E93: Behind the Scenes of the Profitable Artist Summit with Vanessa Stoilova in this Bonus Episode

In this bonus episode, host Delores Naskrent sits down with summit partner Vanessa Stoilova of Art Business with Ness to share a candid, behind‑the‑scenes look at the upcoming Profitable Artist Summit 2026. 

The pair laugh about the long nights, mountains of copywriting and last‑minute video recordings it takes to pull off a three‑day online event. 

They gush over the generosity of the speakers and how every session is packed with juicy, actionable advice. From licensing legends like CatCoq and KrissyMast to lettering star ShellyKim, pattern maven BonnieChristine and picture‑book illustrator NinaRycroft, this year’s lineup is star‑studded. Delores and Vanessa also preview the live workshops and interviews that will happen June 12–14 (think beginner and advanced Procreate classes with JenniferNichols, organisational tips from ColleenUnderwood and a Q&A with art agent MargauxTantau). Whether you’re a seasoned surface designer or just dreaming of turning your creativity into income, you’re invited to bring a sketchbook or iPad and join the fun.

Ready for a creative recharge? 

Grab your free ticket to the Profitable Artist Summit, tune in to this bonus episode and get inspired by our candid behind‑the‑scenes chat. 

Get your free ticket here: https://www.profitableartistsummit.com/

If this show brings you value, consider supporting us to help keep Creative Juggle Joy growing.

Transcript

Delores Naskrent: [00:00:00] Hi, everyone, and welcome back to the Creative Juggle Joy. I'm your host, Delores Naskrent, and today I'm joined by my wonderful summit partner in crime, Vanessa Stoilova from Art Business with Ness. And we thought today would be fun because the Profitable Artist Summit is getting so close. Oh my gosh.

Honestly, we've both been living and breathing- ... this thing for months. We're excited. Yes. We're tired. I'm a little bit over-caffeinated and slightly overwhelmed, but completely delighted all at the same time. People see the summit and they see those polished, beautiful pages that Vanessa designed, and the graphics and speaker line-up, and everything looks beautiful and organized.

But meantime, behind the scenes, oh my God. Behind the scenes- ... we've been coordinating and we've been recording our own sessions, which has been crazy, 'cause I've left mine to the last minute. We've been building pages, we've been writing copy, we've been [00:01:00] organizing speakers, checking files, and somehow still running our own businesses, can you believe it, at the same time.

And yet every other presentation that's come in, every single one you and I have talked about, looked at, are so good. 

Vanessa Stoilova: Oh, there is so much good stuff. Every time a new presentation came in, I have to compress them and upload them to the platform, and I just sneak a peek and write notes on my own because they're so good.

And I was just so blown away by how generous all of the speakers were. We've asked them for two presentations, and we told them, "You know, it's okay if they're short because there's two of them." But they gave us some good, chunky, valuable- Yeah ... presentations. I can't believe how amazing they all were.

Delores Naskrent: Super juicy. It's so much stuff to look at, so much information. And, like, I've been in business for a long time, you've been in business for a long time. It's not like we know everything, we [00:02:00] know our thing, and what's so great is just connecting with all of these other people like us who are in the business, younger, older, doing all kinds of different stuff than what we do.

And then- Yeah ... getting their point of view, and also getting to know them. Like, isn't that just the coolest thing, getting to know these people? I've been- Oh, yeah ... finding... just been finding so much motivation in... Even if it's something I do know, but if I hear it by, by somebody else, somebody else's opinions and how they've done things, I'm like, "Ah-" Why didn't I think of that?

Vanessa Stoilova: Absolutely. Everyone has their own little tricks. Even with, you know, things that I specialize in, like licensing, when I'm listening to Cat Coque at the summit or when I'm listening to Chrissy Mast, licensing queen, and they have such nuggets of wisdom. That I'm like, "Oh my God, that's so good.

Why didn't I think of that?" The- everyone is going at [00:03:00] these- art businesses their own way because there's no one manual. We can all try things and see if it works, and everyone's businesses are different. But we're also bringing in some people who have maybe a business that you haven't tried before.

We have Shelly Kim, who is doing lettering. We have- Yeah ... Nina Rycroft, who's doing picture books. so lots of different people who are gonna talk about many different things. It's a really varied summit, so just so excited. 

Delores Naskrent: I know. Every time I look at it, think of this lineup and I'm like, "Wait, how are all these people here?"

 you said, how generous for them to be joining us. And we thought last year's summit was really fantastic, and here we have these other people coming in now. Yeah. Some people from last year, but a bunch of new people, too. And you know, when we were reaching out, I felt really like, "Oh my God, they're never gonna say yes.

They're never gonna say yes." And then when they said [00:04:00] yes, like you and I were just like, "Yay," celebrating. 

Vanessa Stoilova: Yes ... was so star- starstruck- ... just emailing these people like, "Hi, hope I'm not bothering you," and but because the summit is so much organization, the fact that we're taking that on, many people are just happy.

You know, build it and they will come. And so- Yeah ... all of these... And can we say some names of the new- Yes ... speakers? Okay. So this year we have Liz Kohler Brown joining for the first time. I said before Shelly Kim, huge name in lettering. She's joining us as well. We have Bonnie Christine coming, and Bonnie Christine is going to do a full overview of her new pattern collection membership that she has.

she's running through all four of her categories, right? In, in her membership she's doing week one, week two, week three, week four every month of making a pattern collection together, and she's going to be running through every single one of those four [00:05:00] components. So she's giving us like the whole thing.

That's so exciting. We have Jen Nichols coming- Oh, I'm so happy ... and she's going to do some- So 

Delores Naskrent: happy 

Vanessa Stoilova: she's 

Delores Naskrent: coming ... 

Vanessa Stoilova: live workshops that she's doing even. She, Live workshops from Jen Nichols. I'm just so starstruck. 

Delores Naskrent: Me too. 

Vanessa Stoilova: who else? We have Nicole Maloney coming from iPad Calligraphy. I wanna learn some new calligraphy things.

we have Clare from Clare Makes Things. Yes. Such a beautiful art style. I love her. Yes, I do ... we have Mandy from Amanda Grace Designs. She 

Delores Naskrent: was late signing up. I'm so excited that we got her. Like, it was right to the last minute with her, and I am so pumped about her sessions. She is recording as we speak.

Like, literally she's recording right now for this. 

Vanessa Stoilova: Yes. There was, like, a little miscommunication, and at the end she was like, "No, no, no, I do wanna join," And joined in last minute. So she's [00:06:00] really... You know, she's a G. Can 

Delores Naskrent: you tell us what the other live sessions are? I don't have it in front of me, Vanessa, but if you could just tell, everybody since this is before the summit, what the three different live ones are, or the three different days, what we're doing live on those days.

 just- Absolutely ... I know you're probably as nervous as I am. I'm nervous about hosting these superstars, but, yes, go ahead and tell us. 

Vanessa Stoilova: Right. So on day one on this, of the summit, which is June 12th, a Friday, so on day one we have Jen Nicole's first workshop, the beginner workshop, for Procreate.

And then in the evening we also have the interview with Kat Koch. It's in the evening because she's, like, over, know, globetrotting over in Thailand- ... or so she's joining us from there. So that's day one. Then on day two we have Jen Nicole's second workshop, which is the advanced workshop, and we also have the live group Q&A.[00:07:00] 

Delores Naskrent: Great. 

Vanessa Stoilova: And then on day three we have, Colleen Underwood's, organization and planning workshop- Yeah, 

Delores Naskrent: she's... That's gonna be great, 'cause I think when we get to day three, we really all need to just have I know, somebody to tell us what to do next. it's- Yes ... think she's gonna be able to reign that all in and just kind of look at it as what we've done for the whole week.

We've been busy. We've learned so much. Now what? That's what I think- Yes ... her session will be. 

Vanessa Stoilova: always getting a little bit overwhelmed in summits. Like, there's so much good stuff. At the same time, it's a lot. Yeah. So she's going to help us prioritize. And then the last one, I was always, I was forgetting, was like who else but art agent Margaux Tantaw- Yes

who's coming to give us some of her wisdom and secrets in a live interview on Sunday, day three, as well. So, yay. 

Delores Naskrent: What a way to kick off. [00:08:00] Like, that is gonna be such a wonderful way to, to end on Sunday, is these live sessions. I'm so excited. 

Vanessa Stoilova: Yeah, just an impeccable lineup. I couldn't have asked for more.

I'm just really excited, and nervous, but I know we're going to kick ass. 

Delores Naskrent: Yeah, and I know that you're gonna arrive knowing who everybody is, maybe. I mean, I've seen all of these names, you know, over the years so many times, and I feel just like you do, a little bit nervous, a little bit starstruck.

And, you can come in like this. you're gonna be coming in like we are coming in, a little messy. You can come in with a sketchbook or your iPad and just a dream. You know, just come on in and join us, because this three days will change what you think about your business and what you wanna do with your business.

And I know that the last summit totally did that for me, and [00:09:00] having these wonderful people share everything is just, to me, like a dream come true. I don't know about you, Vanessa, but, like, to me, it's a dream come true that we can get these people together for such a nice, compact piece of time and get all of this juicy information.

Vanessa Stoilova: Absolutely. And there's so much this year because we have the main summit that is completely free, and there's over 25 talks. And then we also have all of this secret content, a second talk from all of our speakers, and, that content is going to be VIP. So very affordable, just $47 if you want to upgrade to that, but it's completely optional.

The free portion does give you a full two weeks to watch everything. So we're not cutting you off after 24 hours. We're giving you as much time as possible to go through because we know it's a lot. 

Delores Naskrent: Yes. 

Vanessa Stoilova: But since, it is free, even if you [00:10:00] have time to catch three or four talks, it's still worth it.

You know, come on over. 

Delores Naskrent: For sure. And thanks so much for spending time with us today, you guys. keep listening. We have another podcast coming up in the next couple days. I'm happy that you're able to take advantage of this podcast with me, and keep creating, keep experimenting, keep juggling all of the beautiful pieces of your creative life.