Closing the gap between talent and ownership
Our mission
Biz Savvy Artist™ exists to close the gap between creative talent and business ownership. We give independent creative entrepreneurs what art school and open mics never do: a real business education, built by people who understand the creative economy from the inside.
Our mission is to EQUIP x EMPOWER our creative community with the resources to start and grow sustainable businesses.
Most events stop at inspiration. We continue into implementation.
The problem
Artists are taught to chase inspiration — rarely how to run a business. The result: talented creatives leave money, ownership, and opportunity on the table every year.
Artists are 3.6x more likely to be self-employed than the average U.S. worker — 34.1% vs. 9.4%. (NEA)
Most learn the business side the hard way. In one 2022 regional survey of Charlotte, NC creatives, 79% said trial and error — not training — taught them how to run their business. (UNC Charlotte Urban Institute)
Biz Savvy Artist™ was built to change that, one artist at a time.
Who we are
Biz Savvy Artist™ is a year-round program built to turn creative talent into a real business — beyond inspiration and exposure, to ownership, execution, and sustainable income.
Here's the gap we're closing: artists pour everything into their craft, but most never get the guidance, accountability, or industry connections that turn that work into revenue. Biz Savvy Artist™ puts business training, mentorship, accountability, and a culminating showcase in one pipeline.
Biz Savvy Artist™ is a program of Entertainment Business Support, L.L.C. (EBS), a certified minority- and woman-owned firm founded in 2003 by Kim Fennell. BSAA operates under the fiscal sponsorship of Artportunity Knocks, Inc., a BIPOC-led 501(c)(3).
Kimberly Fennell
Founder of Biz Savvy Artist™ and of Entertainment Business Support, L.L.C. Bio coming soon.