5 - Living a Colorful Life Through Art & Entrepreneurship with Vanessa Hajje

Nestled within the vibrant arts community of St. Augustine, mixed media artist Vanessa Hajje is creating a world where color, texture, and creativity come alive. In this inspiring conversation, Vanessa shares her journey from massage therapist and acupuncturist to full-time artist, revealing how art became both a creative outlet and a path to personal freedom. Through layers of paint, collage, nature, and intuition, she has built a business rooted in courage, self-expression, and the belief that creativity belongs to everyone.

This episode explores entrepreneurship, artistic vulnerability, overcoming self-doubt, raising creative children, and the importance of play in both life and business. Vanessa opens up about taking risks, trusting the creative process, building a successful art career later in life, and why she believes every person is inherently creative. A beautiful conversation for artists, entrepreneurs, dreamers, and anyone seeking the courage to create a life that feels truly their own.

Connect with Vanessa Hajje: @VanessaHajjeArt

00:00 – Welcome to Vanessa Hajje’s Art Studio
01:15 – Mixed Media Art & Finding Joy Through Creativity
03:32 – Becoming a Professional Artist at 45
05:04 – Why Art Became Therapy and a Lifeline
07:09 – Creating a Vivid Dream World Through Color
08:27 – Courage, Creativity & Taking Artistic Risks
14:19 – Why St. Augustine Feels Like Home
19:03 – Morning Routines, Inspiration & Creative Flow
23:16 – Entrepreneurship, Freedom & Living Creatively
38:16 – Advice for Artists: Courage Over Fear

Connect with Host Leandra Sweet: @TheSoulLedSessions

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

I loved here to see Augustine, Florida, live my dream life. It didn't take long to realize, other people did too. People who took a leap, followed what they loved, and built something of their own in this magical little town. The soul-led sessions is about those people, the stories behind the businesses you see, visit, and fall in love with. Not just what they've created, but what it really took to get there. The risks, the pivots, the moments that changed everything, and what it actually looks like to build a life that feels aligned. These conversations are here to connect you to the heart of entrepreneurship and maybe even to what's possible for your own life.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

I'm here with the artist Vanessa Hodge in her studio in St. Augustine, Florida. Thank you so much for joining. I'm glad to be in this amazing space with all of your beautiful artwork. Tell us a little bit about what you do.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Well, I'm a mixed media artist, and I use, which means I use many, many different types of mediums. So I use everything from my own papers, collage papers in my work, oil paint, even spray paint, oil pastels, gold leaf, charcoal, literally any art supply that's out there on the market, I've probably tried it. I love it. Inks, yeah. If you just look around, you can see the the disarray, but also just the amount of supplies that I have. I just have so much fun.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

So much fun.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

I just put put music on and I go crazy. I'm like, I don't know if I'm gonna do, you know, with this piece. It's mainly oil, but I did do a little oil pastels. You can see right here in the leaf a little bit. Chalky. It's really fun. So much texture. I'm all about texture.

SPEAKER_02 2:09

I like I like a lot of depth and layers. And it sounds like I was just listening to a podcast this morning with Alan Watt. Are you familiar with Alan Watt? And he was talking about how play is really important. We don't we don't um work the piano, we play the piano. Yeah. So with your art, I feel like you really play with your art. Yes. Yeah, it's more of a a joy for you to sit in. It's not work, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:32

It's sometimes sometimes it is because with being a professional artist, you do have to do the business side. Right. So a lot of times I say it's 20% creativity and 80% is marketing and all of those other fun things that I don't do when I put on the back burner. And so when you asked to interview me, I'm like, sure, yes, I need to do more. Yeah, put yourself out there more and put myself out there.

SPEAKER_02 2:59

I feel like that is because art is such a um personal form of expression that I don't know, keeping it to yourself is easy to do, right? Rather than just yelling it out on the rooftops or from the rooftops that it this is my art. Come take a look at it. And that does that is intimidating sometimes, that business side of things. So tell me how you've been doing this for about almost 10 years.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

Almost 10 years professionally. Before that, I always did art. I mean, I was always a creative in high school. I was known as an artist, and I was always painting in my room. And as a little girl, I just adored being creative and making things. So it's been um a definitely life a lifeline thing. But um, at around age 45, I decided that I wanted to be a professional artist. I had done massage, went to massage school, and then I became an acupuncturist. And my creative juices were just flowing around that time. That's amazing. Yeah. 45. Just decided I'm gonna change it all now. And yes, I remember specifically um my best friend. Like I said to her, I want to be an artist. That's it. Boom. That's it.

SPEAKER_02 4:17

So you made the decision and you just did it, right? I just did it. Incredible. So did you continue to work your other businesses as you were? I still do.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

I still do a little bit of massage and acupuncture here and there because I love the healing arts. I love helping people. And I think it intertwines really because um the the healing arts isn't is an art. Absolutely. And um, so that it helps me um work with my right brain and left brain. I I like to really combine those two. Because it takes, you know, some intellect to to figure out what's going on with the diagnosis and herbs and things like that.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

Right. Yeah, and then bringing art into that and allowing yourself to have that creative outlet too is so healing. So healing. I mean, do you find you heal through your art in the last 10 years? Do you feel like you've really grown, not just as an artist, but as a person.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

Oh, for sure. Art is my therapy. It is literally when the world is falling apart. As long as I got my art supplies, I'm good. Incredible. So, and I and I really want to help other people experience that too, yeah, at some level. Um, I love teaching. I love teaching art to beginners and people that have um a lot of social anxiety around doing art with other people. Right. And so, because I've been there, I know what it's like. And I love teaching all ages, ages from six to 106. Um it's just really fun for me to to open up their mind of the possibility of being creative.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

Yeah, gosh, that's such a gift, and to be able to share that with people. I don't know, and I I remember what was it, two years ago now, the Asheville flooding and what you did during that time was so inspiring to me, just seeing it through the lens of Facebook. But you were painting through all of that. I mean, from day one, right?

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Yeah, literally, I was I painted two paintings the day of the hurricane to help curb my anxiety. And then I ended up selling those and giving it the money to a family, and you were one of the winners, which is so amazing.

SPEAKER_02 6:31

So cool, and I'm super grateful to have that beautiful piece of art in my home and do have plans to add more in the future because I'm just in love with your art. I think it's amazing. Um, the colors, we were talking a little bit about the colors that you use after. I I think we'll film some of the art so that people can see the wide variety of colors that you use because to me that's what really stands out from other artists for you is that your colors are so vibrant and you're not afraid to use them, just kind of all over, but also centered on certain things like the eye goes there to certain colors or certain pieces of your art, and that just I don't know, it's it's that lovely ethereal joy that it brings, you know. I guess that's the best way to describe it. How would you describe your work?

SPEAKER_00 7:25

Well, um, actually on my website, uh, when you open up in my website, it it basically says step into my vivid dream world. Because this is this is the world that I want to live in. I love that. I love nature, I absolutely adore nature, and I want to make it even more vibrant and more punchy. But I also follow the rule of thirds, and um, I follow the rule of complementary colors to to add more dimension and vibrancy. So you can see um with the rule of thirds, like right here, yes, I I put some a flower here and here.

SPEAKER_03 8:03

Right.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

And so, and then there's some resting space in here. So there is some following a little bit of rules, and then when it's when I need to, breaking the rules.

SPEAKER_02 8:14

Yeah, I love it. You know when to do each of those things. Yeah, that's important.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

I think and I explore and experiment constantly.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

So some sometimes I paint over, I'm like, oh, that doesn't work, I don't like that. And I'll I'll paint over it or I collage over it. So the biggest thing for me is to have courage to explore and to change that. I I equate it as like almost jumping off a cliff because it is scary as an artist when you have something that you think is pretty good, but it just doesn't cut it, and then just annihilating it and doing something different. So when my students are in my art classes, I just go jump off that cliff, just do it. Because sometimes people are like, I don't want to like just do it, gotta go for it.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

Gotta go for it.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

And you know, life is short, so let's just let's just give it a roll.

SPEAKER_03 9:06

That's my kind of aware of it.

SPEAKER_02 9:08

It reminds me of like the Tibetan sand art when they spend days and days to create that sand and these beautiful, just gorgeous murals of sand, and then they just wipe it all away, like in one swift move, and that's it. And it's not being attached to your work.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

I think that's important as a working artist as well. Huge, and that's that's uh a big piece of what I do too, is I work on multiple pieces at the same time. So I don't just focus on one painting, I didn't just focus on this big painting, right? I focus on three or four, and if I have extra paint on my brush, I'll go to the other one. So that keeps me loose, otherwise, I get too narrow, too focused, and too analytical. Um, and I don't like that because then the critic starts talking. So we want the critic out when we're being creative. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 10:03

I love that you are so aware of all of that. That is amazing that you've figured that out in just 10 years, nine years that you've figured that out about yourself and how you work best. Amazing. That's amazing to me.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

Did you go to school for this or did you go for the um I had I I had a a few uh teachers, um, Gabriel Lipper in Ashland, Oregon. I live there. He's I would say he's my main main mentor um for drawing and composition. Um and then I did the Milan Art Institute online course, and that's a year-long professional um how to become a professional artist online. And I've met multiple friends through that network, so it's kind of like a big family almost. And on my Instagram I I have um information about the Milan Art Institute, and so that really was amazingly helpful, and yeah, so being able to actually transition into a working artist and not just Right, from from a from people that really are successful and do it because a lot of times in art school you pay all this money and the teachers aren't successful, and that's why they're teaching. And you're paying thousands of dollars and and years, so so it just never made any sense to me.

SPEAKER_03 11:24

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

So, and I don't like I'm not very dogmatic. I I don't like the there's some things that I love about tradition, and some things I like to break the mold.

SPEAKER_02 11:33

Yeah, so which is great, yeah. And I think that that possibility online, just having that that available to people is super cool. That you don't have to, you know, maybe pay tens of thousands of dollars for a mentor either. Sometimes people are finding mentorship in in very costly, you know, prices. So I think that's amazing that I'll have to check that out for myself too and see what you what you have there. That's cool. How long did it take you to really get your business launched once you decided this is it? How long did it take you before you actually started having a lucrative you know income from it?

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Um, well, I sl I did a slow transition from acupuncture into this was when I was living in Ashland, Oregon. And I had my first solo show, my first year, and that was with my photography, divine feminine photography work, where I incorporated my photography and the medium of encaustic, which is beeswax on top. And I could show I can show this. This is one of my first um pieces, and I used a lot of times with my children, and then I I put beeswax on top of the photograph, and then I put oil pastels and oil paint on top of it. So it gives it it's a photograph uh ethereal look to it, and so that was my first show, um, solo show in in um Oregon.

SPEAKER_03 13:07

Cool.

SPEAKER_00 13:08

Yeah, so you did a full show with with that yes, that green. So I had I think about maybe 20 pieces.

SPEAKER_02 13:15

Uh-huh. Um thinking back, were you nervous? Do you remember that day, like the opening show?

SPEAKER_00 13:22

No, once I make a decision to do something, I I just am very driven.

SPEAKER_02 13:27

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:29

I love that. Yeah. So cool. Um, oh, I want I did want to talk about why St. Augustine, what what made you come here to create the nature is here for you, I guess. But what else brought you here?

SPEAKER_00 13:41

Well, actually, the the father of my children, he moved here first, and then I followed to be with my kid. So um it was just by accident basically that I came to Florida. I would never have thought of moving here, and but I actually love it. It's it's really artsy, and there's so much beauty to St. Augustine. And um, and so many people from all over the world.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

Cool people, yeah, and eclectic people, and yeah, really passionate people, don't you find that it's just incredibly passionate people here? And I feel like they come here to live out their dream, to live out their passion. Yeah, it's going to be a good idea.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

And also I feel that um uh the people might come from completely different walks of life or in their views of politics or whatever, but there's harmony here. There's people aren't arguing. I feel like everybody's just getting along. Yeah, and I love that because to me that's really important is to feel safe in my community and the way I express myself and who I am. Totally. Um, and supported and loved, and yeah, all of that does happen here, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_02 14:50

Yeah, it's easy to make friends here. That's that. I know, and there's so many like-minded people, even if there's differences in beliefs and all of that, overall.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

Overall, we we all want we all know what we want, same thing.

SPEAKER_02 15:03

Yeah, we're seeking the same. Yeah, I agree. When you started your business, did you set a goal or did you have a goal in mind for what you wanted things to look like?

SPEAKER_00 15:13

No, not really, because I didn't have a huge amount of confidence as as a professional artist yet, because it takes time. Yeah. And also I still had kids that were fairly young. So I was, you know, I have three kids. And so there's a lot, a lot to juggle.

SPEAKER_02 15:31

Sure. Yeah. You weren't really goal-oriented, you were just surviving in survival mode.

SPEAKER_00 15:35

Yeah. Yeah, more more in that that ex exploration and knowing that I do want to do this for a living, but not exactly sure what what avenues to take.

SPEAKER_03 15:48

Right.

SPEAKER_02 15:49

So do you what about now? Do you set goals now? Or do you still go with the flow with that and let things?

SPEAKER_00 15:56

Yes, I definitely have more of a vision of what I want. I'm really focusing instead of galleries, I would love to be in group really nice galleries for big pieces because I want to go big. And but right now I'm focusing on art shows in specifically in Florida for the spring.

unknown 16:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

And because I think that Florida is really good for my vibrant abstract florals. Absolutely. I feel like there's a good market for that.

SPEAKER_02 16:24

And the colors, the color, the the abstract of the you have to show this one too, because that is really Florida in a in a painting. You can feel that you know, you can feel what it feels like to be here from that view. I just love that.

SPEAKER_00 16:38

Yeah, that's I mean, I love traveling. I've traveled all over the world by myself in my 20s. Oh, cool. I definitely wanted to travel again and bring my great camera, the Canon Mark III, which is a really good camera, and just get reference photos from different countries, different places. Because I love I love culture and I love the beauty of nature in different places. Yeah. So I definitely that's my goal is to focus on being able to travel more. That's great.

SPEAKER_02 17:12

So that'll be funded by your art.

SPEAKER_00 17:14

Yes, exactly. And then meet people and meet I I become friends with my art patrons. Um a lot of times when somebody wants to buy my art, they end up becoming my friend because if they resonate with my art, then then I resonate with them personality-wise. And they often buy more art and they come art collectors. So and I've had um commission pieces, which is really special too, to be able to narrow in on what somebody specifically wants for their husbands.

SPEAKER_02 17:45

Yeah, yeah, that's a beautiful thing to be able to do that and and offer your a part of yourself into someone's home and into someone's space.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

It's such an honor for me. It really I I don't take it lightly. I really take it as like, wow, that's touching that they're going to have this in their family and maybe pass it down. Who knows?

SPEAKER_02 18:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

What a what a special. Yeah, totally special.

SPEAKER_02 18:12

A gift for sure. Um, I'd like to ask about morning routines because I feel like a lot of successful people in this world have a unique morning routine. So, do you have an intentional morning routine? What do you do?

SPEAKER_00 18:27

Would you mind just definitely do the minute I wake up? I have gratitude. So I might not even get out of bed, but I just think what am I grateful for? Yes. And and then I take my dog for a walk in a beautiful area, and just I'm always amazed by the colors in the sky early morning. If I'm in Asheville, North Carolina, before I'm here. Um, and then I do a little bit of yoga. So I do just about maybe 15 minutes of stretching in yoga.

SPEAKER_03 18:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:56

Um, I wake up extremely early. I wake up at 4 30 to 5. Okay. And then I I'm a go-getter. I like to do my routine, have my tea, and then I get going with my art.

SPEAKER_02 19:08

Beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:09

Nice. So do you find yourself paint you paint most of the day, or do you allow breaks for yourself? How does that look?

SPEAKER_00 19:16

Every day is a little bit different. It depends on the flow. Um, I really am like a kid as far as my attention span. If if I'm like really focused, I'm in there and I'm having a good time. And if I'm not, I I go and go for a walk or do something else. And I only want to have fun. I when I do art, it's all about it having fun and exploring. I don't want it to feel um like work or that I'm walking up a hill. It contrives because it doesn't work, it doesn't work that way. Right. Yeah and it it shows. And so and then I have to switch. Sometimes I'm like, oh, this paint's not working, so I'll get another one. So, like I said, working on multiple. I'm I'm very, very fast-paced. You can you can tell by the way I move and the talk, I'm I'm I I move quickly. So as I get older, I'm hoping I'll be a little bit more. No, but I feel like you have a good balance of both. I used to teach yoga.

SPEAKER_02 20:15

You feel calm to me. Okay. It doesn't you don't feel rushed to me at all. I think. I mean, that's at least my perspective. But and then when you do you go to bed early then and to get up early?

SPEAKER_00 20:27

Um, I'll go to bed early. Sometimes I literally wake up at two in the morning, but boom, inspiration.

SPEAKER_02 20:34

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_00 20:35

And then I'll just I'll paint in the night.

SPEAKER_02 20:37

Wow, yeah, really in the night. You'll just put lights on and yeah, I'll put lights on.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

Uh it might be only a few hours and then go back to bed. But if I don't listen to that calling, I'll have restless sleep anyway. So I'm like, I might as well be productive.

SPEAKER_02 20:50

What did you call it?

SPEAKER_00 20:51

A vivid daydream? No, vivid vivid um step into my vivid dream world. Dream world. So it is sometimes truly your dream world. Yeah, something literally. Yeah, sometimes I'll I'll write my journal and I'll get like, oh, I need to work with purple and something like that. So cool. Who knows?

SPEAKER_03 21:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

Um, I'll I'll get inspired by going into a store and seeing fabric, and there might be just this a textural thing about it. I'm like, oh, I want to I want to paint deep velvet in my painting or something like that.

SPEAKER_03 21:24

Yeah, wow.

SPEAKER_00 21:26

I I go for a walk and I might see a flower and I dry my own flowers and incorporate that into my art too. So I'll get leaves. Like I was in Asheville, North Carolina, and the changing of the seasons in October, I collected leaves and I incorporate that into my art.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

And you bring them all back with you.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

I I bring them back because nature is my inspiration. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:49

And it's it's great that you take that. Sometimes, I mean, nature's never really boring, but you spice it up. You add that vividness to nature when maybe it's It's not so vivid, although we have to show this because the Florida skies are not they can be dull sometimes, but usually they're pretty vivid. I love that. Gosh, thank you for sharing all of this. This is really special. Um oh, this is a good one. What continues to fuel you every day? To fuel me. To fuel you, like what makes you tick? What what inspires you to get up and do the thing that you're doing every day?

SPEAKER_00 22:29

I I don't know. It's me. Um it's just getting something out which is deep and inside me out to bring beauty into the world. That's huge. I feel that life can be a little humdrum for some people. I literally have never had a nine to five job, like ever. I just think I would shrivel up in it either. I know. I'm just not cut out for that either. I've just always been an entrepreneur and my own boss, pretty much. Even having my own acupuncture business, and I I need to I need my own hours and my own flexibility is really important to me.

SPEAKER_02 23:11

Absolutely. And your own sovereignty. Yes. Sounds like being free from the matrix. Exactly. That's the that's a good thing to do these days. Yeah. What are you doing? Do you think that stands out from other businesses in your field or other artists? What makes your art unique, you think, in your own words?

SPEAKER_00 23:33

I would say that it's very heartfelt. It it literally is my heart goes out into my artwork. And I'm also doing this really cool thing where I make my own candles with dried flowers and crystals. And I give those as presents to people, my art patrons, when um they buy a big painting. It's it's like my thank you for purchasing my art so I can continue. And so you do this light, this candle with your art, your new purchased art with the candle that I made.

SPEAKER_02 24:10

I love it.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

And because I am a giver, I just love to give. Um, obviously, I'm I love to do healing work. Yeah. So for me, it's it's an it's an exchange. Right. It's like these people have purchased with their hard-earned money, right? So I can continue to be creative and do what I want to do. And so I want to gift them a candle that I made.

SPEAKER_02 24:33

How beautiful. A gift on top of a gift that is already the painting, but that's really neat. How special. Again, very special. Your patrons must feel very special. I mean, they they must feel that from you.

SPEAKER_00 24:45

I hope so. I think so. And some of them end up being my clients for acupuncture massage. Oh, really? Great. They want to spend all the time with you.

SPEAKER_02 24:54

That's great. You are a natural healer, I feel. What has been the hardest thing for you about being an artist as a as an entrepreneur?

SPEAKER_00 25:04

I would say the continuing business part of being the marketer, and it's not my forte. It's not something that I'm gifted with or enjoy. So it's like, oh yeah, I have to keep promoting my business. Right. So that's not something that I really enjoy doing, but once in a while, yeah, you'll get better at it. I do enjoy doing Instagram like short little videos because I find that fun because it's authentically showing who I am. And that can be playful or silly or sad or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 25:43

And I feel like people really love the process. They'd love to see the process of an artist and showing them the inside, your inside world here, which again I'm gonna film because it's there's so much fun stuff going on in this room. I want to like touch things and play with things myself. It is very playful in here. Do you have anybody that works for you? Like, do you delegate out the things that you don't like to do?

SPEAKER_00 26:07

I wish, I really do wish. My my boyfriend says that he will do that. And I'm like, please, please be my manager because yeah. I uh honestly, all I want to do is create and teach. Right. And I could I would be happy to somebody else run the business. I'm not a control freak. I'm just like, you want to do it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:30

Go do it for me, right? So you can have more time to create and play. Yeah, that's that's important. I think that's really important to not do the things that you don't enjoy doing because that takes the fun out of it, that takes the play out of it. So stick to the things you need.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

I don't like to be bogged down with the the logistical. Even though that's art shows are really, really challenging. I mean, you have sometimes you have to be at three in the morning setting up your tent. People don't know how difficult art shows are. So be kind when you're at an art show. Be kind to the artists because they're dealing with the weather, they're dealing with patrons that aren't, you know, the ha the nicest people. Like all different kinds of scenarios that can happen at art shows. And um who knew? Who knew? But it's also a great honor to be it's because all the art shows that are high end are juried.

unknown 27:23

Oh, right.

SPEAKER_00 27:23

So there could be 300 people that apply, artists that apply, and maybe only 160 get accepted. So it's a huge thing to get into an art show. And it's always a celebration when I get into a high-end one. But um, logistically, there's you're putting thousands of dollars banking on your ability to sell.

SPEAKER_02 27:45

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 27:45

And people don't understand that. Right, right. Yeah, that's a good point.

SPEAKER_02 27:50

Yeah, and not many people know that inside the inside because they're just walking along. Oh my gosh. Yeah, I've been here since three in the morning. Welcome to my booth. You're on your third cup of tea. Wow. That's I didn't even know that actually. And I've done shows, but not not jury show. I did do one juried show, but it wasn't it wasn't like that. That that's interesting. It's different with I think with higher end art. Oh, what are you most inspired by or who or what are you most inspired by?

SPEAKER_00 28:21

Well, I can say um when I was 16, I went to the library and looked through the artists, and Gustav Klinth would stood out and is still to this day my favorite artist. I just absolutely adore the master of collage, really. Yeah, and just the gold, the gold leaf and the vibrancy um and nature. He did a lot of nature and women, and those are my subjects. Yeah, those are my favorite subjects, too. A lot of similarities. Yeah, yeah. You mentioned them.

SPEAKER_03 28:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:54

But being in nature is is huge for me. I love the ocean. I love jungle, I love mountains. I mean, all different landscapes are appealing to me and and inspire me.

SPEAKER_02 29:09

Cool.

SPEAKER_00 29:09

And talking to people too. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:13

You learn so much from people, especially in different in the different landscapes, you know, learning people. It's I just can never get enough of learning about people.

SPEAKER_00 29:22

Right.

SPEAKER_02 29:23

And visiting, you know, other areas and seeing how people live and just wondering what they're doing. Even just driving on the highway sometimes. I think to myself, I wonder what they're doing in their house right now.

SPEAKER_00 29:32

You know, yes, yeah. And that's that's always something that when I was traveling around the world, I love to know like what they're eating, what they're wearing, uh, everything. Culture is very interesting.

SPEAKER_02 29:46

How do they spend their time? What are they doing for a living? Even yeah. It's different everywhere.

SPEAKER_03 29:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:51

That's something I noticed, and what inspired me to do this podcast is in New York, we were upstate New York, and everybody kind of just has a job there. They go to work maybe for a corporation, or maybe they're a teacher, or but there's nothing really outstanding to me. There was nothing, there was nobody really living their dream or you know, living out their passion. And when I came here, I just kept meeting people every day that are living out their passion and living in joy and like living a life that it has purpose and meaning and doing it, you know, earning money through that. It's just wow. I I was like amazed by that. And so getting to talk to you in your home and and seeing that you're doing this, it's very inspiring and I think empowering for others too to see young artists out there or old artists that don't think that they can do it, that it's possible.

SPEAKER_00 30:45

I wish uh I would say that's one of my regrets, is I wish I had started younger earlier because I didn't think it was a possibility. Wow. Um who told you that it wasn't. It's it's this mindset that oh, you can't make money through art. And it's simply not true.

SPEAKER_02 31:03

Right.

SPEAKER_00 31:04

And this is the best time to be an artist. It really is, with with all the the Instagram and Facebook and World Global Reach. Oh my god, it's amazing. It's really, it's really fun.

SPEAKER_02 31:16

Perhaps you'll be shipping your art out to countries.

SPEAKER_00 31:21

That would be that that's my dream or goal. That would be so cool. Yeah. And to actually bring it to them. Right. Oh, yes. I'll go to Argentina or Australia.

SPEAKER_02 31:31

Seriously, deliver it. Yeah, and deliver. I used to ship my peg dolls all over the world, and I had a at one point I had a map, and I I don't think I hit every country, certainly. But just to think some some some cute little child was opening my you know, package on Christmas morning, or that's so cool. It was just like such an honor and so special to me that that was that was happening all over the world and on that day. I don't know. Christmas was always the day that I knew those packages were getting opened, you know. So it was like I just would have this gratitude on Christmas morning. I mean, I had gratitude throughout the whole process anyway, but ultra gratitude on Christmas morning of just these little hands are opening these packages. It was just so cool. So, yeah, you're gonna get there with shipping internationally. It's amazing. That's what I love about social media is you never know who will see and who will appreciate and who will you know resonate with. And it's that's why I feel like it's so important to share that part of you, you know, online because it's why not? Right? To have that not only for for yourself and you know, your bank account, but also for the the reefs that you'll have with others.

SPEAKER_00 32:47

I think that's what maturity and getting older has given me is courage because I was painfully shy as a as a child and even as a teenager. I mean, so incredibly shy. I would never dream of sitting here being interviewed. Really? No. Wow, yeah. So I don't I don't have that much shyness anymore because I'm life is too short. Yeah, and it's boring to be shy, honestly.

SPEAKER_02 33:15

As you get older, I feel like I care less and less about what other people think. Right. Also, like I'm gonna live my life authentically. And if people like it, great and they resonate with it, great. If they don't, oh well, you know, they're lost and moving. It's very true. And it's a good way to roll in the world. Yeah, really. And as an artist, you have to be that way because yeah, you can't take it personally if people dislike your work, right? That's right. You have to learn it's not for everybody, you know.

SPEAKER_00 33:43

It's definitely my vibrant colors are they're offensive to some. It takes it takes a it takes a lot of presence in a room. So yeah, but that's like stepping into being an old getting older as as a mature woman in her 50s. It's like this is a great time to be in your 50s. Yeah. Yes, it is. There's so many people.

SPEAKER_02 34:07

At least the new 20s, right? Or the new 30s, something like that. I'm getting there. Oh, if you were just starting your business today, even going back to maybe your massage and acupuncture businesses, what would you do differently? Or anything? Would you do anything differently?

SPEAKER_00 34:22

Hmm. I don't I don't know if I would do anything differently.

SPEAKER_02 34:26

I like the way it all worked out.

SPEAKER_00 34:30

Yeah. Uh maybe be more um specific on goals. Um I'm not sure. I think I needed I think I needed to explore and take those those years to just to learn play and learn. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:47

Yeah. I love that. Um, what do you feel is your greatest accomplishment? Well, as a human and as a business, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 34:57

Your greatest accomplishment as a human, uh raising three amazing kids. Yeah, that's for sure. I mean, that's that's a huge contribution to the planet. Gosh.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

That's three beautiful kids. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:09

Three good people that are going to enhance the planet. And they are all incredibly creative in their own right. Um, I come from generational artists. My grandmother was a great artist.

SPEAKER_03 35:22

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 35:22

And um, but she also didn't really start until she was retired. And she raised four kids. Wow. So um, I hope my kids start much younger, getting serious about their creative. I have one, my middle child is studying to be a fashion designer. Wow. Oh and that's what I wanted to do when I was younger. And then I went through I I did get a degree in fashion merchandising, but I decided to go to acupuncture school after that. Okay. I've had many, many lives. You're multi-passionate. I I can totally understand and relate to that. But raising good humans, raising good raising good humans is important.

SPEAKER_02 36:04

And you encouraged art and creativity.

SPEAKER_00 36:06

Yeah, with your lives. And they're different ways. Music, uh, pen and ink drawings. My youngest is really good with that. And musical and uh design.

SPEAKER_02 36:17

Wow, terrific. Let's talk about if you have a quote that lights you up or a quote that comes to mind. Do you have a quote that you live by or or that?

SPEAKER_00 36:27

Um, I don't know the exact person who wrote it, but it takes courage. I think it's Matisse, actually. It takes courage to do art.

SPEAKER_02 36:37

Ah, yeah. Lovely. So yeah, I do love Matisse. Would you say, well, what words of advice do you have for a new entrepreneur just getting started? Somebody who, a young artist perhaps, or an old artist who wants to do this for a living.

SPEAKER_00 36:55

Um, learn as much as you can, earn some skills and and then not be afraid. Courage. Courage. It comes always comes down to courage because artists often ask, when am I ready to sell? And it really has to come from your heart and to expose yourself because um exposing yourself with your creativity is being very vulnerable. And so you have to be very sure in your forthright of who you are and not be afraid.

SPEAKER_02 37:27

Not let fear hold you back, yeah. And be ready to take that leap. Right. The jump, as you said. What do you wish you could tell your 18-year-old self as you entered adulthood? Don't wait till long.

SPEAKER_00 37:41

Yeah, just do it. Just do it, just do it. Even if you're you know, busy with other endeavors like raising three kids. Yeah, do a little bit. Dispute. Because I really didn't do much from around 20 to 45. Like that was just that was your parenthood phase. Parenting and busy. Yeah. And so I don't think that people can make excuses for being creative. We are all creatives. We might be really good at cooking, that's that's a creative art. We might be really good at interior design as far as uh the paint on of how you decorate your house, or how you dress, or how you talk. Everybody is a creative, so tapping into that. And when my students come to me and they're afraid and they said, I don't have a creative bone in my body, I said, No, that's not true.

SPEAKER_03 38:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:34

So I try and be really positive and to really draw it out of people. Wow. Because I know how empty life can be if you don't tap into your creativity.

SPEAKER_02 38:45

Totally. Wow. And expressiveness. Yeah. Yeah. That's so true. And having an outlet for young people, I think is so important to have a creative outlet, whether it is in music or art or writing or journaling even or you know, getting off of phone.

SPEAKER_00 39:02

And and unfortunately, uh around seven or eight, children naturally go, I am an artist or I'm not. They choose that way. It's almost indoctrinated in school. It's like you have talent, you're an artist, or no, you don't have talent.

SPEAKER_03 39:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:18

So I maybe I need to go younger with my students. Get them when they're at birth.

SPEAKER_02 39:26

In diapers. Yeah. That's interesting because that now that you mentioned that, my husband and my mother both are amazing artists and they don't feel like they have they never felt like they were. Like my mother always used to say, Oh, I don't, I don't have a creative bone in my body. And my dad was an artist and an interior designer. And so she felt but he would encourage it, but she just never, she never pursued it or allowed herself time to be creative. So how do you even know if you're an artist if you have never allowed yourself time to create?

SPEAKER_00 39:58

It's true, right? It really is true. And and then tapping into the fun play of it. I always tell people to be like a child. Be like kids don't, like really young kids younger than seven, they don't judge what they're doing. They just are. Yeah, they just be.

SPEAKER_02 40:13

They're be. They just be. Yeah. That's so true. I love that. The last question is do you feel as though you were living your dream life?

SPEAKER_00 40:22

Yes, except for I want to travel more, a little bit more, and have art patrons all over the world.

SPEAKER_02 40:30

Wouldn't that be amazing? And you can just travel to that. That's your calendar for the years, depending on where they live. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:38

Like every summer, summers are incredibly hot in Florida. So every summer I would like to be in a different country creating art in that zone. That would be my ultimate. Can you imagine? Italy is next. Oh, summer is my favorite.

SPEAKER_02 40:53

Italy. Actually, it is italy, Italy is the only country I've been to outside of Canada and the US. Oh, yeah. But it's just my favorite. It's it's incredible. Venice and Florence and the beautiful landscapes. Yeah. Oh. Well, thank you very, very much for sharing this time with me and allowing me to come into your space and see all the beauty that you create because really it's it's outstanding. It's extraordinary. I appreciate you all. Thank you. Thank you so much. Yeah, that sounds awesome.

SPEAKER_01 41:27

I trust that whatever was meant for you in this conversation will remind you there's a way to build a life you love. Follow where it leads. And I'll see you in the next session. Be sure to like and subscribe and never miss an episode.