We've all heard that one of the smartest things you can do to improve your tax situation is operate a home based business. Whether it's a side hustle or full time, if the goal is to make money, it's a business, and it can benefit you. The tax code was written to benefit businesses, but you've got to know how to take advantage of those rules and loopholes. Sometimes the "left brain" rules and details of taxes and business strategies don't translate well into the more "right brain" language of creatives. Even if you've found a tax preparer you like, that person or software rarely understands the ins and outs of your specific business. I will lean on my experience in working with DJs, creatives, and small businesses for the last 25 years to translate these ideas into plain English for you. You'll leave the workshop with tools you can immediately put to work in your own life and business to feel more empowered, less overwhelmed, and in a better tax situation overall for 2023 and beyond.


Sarah Covell (@missVELL on twitch) has spent the last 25 years in the music and creative spaces, and the last 20 years as an attorney immersed in all things small business and taxes. It only made sense to combine these two loves, especially when she discovered a gift for translating legalese and tax code into language "for the rest of us" in a nonjudgmental manner. The first decade of her tax career was spent in resolving tax problems with IRS, state, or local collections, and then she shifted to a more proactive stance in educating people in the best ways to manage their businesses and taxes so that they would never need a resolution specialist. She streams "Nerdy but Necessary" tax and business tips on Twitch, and is in a constant search for topics that will answer questions, no matter how specific or broad, so that as many as possible can feel more certainty about how to make the best decisions for themselves and their businesses.