I’ve wrestled with this question for years. I want to make art for art’s sake, but I also want to be compensated for the value my art brings. That tension—between creating from a deep, personal place and needing to make a living—is the weight many of us carry. The holy grail, the dream, is to make a living from what we love, not just around it.
Amelia Hruby’s latest episode lays out the tension beautifully: business moves outside-in, identifying needs and creating to fill them; art moves inside-out, starting from personal expression and sending it into the world. And those circles, those opposing flows, create friction when we try to do both. The system makes it even harder, treating us as resources to be bought and sold, demanding time, energy, and soul in exchange for survival.

But here’s where the real insight lands: maybe this whole dichotomy is a lie. Maybe instead of asking which one am I?, we ask how do I integrate both? Maybe instead of framing this as a battle between business and art, we look at the deeper rhythm beneath both—service. As Hruby puts it, the question isn’t “Am I an artist or a business owner?” but rather, “How can I be in service through my work?”
That hit me. Hard. Because service isn’t about self-sacrifice—it’s about reciprocity. It’s about being in the flow, exchanging energy, making something that matters. And maybe when we see art and business as part of the same current, the weight of trying to be both lifts. We stop resenting the system, stop fearing the compromise, and instead start shaping our own practice—one that sustains both our art and our life.
I don’t have a five-step answer. But I do have this: I am not just an artist or a business owner. I am a Secret Third Thing.
The Secret Third Thing is fluid. It’s a shape-shifter, an integration, a practice rather than a fixed identity. It refuses to be pinned down by the false binary of artist vs. business owner because it recognises that both are just strategies, not identities. The Secret Third Thing is about alignment—a way of moving through the world where art and commerce aren’t opposing forces but elements of the same ecosystem.
For some, the Secret Third Thing looks like a business that feels like art—a creative practice that’s deeply intentional, structured not around extraction but around meaning and connection. It’s a writer who builds a newsletter where readers don’t just consume but engage, co-creating the space. It’s a musician who refuses the traditional industry model but thrives through direct support from their audience. It’s the podcaster who treats each episode as a ritual, a gift, and a transaction of energy all at once.
For others, the Secret Third Thing looks like an art practice that knows its worth—not in the starving artist sense, not in the hustle sense, but in the way that acknowledges art as labor, as something that deserves compensation without compromising its soul. It’s the poet who sells limited edition broadsides. The painter who swaps their work for what they need. The creator who understands that making a living from art doesn’t mean selling out—it means honouring the exchange of value.
The Secret Third Thing is a refusal to play by rules that were never meant for us. It’s a recognition that business can be sacred, that art can be sustainable, and that service is at the heart of both. It’s about redefining success, not in numbers but in impact. It’s about creating systems that nourish rather than drain.
For me, the Secret Third Thing is still revealing itself. But I know it’s something that makes space for both my wildest creative impulses and my desire for sustainability. It’s something that feels right. It’s a path, not a label. A practice, not a trap.
And you? What does your Secret Third Thing look like?
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I have been fortunate to have paid employment – jumping on the little black train when I was 22.
Developing a passion then making it your livelihood adds value to society in many ways because you are more self aware and tend to work in cohesive communities. This realisation came to me with time and so I like to make connections with various artists in doing so I discover more.
Believe it or not even in the corporate world this can ring true. My boss recently asked me for suggestions as to where the business could innovate and grow. The answer somewhere within. But rather than jump straight in a read carefully the mission statement and core values. I reflected on the culture of the company. So my ideas were given so that the company remains true to its principles.
As with every idea, there was also piece of me and my values.
I’ve always been like Morpheus from The Matrix movie trying to free minds. Even in the army and also during my whole corporate career. And even now as a freelaance trainer, i continue to try to free the minds that are ready for it.