Cathy Heller is so much more than the host of popular podcast 'Don't Keep Your Day Job.' She is a singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, mother—and now, an author. Determined to lift others up to the "happiest versions of themselves," this queen of the hyphenated job title, leads by example.  She sat down to share what her day-to-day looks like, as well as how to build a fulfilling career in a creative field. 

On Her Morning Routine

Working from home means things can vary from day-to-day, but my morning might look like:

5:00-5:30 am - Wake up (usually it's more like a leap out of bed because I'm excited to start the day.) Full disclosure, sometimes I wake up as early as 4 am if I have a lot on my mind. Once I wake up, I try to sneak in a quick meditation, even if it's as short as 10 minutes. Then I get dressed so I'm not in my PJs all day.

6:00 / 6:30 am - I try to get a head start on work before my girls wake up, but sometimes I end up doing work on my phone in one hand while getting my three girls ready for school with the other.

This early morning work can vary a ton. It could look like emails back and forth with my music team about our courses, artists whose music we’re licensing, or corresponding with my podcast producer, but it can also look like giving notes, brainstorming content, developing email copy to send to our audience that keeps them updated on our latest announcements (new episodes, pre-order my book!) I also get to research guests that I’m interviewing that day, and go over my Instagram. With the book coming out, my morning's have also been dedicated to communicating with my publisher about updates on my book, seeing what projects are in the pipeline and what action steps we can take to move those forward.

8:00 am - Brew some coffee and grab something to eat that's hopefully somewhat healthy for my body. If I’m lucky it’s like a smoothie or piece of fruit, but honestly a lot of times it’s like a handful of whatever cereal is in the cupboard.

8:45 am - Send my girls off to school.

9:00 am - The house is all mine so time to get down to work! Usually, there’s an interview or coaching session scheduled or a phone meeting. I give myself about 1-2 hours to work on one task at a time. It helps to have a set time frame because that puts on the pressure to get it done, without the pressure of doing it perfectly. I never strive for perfection when I’m in creation mode. It’s hard to shut off that critical part of the brain, but I tell myself “Just make it the best you can, and move onto the next thing. There will always be time to come back to it and edit.” It’s such a relief when you let yourself make the mediocre version first.

On Starting a Podcast

I never envisioned that I would have a podcast - not to mention a successful one! I had been teaching online courses about music licensing and my friend Amy Loftus was in the course. She said, “You have a message that’s so inspiring. Why don’t you start a podcast? I know someone who works in that industry who could probably give you some advice.” She introduced me to the team who helped me get clarity on the vision for the show and its message. We started recording episodes in November 2016, launched in January 2017, and Apple Podcasts generously featured us within the first couple weeks of our debut. We hit #2 on the Business charts and #18 in all the podcasts! It’s been an insanely wild ride ever since. I’ve gotten so many awesome nuggets of wisdom from my idols like Seth Godin, Jen Sincero, Jenna Fischer, Martha Beck, Danielle LaPorte. But most of all, this podcast has given me immense clarity on what I’m meant to do in this world—helping an amazing community of entrepreneurs and artists give themselves permission to find their purpose and then also providing them with the tools to turn that calling into a living.

On Making the Leap From Singer-Songwriter to Entrepreneur

Billboard Magazine featured me and when that was published, I was expecting music supervisors to call me. Instead, indie artists started contacting me to ask for advice, and then asking if I could help them get their music licensed. There was a little voice inside that said, “Are you kidding? You’ll be such a sellout if you open a licensing agency.” But luckily the louder voice told me, “Imagine all the talented people you could help, the music that would uplift other souls, and the lives that would be impacted if you let go of that artist ego and let this become a business.” So I said why not, and began Catch the Moon Music. The business grew even more when I started teaching online courses on how to license music. That’s how I met Amy (who I mentioned before), which led to the podcast. I still have to pinch myself to make sure this is all real.