The Art Career Blueprint with Nicole Gaitan
The podcast for artists and creatives who want to build a successful, profitable, and sustainable art career. Hosted by full-time professional artist and certified coach Nicole Gaitan, who has built a multiple five-figure-per-month creative business through fine art, galleries, commissions, public art, licensing, and entrepreneurship, this show gives artists the real-world tools, mindset, and strategy needed to thrive in today’s art world.
Whether you’re an emerging artist, painter, illustrator, creative entrepreneur, or full-time artist looking to grow your income and visibility, Art Career Blueprint covers art business strategy, how to sell artwork, social media marketing for artists, pricing art, finding collectors, gallery representation, building an art brand, overcoming creative burnout, artist mindset, productivity, confidence, and creating a life and career you truly love.
Through honest conversations, coaching, artist interviews, and actionable advice, Nicole helps artists stop feeling stuck and start building momentum, clarity, confidence, and long-term success in both art and life.
The Art Career Blueprint with Nicole Gaitan
Life After Life: Finding Joy Without the Near-Death Wake-Up Call with Amy Ciampi
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What does it really mean to live fully? For today’s guest, Amy Ciampi, the answer came in the most unexpected — and harrowing — way. At just 29 years old, seven miles into her fifth 100-mile ultramarathon, Amy went into sudden cardiac arrest. For 45 minutes, strangers fought to keep her alive in the Wasatch wilderness until help arrived. She survived against all odds, but survival was only the beginning.
Amy was forced to trade her identity as an ultrarunner for a life that looked nothing like the one she trained for. The road back was long — through months of therapy, years of sensory overload, and the grief of losing the body and lifestyle she once knew. But through it all, Amy discovered something powerful: joy doesn’t have to wait for the big milestones, the bucket-list races, or — God forbid — a near-death experience. Joy is available every single day, if we’re willing to notice it.
In this deep and moving conversation, Amy and I explore:
- The moment that changed her life forever during her 5th ultramarathon.
- The resilience it took to rebuild her life, piece by piece, after cardiac arrest.
- How to find joy and gratitude in ordinary moments — without waiting for tragedy to wake us up.
- What she’s learned about identity, purpose, and living fully in the “after.”
- Why joy is not a luxury, but a choice we can make daily.
Amy’s story is a reminder that we don’t need to almost lose our lives to finally start living them. This conversation will inspire you to find your joy now — in the smallest moments, in the everyday breath you take, and in the simple miracle of being alive.
🎧 Press play to be reminded that today — exactly as it is — is a gift worth celebrating.