9 Pillars of a Healthy Holistic Career Path
If your music career feels like a giant maze, you're not alone.
As a musician, you're juggling everything.
[According to your responses to our year-end audience survey, you're indeed feeling the struggle with:
- knowing how to get your ideas into the world
- building your business or studio
- auditioning and interviewing with more confidence
- being more mentally resilient
- bridging practice to performance better
- grad school auditions
- recording for festivals
- anxiety and pressure of “making it”
- feel like there's no safety net
(Psst... missed the survey? You can still take it here - we'd love your two cents).]
You're practicing, gigging, networking, putting yourself out there, patching skills together, trying to stay balanced and whole. All the while, there's the nagging worry:
Will I make it?
It's time we talk about the 9 pillars of professional development for musicians in the real world, 2025, not the 20th century!
Pillar 1: Your compass
You must have a sense of your direction, why you perform, your unique skills, and how they intersect with your values and interests. (This is helpful when answering the "will I make it" question, for it defines what success is for you).
Pillar 2: Your portfolio
You must have the essentials - resume, cv, bio, teaching or artist statement, maybe an elevator pitch if you have or are building a business.
Pillar 3: Mindset
You must have tools to weather ups and downs, reframe unhelpful narratives, be resilient, build good habits, and manage your time and energy well.
Pillar 4: Understanding entrepreneurship
It's not what you think! You must understand that the entrepreneurial spirit is about your idea, your livelihood, and how you present your self. It's the business of you.
Pillar 5: Get your ideas out in the world
You must be able to connect your passion to people, build, deliver, iterate, refine and ship again. I'm talking about your playing, but also about your project, business, teaching studio or collaboration.
Pillar 6: Your wellness
You must have tools for balance and growth. What are your essentials for wellness, and how will you apply these to real life? This includes physical and mental wellbeing!
Pillar 7: Sharing your message and 'brand'
You must be able to communicate - write well, represent who you are in the digital world, and build relationships.
Pillar 8: Your application or audition
You must hone the art of both of these things if you're going out for interviews or prepping for the audition circuit.
Pillar 9: Presenting and performing
You must practice the live experience of being on the spot. Over and over again. And, have strategies to get in the zone when you do take the stage.
Becoming skilled in these areas is key as you move forward in your music career, and you'll cycle through these layers, hopefully mastering more of each every time. Sure, you could google it all, but a) it could get overwhelming and b) it's kinda lonely.
Instead of late-night panic googling, second-guessing, or wondering whether you're on the right track, get a clear and comprehensive toolkit:
the Music360 holistic professional development blueprint.
You'll have:
- clear no-nonsense guidance in navigating practical career and business knowledge
- real-life mentors who can answer your questions no matter how "small"
- resources and templates that are all organized for you in a digital workbook
- more confidence in creating the pathways you want in your career
The 9-pillar blueprint is bundled in a collection of videos, written lessons, and live lessons.
It's good for any stage: if you're looking to guide your practice to the next level, take your next audition, build a studio or business, create a non-profit, do a single restaurant collab or community event, lead a music festival, or just get some clarity around your musical path -
it's an all-in-one playbook for you!
If you're an action-taker, ready with an idea and eager to build your platform, the first 50 participants are invited to join at half tuition:
| E- SCHOOL |
If you want learning, community and a (more) hands-off approach, join the Thrive membership which has been going strong since 2021!
| THRIVE |
We believe a path in music is not an unstable path where the odds are stacked against you, but instead a rich and incredible opportunity to share your skills & talents with the world in creative ways.
Cheering for you!
Ixi & Team 360
