Chris Mitchell
Life, Career and Professional Development Coaching for Artists and Creatives

Feeling stuck or at a pivotal moment? Are you struggling to focus on your true priorities, determine your next steps or lacking confidence to take your creative practice, business or career to the next level or a new direction?  
 

I understand the creative mindset and appreciate that there are many ways to build a career and life as a creative professional.

My coaching practice is focused on supporting artists and creatives like you including: emerging, mid-career and established visual artists, makers, designers, writers, musicians, filmmakers, performers, entrepreneurs with arts-based businesses and leaders of cultural institutions and initiatives. Essentially, anyone who is dedicated professionally or personally to artistic expression, creation or production.

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Here's how I can help

As your coach, I work alongside you as a thought partner to facilitate your self-discovery, increase your confidence and refine your focus on what is most important in your life, your creative endeavours or directions.

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I can help you to:

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• Clarify your vision for your creative practice/career/business

• Set specific goals and develop and implement effective strategies to achieve them;

• Prioritize, focus and follow through to finish projects and achieve goals that matter to you;

• Increase your confidence

• Develop habits and mindset to support your creativity and success;

• Cultivate professional and personal relationships that support your endeavours;

• Understand and push past creative blocks and fears that stand in the way of your ambitions;

• Build a more sustainable, fulfilling creative career and balanced life;

• Figure out what’s next and go for it!

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Coaching with me is a creative and collaborative process! Every coaching relationship and session is uniquely created based on your needs and your desired outcome. Whatever your challenge, barrier or aspiration I’ll work with you to gain clarity, overcome hurdles and achieve your goals.

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I empower you to grow your creative practice, arts-based business or career from the inside out and build a more sustainable and fulfilling life as creative professional. 

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I work collaboratively with you to build our relationship based on trust, candour and action planning and ask questions to help you to identify blocks, challenges and opportunities in your life. Our coaching conversations are focused, thought-provoking and structured to support you to determine plans and take the actions that you decide are right for you.  My job is to support you to make better decisions and be stronger in your professional and personal relationships, provide a neutral ear, champion you and build in accountability to keep you on track to move forward toward your goals. I feel fulfilled when I see my clients are acquiring self-awareness and building confidence and strategies that will serve them far beyond our coaching relationship. My goal is for each of my clients to develop their creative practice, business or career in ways that make them happier and feeling more fulfilled.

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I coach virtually via phone, Zoom or in person. I am based in Toronto, Canada and work with clients across Canada, the U.S.A and globally.

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I am a creative myself and I truly have a special passion for working with creative people!

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My professional experience has evolved over three decades of working in leadership positions in small design and arts based businesses and non-profit arts organizations. I've dedicated my career to working side-by-side with artists and creatives to support them to strategize direction, realize creative visions, produce artistic programming, design products, negotiate collaborations and partnerships and implement business plans. Over the course of my career, I have collaborated with and mentored other creatives to achieve hundreds of creative and  entrepreneurial initiatives.

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Because of my own personal and professional background and experience,

I understand the creative mindset and the context, challenges and possibilities of building a sustainable and fulfilling career and life as a creative professional. I've lived those moments when I've had to figure out what's next for myself or respond to bumps and curves and sometimes create my own opportunities along the way. My own experiences as a creative professional and working with artists and creative entrepreneurs prior to becoming a coach is in fact what lead me to pursue coaching artists and creatives at a professional level. 

I am an Internationally Accredited Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) through the Co-active Training Institute® and a member of ICF Toronto.