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When I first read Margo’s Got Money Troubles, my immediate reaction was to send a copy to my best writer friend and say, “THIS! We need to do this!!!” Along with being an utterly entertaining piece of fiction, Rufi Thorpe’s novel is a brilliant roadmap for building a creative business. After all, if you have a goal of making money with your art, building a creative business is exactly what you are doing. And Margo’s Got Money Troubles details strategies and tips to overcome obstacles and avoid pitfalls of that process.
Here’s a quick summary of the book before we get started:
Margo Millet is a young community college student and waitress who has an affair with her English professor, gets pregnant and decides to keep the baby. Once the baby is born, two of the four roommates who share her apartment leave with little notice, she loses her job, and her father, an ex-pro wrestler shows up needing a place to live. Her response? Start an OnlyFans. This hilarious and heartwarming book takes us on the twists and turns of her life following this decision, including betrayal by friends and family, the discovery of an accepting love within found family, and what it means to take your own power as a woman, a sex worker, and a business owner.
Warning! This review contains spoilers.
Acknowledging The Dream You Must Pursue
We start off with Margo and her new baby, this precious child that she just couldn’t say no to. This baby symbolizes that dream that just won’t go away, that one thing that you would throw everything away to do. And make no mistake, Margo does throw everything away to have this baby. In a conversation with her mother, Shyanne, before the child is born, Margo asks her if the baby will wreck her life and she replies, “Yes, Noodle, it will ruin your life, for sure. But sometimes ruining your life is the only thing you want.”
Our need to express our creativity can sometimes take hold in a way that is impossible to refuse. I know that’s true for me. At multiple times along this path of entrepreneurship I’ve thought (and even said out loud), “Oh my GOD, what was I thinking? I have ruined our lives and wasted our savings on a fantasy!”
I mean, who among us hasn’t thought a version of this? But the follow-up expressed by Shyanne, “You ruined my life so pretty, Noodle,” is also true. Pursuing our dreams, running toward a goal that demands our attention, the chance to ruin your life for that beautiful thing? It’s a very pretty way to ruin your life.
And the truth is, you have to be willing to ruin your life because this goal or dream must be persistent enough to demand your dedication. Otherwise, the resilience needed to make the dream or goal a reality just doesn’t appear. It’s easy to go back to the waitressing job if it feels like a lateral move. But once you see the possibility of advancement, of making your life better in whatever way that means, then you will echo Margo’s thoughts when she says that returning to those old ways of being “feel like trying to run when you’re facing a wall.”
Selling Your Art
Now, a big part of what Margo has to deal with is the world’s view of her job as she decides to follow the OnlyFans path and become a sex worker. Maybe this is part of your path. No shame if that’s the case. I’m sex-positive. But here’s how I interpret this as a metaphor for everyone else.
First, let’s confront the idea of being a “slut.” Just like knowing that you are showing your body and that people are willing to pay to look at your body can make someone a slut in some folks’ eyes, a lot of artists feel like charging money for their art turns them into a whore.
So how do you approach that idea? Suzie, Margo’s one roommate who stayed, and Margo highlight this conundrum during a conversation about what makes a slut a “slut.” Margo ponders, “She’d had a similar thought before, which was that if sex wasn’t shameful and being paid wasn’t shameful, then why was it shameful to have sex for money? Or sell pictures of your boobs or whatever? Where was the shame coming from?”
The same can be said for art. If making art isn’t shameful and being paid isn’t shameful, why is it shameful to sell your art? It’s worth asking the question since there are many folks who really do believe this is true. The truth is that it’s as moral to sell your art as it is to give it away. It’s your choice. And if you choose to sell your art, then the only obstacle is in getting over what other people may call you or think about you.
After all, when Suzie finds out how much money Margo is making from her OnlyFans, she exclaims, “Holy shit, then who cares if you’re a slut? …I mean you get to stay home with the baby, you’re safe, you’re not having contact with these people. Four grand a month?! Fucking slut it up!”
Setting Up the Business Structure
If you are making money with your art, it’s time to listen to Margo’s dad, Jinx, the ex-pro wrestler, as he talks about setting up the business side of being an artist. He’s the one who helps her select a business structure, schedule quarterly tax payments and find a banking arrangement that works. And he’s the one who helps her hire the right lawyer when that time comes. If you have someone in your life who can help with this, FABULOUS! If not, you can do your own research to a point and when you hit the end of your resources, you’ll want to engage someone to help you figure out the right path. When clients get to this point, I will recommend purchasing an hour with an accountant, and often that one action will give you an actionable plan that will protect you and your assets.
Buddies & A Persona
So, what does it take to break through? How can Margo get the attention that she needs?
She needs buddies! Again, Jinx spouts the wisdom of the wrestling ring. Finding allies within your field can help you get more attention by elevating your profile, collaborating on projects, and sharing their wisdom so you can avoid breaking the unwritten rules that others have discovered before you. Margo’s allies help her gain thousands of followers and share wisdom like “no nudity on TikTok.” They collaborate with her to make videos that elevate her work. While there were points when I wished they would shut up and take responsibility for themselves, their almost-constructive criticism also pushed Margo to create work that elevated her art.
Plus, creating an online persona feels very relevant and useful for how business works at this time. Within our marketing, we are encouraged to “be authentic” as we make up this online version of ourselves. Described in the book as “turning yourself into a cartoon,” suddenly we see this persona who is you but is not you, a performance that is true but also fake, a choreographed version of yourself. This necessary step protects you online while still giving your fans and patrons a consistent version of who you are.
This isn’t to say you can’t change, but it’s important to know how people see you. This is another place where your allies help. For instance, in the scene where Jinx, Suzie, and Margo discuss her qualities, Margo discovers that, while she thinks of herself as goofy, Suzie actually sees her as a little scary. That helps Margo further develop her OnlyFans character into something a bit more frightening. People know who you are to them. To create the cartoon, consider getting others’ opinions and figure out how that can work in your favor.
Buddies who collaborate also help to sell this new version of you by being your opposite. “Are you the heel or the face?” as Jinx continues to say, meaning the good guy or the bad guy. There’s no moral stance here as you consider this. “A face needs a heel and a heel needs a face,” Margo remarks.
When Margo writes her new scarier description, these words encapsulate the character that she’s creating. By choosing to be a heel, she’s creating something unique and new, an alien that inhabits her body when she’s on the screen. “The moment I turned Ghost heel, I had almost fifteen ideas in less than twenty-four hours,” says Margo.
Consider, when you write out your description or bio, what character are you taking on? What persona do you want to put forward? How can choosing something that seems negative or the opposite of you actually open the floodgates of your creativity?
This review only hit the high points of this brilliant novel. Other lessons included dealing with legal issues, how to handle direct fan interaction, and how to create unique offerings. The best part of Margo’s Got Money Troubles is how we get pulled into the story. My favorite way to learn anything is by reading a novel!
So what did you think? Which strategies inspired you? What lessons resonated? Leave a comment and let’s chat about it!
Haven’t started the book yet? Pick up a copy of Margo’s Got Money Troubles at your local library, favorite indie bookshop or online!
Our next Book for Thriving Creatives is The Nine Modern Day Muses and a Bodyguard: 10 Guides to Creative Inspiration, Fourth Edition by Jill Badonsky. This book introduces you to ten powerful creativity principles in the guise of wise and witty Muses. Designed to bust through blocks that stand in the way of creative fulfillment in all aspects of your life, these playful guides help you move through procrastination, overwhelm, perfectionism, self-sabotage, and lack of focus to the joy of the creative process and its validation of your unique spirit. Plus, this is the style of creativity coaching I practice so it's a great way to test the waters!
Grab a copy at your local bookshop, at the library, or online and join us to read Nine Modern Day Muses and a Bodyguard!
Have a dream that feels out of reach? Stuck in limbo? Maybe you want to create something but you don’t know where to start. Or perhaps you just want to connect to your creative side again.
I’m LA (as in tra-la-la) Bourgeois, a writer, KMCC-certified creativity coach, and end-of-life doula empowering you to think differently and unlock your creativity to do whatever you want to do.
Together, we overcome obstacles, disarm fear and overwhelm, and free you from perfectionism and procrastination. Whether you’re looking to deepen your relationship with your patrons, create your bucket-list project, or ignite your passion for creativity again, we can confront your obstacles together.
Click here to explore coaching options or contact me at la@labourgeois.biz to ask questions and schedule an exploratory call.