Local freelance content and copywriter Carrie McConkey of Carrie M. Creative was recently interviewed on a podcast tailored toward mid-career small business owners in creative fields. Cohosts Pat Dobie and James Buchanan spoke with McConkey about her upcoming faith based nonfiction book about coping with entrepreneurial anxiety.

Dobie and Buchanan created Gifted Underachievers: The podcast for midlevel creatives with delusional ambitions to explore the complex highs and lows of “making art that makes money.” Dobie, based in Vancouver, B.C., is a developmental editor, editing instructor and award winning novelist. New-Hampshire-based Buchanan is an award-winning ghostwriter, developmental editor and screenwriter.

In each episode, the pair discuss a variety of topics including “The Sandwich Generation and Creative Work,” “Is Creativity a Business?” and “Why Being a Midlevel Creative is Something to Celebrate.” The podcast currently has listeners in 32 countries.

McConkey’s book-in-progress about entrepreneurial anxiety fits the podcast’s mission of supporting creative business owners. “As our listeners know, being a mid-career creative is an inherently tenuous situation—you are creating a job from thin air,” said Dobie. “Carrie’s book is relevant to our audience because managing our mental health is an important part of being able to keep our businesses strong.”

McConkey, a fan of Gifted Underachievers, was honored to represent Knoxville in this way. “It was a chance to speak for those of us who make up much of the fabric of our ‘Maker City,’” said the local writer. “My book has been inspired by so many of my fellow Knoxville entrepreneurs.”