On April 14,1975, Karen Ann Quinlan went out as someone in their early twenties did and does. She went too far though and passed out at the bar after drinking too much and taking too many tranquilizers. Her brain stopped functioning after she stopped breathing for at least two fifteen minute periods. All of the doctors confirmed she did not have any brain activity and that the breathing machine and feeding tube were the only things keeping her alive.
When the hospital would not remove the breathing tube as the family wished, the family sued the hospital. The family finally prevailed in a landmark legal case that went all the way to the New Jersey Supreme Court. Her breathing tube was removed but, miraculously, she continued to breathe on her own. In 1981, New Jersey broadened the right to refuse medical intervention to include the removal of feeding tubes. The Quinlan family decided not to do that to Karen and she lived on her own breath until June 11, 1985.
After the Quinlan case, many states and courts proscribed ways in which an individual can ensure that their wishes are maintained if they are not then able to let those wishes be known. The dawn of the Do Not Resuscitate and Health Care Proxy Statements many people now have for, heaven forbid, situations where your wishes need to be known but you are not able to express those wishes. If you do not make your wishes known, your next of kin does have a significant (and in some states absolute) right to determine your fate.
What does this have to do with your creative business? In as much as your potential client is interviewing you for their project, the opposite must also be true. Unless you want your fate determined by someone other than you, it is your obligation to let your wishes be known.
This means you have to be specific and intentional about your words and your requirements. Saying you need your client to have great taste and a healthy budget will just not cut it. You need to let them know what your real expectations of them will be and why it matters. Yes, you have to define success as you see it. For instance, requiring singular choice could be your touchstone. For some it might be ultimate trust — a quick meeting and then get out of the way. For others, it might be tremendous hand-holding. Truly, it is your vision that needs definition.
So the exercise is specific. Choose three to five words that describe what you need from your clients. No, not your ideal client and whatever that vision might be. First, no client is ideal and we are all many things. This is brass tacks work. What you need to make sure that you, your art and your creative business have the best chance for success. Something like, “our clients truly value making effective permanent decisions if they are given all they need to make those decisions. We strive to discover the single best choice to be made and appreciate those that can say yes or no to that single choice.” The word is “decisive”. Rinse and repeat three to five times.
Now with your “this makes you our client” list in hand, publicize it however you choose — whether in writing, on a video or other graphic medium. The entire point is that this is not anecdotal or up for debate. Like a DNR or Health Care Proxy, it is as specific as it gets and known to everyone.
Karen Ann Quinlan and her long and storied legacy should teach all of us that we can and should determine the course of our fate, whether we can speak for ourselves or not. Post-COVID, the intensity of the creative relationship has been redefined. It is up to all of us to make sure that those who truly care about you, your art and your creative business know why they care and can meet the expectations you have given.
The power of story is to hold and resolve tension as you and only you can imagine. Not only do you have to own the power of your role as storyteller both for your art and your business, you have to make sure that the client across from you is deeply invested in the story and willing to be an active participant with you.
Leave platitudes to amateurs and those who mistake the creative process as just another service. The process is a journey and you are the guide. Leading cannot be stolen or forced. It has to be earned and honored with integrity and singularity of purpose. There has to be an investment on both sides and you are the one who has to define the investments to be made and when. Pretty never was the goal and most certainly is not today. Transformative and remarkable work is all that matters for today and ever more. Five words to shape it all. What are yours?
