Re-imagining 'Niche-ing' for Those Who Don't Want to Niche!

If you’ve found ‘picking your niche’ hard then this is for you. This blog is also dedicated to my past self who used to mentally-gnaw over the fear of confusing clients with my multiple offers and shy away from picking one thing, the wrong thing, and never make it.

That was until I stumbled across the term...Multipotentialite.

The term ‘Multipotentialite’ emerged from Emilie Wapnick who voiced that not all of us have one calling. In fact, a 'Multipotentialite' is someone who has many interests and creative pursuits - *sigh* my feelings and journey finally make sense - but they may often find it hard to 'fit in' to an expert-valuing society. Here, she described that we often want to do a 'ton of different things' but 'feel completely paralyzed by the idea of choosing JUST ONE' - erm, hello, that's me! Which is ok! Because having multiple skills and interests actually makes us an incredibly valuable addition to any team - despite what people assume about jack-of-all-trades being the masters of none.

Having my experience validated by Emilie, as well as by Emma Gannon in her book 'The Multi-hyphen Method' who noted that our careers are safer spread across various skills, took the edge off life and business. It also made me see 'picking my niche' differently. Re-imagining finding your niche.

Finding a niche helps separate you from the crowd. It gives you a lane to swim in, to stay in, but what if you want to occasionally dip a toe into other waters?

To follow your curiosity, as shared by Jake from CreativeHackers is to not conform to what society expects you to do but to, instead, pursue those interests unapologetically in a way that's palatable for others. Introducing... skill stacking.

Skill stacking is where we pin our skills together in a way that forms an impactful persona. Take David Bowie, he experimented over many years before he found his thing. And 'thing' is what I'd call it because it wasn't a lane - or a particular product. He sold an energy, a way of living. He was just... him.

Image from Creative Hackers by Jake - see full blog here.

Which is funny... because the more I accepted not having a niche the closer I came to finding one. In fact, I found, that my niche isn't a niche at all. It's a belief. A value. A way of looking at things. A dream. Which all stem from me.

So, maybe a niche doesn't have to be a service or a product. Instead, we can choose to lean so confidently into our individuality we become our niche. And, let's face it, if someone wants to work with you then they'll work with you. I, for example, have messaged asking people about whether they offer website design, copywriting, photography, on the off chance they do, JUST because I want to work with them. And people will want to work with you too.

So... what is my niche then?

I'm the Creativity Director.

A Creative Director, Creator, and Mindset Mentor smooshed into one to help replenish the creativity of marketing teams and steer the creativity of brands. I coined this title after not finding a job out there that fit what I wanted to do. I wanted a multi-hyphenate role that enabled me to create when I wanted to create, emotionally support when I wanted to support, and direct brands looking for, well, creative direction. This role, although not offering me the same amount of money (yet) that I was on before does offer me all that I found to be missing from employment. Purpose. And Creativity.

But, I'll be honest, the answer didn't happen overnight. I had to:

✅ Have multiple conversations about my offering.

✅ Re-invent my title over and over until it fits like a jigsaw piece.

✅ Read multiple blogs around niche-ing.

✅ Sit with multiple business and life coaches.

✅ Accept I wasn't like everyone else.

✅ Sit comfortably in a role, that I made, which didn't conform. Ah.

Although the above doesn't mean I don't still struggle with my niche. I still dread the 'what do you do' question because people expect a one-line response and I don't like fitting myself into one line. So, I opt for variations of what I do depending on who I talk to but, watch this space, my confidence will continue to grow and, before you know it, everyone will know exactly what a Creativity Director is.

✨✨ Right then, I'll leave you with this. ✨✨

Find your niche by first finding you.

Explore the depths of your past, present and desired future. Discover the string (or strings) that hold everything together and use them to package yourself up, for you first, and them second. Put your values, interests, and dreams before anyone else's and the right people will follow. My strings are empathy, difference, and creativity - can I add fun too - because life is too short to try and be one thing when there is far too much to experience.

P.s - This last bit was aptly written to 'This is me' from the Greatest Showman.

Now, go have a good day.

With or without a niche.