13. Establishing a Business and Being a Change Agent in the Arts and Culture Sector with Alison McNeil

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Alison McNeil discusses how she hopes to increase accessibility to the arts and culture through her company McNeil Creative Enterprises, LLC (MCE). In this episode, we talk about how her start in dance and her focus on research, evaluation, and assessment while in school led her to become a champion for the arts.

We also discuss the power of connection, how to create strategic goals, how to work with a mentor, and how to choose the right accountant.

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• Alison is a strategist who works with arts and cultural organizations.
• She is a trained African and jazz dancer and has also taught dance.
• In school, she mainly focused on research, evaluation, and assessment.
• She has served on several dance-related boards, such as Step Afrika, and on dance grant panels.
• She breaks down what research, evaluation, and assessment mean, but says that, in general, they are used to determine impact.
• Looking at what you’re currently doing, what you’d like to do, and how to use your insights from what you’re doing in the field to grow your program – Alison
• She started MCE in 2016 after working on several side projects for the last couple of years.
• At its roots, MCE is committed to the sustainable growth and increased visibility of arts and culture in communities.
• To help her establish the MCE brand, she asked herself three questions:
  1. What do I want to do?
  2. How do I want to describe it?
  3. Why do I want to do it?
• She wants MCE to commit to being a change agent that helps organizations change the way they operate.
• TIP: In the entrepreneurship world, this notion of relationship building often gets you the projects you end up working on.
• Worked with a great graphic designer who was almost like a consultant and helped her work through her content.
• She wanted her site to be warm, engaging, professional, and relatable. That helped guide the color scheme and picture choices.
• She teaches online strategy courses geared towards art and culture leaders, covering positioning and impact management.
• She set three-year strategic goals for her business in finance, professional development, and impact.
• Through SCORE, she found a mentor who regularly holds her accountable.
• She talks about hiring an accountant and choosing the right one.
• There is power in writing down what you envision – Alison
• We discuss the power of connection and how that leads to opportunity.
• Dance is expression and music is breathing – AlisonSaveSave

LINK LOVE:

• SCORE Mentoring Program

ALISON MCNEIL

Website: mcearts.com
Instagram: @mcearts
Twitter: @mcearts
LinkedIn: alisonmcneil
Facebook: alisonmcneil

WHERE’S NACHÉ

Website: nachesnow.com
Instagram: @nachesnow
Twitter: @nachesnow
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