Answering “What Do You Do?” When You Do It All

The elusive art of introducing yourself and your work as a multi-passionate creative.

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Welcome (or welcome back!) to Multifaceted, a weekly newsletter about finding delight and direction in a creative life made up of many different interests.

“So, what do you do?”

Oof. How can you possibly capture a hundred creative passions in a single sentence? 

This tidy little icebreaker could very well be one of the toughest questions to answer if any of the following apply:

• You have a habit of stepping away from creative activities and picking them back up later. 

• You have a big dream in the works but it doesn’t feel official yet. 

• You’re shifting your focus from one project or discipline to another.

What if all of those apply at the same time? 

Well, then you and I have something in common – I’ve been there more than a few times in the past.

I’ve always had a pretty hard time introducing myself and what I do to other people. More often than not, I’d default to my job title and gloss over the passion projects that held an even more important spot in my creative life.

But then I’d always feel a little crummy after the fact, after realizing I’d missed out on a potential point of connection.

It’s one thing to make sense of your creative trajectory for your own benefit. It’s another to come up with a quick intro you can use to introduce yourself to strangers. 

It doesn’t matter how close you are to injecting some logic into the mix of creative things you do or have done in the past. Before you’re ready, there’ll come a time when you have to face that dreaded step of putting it all into words.

The good news is that you’re in control of how you articulate your creative journey. You can choose general labels and go into more detail later, or get super granular about what you do and why. 

Here’s some food for thought:

Know your audiences

Creative labels and identifiers have two main audiences: 

1. You 

2. Everyone else

Think about who you’re trying to connect with, and why. 

Are you searching for clarity and direction? It might be time to work out how you label yourself and your work for your own benefit. 

Or is this next chapter all about finding work and other creative opportunities? Think about picking titles that will immediately make sense to the people who could connect you with those gigs.

Maybe you’re at the point of trying to take yourself more seriously, so others will take you seriously, too. There might be more steps involved beyond choosing a catchy label. 

For example, what if you want to get out there and say, “I'm a sci-fi author” – but you don’t have a consistent writing practice, much less a book to speak of? Time to roll up your sleeves and start writing. In time, you’ll come to embody that role.

Adopt a multi-hyphen identity or slash title 

A hyphen title or slash title is a label that functions as a quick list of the different areas you work across. Something like musician-podcaster-educator or printmaker/cook/yogi. It can incorporate everything from your day job to your side hustle and hobbies. 

A double- or triple-barrelled label can pack a punch, covering several creative facets in one go. But it might feel a little dense without context. 

To add some breathing room, turn your slash title into a quick sentence or two. For instance: “I’m a printmaker by training and a passionate home cook – but I spend most of my time leading classes as a yoga instructor.”

Emphasize your style, purpose, or process

Instead of rattling off the actual things you do or create, consider explaining the common threads across everything you do. This might involve expressing:

• Your unique creative style and point of view 

• A mission underpinning your work 

• The problem you solve through various creative channels

Let’s say your hobbies and professional work include home DIYs, event planning, and recruiting. Maybe you could say you’re all about helping bring people together.

Be honest

No matter where you’re at in your creative journey, don’t undersell yourself. Even if you’re not actually selling, introducing yourself with an air of false modesty won’t get you very far.

Say you start chatting with someone at an art show and they tell you, “No, no, I’m not an artist like these artists. I just like to dabble.” You later find out they have a studio and sell their work in top-tier galleries – and they’ve been at it on and off for 15 years. 

Wouldn’t you feel a little weird about the whole interaction? 

False modesty might be a way of shying away from telling a full story you’re not in the mood to divulge. But being disingenuous can make it harder to earn trust and establish meaningful connections.

So, it’s worth it to take a little time prepping an intro that’s easy and truthful to share.

Remember, it’s an ongoing journey

Maybe you prefer talking about where you are right now along your creative path. Or it might feel more authentic to start at the beginning and rattle off a few stepping stones that got you to where you are today.

Either way, consider your titles or labels as fluid parts of your expression. Your passions and priorities might shift, and then you’ll need new ways to introduce yourself. 

Or you might lose a beloved job or pause a major project. What then? Those old labels won’t serve you anymore.

Try not to get too attached to any one label. Go with the flow of your creativity and let nothing be static. 

Maybe skip the labels altogether 

Having a quick, easy way to introduce yourself and what you do can be really helpful, but it’s not always essential. Think of it more like a helpful tool for your creative toolkit. 

If you want to get yourself out there and start building a professional creative network, then sure, you’ll need some kind of elevator pitch. 

But if you’re having fun exploring and meeting folks at social events? Don’t sweat it.

You’re a multifaceted creative human. Maybe that’s all we need to know. 

The next time you’re asked to introduce yourself, experiment with any one of these approaches and see how it feels. And if you’re feeling particularly mysterious? Feel free to share the wise words of artist Ben Shahn: 

I believe that if it were left to artists to choose their own labels, most would choose none.

More from Multifaceted

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