ArtWitch Podcast: Permission to Thrive + Money Mindsets

In this episode artist and tax expert Hannah Cole joins ArtWitch host Zaneta to talk all about money.

Art Witch Podcast with Zaneta

Tax expert and artist Hannah Cole discusses all things money with Art Witch Podcast host Zaneta of Brooklyn, New York. They also talk about mindfulness in this nearly hour-long podcast interview. How did Hannah go from being an artist to also being a tax expert and running a membership program?

Hannah speaks about empowerment for creative people (especially for BIPOC people and women) and they talk about smashing the patriarchy. They discuss issues people have with earning and having money and how to change your attitude. What can you accomplish when you are not trying to run from money issues and fear of the IRS? Taking control of your money and finances will give you the time and space you need to thrive in your creative career. We can shift what we think we're allowed to access, and we can find permission to thrive in our art practices.

What action steps can we take to get control of our money and our taxes? Hear about how to take advantage of the new tax credits from the recent American Rescue Plan stimulus bill that freelancers need to know about. “Involuntary” home schooler parents need to take advantage of the family leave credits. What can you do as a freelancer to prepare for tax season? What is the brand new retroactive change to unemployment tax laws from the stimulus? What advice does Hannah have for people who haven’t filed their taxes yet?

Listen to the interview below! Check out all of Art Witch’s podcast episodes here. Sign up for the free March 30 Masterclass that Hannah mentions in the broadcast here.

Artist/Mother Podcast with Hannah Cole of Sunlight Tax

Interview with Kaylan Buteyn about Hannah’s art journey and financial tips for creative people

Hannah talks with Kaylan about when she started out as an artist, her life as an artist, and how her career progressed to a tax expert specializing in helping artists and other creative freelancers. She talks about her career in accounting and what experiences led to her decision to start her own company.

Other topics covered in this hour-long podcast are the factors involved in choosing a type of business and how getting your finances organized gives you more room for creative work.

Understanding where your money is going and getting your finances organized give you more head space, more time to spend on other things, a clearer vision for your practice. They discuss how women are taught differently about money than men and money shame and breaking down stereotypes. Hannah shares some empowering advice for anyone feeling down. Her mission is to help artists feel more organized and in control of their own money.

Hannah also covers the basics in bookkeeping and profitability to get your business moving forward and how to get into the habit of tracking your finances.

Hannah will be available via zoom on the Artist/Mother network for a live Q&A to answer any lingering questions you have on March 16th, 3:00pm ET.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

The Artist/Mother podcast is created and hosted by Kaylan Buteyn. You can see more of Kaylan’s work on her website or connect with her on Instagram @kaylanbuteyn

How Can Freelancers Benefit from New Tax Laws?

Hannah’s short interview on BPR Radio

Hannah Cole had an interview with Matt Peiken of Blue Ridge Public Radio in North Carolina last week. She discussed the new tax laws and some of the areas where artists and other freelancers can benefit from them, like sick and family leave credits.

Although she talked to Matt for about an hour, the broadcast only contained a short clip. You can listen to Hannah and read about the tax law changes in her discussion with Matt in the article on the BPR website.

If you missed the live Shuttered Venue Operators Grants webinar mentioned in the article, click here to sign up to get the replay video.

Radio Interview with Hannah

Bonnie Lykes of WPKN radio interviews tax expert and artist Hannah Cole

In January, Hannah appeared on WPKN radio in on the What’s Happening New Haven show for an interview with Bonnie Lykes.

Hannah’s half of the interview is geared towards artists who are shy of numbers and self promotion. Hannah offers tax and entrepreneurial insights specifically geared for creative types. She discusses many resources to guide working artists through the realm of income tax.

If you’re interested, the first half of the recording is with astrologer Matthew Kenney. He explains the planetary influences of the past year and reveals better ones for the year ahead.

The Insidious Role of Gender Bias in How Artists Grapple with Personal Finances

Our culture is quick to put down a woman who seeks money or power at the same time that it valorizes the men who do so.

When I met Dr. Katherine de Vos Devine at a business retreat we bonded immediately. Both I (an artist and tax expert) and de Vos Devine, an intellectual property expert, art historian, and lawyer who works with artists, counsel clients struggling with the same money issues. Though neither of us is a personal finance expert, we address personal finance issues as professionals who help artists manage their businesses. I see artists repeatedly making the same expensive mistakes that could be avoided with some basic knowledge of personal finance. Furthermore, de Vos Devine and I both encounter women artists who lack confidence due to the pressure of harmful art and gender myths about money.

To open up a conversation about these issues, de Vos Devine and I did some research on a new generation of personal finance books. We discussed the myth of an objective set of rules that a previous generation of (mostly male) writers perpetuated, the emotional power of money, and how personal finance education in the US has shifted to address the self-limiting beliefs of women. We also considered the parallels between the disempowering messages that artists receive about money and those that specifically women receive. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Hannah Cole: What made you dive into this type of personal finance research?

Katherine de Vos Devine: I had a very chaotic childhood, even though there was a lot of privilege. As an adult, I realized I knew nothing about personal finance. I was terrified of it, and I did not want my daughter to grow up feeling as disempowered as I did.

…read more…

This article first appeared on Hyperallergic on September 30, 2019.