have to be one perfect sentence. Your artistry could be a jewel with multiple facets, and your way of articulating multiple threads can all point to your one underlying artistry.

When I speak of your "art" or "artistry," I'm not referring to traditionally creative disciplines like painting, music, or performance. I'm pointing to something more fundamental: the unique way you express the creative force that is inside every single human. 

It's the distinctive lens through which you see reality and the consistent quality you bring to everything you do. It’s how you approach solving problems, connecting with others, or creating solutions.

Your art might express itself as extraordinary empathy, incisive clarity, the ability to bring order to chaos, or a talent for searching for and finding hidden connections. 

This is why two copywriters, painters, or acupuncturists can offer seemingly identical services yet create entirely different experiences and attract different people. The difference isn't in what they do, but in the deeply personal artistry they bring to HOW they do it.

Here’s a personal example. My job involves helping people with their businesses. But over time, I realized: my art is helping people come home to themselves and their humanity. How else could you explain the fact that hundreds of people who hired me for help with marketing would send me testimonials saying: “Simone, thank you so much. Thanks to you, I feel safer being myself.” And I thought I was just helping them with copywriting!

(Pay attention to what you think you help people with vs. what people thank you for. That’s one way your artistry shows itself to you.)

Even if I changed careers completely — say, I became a chef, kindergarten teacher, or construction worker — I suspect I would continue practicing my art in some form. I can’t not. It’s who I am. Even if circumstances make it challenging, I would always gravitate back to it somehow.

My brother Billy is a software engineer by trade. His “official” work involves working with code and data. But his deeper purpose is studying complex patterns to improve human experiences. And guess what he’s doing now, when he’s not at his day job? He’s taking esoteric Buddhist philosophies and breaking them down for his coaching clients to help them to become more confident and better achieve their goals!

You know something is your “art” when you find yourself doing some form of it, no matter where you are. You know it’s your “art” when its absence leaves you feeling a little incomplete, a little less like yourself, as though an essential part of you is unexpressed. When you're engaged in it, there's an unmistakable feeling of “rightness,” like settling into your natural shape.

What Is Your Art?

Please let go of the pressure to have to articulate it in One Perfect Sentence. As I said, this can be multiple sentences. Your artistry is like a diamond — it shines off multiple facets, with different colors based on how the light is being reflected.

Simply recognizing that there's a deeper aliveness beneath your business — a truth that would continue expressing itself even if the current version of your business went “poof!” tomorrow — creates a profound shift in how you approach everything you do.

So, what do you think is your art?

Your business is merely one channel through which your art flows into the world — not its purpose or container. Your art exists independent of any commercial vehicle; it would continue to express itself even if your business dissolved tomorrow. When you truly understand this distinction, your Truth or Dare journey transcends the artificial limitations of what you believe your business to be. Instead, your work becomes anchored in something far more profound — a spiritual purpose that resonates at a frequency only the right people can hear. This alignment creates a magnetic authenticity that attracts those who recognize the truth you're expressing, not just the service or product you're selling.

Your Artistry, Not Your Product, is the Star of Truth or Dare

Here’s why this idea of “your artistry” is so important for Truth or Dare. In order to be truly bold and daring, you need to think outside of conventional boxes. That requires you to see and think in deeper and more expansive terms, not in terms of what you think are the limits of your current business.

The concept of your unique art lets us know: your most aligned clients are drawn to more than your surface offerings.

• When someone connects with what you do, you create “transactions” (e.g. “I follow Simone because I find her marketing advice helpful.”) 
• When they connect with why and how you do it — your artistry — you create transformations at the soul level (e.g. “I follow Simone because, somehow, her business advice makes me feel safer being myself.”)

Your ideal clients intuitively sense your art expressing itself through your business. They can “smell” the consistent invisible thread running through everything you create, the distinctive way you see the world, process information and solve problems... and they’re irresistibly, inexplicably attracted to it. This creates deep trust and loyalty that transcends anything traditional “target audience”-based marketing can accomplish.

To create resonance at that deeper level, we need to do Truth or Dare from the core of your art, not from the artificial boundaries of what your business supposedly is.

Here’s the beautiful thing. When you operate from your art, you exist in a category of one. There is no one “ahead of” you or “behind” you. 

No one else in your field can replicate what you do because it emerges from your unique, 1-in-8-billion creative DNA. It can't be copied, templated, or reverse-engineered — making “competition” irrelevant. 

This is why you don't need to force yourself into an artificially narrow niche. Your art is already distinctive by nature because it is yours. While others fight for attention with different micro-promises, or having the shiniest, expensively-branded packaging, your art resonates at a frequency only your Right People can hear. This selective resonance is vastly more powerful than any targeting algorithm.

You don't need exhausting "ideal customer avatar" exercises. You don’t need to know what your “target market” is. The resonance of your art does the filtering for you, naturally attracting those who value not just what you provide, but the subtle nuances and flavors of how you see the world and think. These clients stay longer, invest more deeply, and become lasting advocates and collaborators in world-building with you. 

And best of all? This means those who are more famous, more credentialed, or more established than you don’t have leverage over you. Because there’s no way their artistry has the same resonance that yours does. The concept of your unique artistry completely obliterates the idea of hierarchy-based competition in business. 

Before we dive into the heart-racing dares and truth-telling challenges of our program, we need to establish something essential: what, exactly, you're being brave on behalf of.

Courage without direction is just adrenaline without a point. There's a crucial difference between strategic courage and random risk-taking.

Many visibility programs encourage you to "be bold" and "put yourself out there" without first ensuring you understand what you’re essentially communicating, and why. This leads to marketing that feels performative rather than powerful, and you taking risks that leave you depleted rather than energized.

Truth or Dare is different. Understanding your underlying art before taking strategic risks ensures that:

1. Your courage has context. Each dare you take isn't just about pushing past fear — it's about creating more space for your aliveness to express itself.
2. Your truth has roots. When you share controversial opinions or vulnerable stories, you will know for your own sake that your storytelling is emerging from a place of genuine purpose that comes from the roots of your being rather than mere attention-seeking or pot-stirring.
3. Your consistency becomes effortless. When you know your artistry, content creation shifts from "what should I say next?" to "what does the aliveness within me want to transmit today?" You’re channeling, not “marketing.” 
4. You don’t need to force clarity or certainty. Because, let’s face it. We don’t always have those in life. The people who resonate with your true artistry will recognize it, even when you're mid-evolution, mid-transition, or mid-pivot. That means you have the ability to create resonance no matter what part of the journey you’re in.
5. Your resilience multiplies. When faced with criticism or “failure,” you'll bounce back faster because you know your value in the world isn't tied to a particular service, product, branding or business structure — it's anchored in something much deeper, much more elemental, alive, connective, permanent.

When you are connected to the vitality of your art, you gain extraordinary freedom to experiment with how it's expressed. You can put yourself out there before you know what your “thing” is. You can change your offerings, pivot your business model, or explore entirely new territories without fearing that you’ll alienate your audience, or have to “start over.” 

This is why some entrepreneurs (ahem, like me, I like to think) can seemingly "get away with" breaking all the rules — their audience follows them through dramatic shifts because they're connected to the person's their journey, their unique outlook on the world, not just what they can “get” from them transactionally. Remember: engaging with someone’s underlying art is always transformative. Engaging in someone’s product is transactional.

So before we begin our Truth or Dare adventure, really take time with this pre-work. It is the most important part of our work together. This isn't just philosophical pondering; it's the practical foundation that will make every dare you take in the coming weeks exponentially more powerful, resonant, rewarding, and sustainable.

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 Now this is just a taste of what we explore in the Pre-game Workbook of Truth or Dare. This is the beginning of the beginning of the pre work of Truth or Dare. If this resonated with you, I want you to know something important. There's a profound difference between random acts of courage and sustainable boldness that actually builds your business from a compass of integrity without burning you out.

Most other programs out there focus exclusively on the actions: go live, send the pitch, raise your price to do today, blah, blah, blah. But they completely miss the foundation that makes those actions meaningful and substantive and. Genuinely aligned and sustainable. Truth or Dare is different.

We start with the spiritual and energetic foundation.  Stuff I've never taught anywhere else. Before we ever get to any action taking part. Because when you're clear about what you're being bold about. on behalf of, courage becomes a natural expression rather than something you have to force.

So if you've been struggling with showing up, if you know you need to be bolder in your business or even just in your life and you find yourself continually, you know, censoring yourself and hiding, or you feel like you've tried being brave before only to retreat back into your comfort zone, Truth or Dare provides the missing pieces that transform occasional courage into deeply aligned default state. 

Registration is open right now and we begin March 20th, and we won't close registration so you can join us at any time. The entire pregame workbook, including the audio that you just heard, which is just a small part of it is available immediately for download when you join so head over to the link in the show notes and learn more and secure your spot.

I can't wait to witness your artistry blooming in the world. Talk to you next time.