Making Money Meaningful is designed specifically for creative freelancers and micro-businesses to support greater financial clarity and confidence.
All of our courses are:
- Structured online learning programmes focused on real-world money
- Built for complexity, multiple income streams, and creative ways of working
- Designed for creatives 3+ years into business who are serious about sustainability
We break down the financial side of creative work in a way that feels grounded, useful, and empowering, helping you feel in control of your finances and focused on what matters most.
Creative businesses stand out for three key reasons.
They tend to be:
- Small in scale
- Complex and multi-layered
- Motivated by more than money
And most business advice isn’t built for that reality.
That’s why we created Making Money Meaningful.
Our courses are for you if you are:
- A creative freelancer or run a small creative business.
- Have been going for at least three years.
- Are serious about building a financially sustainable business on your own terms
And you:
- Feel on the back foot when it comes to managing the money
- Work all the hours but never seem to have enough cash
- Are doing “OK” financially, but know it could be better
- Wear many hats, juggle lots of projects and struggle to decide what to focus on next
- Aren’t sure which parts of your business actually make money
- Want to take your business to the next level — whatever that means for you
- Have never quite found time to think properly about the future
Edition 1 is tailored for designer-makers, photographers and visual artists.
What you'll gain
Understand how your business really works financially so that decisions are based on reality, not guesswork.
See what’s working (and what’s not) so that your time and energy go where they matter most.
Make sense of creative complexity easily so that multiple income streams feel manageable, not messy.
Build financial literacy and confidence so that money feels clearer, calmer and more in your control.
Apply tools needed to improve cash flow and profitability so that your business becomes more sustainable over time.
Create flexible plans that support your life so that your business sustains the way you want to live.
“By far and away the most relatable and relevant business training I have ever had.”
– Making Money Meaningful for Creatives, Live Programme Participant
100% of participants who shared feedback would recommend the programme to other creatives.
A Year to Change Your Life
Making Money Meaningful is a structured year of learning, reflection and practical work designed to support meaningful change in how you understand and manage money.
Slow enough to reflect.
Structured enough to create lasting change.
Every course format includes three key components:
Business and financial modelling, bite-sized content that's tailored to the realities of creative life, with practical and reflective tasks throughout.
PDF worksheets and Excel spreadsheets to help with all things business and finance from costing and pricing, to mapping assets and forecasting cashflow.
To support your online learning journey, you'll receive a physical card pack in the post to help you develop and design your business model.
What to expect:
- Practical and reflective tasks to apply your learning to your unique business throughout.
- Designed as one session per week (with breaks!) with time to apply learning to your own business.
- Content in text and image format with explainer videos to illustrate key concepts.
Available in three formats:
Best for independent learners
£299 upfront free
- 9 Modules / 44 lessons of core content
- 11 downloadable resources
- 3 explainer videos
- 2 sets of Business Modelling Cards
Immediate access to introductory content and lessons, with access to all course content after 15 days, available for 12 months, so that you have the freedom to work through the course at your own pace.
Available now.
Best for creatives who value community interaction and peer support
£60 per month for 12 months (total £720) or £595 upfront
Self-paced / Solo package plus:
- 30+ animations of core concepts
- Access to online community forum
- Regular email accountability prompts to help you keep on track
- Content is released weekly over 40 weeks, guiding you through the work step by step and giving you time to apply what you learn as you go.
Launching soon.
Best for creatives who desire deeper peer support and live group coaching
£90 per month for 12 months (total £1,080) or £955 up front
Guided Community package plus:
- 9 Q&A engagements with course leaders (one per section)
- 9 live online facilitated peer group sessions with course leaders (one per section)
- 25+ explainer videos with worked examples of financial calculations
- Content is released in timed regular bite-sized sessions, guiding you through the work step by step and giving you time to apply what you learn as you go.
Launching January 2027.
What this programme can’t do:
- Promise specific financial results. Outcomes will vary depending on your business, circumstances, and how you apply the work.
- Replace professional advice tailored to your situation. This includes accounting, tax, or legal advice.
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Offer a get-rich-quick scheme or one-size-fits-all formula. The goal is building understanding so you can make informed choices for your own business.
Hi, we're Ellen O'Hara and Gill Thewlis
For the last decade, we’ve successfully grown our own micro creative businesses, giving us first-hand insight into the challenges and opportunities that come with running a small creative enterprise.
This course brings together key insights and learning from over 25 years each of working with creative businesses.
It’s here to help you design and create a business model that works for you, your creativity, and your life, not someone else’s idea of success.
We’re on a mission to help creative and purpose-led people and organisations to become better businesses. We want to make money meaningful for creatives so that you can do more of what you do best – create – whilst building financially viable businesses that thrive and give you a meaningful life.
We don’t just teach it, we live it.
How to get in touch
If you need to get in touch, please contact us by email only.
This is the sole channel we use for customer enquiries, allowing us to keep track of requests and respond as efficiently as possible.
Send your query to customerservice@making-money-meaningful.com and a member of our team will get back to you as soon as we can.
We appreciate your patience and look forward to assisting you.