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Alright everyone, so today I have Lauren Hill with me.

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Lauren is my artistic career coach and I'm stoked to have her on because we've been working

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together since July and in the past few months I've been able to get a studio job as a designer.

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I've figured out some of the mental chaos I've had around my creativity and before Lauren

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was coaching she was an art dealer.

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So tell me about that Lauren, I would love for you to tell me more about what brought

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you to coaching and that career.

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Yeah, and I just want to say too that it's been such a gift to get to work with you and

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watch you blossom and I feel like every time my clients celebrate things and have major

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exciting things happen in their lives and careers, I get to live vicariously through

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them.

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So it's been an honor and it can be such a privilege to get to work with you.

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So thank you.

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I studied illustration in college so I'm an artist as well and after college I graduated

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and so it was pretty much like a major recession going on.

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And so I think a lot of people who can relate, especially if they're like graduating or trying

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to find jobs around 2020, you know, similar situation but very different.

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That was like the first time I became my own career coach.

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I really was like, okay, Googling like how to find a job and what I basically Googled

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like what a career coach would do and I became my own coach.

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And so I got clear on what my values were, my talents, like how I could pitch myself

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to a creative job because I decided I don't want to be an illustrator.

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Like that was just not the route that I was going to go at the time and but I wanted to

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be in the arts.

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And so thankfully, you know, I interviewed for quite a few different jobs but then there

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was this Craigslist listing for an art gallery in the Napa Valley where I was living.

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I moved back in with parents and they were looking for an intern at the time to work

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for free.

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And I was like, okay, well, you know, I'm babysitting and I'm just like trying to find something.

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Maybe I'll just do this until I find the actual thing, you know?

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And so I go into the interview and find out that the owner had been in a bicycle accident

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and was in a coma.

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And so I was hired right away to work.

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I think I worked one day for free and then he passed away and then I was hired full time

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and within a couple days I started selling artwork.

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Like it just happened so quickly and I had no background in sales.

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Well, I worked at, you know, like some clothing stores before that but with only background

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in sales.

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And it kind of just happened serendipitously.

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Of course, like obviously, Adat is very sad.

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He was very beloved in the art industry in the valley, in the whole Bay Area because

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his gallery had been around for 20 years.

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But it was like this weird situation where I just decided to say yes to something even

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though, you know, I could have looked at like, oh, this is below me or whatever.

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I'm not going to-

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Yeah, but I love that you just went for it.

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And you know, I've been on Craigslist before too where I'm like looking at job postings

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and a lot of times it's like you can get very personal in right away if you just are willing

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to show up.

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And some of the jobs, like maybe they're not legit, but then others are very legit.

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Yeah.

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You know, you just never know where those opportunities are going to be.

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So it's like, just keep looking.

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So that's something that happened really, like me selling art happened so quickly.

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And then I ended up, they got a new owner for the gallery and I ended up selling millions

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of dollars of artwork during the six years that I worked there and working with artists

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all over the world really and collectors all over the world, shipping, you know, 14 foot

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sculpture, outdoor sculpture to Mexico and, you know, helping one of my clients in Maui

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decide where he was going to place like a bronze sculpture out in his garden, you know,

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and like getting to work with celebrities that came in.

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I actually, Whoopi Goldberg helps me.

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I love it.

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She sold a $12,000 sculpture for me basically because you're helping me close that sale

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because she came in and I was working with this client and they were all like so excited

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that Whoopi Goldberg was in there.

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Yeah, I bet.

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Like my director was, she was basically, she was working with Whoopi and I was working

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with this client and I told them, I was like, you know, cause they were already kind of

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on the fence about it and then I was like, what a great story to tell people that when

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they come over and they see these ball and jack sculpture, it was like the game ball

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and jacks out in their garden.

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Like you can, you can be like, yeah, you know, this is the day that Whoopi Goldberg came

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in and I got to meet her and you know, like what a great tell people and then that like

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sold them right away.

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I love it.

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Yeah.

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Sometimes sales is storytelling and connection and then that really does it for people.

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So I have to ask, so it sounds like you sold sculpture, paintings.

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Do you have any stories about the artists that you worked with?

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Maybe some of the other clients that came in because I know nothing about the gallery

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world, but what I am learning is that there are some galleries tucked away away from the

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cities in the U S and that that's the case with yours too as a Napa, but there are a

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lot of people who buy art in smaller towns.

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Yeah.

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And because it's a vacation city, vacation town or city, whatever you want to call it,

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you know, it's wine country.

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So people are traveling there from all over the world.

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And so it's a great place.

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You know, you're on vacation, you're looking for art, a lot of people have time to look

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for art then.

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And we, that's actually how, so I worked for Toshin publishing, the art book publisher

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after the gallery.

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And that's how I had the connection with Toshin is because we sold, actually I was the top

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sales person for this Annie Leibowitz book that we, it was at the time it came out for

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$2,500.

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It was a limited edition art book that came with a stand.

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It was, it's called a sumo book.

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So it's very large.

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It's like the largest book in the world, basically.

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It's with a stand, it's signed by Annie, it's a limited edition.

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And there were 2,500 when they first came out, they're like $8,000 now.

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This gallery I worked for, other than Toshin, we were the largest wholesaler that sold these

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books for them.

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Like we sold more than any other place in the world.

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So it just goes to show you like what kind of clientele are coming in and like the reach

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that we had at that gallery, at this small little gallery.

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I mean, there was three galleries up and down the valley.

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So it's like these groups.

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But going back to, and we can talk about Toshin too.

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Definitely art books, art publishing.

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That's something to think about because now that I'm graphic designing, I love print and

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I wish more people asked for print projects and realistically the only people who do are

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usually artists or designers, like someone who wants to preserve their work for an archival

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purpose.

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Yeah.

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And you know, art, I mean, books are like, they're never going away.

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People will be like, oh, books, you know, like books are dying or whatever.

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And I'm like, no, they're not.

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Like they're never going away.

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They're never going away.

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I love books.

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I worked at an art library in college and you can put like a whole artist's life's work

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in a book and then like do it maybe like a thousand times by different authors.

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And there's always going to be like something special to say.

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So I love art books.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Especially because you're in design too.

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It's like, there's just something so wonderful about seeing things printed.

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You know, they're just on the computer.

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Exactly.

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I love just like throwing my phone somewhere and then going into a corner and looking at

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a book.

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Yeah.

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Or IRL looking at art on the walls too.

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Going back to what you were asking about, like the artists that we worked with.

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So there's this artist, her name is Kate Salem Friend.

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I sold probably, I don't know, like $300,000 worth of her art maybe, maybe more.

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Who knows?

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But she sold these paintings.

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The main thing she sold was around $2,500.

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Sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller.

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So what dimensions and like what was her subject matter?

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I'm curious.

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I actually have one of her paintings in my house too.

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Oh great.

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The average painting I sold of hers was around like 30 inches by 40 inches.

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I don't know what they go for now, but it was around like $2,000 to $3,000.

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And they sold out.

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It was my easiest thing I've ever sold.

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And people loved them.

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And she, it's so funny, she just signed up for my workshop too, because I'm friends with

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her as well.

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Oh yeah.

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Your portfolio workshop this Thursday.

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I signed up too.

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I'm excited for it.

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Yeah.

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And how cool that, you know, she sold millions of colors worth of her paintings.

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And she's still, she's signing up for my workshop.

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Like, you know, she's still learning.

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She's still out there trying to develop her skills on things.

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Like she's not above, you know, learning or connection.

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That's how, you know, I was talking to my dad about this yesterday.

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You know, like realistically you never stop learning because your skillset stops growing

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if you're not learning or trying new skills or trying to reframe your work.

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And then that is your limiting factor, really.

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I mean, that's why people work with coaches too.

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It's like, yeah, you can graduate a certain level, but it's like, what's next?

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Like let's go.

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We'll reach beyond that.

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So anyway, going back, I feel like I have so many things to say.

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So I love this too, because actually I'm learning so much about you.

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So I don't know the coffee or like just what, but I'm, yeah.

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So and I think, I feel like this is a different dynamic for us too.

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Oh, right.

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And I'm like talking your ear off and telling you about my art and adjacent art problems.

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When I'm coaching, it's like, it's all about my clients.

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Like I really try to keep the focus on them.

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And of course I, you know, share different things that would be relevant, but yeah.

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I remember you saying that you did graduate during a recession and actually that was like

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something that really gave me buy-in with you because I was like, the economy is probably

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the worst it's been for me in a minute.

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And I just like needed help like focusing and hunkering down.

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And so I actually really respect it when like people start their careers doing like hard

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times and find their values.

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So that's just a little note.

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Yeah.

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And it's like, that's just, you know, we can talk about mental traps, right?

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Like is one of the traps.

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You can look for proof of why things aren't going to work for you, or you can look for

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proof for how things are going to work for you.

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Why they're going to work for you.

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And that's just a distraction.

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That's just an excuse.

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You can focus on the recession is at the worst.

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Like there's not many jobs or you can choose to believe that there's a job out there for

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me.

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There's a job is out there for me and I can find it if I put myself out there.

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Yeah.

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And so much of art when making an art career, I found at least is like taking the bread

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crumbs for connection and meeting people in real life.

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When I started designing, it was during the pandemic really.

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And that was a spooky time for me because I can actually look back four years ago and

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I remember that it was peak pandemic.

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No one was really allowed to work in person.

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And I was like, okay, well, it's just me and my laptop.

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I better start firing off emails if I'm going to find a job.

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And eventually I did find one, but you know, it's like, since times have changed, it's

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nice to actually connect in person, still have the opportunity to connect with people

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like you in a zoom capacity and then kind of get the best of both worlds.

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Yeah.

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But not to backtrack a little bit too much.

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I know you were about to tell me a story.

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I want to hear it.

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Yeah.

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So Kate Taylor, right?

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So she paints with oil and gold leaf.

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And so she literally has a portfolio that shine like it glitz in the sunlight because

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she uses gold and people just were so drawn.

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Her fastest selling paintings were the birch tree paintings.

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So there's birch trees and then there's gold leaf.

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And she does this really beautiful Tiffany blue color in the background.

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Like so many people love those paintings and she does some other styles too, mostly nature.

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You know, she grew up in rural California and like around nature and like the countryside

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and stuff.

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So that's where her inspiration is drawn from.

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But she just, you know, she tapped into something that really works and it took time.

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Like I knew her when she was doing a different style and then like right when she shifted

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her style and it began to sell a little bit more.

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So it was really interesting to watch that progression happen too.

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And so as you're creating artwork, you know, it does take some time, some time to really

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figure out what your style is and then like, you know, what is authentic to you?

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What feels exciting and natural?

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And then at the same time, like, well, what's going to sell?

236
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Like what do people connect with you and connect with your art, like the inner and the outer?

237
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Because you can't ignore that, right?

238
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Like, and I think I see a lot of artists, early career, I remember where there was a

239
00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:27,040
lot of people pursuing arts around me, around graduation, we would sell like illustrations,

240
00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:28,040
t-shirts.

241
00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:33,000
And, you know, I think sometimes people think kind of black and white and they're like,

242
00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:38,840
I either go like sell my own work and it can be really like identity based though, like

243
00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:42,720
identity based work I think can sometimes be hard to sell because it's like, how is

244
00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:47,160
someone supposed to really connect with something that's so deeply personal to you?

245
00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:51,200
But then also it's like, how do you balance the fact that you're an artist and you probably

246
00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:56,840
do this work because you have like certain values and like a story that you want to imbue

247
00:13:56,840 --> 00:13:58,200
in your work.

248
00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:03,640
Yeah, and that's what, you know, you can, if you believe so deeply in that personal

249
00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:08,560
work and you believe that it's sellable and you want to go out and sell it, like that's,

250
00:14:08,560 --> 00:14:09,560
that is possible too.

251
00:14:09,560 --> 00:14:11,920
Like you can get those people that connect with it.

252
00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:16,640
And it's like, I always go back to this story that I heard about this TikToker selling farts

253
00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:19,000
in a jar for $1,000.

254
00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:20,240
I never heard of this.

255
00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:21,680
It says farts in a jar.

256
00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:22,680
Yeah.

257
00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:26,440
And it's like, okay, this girl could sell farts in a jar for $1,000.

258
00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:31,600
Like you can sell whatever you want to, you know, like if you believe in something and

259
00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:37,360
you figure you can like your outbates and make it just like believe in it so much and,

260
00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:42,840
and the value of it and the worthiness of it and the intrigue of it, it's like you can

261
00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:44,040
go out and sell it.

262
00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:45,040
Yeah.

263
00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:47,800
I think you have to really believe it though, and just stand behind it.

264
00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:48,800
And that's part of it.

265
00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:49,800
Yeah.

266
00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:50,800
Confidence.

267
00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:51,800
Yeah.

268
00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:52,800
Yeah.

269
00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:57,360
So at that moment, you decided to become a career coach for other people.

270
00:14:57,360 --> 00:14:58,360
Yeah.

271
00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:01,360
So I was working at Toshin.

272
00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:03,240
I was a wholesale prep for them.

273
00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:07,240
So I sold their art books up and down the West Coast.

274
00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:11,360
I sold them to places like Nordstrom and Pottery Barn and Rage.

275
00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:13,620
I sold them to the museums.

276
00:15:13,620 --> 00:15:19,200
So I got to go visit, you know, all the LA museums, the Getty, LACMA, the Broad, and

277
00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:23,400
then I would go up to San Francisco and Seattle and go to the museums up there and sell the

278
00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:24,840
books and the bookstores.

279
00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:27,080
So it was such a fun job too.

280
00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:30,920
I got to like, trap and connect with like all of these cool stores.

281
00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:33,720
But I also felt like there was a limit.

282
00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:35,980
There was a limit to like how much I could make.

283
00:15:35,980 --> 00:15:39,840
There was a limit to like how much I was growing in that job.

284
00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:43,400
There was a limit to like the creativity that I could have.

285
00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:48,440
And I was, I always knew from a young age that I was going to have a big platform.

286
00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:53,600
Like I just saw myself either, you know, speaking on stages or publishing books or like, you

287
00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:56,320
know, selling art to like millions of people.

288
00:15:56,320 --> 00:16:00,600
I just feel like I'm made for something large, larger.

289
00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:05,400
And so I was like trying to figure out and the same thing happens when I wanted to move

290
00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:09,040
to LA from the art, from the gallery job.

291
00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:10,040
That was another time.

292
00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:14,000
It's a whole nother story that I wouldn't get into, but that was another time that I

293
00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:19,720
became my own career coach again and it was a whole journey that I went on to find this

294
00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:20,960
job in LA.

295
00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:24,840
So this time around I was like, okay, I know I want to have my own business.

296
00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:28,040
I want to like, I just didn't know what I wanted to do exactly though.

297
00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:30,960
So first I was like, maybe I want to be a travel blogger.

298
00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:35,480
And then I was like, oh, maybe I want to be an art agent, like an artist agent.

299
00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:38,620
So I was like dabbling in a couple of those things.

300
00:16:38,620 --> 00:16:42,000
And then I was really into personal development as well.

301
00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:47,560
I got sober 10 years ago and so health and wellness and like personal development is

302
00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,520
very inspiring and something I'm passionate about.

303
00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:54,720
So I was like, oh, maybe I want to do health coaching, help people with health.

304
00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:59,960
So that's actually how I got into coaching is I did a health coaching certification through

305
00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:02,600
Institute of Integrative Nutrition.

306
00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:05,020
And I started coaching people for free.

307
00:17:05,020 --> 00:17:10,160
And then through that, people started coming to me for their life purpose and like of the

308
00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:12,240
career side of things.

309
00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:18,720
And I was like, oh, wait, actually, like my gift is I have this whole background in art

310
00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:23,000
and like these really interesting careers that I've created for myself.

311
00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:27,600
And I know I've always been about my life's purpose and like getting closer to that with

312
00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:29,160
every step that I take.

313
00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:30,840
Maybe I can help people with that.

314
00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:34,640
And then that's how I kind of transformed into career coaching creatives.

315
00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:35,640
Wow.

316
00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:36,640
Wow.

317
00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:37,640
I love that.

318
00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:38,640
Yeah.

319
00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:39,640
It's very purpose and mission driven.

320
00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:42,560
I didn't think you were going to coach artists at first.

321
00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:46,840
You know, the artist agent idea was like the closest to that.

322
00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:50,000
But that was still me selling their art.

323
00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:52,240
I could also see you as a travel blogger, by the way.

324
00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:54,920
I kind of giggled because I was like, I love that.

325
00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:57,040
Who wouldn't want to be a travel blogger?

326
00:17:57,040 --> 00:17:58,760
That's like one of my little dreams.

327
00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:03,360
And sometimes I just pretend to be one just because it's fun.

328
00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:04,680
Yeah.

329
00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:09,160
And so sorry, you did you just take on a client who was an artist and then it happened?

330
00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:10,160
Or did you decide?

331
00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:16,360
And you know, I think the I remember this girl that I it was right around.

332
00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:18,200
Sometimes I can't remember what came first.

333
00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:20,320
I was doing free coaching.

334
00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,160
And so I was also doing free consultation.

335
00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:25,560
And I think it was oh, it was right around.

336
00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:32,400
So I went from health coaching to life coaching to being like a spiritual healer.

337
00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,560
Because I was like, I'm really spirituality too.

338
00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:38,280
And I did this really like woo woo.

339
00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:40,680
Like meditation, tarot card pulling.

340
00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:41,680
Yeah.

341
00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:47,080
And like some people don't really know about right around that point, I was doing some

342
00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:52,840
consultations and I remember this exact girl that I spoke with and she was coming to me

343
00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,160
about her life's purpose.

344
00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:59,280
And there was just a click and it was like she's a creative as well.

345
00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:02,080
And she was like in between jobs or something.

346
00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:06,720
And there was just this like spark of like, oh wait, and I was working with a career coach

347
00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:08,320
at the time too.

348
00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:12,160
And I remember thinking, I will I don't want to copy my coach.

349
00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:14,840
Like she's a career coach, then I'm just like her.

350
00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:16,240
And then I talked to her about it.

351
00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:21,520
And she's like, no, Lauren, like you're, that's you're such a different coach anyway, because

352
00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:23,120
you're coaching for creatives.

353
00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:29,360
Like that's such a need that, you know, artists and creative people, they that's it's so needed

354
00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:30,360
out there.

355
00:19:30,360 --> 00:19:36,680
Like that's so perfect for you, you know, and that was when I shifted and started selling

356
00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:39,080
my career coaching for creative package.

357
00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:40,080
Yeah, yeah.

358
00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:44,240
Well, I'm glad he's which because that means I got to work with you.

359
00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:49,360
I feel like everything always plays out in somewhat of a divine timing or maybe it's

360
00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:50,360
kismet.

361
00:19:50,360 --> 00:19:51,640
Maybe it's a little bit of both.

362
00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:56,880
Yeah, actually, you know, too, while we're on this topic is, you know, I'm curious as

363
00:19:56,880 --> 00:20:02,320
well during our time together so far, like, what do you feel like has been your biggest

364
00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:03,320
transformation?

365
00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:09,400
Like, what is there anything that you're proud of, or anything that's really shifted in you

366
00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:11,440
since we started working together?

367
00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:17,960
Yeah, I think okay, so I was someone who really knew that like, I needed to put myself out

368
00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:21,740
there in order to get clients and new work.

369
00:20:21,740 --> 00:20:26,320
And I think the way I approached my creative career previously in the past five years is

370
00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:29,680
just like put out a ton of offers, like learn along the way.

371
00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:33,920
And in that process, I discovered that there were a lot of things that I was pretty good

372
00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:39,840
at and I could handle the client side no matter what because those are just, you know, relationship

373
00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:44,560
skills like communicating and learning what other people need and how you can provide

374
00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:46,800
for them in your visual work.

375
00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:54,200
But I think in that process, I kind of abandoned myself and my personal values and creativity.

376
00:20:54,200 --> 00:21:00,240
I like lost touch with like what actually worked for me, like what was going to be supportive.

377
00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:04,400
Also there's just certain things that I used to do for money like selling TikToks, which

378
00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:07,960
I literally could not do anymore because the market had changed.

379
00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:10,840
And even if I pitched myself, it just wasn't coming through.

380
00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:14,760
And I was like forced to reckon with the fact that like, there are a lot of things I used

381
00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:15,760
to do with money.

382
00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:21,840
But if I get real with myself, like I don't particularly enjoy doing user experience design

383
00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:23,760
for tech companies, for example.

384
00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:25,600
Like I don't want to do that.

385
00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:32,320
And I think even just in our first session, I told you I wanted to work with musicians,

386
00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:35,480
podcasters, writers, live event specialists.

387
00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:40,600
And like those were truly the creatives that I cared about whose work like I felt could

388
00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:42,520
be supported by my work.

389
00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:47,240
And I think I was just like so embarrassed of even like admitting that before, even though

390
00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:48,800
there's nothing embarrassing about it.

391
00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:53,680
I think I was just like afraid and constantly like in this state of like, oh, like I'm not

392
00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:54,680
ready for it.

393
00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:55,840
I'll get there eventually.

394
00:21:55,840 --> 00:22:00,200
But when I logically I thought about it, it's like, well, I've been designing professionally

395
00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:04,480
for definitely over five years at this point now, like maybe even like a decade if you

396
00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:07,840
count some of like the earlier work I did, even though it wasn't full time.

397
00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:12,520
It's like how many more decades am I going to wait until I start doing what I want?

398
00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:17,880
And it was like this old model too from school where like even as like an urban studies undergraduate

399
00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:21,600
when I was like learning about city planning, they didn't let us do city planning until

400
00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:23,160
like my senior year.

401
00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:26,720
So it's like you had to wait four years and to do the thing that you wanted to do.

402
00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:30,360
It was like all this like foundational learning beforehand.

403
00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:34,720
And I don't know, I think like what I'm starting to learn about myself and also creative careers

404
00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:37,240
is that sometimes you kind of just have to like try it.

405
00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:40,720
You have to like take little risks, find people who are willing to like take that risk with

406
00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:41,720
you.

407
00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:45,240
So I guess to answer your question, like I have a little bit more faith in myself now

408
00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:50,080
to take some of those risks forward because I got like so scared and like comfortable

409
00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:56,360
making money and a career and a path that worked for me monetarily, but like literally

410
00:22:56,360 --> 00:23:00,160
no other ways like spiritually in myself's fulfillment category.

411
00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:01,160
I was like burnt out.

412
00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:02,760
I could not do it anymore.

413
00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:03,760
Yeah.

414
00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:04,760
Yeah.

415
00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:10,120
And you know, that spiritual piece, it's like even if you don't believe in God or you feel

416
00:23:10,120 --> 00:23:16,720
like you know, you're not a spiritual person, it still understands that spiritual piece

417
00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:18,000
in different terms.

418
00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:22,200
Like if you, you know, there's something magical about nature, right?

419
00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:29,600
The seasons and that when you stare off at a tree and you witness the wind blow the leaves

420
00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:33,740
around, like even as I'm saying that, I feel magic.

421
00:23:33,740 --> 00:23:40,680
You know, when you think about a sunset at the beach and like all the beauty of like

422
00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:46,240
the clouds, pink sun, you know, like the different vibrations of color peeking through, you know,

423
00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:51,960
there's something magical about that, whether it's spiritual, whether it's, you know, science,

424
00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,400
nature, creating this magic, it's a feeling.

425
00:23:55,400 --> 00:24:01,600
And like when you tap into that feeling more often, it is, you know, it's something that

426
00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:03,400
you can align yourself with.

427
00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:04,400
Yeah.

428
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:09,280
And like, you know, it was, I think it was Mary Kate and Ashley that said, I heard them

429
00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:14,360
on an interview one time and they were like, if you do something that you're passionate

430
00:24:14,360 --> 00:24:19,560
about wholeheartedly and you're so passionate about it, that you work hard and you work

431
00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:23,280
harder because you're so passionate about it, the money will come.

432
00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:28,480
And yes, that might be kind of like a privileged thing to say too, because some people are

433
00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:34,520
struggling and like they're just trying to make ends meet, but you can still decide where

434
00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:38,720
you put your time and energy and build a bridge to get there.

435
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:45,240
Maybe it might take you longer because you have kids that you provide for, or, you know,

436
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:50,440
you don't have the privilege of like living with your parents or your parents have never

437
00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:55,200
supported you or, you know, maybe it's, you know, all these other things, but you can

438
00:24:55,200 --> 00:25:02,560
still put some time and energy aside to decide to take the time to go inward and be like,

439
00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:04,720
okay, what do I really enjoy?

440
00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:06,240
What am I passionate about?

441
00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:07,660
What am I good at?

442
00:25:07,660 --> 00:25:09,060
And ask yourself those questions.

443
00:25:09,060 --> 00:25:13,880
And that's really what, you know, my job is to to help guide people through that because

444
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:16,760
a lot of times it's hard to ask yourself those questions.

445
00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:18,960
We pull that information out of you.

446
00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:24,560
You're usually, you're not the most introspective person or never done it before, you know?

447
00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,280
So yeah, that's so good.

448
00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:31,580
And I think this is important to talk about because here's the thing, like I'm not someone

449
00:25:31,580 --> 00:25:33,320
with a very privileged background.

450
00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:35,440
Yeah, I agree with you.

451
00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:41,760
And this might be a controversial statement, but I think at times if you get good at struggling

452
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:46,960
and just white-knuckling your way through work, the struggle doesn't really stop.

453
00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:48,920
Like it's kind of a mentality.

454
00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:53,320
Like I got to a point where I was like taking on so much work, but I was still struggling

455
00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:57,080
and I was like afraid, even though from the outside it looked pretty good.

456
00:25:57,080 --> 00:25:58,080
It did not feel good.

457
00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:02,440
I'd never learned how to make it feel good because that was just kind of like my modus

458
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:03,440
operandi.

459
00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:05,360
That's like how I did things, you know?

460
00:26:05,360 --> 00:26:11,720
I kind of like used my own pain and parent sob stories in order to like get through things.

461
00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:14,160
And then on another note, I love Mary Kay and Ashley.

462
00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:15,160
I love them so much.

463
00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:19,560
But also one thing I love about them is there's all these quotes online about how when they

464
00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:23,880
were younger, their dad would always tell them like, no is a full sentence.

465
00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:27,920
Like if there's anything you don't feel comfortable doing, especially like as child actors, like

466
00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:30,560
you just say no and like don't let people push you.

467
00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:32,440
And I think that's kind of protective as well.

468
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:36,000
It's like you want to be doing the things that actually feel aligned.

469
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,480
But also at times, like if you do things that aren't aligned, I do think there is like a

470
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:40,480
risk.

471
00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:41,880
I do think there's a risk for artists.

472
00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:42,880
Yeah.

473
00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:50,480
I think what I love is that you hit on that struggle mentality, like it's energetic.

474
00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:55,800
It's like it's so hard to get out of that sometimes, that victim mentality when it feels

475
00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:56,800
so real.

476
00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:03,020
And it is, you know, like pain, difficulties, they are real and they are painful and they

477
00:27:03,020 --> 00:27:09,380
create wounds too that sometimes, you know, just end up building up so much fear, so much

478
00:27:09,380 --> 00:27:14,280
resentment, so much self doubt and we can stay stuck in that, you know, that victim

479
00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:21,960
mentality that woe is me and struggle and you know, me having like being an addict and

480
00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:23,600
having alcoholism.

481
00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:30,720
Like I was fully in this destructive struggle that I did not know how to get out of and

482
00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:32,400
it was so painful.

483
00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:35,920
And like I thought, I was like, what is wrong with me?

484
00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:38,760
Like why can't I control my drinking?

485
00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:42,160
Like why, why do I keep fucking shit up?

486
00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:45,800
Like why do I put myself in these dangerous situations?

487
00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:51,720
And I could have very easily stayed in that stuck cycle and just been like continuing

488
00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:57,280
to drink through all the negativity that I had been creating, like these dangerous situations

489
00:27:57,280 --> 00:27:59,920
and the trauma and the this and the that.

490
00:27:59,920 --> 00:28:05,520
But then for some reason I woke up and I realized like, oh, I need help.

491
00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:07,440
I can't do this alone.

492
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:09,760
Like why am I trying to do this alone?

493
00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:14,240
And I had to like humble myself to be like, okay, how can I get help?

494
00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:15,600
I need to reach out for help.

495
00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:17,400
And it was very scary.

496
00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:21,560
It's like a very, you know, and I think that happens with people in their careers too and

497
00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:24,720
like hiring a coach, any type of support, right?

498
00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:27,960
Whether it's a life coach or, you know, a weight coach or...

499
00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:31,280
People I think they think that they should be able to do it on their own.

500
00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:33,120
And I don't know what it is.

501
00:28:33,120 --> 00:28:36,120
Maybe it's like that messaging where it's like, oh, you should just be able to do this

502
00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:40,560
by yourself, but I think that's such a pervasive misconception.

503
00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:42,880
It's like no one does anything alone actually.

504
00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:45,160
Yeah, we need each other.

505
00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:46,160
Yeah.

506
00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:50,720
So it's like in realizing like you, you know, what you want is available.

507
00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:51,720
Okay.

508
00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:55,160
If that was a possibility, what would you need to get it?

509
00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:56,160
Maybe you need help.

510
00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:57,520
Where can I look for help?

511
00:28:57,520 --> 00:28:58,520
You know?

512
00:28:58,520 --> 00:28:59,520
Yeah.

513
00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:00,520
Yeah.

514
00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:01,520
Okay.

515
00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:02,520
Well, thank you for sharing that.

516
00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:04,920
Yeah, I think it's important to kind of talk about some of these vulnerable moments along

517
00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:09,400
the way because we're human and you know, I've been talking to some of my friends who

518
00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:11,360
I think are so dedicated.

519
00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:17,040
And I think one thing that I have been kind of pondering lately is how addiction and art

520
00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:20,160
can be a dedication in two different ways.

521
00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:26,200
Like maybe like we show devotion in our habits and in our art practices and it doesn't really

522
00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:29,000
matter what kind of background you come from.

523
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:33,520
There is like a repeated action that usually leads to a result.

524
00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:38,760
And if you can't like recognize like the patterns or like coach yourself by yourself to get

525
00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:42,360
to a place where you need to be like recognizing you need help is valid.

526
00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:43,360
Yeah.

527
00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:44,360
Yeah.

528
00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:49,680
And we all have like these blinds, you know, we can't really see sometimes it takes an

529
00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:54,840
objective viewer to see and to help us comprehend.

530
00:29:54,840 --> 00:30:00,040
And so that's what, you know, recovery like 12 step programs, things like that.

531
00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:05,520
Like that's why it's so helpful for addicts and you know, there's many different programs

532
00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:07,480
out there like debtors anonymous.

533
00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:10,000
There's, you know, anxiety anonymous.

534
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:12,280
There's there's overeaters anonymous.

535
00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:16,200
I mean, like that's so there's so many there's so much free help out there for those sort

536
00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:17,600
of things as well.

537
00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:24,320
And then coaching, you know, when you're making a an investment and a monetary transaction.

538
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:25,320
Yeah.

539
00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:29,960
You're also holding yourself to like there's something in that as well.

540
00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:32,640
You're like, OK, well, I just paid this dollar amount.

541
00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:35,040
So now I better work for it.

542
00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:36,360
You know, that's me.

543
00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:37,360
Yeah.

544
00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:38,360
You want it to pay off.

545
00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:39,360
Absolutely.

546
00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:40,360
Yeah.

547
00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:41,360
Yeah.

548
00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:42,720
No, I think like it's personal buy in.

549
00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:44,840
There's like something psychological about it.

550
00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:45,840
Yeah.

551
00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:49,240
And it's definitely better than the calendar notification that maybe you ignore all the

552
00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:53,080
time like me, you know, calling myself out at times, switching gears a little bit.

553
00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:57,040
So I know that this Thursday you have a portfolio workshop.

554
00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:00,800
And for those of us who can attend, I will be attending, but by the time this podcast

555
00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:02,680
comes out, it'll be over already.

556
00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:05,800
So could you give us a little bit of a teaser for that workshop?

557
00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:10,480
Yeah, I'll probably be running the workshop in the next probably sometime in November

558
00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:11,480
or December.

559
00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:17,680
If it comes out by two, feel free to reach out to me on social media about it or, you

560
00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:19,360
know, send me an email.

561
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:21,320
And what is your social media, by the way?

562
00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:23,120
Yeah, it's curated slash.

563
00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:28,840
It's like curating art and then slash like jumping into a pool and making a slash.

564
00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:29,840
Yes.

565
00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:34,720
So curated slash and that's what my website is to curated.com and you can email me or

566
00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:39,880
send me a message if you want to sign up for the next round of the workshop.

567
00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:43,720
But it's six simple steps to building a portfolio that shines.

568
00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:49,480
And through this we'll be actually exploring like the mental traps that people fall into

569
00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:55,280
when they are trying to create artwork, not only like, you know, what happens is like

570
00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:59,960
the over consumption where you're like on this consumption mode of like, oh, I need

571
00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:03,640
to like learn all the time and find inspiration.

572
00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:06,080
And then that stops you from actually getting started.

573
00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:10,000
So if you're the type of person who wants to make art, but like you're not even making

574
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:14,360
art yet because then this, that the workshop would be for you.

575
00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:19,240
Or if you're the type of person who is making art, but it's just not consistent, right?

576
00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:25,720
Like, so maybe you're, you get, you have too many ideas, you get all of these ideas and

577
00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:30,600
you start working on something, but then you get, you have that like shiny carrot syndrome

578
00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:34,680
where you get distracted and you're like, oh, but maybe I should be working on this

579
00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:35,680
instead.

580
00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:40,680
And then you don't finish the project or you you've overwhelmed and self doubt come up

581
00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:43,400
and you're like, I just don't know if this is good enough.

582
00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:48,760
So then you distract yourself with online shopping or, you know, going out and buying

583
00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:52,040
a million supplies because you're like, maybe I need more supplies.

584
00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:56,260
So if like, and just, I want to like normalize all of these things too.

585
00:32:56,260 --> 00:33:01,920
This is very often I see these things in myself, like I am not immune to these things and I

586
00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:04,040
see this with my clients as well.

587
00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:08,920
So it's like figuring out, I'm not only going to tell you and share like what a portfolio

588
00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:15,920
that shines is so you can attract during customers and clients and create raving fans and sell

589
00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:21,080
your work, but I'm also going to shine a light on like what gets in the way of you actually

590
00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:25,200
showing up consistently and building that portfolio.

591
00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:30,280
So it's going to be like such an incredible workshop and so much value.

592
00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:32,360
I think it'll be a lot of fun.

593
00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:33,360
I'm excited.

594
00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:34,360
You're going to be there too.

595
00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:39,720
We've done work personally one-on-one, like, and so you've kind of seen it in like you

596
00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:45,800
experience some of the tools I'll be teaching and already been working on your portfolio

597
00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:48,240
as we speak pretty much.

598
00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:50,120
Yeah, yeah, definitely.

599
00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:56,140
And oh my gosh, the portfolio is a never ending project and yeah, healing my relationship

600
00:33:56,140 --> 00:33:58,440
with my portfolio as we speak.

601
00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:03,800
So yeah, it'll be great just to kind of like take some notes, hear your tips and I am reframing

602
00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:09,800
my work a little bit and recently I've also been taking out text only ads on I Love Creatives.

603
00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:13,680
I wanted to tell you about this because I just wrote some like silly one-liners that

604
00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:18,640
will be up this week and we'll see how those do because this is me shooting my shot, you

605
00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:21,280
know, just like trying to figure out along the way.

606
00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:25,920
Oh yeah, yeah, you gotta shoot your shot over and over and over.

607
00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:26,920
It never stops.

608
00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:32,160
And you have to find ways that feel fun and good to you and yeah, like whatever works.

609
00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:33,720
It's supposed to be fun.

610
00:34:33,720 --> 00:34:34,720
Yeah.

611
00:34:34,720 --> 00:34:39,600
Okay, so last 10 minutes I have with you, I would love to ask you about your art and

612
00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:44,360
you know, if you want to talk about the paintings you're working on, I love your art style.

613
00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:47,120
So I would love to hear from you describe your work.

614
00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:48,120
Yeah.

615
00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:52,840
Okay, so just like all my clients, I struggle with the same things because I'm a creative

616
00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:56,520
and I have so many different ideas, so many different projects I want to work on all the

617
00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:59,640
time and I have my hands on a lot of different things.

618
00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:05,880
So I'm not only a career coach for artists and creatives, but I also teach art classes.

619
00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:12,000
So I work for a nonprofit, it's called the Vic James Center and it's actually Vic James

620
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:17,180
was my good friend younger brother who died from an overdose.

621
00:35:17,180 --> 00:35:23,680
And so she named the nonprofit after him and we actually go into a lot, we have a lot of

622
00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:28,860
different partnerships within West Los Angeles and we help young people who are struggling

623
00:35:28,860 --> 00:35:30,640
with substance use disorder.

624
00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:35,780
So I teach art classes at rehabs, at a sober living, and then I'm going back into this

625
00:35:35,780 --> 00:35:37,960
place called Safe Place for Youth.

626
00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:44,600
It's an access center for people who don't have a place to live or looking for housing

627
00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:51,200
young people under the age of 25 and there's a recording studio there, they have art supply,

628
00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:55,240
they have free food, there's a closet that they can get clothing.

629
00:35:55,240 --> 00:35:56,240
It's so cool.

630
00:35:56,240 --> 00:35:58,680
So I'm going to be teaching a creative writing class again there.

631
00:35:58,680 --> 00:35:59,880
I started last week.

632
00:35:59,880 --> 00:36:01,340
So only am I doing that.

633
00:36:01,340 --> 00:36:03,520
And then of course I have my art, right?

634
00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:07,680
It's like I have to ask myself the same questions I ask my client.

635
00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:10,320
Like what is most important to you for right now?

636
00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:15,720
Of all these passions, all these desires, all these ideas, if you could narrow it down

637
00:36:15,720 --> 00:36:20,480
to the top three things that are important to you, like how do you prioritize right now

638
00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:21,880
versus later?

639
00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:27,900
And so I do have a big vision for my art, but right now I'm really focused on like there's

640
00:36:27,900 --> 00:36:32,560
something within me that feels like coaching is the priority.

641
00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:37,880
I want to help millions of artists make money with their creative pursuits.

642
00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:41,080
Like that is, it is such a deep desire for me.

643
00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:46,320
And like, that's why I'm so passionate about the work that I do because like we need creative

644
00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:47,920
people, we need artists.

645
00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:54,680
I mean, our world's so interesting and entertaining and beautiful to live in, you know, and there

646
00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:57,600
is, there is money out there to be made by creative.

647
00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:02,720
So with that said, I do have a big vision for my art, but I feel like it's probably

648
00:37:02,720 --> 00:37:05,800
going to be a little bit later in my career.

649
00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:11,040
Maybe the next 10 years I'll be more of that, but I do, I love pastel, paint pastel colors.

650
00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:13,360
And so I paint cakes.

651
00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:19,080
So I paint, I use wash and acrylic paint to paint cake, paintings of cakes.

652
00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:21,000
And there are a lot of pastel colors.

653
00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:25,240
I'm actually working on one right now that has like more of a, what's the, when you use

654
00:37:25,240 --> 00:37:27,520
one color and then shades of it.

655
00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:28,520
Monochrome.

656
00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:29,520
Monochrome.

657
00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:30,520
Yeah.

658
00:37:30,520 --> 00:37:31,520
Love it.

659
00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:32,520
Yeah.

660
00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:35,840
And so I'm doing like a monochrome painting right now with metallic white.

661
00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:37,400
That's going to be the highlight.

662
00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:39,120
And I've also, I love toys.

663
00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:46,160
So it's like a very naive kind of colors and I've done Barbie paintings and other toys

664
00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:47,160
and things too.

665
00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:50,080
And then cake up cakes and desserts and all of those things.

666
00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:52,080
So that's what, that's what I love to paint.

667
00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:56,680
I've sold some of them and, but it's kind of right now it's just fun for me.

668
00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:58,760
And I'm just doing it for myself.

669
00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:01,880
I do see later on it forming into something bigger.

670
00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:02,880
Definitely.

671
00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:03,880
Absolutely.

672
00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:05,000
And you're so Mr. Shin driven.

673
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:08,920
I love hearing about the work that you're doing with the nonprofit and teaching.

674
00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:14,040
I think it's just so, there's something like, okay, humbling is not the only word for it,

675
00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:19,720
but I think it really nurtures my inner child and my inner creative when I'm teaching someone

676
00:38:19,720 --> 00:38:21,120
else a skill.

677
00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:26,280
It helps me recognize how much I've grown and how much there is to impart just with

678
00:38:26,280 --> 00:38:28,800
the time that I've spent learning something.

679
00:38:28,800 --> 00:38:32,080
Like being able to tell someone like, you're doing a great job.

680
00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:33,080
Yeah.

681
00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:36,520
And like it is hard sometimes, you know, it feels very reflective.

682
00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:39,080
And I think there's some value in working with other people.

683
00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:43,720
I think that's like, obviously you do it a ton, but I sometimes see people and even in

684
00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:47,240
my own life get into the cycle of just like, oh, it's me, my work.

685
00:38:47,240 --> 00:38:51,200
And I don't know, it's kind of like hiding your light under a bush sometimes when you're

686
00:38:51,200 --> 00:38:53,000
not interacting with others.

687
00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:54,000
Yeah.

688
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:59,480
And I agree with Pointe too, because this is part of 12 step recovery is like being

689
00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:02,880
of service to others and being used like that.

690
00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:09,200
There's something really healing that happens when you get out of yourself and into service

691
00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:14,240
and you show up for people around you, whether it's volunteering, whether it's working.

692
00:39:14,240 --> 00:39:19,400
Like if you're ever going through grief or like a difficult time or you're very inward

693
00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:26,520
focused on your problems, like a great way to shift that energy is like, how can I help

694
00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:27,520
someone out?

695
00:39:27,520 --> 00:39:33,000
What do I do to go out into the world or call a friend or, you know, whatever it is to be

696
00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:35,440
of service and like get out of my head.

697
00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:36,440
Right.

698
00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:41,960
And it's awkward sometimes too, especially if you're really processing through like grief

699
00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:42,960
specifically.

700
00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:47,960
But in those times, like we've talked about this whole episode is like we need each other.

701
00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:49,280
We need other people.

702
00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:54,040
It's so important to have community and to interact with others and what better way to

703
00:39:54,040 --> 00:39:58,080
like be there for someone else, get out of yourself.

704
00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:00,560
And like that is so rewarding.

705
00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:04,280
It's like, it's something, there's something magical that happens in that too.

706
00:40:04,280 --> 00:40:07,920
When you're like, oh my gosh, like I just helped them so much.

707
00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:10,920
You know, like look at what I've done.

708
00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:12,520
It just shifts the energy.

709
00:40:12,520 --> 00:40:13,520
I love it.

710
00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:14,520
Amazing.

711
00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:15,640
Well, Lauren, thank you so much.

712
00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:19,520
Is there anything else you want to touch on before we end the podcast today?

713
00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:22,640
You know, not really, but I just, I, I'm so grateful.

714
00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:26,560
Like I said earlier too, to get to, you know, work with you.

715
00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:29,240
You are, you're such an inspiration.

716
00:40:29,240 --> 00:40:30,240
You're so talented.

717
00:40:30,240 --> 00:40:31,240
You're so hardworking.

718
00:40:31,240 --> 00:40:37,080
And you know, I just, I'm excited to see what else is possible for you.

719
00:40:37,080 --> 00:40:40,000
You can't see it right now, but I'm smiling really big.

720
00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:41,960
You can see it, but the audience can't.

721
00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:42,960
So yeah.

722
00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:43,960
All right.

723
00:40:43,960 --> 00:40:44,960
Thank you so much.

724
00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:47,920
And here, Lauren, thank you for being on the podcast.

725
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:51,640
And for anyone who wants to connect with Lauren, I'll put her info in the show notes.

726
00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:52,640
Yeah.

727
00:40:52,640 --> 00:41:15,640
Thank you for joining us on the pool party.