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Published on:

4th Feb 2022

Creating a Business Philosophy

Why does your business exist? Of course, it exists to make money, but how is it adding value to the market and to your life as an artist? Having a philosophy of business helps you find the right direction for your business and ensures you stay on course, creating value for your clients in a way that matters to you.

In this episode, you'll learn:

  • How to dig deep and find your own philosophy-one that aligns with your values
  • How your philosophy should grow and change as you grow and change
  • How you can use your philosophy as a compass to keep you on course

Learn more about how to think like an artist on The Artist's Forge, and join our growing community of artists on Facebook.

Want to know more about the hosts?

Nicole York

Matt Stagliano

Cat Ford-Coates

Bassam Sabbagh

Bekka Bjorke

Transcript
Matt Stagliano:

Hi, this is Matt Stagliano and thanks for being

Matt Stagliano:

part of the artists Forge. We're a community of creatives who

Matt Stagliano:

help each other think like an artist. By discussing creativity

Matt Stagliano:

as a process instead of a skill or a talent. We believe everyone

Matt Stagliano:

has what it takes to create something amazing. We just need

Matt Stagliano:

some encouragement and inspiration along the way. What

Matt Stagliano:

you're about to hear is a live recording of one of our daily

Matt Stagliano:

discussions on the clubhouse app. If you like what you hear,

Matt Stagliano:

I encourage you to join our private Facebook group, or visit

Matt Stagliano:

us on the web at the artist forged calm. Now on to the show.

Nicole York:

Alright, Joe, well, it is Monday, we already have so

Nicole York:

many friends with us here this morning. And I am super honored

Nicole York:

to welcome you back to morning walk and talk with the artists

Nicole York:

Forge. This week, it's morning walking business talk, and will

Nicole York:

be for the next month. So we are going to be looking at the very

Nicole York:

foundations of our business, how we decide what our philosophy of

Nicole York:

business is going to be. And then getting into some of the

Nicole York:

more technical things like how we structure our business and

Nicole York:

what type of business it is. And this month, we're looking at it

Nicole York:

essentially as the artists forge MBA. So thank you to Ari for

Nicole York:

that suggested name. So this week, is going to be the kind of

Nicole York:

early on nuts and bolts that we need to get in place to build

Nicole York:

the rest of the business structure on top of. And I

Nicole York:

wanted to start by talking about the philosophy of business.

Nicole York:

Because I think there are a few things we really need to

Nicole York:

understand about why we're in business, what our business

Nicole York:

means to our lives, what we want it to represent and how we want

Nicole York:

it to be in the marketplace. And all of that comes down to what

Nicole York:

philosophy we have about our business. And that is going to

Nicole York:

come into play again later on when we talk about writing up a

Nicole York:

business plan and things like a vision statement and a mission

Nicole York:

statement. So this particular philosophy is going to become

Nicole York:

really influential, later. Also, as we talk about things like non

Nicole York:

negotiables in our business, and how those can act like bumpers

Nicole York:

in a bowling lane that kind of keep us going on the right path.

Nicole York:

So I'm glad you're here for that I'm looking forward to this

Nicole York:

week. And the rest of this month, I think this is going to

Nicole York:

really set us up for the year ahead so that we can move

Nicole York:

forward and make any changes to our businesses that need to be

Nicole York:

made. And if we're just getting off the ground, this will

Nicole York:

hopefully give us a really solid foundation to plan a business

Nicole York:

that is going to thrive. So what is a philosophy of business? Why

Nicole York:

is it important? If you have been here with artists forge for

Nicole York:

any amount of time, one of the thing that we have talked about

Nicole York:

is figuring out our y. And this was an exercise that we did a

Nicole York:

few months ago, where we asked ourselves why? Over and over

Nicole York:

again, until we got to the very bottom until there were no more

Nicole York:

answers that we could give to figure out why we chose the act

Nicole York:

of creation as the model for our business. Why are we artists,

Nicole York:

photographers, musicians, etc. Just tracing that idea all the

Nicole York:

way back down? And we want to do that again for our business and

Nicole York:

see if we can come up with what is essentially a mission

Nicole York:

statement for the business itself. Why does the business

Nicole York:

exist? What is our philosophy of business? And it would be very

Nicole York:

easy and a little bit of a scapegoat to say, well, it

Nicole York:

exists to make money. Of course, all businesses exist to make

Nicole York:

money, but you chose this business. And you're going to

Nicole York:

get to choose how that business is structured, what it sells,

Nicole York:

who the target market is, where it sells it, what type of

Nicole York:

products it sells, what the customer journey is like how you

Nicole York:

run your sales processes, all of those kinds of things, come back

Nicole York:

to the philosophy that you choose for why your business

Nicole York:

exists. And you can essentially, look at this in a way like a

Nicole York:

tagline, right? I've mentioned before, the reason that I the

Nicole York:

reason that I do photography is to build bridges back to

Nicole York:

fairyland. I'm inviting folks back to that place where they

Nicole York:

believe anything is possible, and that there are things beyond

Nicole York:

their understanding wonderful and magical things in them and

Nicole York:

in the world that they live in. And overall, the goal of

Nicole York:

everything else I do is to facilitate storytelling. So I

Nicole York:

want people to tell their own stories. I want to help People

Nicole York:

learn how to tell the stories that they need to tell. And so

Nicole York:

at the very heart of everything,

Nicole York:

everything comes back to that one philosophy. I want to tell

Nicole York:

stories that matter stories that impact people, and I want to

Nicole York:

help them tell their stories. So that's two examples in my own

Nicole York:

life. And what we can do is ask ourselves, why does this

Nicole York:

business exist? Why is it going to be here, not just the reason

Nicole York:

that any business is here to make money, but the reason I

Nicole York:

have built this thing this way, or I will build this thing this

Nicole York:

way. And that could be a myriad of things. We've talked about

Nicole York:

connection, we've talked about creativity, there's no wrong

Nicole York:

answer here, it just needs to be one that matters enough that you

Nicole York:

will put in the amount of time effort, Blood Sweat Tears,

Nicole York:

you're going to be building the sweat equity. So what is

Nicole York:

important enough about the existence of this business, for

Nicole York:

you to do everything you need to do in order to make it

Nicole York:

successful? Because remember, you could be working for

Nicole York:

somebody to pay your bills, you don't have to start a business.

Nicole York:

So there must be some deep reason that made you choose this

Nicole York:

above anything else? And even if the answer is just, I don't want

Nicole York:

to work for somebody else, and this is all I'm good at. That's

Nicole York:

not a bad place to start. But my guess is that there will be even

Nicole York:

a deeper reason than that something tied to who you are,

Nicole York:

and how you want to exist in the world, and the kind of value you

Nicole York:

want to provide. So I want to begin by asking our wonderful

Nicole York:

moderators this morning, if you were to look at the business

Nicole York:

that you have built, and try to distill some kind of philosophy,

Nicole York:

why does your business exist? Beyond just this is how I pay my

Nicole York:

bills? Would you be able to do that? And if not, do you think

Nicole York:

that's something we can explore today and, and pick apart a

Nicole York:

little bit so that folks in the audience who have already built

Nicole York:

their business, but never really bothered to look at what the

Nicole York:

philosophy of their businesses will be able to follow in our

Nicole York:

steps?

Cat Ford-Coates:

I think it's actually important to know that

Cat Ford-Coates:

as you build your business over time, you should actually

Cat Ford-Coates:

revisit this question. Because the the evolution of that why

Cat Ford-Coates:

and that purpose is a thing. And that why will deepen and expand

Cat Ford-Coates:

as you grow in your business.

Nicole York:

Okay, that's such a good point. Yeah. And you're

Nicole York:

absolutely right.

Bassam Sabbagh:

Hey, good morning, everyone, I just want

Bassam Sabbagh:

to jump in first, if you don't mind, simply because I, I do

Bassam Sabbagh:

have to leave soon. I'm waiting for a client for a photoshoot.

Bassam Sabbagh:

Great way to kick off the subject. I just want to say that

Bassam Sabbagh:

kind of answer your question, Nicole. And in my case, I try to

Bassam Sabbagh:

boil it down to the simplest common denominator. And for me,

Bassam Sabbagh:

it's my need to, or at least my want to try to make a positive

Bassam Sabbagh:

impact on positive impact on anybody I deal with whether it's

Bassam Sabbagh:

small or big. And I do this, because I want people to leave

Bassam Sabbagh:

every experience that they have with me either a little more

Bassam Sabbagh:

confident, either a little bit smarter, either a little bit,

Bassam Sabbagh:

feeling better about themselves. And, and, and I come from a

Bassam Sabbagh:

place as you guys know, from place of service, and

Bassam Sabbagh:

generosity, and that's the reason I'm in business is to

Bassam Sabbagh:

actually it's one way to manifest how I live my life. And

Bassam Sabbagh:

I'm happy when somebody says you had a very small positive impact

Bassam Sabbagh:

on me. And that's all I need in life. So everything is built

Bassam Sabbagh:

around, not fundamentally. And obviously, I can put many more

Bassam Sabbagh:

words around why I do this, and how I make women feel and how I

Bassam Sabbagh:

do mine, how I you know why I want to know what exactly do I

Bassam Sabbagh:

do for them, but fundamentally, this is what it is.

Nicole York:

I love that beside them. And you reminded me then

Nicole York:

just a little bit of the time that I interviewed Brooke Shaden

Nicole York:

when I asked her, you know, what is her why? And she simply said,

Nicole York:

because this is the greatest good I have to give to the

Nicole York:

world. And I love that so much. And I love that this is a

Nicole York:

manifestation for you, of just who you want to be. This is just

Nicole York:

another aspect of you being able to be the person that you can be

Nicole York:

proud of in this life. And I just think that that's really

Nicole York:

beautiful and powerful. And I would ask, do you is there any

Nicole York:

specific thing tied to photography that makes it the

Nicole York:

right way for you to do this because I know you also do this

Nicole York:

in your business consulting as well. But there must have been

Nicole York:

something about photography that made it be one Have the right

Nicole York:

choices as a way to manifest that desire.

Bassam Sabbagh:

Yeah, no, absolutely. And when I, when I,

Bassam Sabbagh:

I get it both from photography, and I get it from a one on one

Bassam Sabbagh:

coaching with people, maybe not necessarily business consulting

Bassam Sabbagh:

as such for a company. But when I do one on one coaching, it's

Bassam Sabbagh:

almost the same. Same thing and what photography brings,

Bassam Sabbagh:

obviously, my passion for photography started without

Bassam Sabbagh:

really knowing why I want to be in the business of photography.

Bassam Sabbagh:

So there's a passion behind it about photography, there's a

Bassam Sabbagh:

passion about connecting with people, getting to know them,

Bassam Sabbagh:

getting them to have fun, getting them to open up getting

Bassam Sabbagh:

them, asking them probing questions that we can get into

Bassam Sabbagh:

and, and I do that with my photography clients, as much as

Bassam Sabbagh:

my coaching, I make people think about certain things, I help

Bassam Sabbagh:

them, you know, analyze things that they never thought about,

Bassam Sabbagh:

and it just creates an atmosphere of, of connection

Bassam Sabbagh:

that I just thrive in. And I like experiencing. So combining

Bassam Sabbagh:

that passion for photography, with that, with that connection

Bassam Sabbagh:

with people and conversation with people, is really why I

Bassam Sabbagh:

think I do it through photography. I mean, I can't see

Bassam Sabbagh:

myself doing photography, and you know, landscape photography,

Bassam Sabbagh:

because there's no interaction with people. There's personal

Bassam Sabbagh:

satisfaction, but there's no that that I guess, feedback and

Bassam Sabbagh:

validation that I am serving my purpose by doing something

Bassam Sabbagh:

different than then people photography. Yeah, I think

Bassam Sabbagh:

that's that's pretty much it.

Nicole York:

That makes a lot of sense. Okay, I love that as our

Nicole York:

first example, because I feel like that's broad enough that a

Nicole York:

lot of people will be able to connect with that as a really

Nicole York:

good starting point. And what I want us to keep in mind when

Nicole York:

we're talking about the philosophy of our business is,

Nicole York:

number one exactly like cat says, this is something that

Nicole York:

should grow and change as we grow and change. But it will

Nicole York:

often keep its roots kind of in the same place. It'll just

Nicole York:

expand to encompass more things. And sometimes it will go through

Nicole York:

a complete change. And that's okay, do we just need to know

Nicole York:

what those things are, so that we maintain the right

Nicole York:

trajectory. And I think, besides having the very baseline be that

Nicole York:

I want to make a positive impact in people's life, through this

Nicole York:

connection and the intimacy that a camera provides. Me that is a

Nicole York:

pretty beautiful place to be. And the reason that it's so

Nicole York:

important to know this is that you will be able to sense when

Nicole York:

things start going on the wrong track. And there's going to be

Nicole York:

times in our journey as business people when we start to shift

Nicole York:

into other areas, almost without realizing it, because we've

Nicole York:

happened to come across something that maybe just really

Nicole York:

worked or a season will hit. I ended up weirdly falling into

Nicole York:

marketing for other businesses, even though it is not my

Nicole York:

favorite thing. Everybody knows this. I understand it, and I can

Nicole York:

do it, but I don't love it. And so once I did the thing for

Nicole York:

somebody, other people went, Hey, I heard you did the thing

Nicole York:

for somebody, can you come do the thing for me? And because

Nicole York:

it's our money? And because I have a hard time saying no, I'm

Nicole York:

doing the thing for other people. And not necessarily

Nicole York:

happy about it. Like it doesn't necessarily fulfill my three.

Nicole York:

And we don't have to get into this today. But I've mentioned

Nicole York:

this before that I have a kind of a manifesto for my, for my

Nicole York:

professional life. And it's kind of three rules that I look at.

Nicole York:

And if something falls within those three rules, I consider it

Nicole York:

a good option. And that is does it help me tell stories? Does it

Nicole York:

help me help other people tell stories? And does it contribute

Nicole York:

to the health, welfare and happiness of my family. And so

Nicole York:

doing marketing for other people does help contribute to the

Nicole York:

health, happiness and welfare of my family because it brings in

Nicole York:

net income, but it really, you know, in those other two places,

Nicole York:

it can fall into a little bit more of a questionable area. So

Nicole York:

those things combined with what my baseline is, are letting me

Nicole York:

know that if I push too far into this area, I'm really straying

Nicole York:

from the whole reason that my professional existence is here.

Nicole York:

So it becomes those guardrails that keeps me on the path. And I

Nicole York:

can only imagine for some for you, that when you have

Nicole York:

interactions that don't fit in with those goals that you have

Nicole York:

for yourself, you must be able to feel that right like this did

Nicole York:

not live up to why I'm here every day.

Bassam Sabbagh:

Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, people get

Bassam Sabbagh:

their motivation in many different ways. And, you know,

Bassam Sabbagh:

for for example, I don't get motivation. Some money, although

Bassam Sabbagh:

I love money, don't get me wrong. But I can have a client

Bassam Sabbagh:

spend a lot of money. But if that feeling wasn't there while

Bassam Sabbagh:

I was serving them, it just doesn't I'd rather have a free

Bassam Sabbagh:

client or somebody who I collaborate with or somebody

Bassam Sabbagh:

that pays very discounted pricing, but appreciates and

Bassam Sabbagh:

makes me feel and may feel what I want them to feel and make me

Bassam Sabbagh:

feel that way. I'd rather have that anytime. And yes, you're

Bassam Sabbagh:

right, you feel it right away, you're not going to feel the

Bassam Sabbagh:

money right away, you're not going to feel this, you're not

Bassam Sabbagh:

going to feel. But that feeling as you are doing your thing you

Bassam Sabbagh:

get or you don't get that feeling you're absolutely right.

Nicole York:

Yeah, I feel like it just comes comes that that

Nicole York:

that flag that points you back towards your purpose, and

Nicole York:

reminds you of why you're there. And that's why this exercise is

Nicole York:

important. Because if we haven't done that yet, we won't know why

Nicole York:

something feels off, we're it's going to be harder for us to

Nicole York:

recognize whether or not we're staying true to this path that

Nicole York:

we've set ourselves on. So thank you for sharing that. Beside. I

Nicole York:

think that was a really fantastic place to start. And

Nicole York:

definitely want to now begin picking on the other moderators,

Nicole York:

do y'all have a philosophy for business? If you do? What is it?

Nicole York:

How?

Matt Stagliano:

For those of you that were in college, did you

Matt Stagliano:

ever make a jungle juice, where you just kind of poured whatever

Matt Stagliano:

was left in the bottles into one big bowl and drink that? Because

Matt Stagliano:

I feel like my entire career is made up of Nicole and Kat in

Matt Stagliano:

besom. And everything that you guys put out, I'm like, oh,

Matt Stagliano:

yeah, I recognize myself in that. I recognize myself. So I

Matt Stagliano:

think you know, the biggest thing, Nicole is that what Cat

Matt Stagliano:

said at the beginning about growing over time and changing

Matt Stagliano:

is pretty much the the bottom line of my story. I came out of

Matt Stagliano:

corporate and didn't know what I wanted to do. I really had no

Matt Stagliano:

idea fell into photography, people started asking me to do

Matt Stagliano:

the thing for them. Because I kind of got photography, and

Matt Stagliano:

they started asking me for that stuff. I figured I could get

Matt Stagliano:

paid for it. That's what launched me into business. I had

Matt Stagliano:

no desire or expectation that I'd be a photographer. But

Matt Stagliano:

people started paying me I started getting commercial jobs,

Matt Stagliano:

I said, I should probably make a business out of this coming out

Matt Stagliano:

of corporate, I wanted it to be like a corporation, I want it to

Matt Stagliano:

be very rigid, I want it to be Don Draper and have a team of

Matt Stagliano:

creatives underneath me. And I would be managing over time,

Matt Stagliano:

every single bit of that has changed. And I find myself now

Matt Stagliano:

more interested in the connection and making sure that

Matt Stagliano:

I'm serving somebody at the end of the day, rather than about

Matt Stagliano:

the capitalism or like besom was saying about the number on the

Matt Stagliano:

profit and loss sheet. And it's been really interesting, because

Matt Stagliano:

if you asked me 10 years ago, when I started, would I be in

Matt Stagliano:

this position? I'd be like, No, I'm gonna have this large agency

Matt Stagliano:

and whatnot. But as everything has changed, and I've now been

Matt Stagliano:

able to craft the business that I want, it does become about the

Matt Stagliano:

philosophy for me about staying true to my non negotiables of

Matt Stagliano:

staying true to mine, you know, moral and creative, true north.

Matt Stagliano:

And that is what matters to me, I'm now rebuilding my business

Matt Stagliano:

around that, rather than trying to have a business and force a

Matt Stagliano:

philosophy into it. Does that make sense?

Nicole York:

Woof. Okay, two things there first, I was not in

Nicole York:

college. But I definitely did have jungle juice, although we

Nicole York:

call this Fody poured it into a bunch of fruit, which is way

Nicole York:

better, because then you get to eat the fruit. So I definitely I

Nicole York:

connected with you there and looking at kind of all those

Nicole York:

different influences that come together to give you what you

Nicole York:

have. But then I think what you just said about instead of

Nicole York:

trying to force a philosophy on to the business, you're making

Nicole York:

adjustments to the business to suit the philosophy. And I

Nicole York:

really love that. And so do you feel like this understanding of

Nicole York:

why you're doing what you're doing? That kind of just grew

Nicole York:

for you over time and experience? Did you have like a

Nicole York:

eureka moment? Or how did you recognize that? This this

Nicole York:

business really exists as a as a kind of key for connection.

Matt Stagliano:

I think I think I mentioned it that I feel in my

Matt Stagliano:

core that I was put here to be like a guide or a teacher, a

Matt Stagliano:

leader of some sort, right? That doesn't mean I'm I'm front and

Matt Stagliano:

center and everything but I'm the guide for someone else and

Matt Stagliano:

And I've done that through teaching and managing and

Matt Stagliano:

leading teams, and so on and so forth. What I found was that the

Matt Stagliano:

definition of that just shifted a little bit. And I'm now able

Matt Stagliano:

to guide people to seeing themselves, I'm able to guide

Matt Stagliano:

them to connect with different parts of themselves that they

Matt Stagliano:

hadn't seen before. And it's only through photography that

Matt Stagliano:

I'm able to do that. I can make quick connections with people

Matt Stagliano:

when I'm face to face, it's having them listen to me and

Matt Stagliano:

say, you know, hey, you're gonna, you're gonna connect with

Matt Stagliano:

these parts of yourself. And they don't believe me until they

Matt Stagliano:

see the photographs. And I realize that I'm able to do that

Matt Stagliano:

leading and guiding and teaching through photography, it was just

Matt Stagliano:

a matter of shifting my perspective and shifting the

Matt Stagliano:

definition on it, that really locked it in for me.

Nicole York:

Oh, I love that. I love it. I love it. Okay, so now

Nicole York:

that you recognize that that is the philosophy that that's kind

Nicole York:

of the core of why you're doing what you're doing, how have you

Nicole York:

begun to make those changes in your business to support that

Nicole York:

philosophy.

Matt Stagliano:

So a perfect example is what I'm going

Matt Stagliano:

through at the moment. I'm a big believer in prints. And I

Matt Stagliano:

believe everybody should have prints in the physical

Matt Stagliano:

photographs. And for a long time, I fought against digital

Matt Stagliano:

only because I felt like I was cheapening myself or devaluing

Matt Stagliano:

what I do, by not providing prints, I'm starting to

Matt Stagliano:

understand my client more. And that, despite what I feel, they

Matt Stagliano:

might not want prints, they might want digital only. So I'm

Matt Stagliano:

developing a new type of way of talking about that with the

Matt Stagliano:

clients so that I can provide them Digital's only that I still

Matt Stagliano:

feel valued, that they still get value. And you know, everybody's

Matt Stagliano:

happy. So I'm not sitting here hammering them with Prince and

Matt Stagliano:

Prince and Prince. I'm listening to what they need and solving

Matt Stagliano:

their problem. It's kind of that easy. So that's how I'm you

Matt Stagliano:

know, refiguring, something in the concrete?

Nicole York:

Yes. Oh, that's such a good example. Okay. I

Nicole York:

love that. Because it's definitely going to strike the

Nicole York:

line for some folks who are like, Well, I'm in business,

Nicole York:

because I believe a certain thing. And we have to, we have

Nicole York:

to hold that and recognize that it's important. But if you find

Nicole York:

the people who want to come to you don't necessarily desire

Nicole York:

that that certain thing. How do you go about going? Okay, do I

Nicole York:

shift this? Because I believe it's important for people to

Nicole York:

have prints. Why do I believe that? Like, what is it about the

Nicole York:

print that I feel like, it's so important that I think people

Nicole York:

need to have this thing? And if my clients don't necessarily

Nicole York:

want that, how do I? Like how do you make that mental shift mat

Nicole York:

set to where you say, Okay, I'm here for connection, I'm here to

Nicole York:

serve their needs, to help them get to this place where they

Nicole York:

learn something about themselves. But you still feel

Nicole York:

like apprentice important? So how have you begun to shift that

Nicole York:

mindset, so that it allows you to actually make those changes

Nicole York:

that align more with your philosophy.

Matt Stagliano:

So this is gonna get woowoo. But I put my ego

Matt Stagliano:

aside, because I realized, it's not about me, it's not about

Matt Stagliano:

what I believe. It's not about what I care about, I can explain

Matt Stagliano:

all of that to the client, and hope that they understand it,

Matt Stagliano:

and perhaps they'll come to an agreement of it with me, but I'm

Matt Stagliano:

not them. So why let my ego take over and, you know, start

Matt Stagliano:

resenting them that they don't want prints or, you know,

Matt Stagliano:

feeling like they're, they're not valuing what I do as an

Matt Stagliano:

artist, none of that matters. It's about the service to the

Matt Stagliano:

client. And if what they want after hearing all of my spiel,

Matt Stagliano:

still just want Digital's okay, then let me give you what you

Matt Stagliano:

want. Let me you know, change what I do to help you because

Matt Stagliano:

it's not hurting me at all. It's not, you know, changing my

Matt Stagliano:

philosophy of the business. I'm just making my products better

Matt Stagliano:

and more accessible to you. So, yeah, as long as it's not

Matt Stagliano:

compromising the philosophy and the, you know, the things that I

Matt Stagliano:

adhere to as a business owner for my business, then why not

Matt Stagliano:

try to find creative ways to serve? And that's what I feel

Matt Stagliano:

like I'm doing. I'm not changing anything. I'm just altering the

Matt Stagliano:

way it's delivered.

Nicole York:

Oh, yes. Okay. We've had a couple of super

Nicole York:

fantastic examples. So far, I love that we've been able to

Nicole York:

see, number one, how somebody kind of comes to understanding

Nicole York:

what their philosophy is, in besonders case, and in your

Nicole York:

case, and then number two, seeing how we can actually begin

Nicole York:

to if we have already established our business begin

Nicole York:

to make some of those changes that help us better align with

Nicole York:

that philosophy. So it doesn't all have to start at once. I

Nicole York:

know for those of us who already have established businesses, and

Nicole York:

maybe we're starting to realize that we have not given the

Nicole York:

business a heart yet. And by that I mean, you know, the core,

Nicole York:

the philosophy kind of becomes the beating heart of the

Nicole York:

business, like, why does it exist? And if we haven't done

Nicole York:

that yet, and we're now starting to recognize that, it can seem a

Nicole York:

little bit like, well, oh, shit, what do I do now. And even just

Nicole York:

beginning a small place, like you just mentioned, Matt, I

Nicole York:

think is going to be super helpful for people because this

Nicole York:

doesn't all have to happen at once. You can absolutely

Nicole York:

recognize what that heart is, and then just start instituting

Nicole York:

things one at a time, so that you can test them and see how

Nicole York:

they work and how they feel. And if they really do end up

Nicole York:

matching with that philosophy, and then focusing on those

Nicole York:

things, doubling down on those things as you progress, without

Nicole York:

having the pressure of having to do everything all at once. But

Nicole York:

you have a compass point, now, you've got that trajectory. So

Nicole York:

you can move in that direction. It doesn't have to be at a

Nicole York:

million miles an hour. But as long as you're going, I think

Nicole York:

that's the important part. So Becca, cat, do either of you

Nicole York:

guys have a philosophy of business? And if you do, how did

Nicole York:

you get it? And how do you manage it, especially cat, as

Nicole York:

you mentioned, the fact that it will change over time.

Unknown:

I am, I'm still drinking my articulation potion

Unknown:

for the morning. But I'm also definitely in that school of

Unknown:

thought that what I create is the greatest good that I can

Unknown:

give to other people. And I've worked in other spheres, and

Unknown:

there's other things I'm good at. And I am definitely capable

Unknown:

and comfortable at some point of working for someone else than

Unknown:

doing that job. But with my art, it I've reached this point where

Unknown:

it takes everything that I am impassioned and interested

Unknown:

about, like from history to, you know, an anthropology to

Unknown:

sociology and just getting into people's heads and you know,

Unknown:

exploring their ideas, which is so freaking cool. The world is

Unknown:

so cool, like, so full of interesting places, and people

Unknown:

and new ideas, like I'm at the point where I can take those

Unknown:

things that get me so excited, and communicate them to other

Unknown:

people and help other people communicate them to the world.

Unknown:

And channeling that little level of excitement. And that passion

Unknown:

for me makes it makes the work itself. So much better. And it

Unknown:

keeps me you know, permanently enthused and permanently excited

Unknown:

to hear from other people. And so that, you know, is always

Unknown:

number one. For me, I mean, inspiration has always like

Unknown:

since I was little kid ruled so much in my life, it's you know,

Unknown:

from school, to my first jobs to you know, just my personal

Unknown:

interests, it's there's always this level of inspiration. And

Unknown:

now I almost get to flip that switch on demand by working with

Unknown:

other people and helping them to communicate their ideas, because

Unknown:

I love our as communication. You know, there's a lot of things

Unknown:

that can be talked about or read about. And that's exciting and

Unknown:

its own. But visual communication and communicating

Unknown:

something through strictly color, and light. And framing is

Unknown:

something that not everyone can do. But I have the opportunity

Unknown:

to offer that to other people. And that is always going to be

Unknown:

the ruling philosophy and drive for me.

Nicole York:

I love it and how did you? So having done other

Nicole York:

things in the past? How did you start to come to this

Nicole York:

philosophy? Like how did you codify it or realize it?

Unknown:

Lots of sitting and brooding. No, I mean, like so

Unknown:

most of my other work, you know, it's always involved people I

Unknown:

don't do well, completely isolated, extrovert problems.

Unknown:

But I know I worked in hospitality for a long time and

Unknown:

I probably could have stayed in hospitality for forever. I love

Unknown:

working with other people I love customer service and finding the

Unknown:

right path for me as an artist to continue that, you know, act

Unknown:

of service has been a process you know, I like many other

Unknown:

people, you know, started with my love of drawing my love of

Unknown:

photography, and then people are like, wow, you have a good

Unknown:

camera, you can take really good pictures, maybe you should be a

Unknown:

professional. Okay. You know, I'm perceived no standard

Unknown:

portraiture, you know, I explored various elements there

Unknown:

and it just wasn't ever the right fit for me, because it

Unknown:

didn't hit the marks that I wanted it to hit. You know, I

Unknown:

was like, Yes, I was creating a service for people. I was

Unknown:

helping them feel good about themselves, you know, all those

Unknown:

reasons to go into portraiture, but it didn't explore the the

Unknown:

deeper, more philosophical and fantastical. Goal, storytelling

Unknown:

elements for me. So it was a process to get to the point of,

Unknown:

you know, what kind of art that can I sell, that meets those

Unknown:

requirements. And a lot of it was almost on accident, you

Unknown:

know, stumbling into jobs that I didn't know if I was qualified

Unknown:

for and then realizing, Oh, crap, this is exactly what I

Unknown:

want to be doing. I just didn't know that this was out there.

Unknown:

For me, I didn't know that other people saw this potential in me.

Unknown:

So it's been, it's been a long process. And it has shifted a

Unknown:

lot, as Kat and Matt both talked about already. So it took time,

Unknown:

and it took trial and error and accidents and luck. But here we

Unknown:

are, and I'm sure it'll keep changing.

Nicole York:

I'm so glad you mentioned that Becca, because

Nicole York:

for a lot of us, we're going to be going through that same

Nicole York:

journey. And it's going to take stumbling across things we

Nicole York:

didn't know, were available to us, for us to really start to

Nicole York:

settle in to that, oh, this is what it was supposed to be to

Nicole York:

that moment, which I think is so great that Kat mentioned that in

Nicole York:

the very beginning that it comes back to this idea that even

Nicole York:

though we have a really deep understanding, sometimes of why

Nicole York:

that thing is going to shift and adjust as we grow and change and

Nicole York:

get exposed to new things. There is absolutely nothing wrong with

Nicole York:

that. It's part of the journey. And if you're not in a place

Nicole York:

yet, where you feel like you can confidently say, I have the

Nicole York:

beating heart, I have the why I have the philosophy of my

Nicole York:

business, don't stress, you might just need a few more

Nicole York:

experiences, you might need to explore just a bit more, or come

Nicole York:

across a few more things before you stumble into, oh, this is

Nicole York:

how I can put these things together. You never know. So

Nicole York:

don't hold anybody up to the standard that you feel like you

Nicole York:

should be reaching if you're not there yet. You're just you're on

Nicole York:

the journey, man. Like I'm having a Lebowski moment, but

Nicole York:

you're on the journey man like you're you're, you're going

Nicole York:

there. So don't push yourself yet if that's not a thing. But

Nicole York:

it's definitely worthwhile to sit down and like you said,

Nicole York:

ruminate a little bit and ask yourself these questions like,

Nicole York:

what is it? And why? And then when you have the answer, ask

Nicole York:

yourself again, okay, why? I want to tell people stories.

Nicole York:

Why? Because I believe that that's how human beings connect

Nicole York:

to one another. Why? Because it's only by having that empathy

Nicole York:

for each other, that we can get rid of a lot of the bullshit

Nicole York:

that separates us, we're supposed to be connected. If we

Nicole York:

don't see each other. As humans, as complicated beings that are

Nicole York:

more alike than we are different. We're always going to

Nicole York:

be at odds. And so storytelling is incredibly healing. It is a

Nicole York:

vehicle for empathy. And so being able to take that time and

Nicole York:

ruminate and ask yourself, and then making sure you're

Nicole York:

experiencing things could really be the absolute key for some

Nicole York:

folks to getting to that philosophy, and understanding

Nicole York:

why those things will work for them. So lovely, Miss cat. Do

Nicole York:

you have a philosophy of business? If you do, how did you

Nicole York:

come by it?

Cat Ford-Coates:

Haha, a million? No. Actually, I really

Cat Ford-Coates:

like that, that you emphasized that ask yourself why every time

Cat Ford-Coates:

you have an answer, why is that? Why is that? And I would

Cat Ford-Coates:

actually expound on that with trying to take yourself out of

Cat Ford-Coates:

the answers and start leaning into why of the importance what

Cat Ford-Coates:

is the impact? What is the benefit? Right? Because we all

Cat Ford-Coates:

have at some core level, like a leaning toward these reasons.

Cat Ford-Coates:

But the coming, you know, full circle with that is how does it

Cat Ford-Coates:

make the world a better place? How does it impact the lives of

Cat Ford-Coates:

the people that you're serving? And when you can start to tie

Cat Ford-Coates:

those answers in to your reasons. That's when that that

Cat Ford-Coates:

guarantee that promise that purpose really starts to take

Cat Ford-Coates:

shape. And you can see how everything you build and your

Cat Ford-Coates:

processes and your systems need to be tied into that impact. How

Cat Ford-Coates:

does this serve? How does this make this process stronger and

Cat Ford-Coates:

more valuable to my audience? Because when you can create that

Cat Ford-Coates:

value for them, everything that lights you up, will then light

Cat Ford-Coates:

them up and it like this circular thing that occurs. And

Cat Ford-Coates:

it's like the energetic shift that occurs within, at least for

Cat Ford-Coates:

me as a person, when I'm able to, to bring all of that purpose

Cat Ford-Coates:

in that impact, it becomes an ebb and flow thing. And that's

Cat Ford-Coates:

where that that delivery become so powerful. And that can be for

Cat Ford-Coates:

an accountant that can be for a creative that can be for a

Cat Ford-Coates:

teacher, any of it is based around just the philosophy that

Cat Ford-Coates:

the impact that that we as a business will have on the people

Cat Ford-Coates:

that choose to do business with us. And you can start to

Cat Ford-Coates:

delineate and itemize what those impacts are. And then, you know,

Cat Ford-Coates:

develop your copy from that, and your systems from that, and all

Cat Ford-Coates:

of the things and it's so fucking powerful, when you're

Cat Ford-Coates:

able to bring all of that together to be the vessel in

Cat Ford-Coates:

which that impact is made.

Nicole York:

Well, that's a mic drop through even anything else

Nicole York:

after that, that was so great. So I love like that you're able

Nicole York:

to kind of like, delineate that process and how it begins to

Nicole York:

affect the business systems systematically. But how? So you

Nicole York:

mentioned, you know, you kind of double down on the asking, why

Nicole York:

is that how you got to the bottom of what you believe your

Nicole York:

philosophy?

Cat Ford-Coates:

I think it definitely helped me sort of

Cat Ford-Coates:

define more holy, what those philosophies are, I think, you

Cat Ford-Coates:

know, when we first started the Facebook group, I think I posted

Cat Ford-Coates:

a thing from Dean Graziosi. And it says, seven levels of why.

Cat Ford-Coates:

And that's really where that double down came from, was being

Cat Ford-Coates:

able to say, Okay, well, you know, like, Matt gave the, the

Cat Ford-Coates:

example of what I don't want to just provide digital product,

Cat Ford-Coates:

and then it ended up well, why are those prints important to

Cat Ford-Coates:

you? You know, and then you say, Okay, well, those prints are

Cat Ford-Coates:

important to me. Because it's a piece of legacy. It's a

Cat Ford-Coates:

documentation and physical, tangible evidence that this

Cat Ford-Coates:

person existed. And this is the story they want to tell, okay,

Cat Ford-Coates:

why is that important? Right? And you keep asking the why. And

Cat Ford-Coates:

the idea behind the the exercise is when you get to like the

Cat Ford-Coates:

seventh and eighth answer, right? You really have more

Cat Ford-Coates:

emotional connection to that, why than just that superficial?

Cat Ford-Coates:

Oh, well, because I want them to have prints, right. And you can

Cat Ford-Coates:

do that with any anything, whether it's the purpose of your

Cat Ford-Coates:

business, or you know, why you are choosing to buy this car, or

Cat Ford-Coates:

why you are choosing this particular career or, you know,

Cat Ford-Coates:

insert thing here. And when you can start getting into that that

Cat Ford-Coates:

heart response, the soul response, the response that is

Cat Ford-Coates:

meaningful, you typically can tie it to something in

Cat Ford-Coates:

childhood, or an impact that was made on you, that was powerful

Cat Ford-Coates:

in your life. But that's really where that that good stuff is.

Cat Ford-Coates:

Because when you can tie it to that soul level, then it becomes

Cat Ford-Coates:

part of everything that you do. And the the coal in the furnace,

Cat Ford-Coates:

you know, like, it's the the firepower. And that is really

Cat Ford-Coates:

where you start to be able to define what those philosophies

Cat Ford-Coates:

are in meaningful ways. And when you can define things in

Cat Ford-Coates:

meaningful ways for your business and for your clients.

Cat Ford-Coates:

It allows them to resonate with that on their own heart and soul

Cat Ford-Coates:

levels.

Nicole York:

Cue the full body shivers. And so here's, here's

Nicole York:

what I think is so powerful about that. And then I would

Nicole York:

love to have friends from the audience, go ahead and raise

Nicole York:

your hand if you have a philosophy of business. Or if

Nicole York:

you have been on that path. And you can share with us what that

Nicole York:

is how you got there. We'd love to hear from you. So please go

Nicole York:

ahead and raise your hand today. And we'll pull you up. But as

Nicole York:

folks are doing that I just want to share I've mentioned before,

Nicole York:

you know, growing up in a household that was pretty

Nicole York:

contentious. And one of the reasons Fantasy was always so

Nicole York:

important to me, I realized is that it kind of it helped me

Nicole York:

maintain my sanity. It helped me believe that just because we

Nicole York:

were in a certain situation, didn't mean that we had to stay

Nicole York:

there that that we had power. And I could go and kind of live

Nicole York:

these adventures with other people that that reinforce that

Nicole York:

idea. But I also just realized as you were talking thing that

Nicole York:

the reason story became so central to me is because the

Nicole York:

reason for that contention was I live with a lot of people who

Nicole York:

did not understand one another. And they didn't have the ability

Nicole York:

to tell each other, how they were being misunderstood that

Nicole York:

those conversations, being able to tell the story of your

Nicole York:

experience wasn't something that existed for my family members.

Nicole York:

And as a result of that, they were constantly tearing each

Nicole York:

other to pieces, just pulling little pieces off of one

Nicole York:

another. And if they had had the ability to tell the story of

Nicole York:

their experience without attacking one another, which is

Nicole York:

what, which is what their interactions became, then I

Nicole York:

really believe they would have been able to actually see each

Nicole York:

other instead of just look in the general direction of each

Nicole York:

other. And so as you were explaining that cat, I just kind

Nicole York:

of in the background was also asking myself, well, why and I

Nicole York:

knew the fantasy part. And I knew what engaging with stories

Nicole York:

from a reader or a viewers perspective, I knew why that was

Nicole York:

important to me. But why is it important to me to tell stories

Nicole York:

and to help other people tell stories, and even just that one

Nicole York:

more step now on my journey, and helping me crystallize why the

Nicole York:

things I'm choosing are important. And now that I know

Nicole York:

that I can take more concrete steps to continue to manifest

Nicole York:

that, like now that I know that that is a big reason, when I

Nicole York:

help other people to tell stories, it's gonna be easier

Nicole York:

for me to recognize why I'm doing, why I am doing what I'm

Nicole York:

doing, and make choices that really support that. So I have

Nicole York:

to just say, Thank you for pushing that. Pushing the wise

Nicole York:

again. Alright, so I see we have a couple of friends with their

Nicole York:

hands up in the audience today, Gina and Carol will pull you up.

Nicole York:

But definitely want to make sure if you can, and you're in a

Nicole York:

place where you can share this morning. I know some of our

Nicole York:

friends are at work. And so you can't but if you can, this is

Nicole York:

really important exercise, guys. So if you can come up and share

Nicole York:

please, please do. I'm pulling up Carol. And then Jean. So

Nicole York:

let's hear from Carol, and then hear from Jean as well. Good

Nicole York:

morning, friends. How did you come by your philosophy of

Nicole York:

business if you have one? And if you don't? What does that

Nicole York:

journey look like for you right now?

Carol Gonzales:

Hi, um, this is Carol. Um, so my purpose in

Carol Gonzales:

having a business was solely for money, because of the work I've

Carol Gonzales:

done over the last 20 years and getting my work out there that

Carol Gonzales:

so that people can see it. Because most people have not

Carol Gonzales:

seen the work that I do. I've done it in solitude, happily.

Carol Gonzales:

And I wouldn't have minded making money along the way, I

Carol Gonzales:

just didn't happen to know how to do that. So then why is to

Carol Gonzales:

create my, my exploration, experimentation, discovery. And

Carol Gonzales:

then I enjoy teaching others how to do stuff, because I'm

Carol Gonzales:

fascinated with the endless possibilities of both pattern

Carol Gonzales:

design and discovery. So then I put teaching, this gets down

Carol Gonzales:

more to, I don't know, the relatable, the part that might

Carol Gonzales:

make it so that my business could be a success, maybe in

Carol Gonzales:

connecting with people because I like to teach people to begin to

Carol Gonzales:

see because I feel like half of art is the scene having

Carol Gonzales:

division. Like, for example, recycling, because I feel it

Carol Gonzales:

takes true motivation or innovation or to put disparate

Carol Gonzales:

things together and have it result in something

Carol Gonzales:

aesthetically pleasing. So I'm fascinated with the whole

Carol Gonzales:

process. I enjoy selling, you know, showing other people and

Carol Gonzales:

teaching other people to have that kind of vision. But it has

Carol Gonzales:

always been completely divorced from money. And, and so I'm

Carol Gonzales:

like, Okay, I hear telling stories. Well, I have a lot of

Carol Gonzales:

stories, you know, I hear telling stories is, you know, a

Carol Gonzales:

good to do for a business because people can relate to

Carol Gonzales:

you. So I'm like, you know, random stories or whatever, or

Carol Gonzales:

the stories about how I create I can get into that and that feel,

Carol Gonzales:

you know, I used to feel really still do self conscious about

Carol Gonzales:

it. But if I can I always put my art in front of me. I I'm behind

Carol Gonzales:

the art doesn't want to be seen, you know, kind of thing. But if

Carol Gonzales:

I get into explaining the excitement of, then you did

Carol Gonzales:

this, and then you can do this and or you can do this and all

Carol Gonzales:

that. And then it seems to, you know, it transfers to other

Carol Gonzales:

people, I feel like I've actually taught other people to

Carol Gonzales:

see in a way that they couldn't see before. And that's exciting

Carol Gonzales:

reward. All of that is separate from money, and business. And

Carol Gonzales:

it's, yeah, it's gonna take a while for me to, to feel like, I

Carol Gonzales:

just don't like to apart. You know, there's nothing about it

Carol Gonzales:

that I like. But anyway, so those are my reasons. But how to

Carol Gonzales:

how to connect them and how to how to do business, first of

Carol Gonzales:

all, as another whole life's journey, I would think. And then

Carol Gonzales:

which I don't have. And then connecting it to what my heart

Carol Gonzales:

is, in my heart is discovery, exploration, all the

Carol Gonzales:

possibilities with pattern and art, that there are with all the

Carol Gonzales:

different mediums and and it's endless. I never have run out of

Carol Gonzales:

ideas. But yeah, how to make that work for me. And deliver in

Carol Gonzales:

financial terms. Is, is my question being here. Thanks,

Carol Gonzales:

Karen done?

Nicole York:

Does anybody want to respond to that? Okay, good.

Nicole York:

Go ahead. Yeah, me too. But I felt like you were gonna have.

Cat Ford-Coates:

Yeah, that's definitely a cat centered topic.

Cat Ford-Coates:

For sure. Carol, I think it's actually a question that many

Cat Ford-Coates:

creatives when they're determining whether or not to go

Cat Ford-Coates:

into business is something that, you know, is a challenge that

Cat Ford-Coates:

they face. And the solution to that is, like, again, 27 layers

Cat Ford-Coates:

deep. But initially, you know, understanding that the money is

Cat Ford-Coates:

not this devil thing, but simply an energetic response. And if

Cat Ford-Coates:

you choose to make it a business, then you have to

Cat Ford-Coates:

understand that it is the money is the lifeblood of the

Cat Ford-Coates:

business, that doesn't transform you into something terrible or

Cat Ford-Coates:

negative, or what have you, but allows you to have a larger

Cat Ford-Coates:

reach in your purpose as an artist. And if those purposes

Cat Ford-Coates:

are tied to story and experimentation and teaching and

Cat Ford-Coates:

making something beautiful, then your job as the business owner

Cat Ford-Coates:

is to say, Okay, what is the best way that I can do this?

Cat Ford-Coates:

Simply to provide that business with the profit that it would

Cat Ford-Coates:

need to survive. And understanding that that mindset

Cat Ford-Coates:

shift is going to be critical in your success as a business

Cat Ford-Coates:

owner, because as you shift that mindset, all of the

Cat Ford-Coates:

opportunities that are out in the world that are available to

Cat Ford-Coates:

you will start showing up. But if you stay on the fence, then

Cat Ford-Coates:

maybe the answer is not to create a business out of it.

Cat Ford-Coates:

Maybe the answer is simply to do it because you love it. And

Cat Ford-Coates:

that's the end. Right? Like, that's where you get. I don't I

Cat Ford-Coates:

shouldn't say the end. But that's the end of the business

Cat Ford-Coates:

aspect to where you just simply create for the sake of creation,

Cat Ford-Coates:

and because it's feeds your soul. And that's okay, too. But

Cat Ford-Coates:

it's got to be a choice that you make. Does that make sense?

Carol Gonzales:

It does make sense. I guess it made me think

Carol Gonzales:

further. I want the money to exchange for opportunity, you

Carol Gonzales:

know, opportunities I don't currently have comfort. Um, you

Carol Gonzales:

know, possibilities. I mean, I have all this work. And it

Carol Gonzales:

could, it could end up in a thrift shop and no one sees it

Carol Gonzales:

10,000 pieces of 20 years of work, right. And to not exchange

Carol Gonzales:

that for money while I'm alive. Doesn't make any sense to me,

Carol Gonzales:

you know. And I promised my husband, I was luxurious

Carol Gonzales:

retirement on my designs. This is the way I put it back then,

Carol Gonzales:

but because he's worked so hard for so many years and put up

Carol Gonzales:

with I mean, my house is like a studio. It's not a living space.

Carol Gonzales:

I want him to have a nice living space, and I want people to see

Carol Gonzales:

him by my work. So, I do want to go through whatever, I have to

Carol Gonzales:

go through the business part, until I get to a point just

Carol Gonzales:

enough, until I get to the point where somebody else that, that

Carol Gonzales:

is their forte can manage it and make money off of it, and I'm

Carol Gonzales:

happy to share, you know, to share the wealth, I just, you

Carol Gonzales:

know, want some kind of income from all those years of work,

Carol Gonzales:

you know, because I couldn't figure it out along the way. And

Carol Gonzales:

it was, it was hard. And it was distasteful for all the things

Carol Gonzales:

that you guys say, but you guys, you know, have had some of that

Carol Gonzales:

experience, maybe growing up of, you know, money being bad or

Carol Gonzales:

whatever, all those things. But now, it's, it's become more

Carol Gonzales:

necessary, because I only have so much more time left in my

Carol Gonzales:

life. And I needed it five years ago, this to happen, you know,

Carol Gonzales:

I'm already late on a train here. So it is distasteful but

Carol Gonzales:

but through you guys, I believe that I can learn enough to be

Carol Gonzales:

able to know enough to be able to earn enough to have somebody

Carol Gonzales:

help me out with that part of it. If that makes sense. Carol

Carol Gonzales:

thinks it does

Cat Ford-Coates:

make sense. But I would also encourage you to

Cat Ford-Coates:

wrap your head around. Like right now you're saying you want

Cat Ford-Coates:

somebody to help you with the the sales aspect, which is a

Cat Ford-Coates:

perfectly valid thing to want a partner in that space. But in

Cat Ford-Coates:

order for that to be successful, you need to address your

Cat Ford-Coates:

personal limiting beliefs around money. So that that energy

Cat Ford-Coates:

doesn't work against you, when you do find that person. Because

Cat Ford-Coates:

what's going to happen is you're going to hand over this the

Cat Ford-Coates:

reins, right for somebody else to to manage the sales aspect of

Cat Ford-Coates:

your work, all the while while you are combating with these

Cat Ford-Coates:

limiting beliefs, all that's going to do is train wreck their

Cat Ford-Coates:

effort. So you whether you have this other person or not still

Cat Ford-Coates:

need to do the work around those limiting beliefs and

Cat Ford-Coates:

understanding that these beliefs that you have around money, or

Cat Ford-Coates:

not to be blamed for, right. But dig into the fact that, okay,

Cat Ford-Coates:

these are things these are beliefs that I've developed

Cat Ford-Coates:

throughout my life from childhood forward. And they're

Cat Ford-Coates:

not my fault. They were beliefs I developed while I was a

Cat Ford-Coates:

developing human being. And I choose to reframe these beliefs

Cat Ford-Coates:

now, for these reasons, right and determine what those reasons

Cat Ford-Coates:

are for you, that money is a positive influence in your life,

Cat Ford-Coates:

and has the capability to transform your life so that you

Cat Ford-Coates:

can provide this wonderful retirement for your husband. And

Cat Ford-Coates:

this, you know, living space that you're dreaming of that

Cat Ford-Coates:

money can provide for you and understand that. Okay, I'm going

Cat Ford-Coates:

to put $1 amount on it. And I have to understand that that's a

Cat Ford-Coates:

good thing, because it means that I will have the capacity to

Cat Ford-Coates:

execute these other things and dreams I have for my life. And

Cat Ford-Coates:

that takes some work. But whether or not you find somebody

Cat Ford-Coates:

else to manage the sales, you still have to do that work.

Carol Gonzales:

Thanks, I get that I appreciate that.

Nicole York:

You know what I have something, as I'm, as I'm

Nicole York:

listening to you, too, I've had quite a few things pop into my

Nicole York:

head. And the first thing was, of course, I wanted to make sure

Nicole York:

that cat was able to respond to that, because this really is her

Nicole York:

wheelhouse. And then also, it really struck me listening to

Nicole York:

you talk Carol, you sound like a teacher to me. And you sound

Nicole York:

like somebody who maybe shouldn't necessarily be making

Nicole York:

their money in a textile business, but should be making

Nicole York:

their money by helping people see and going on that journey

Nicole York:

with him and being the facilitator for that journey.

Nicole York:

And I wonder whether or not something like that would make

Nicole York:

it make more sense for you to see it as an exchange of value.

Nicole York:

And I'm going to use an analogy here. This is the other thing

Nicole York:

that really popped in my head. So last week, I had a few people

Nicole York:

inadvertently hold mirrors up for me to see myself in and it

Nicole York:

shocked me a little bit it was actually pretty emotional. I had

Nicole York:

a hard time responding. I cried some It wasn't an easy. It

Nicole York:

wasn't an easy sight to see because It made me realize

Nicole York:

something about myself that I didn't know before. And that is,

Nicole York:

I have a hard time accepting generosity from people, if I

Nicole York:

feel like, I haven't given them something specifically as a

Nicole York:

facilitator for that. So if I made a course, I would have no

Nicole York:

problem accepting money from people who bought that course.

Nicole York:

But showing up here in the morning with you guys, I was not

Nicole York:

seeing that with the same value, right, I was not seeing the fact

Nicole York:

that we're here every day, we're offering something to one

Nicole York:

another. And to have somebody say, this is a thing of value

Nicole York:

for me. And I want to show you how I value that. It didn't. It

Nicole York:

just didn't. It made me recognize that about myself,

Nicole York:

which was a difficult thing for me to face. And when we

Nicole York:

recognize how we exchange value with one another, it can really

Nicole York:

change the way that we approach what we're doing. And I say all

Nicole York:

that as a prelude to when we are in a relationship, the

Nicole York:

relationship exists on reciprocation, right. And when

Nicole York:

we give something to someone, imagine what it must feel like

Nicole York:

for the other person to try to return that to say, I value you,

Nicole York:

here. Let me show you how I value you. And then we say no,

Nicole York:

please don't do that. But let me keep giving you stuff, but you

Nicole York:

don't give me things, you're not allowed to show me how you

Nicole York:

appreciate me, you're not allowed to give me what you have

Nicole York:

to give in return for what I've given you, man that stifles the

Nicole York:

whole thing. Right, the other person is all of a sudden going

Nicole York:

to feel boxed in, they don't have a way to reciprocate, they

Nicole York:

don't have you, they don't have a way to show how they value you

Nicole York:

and what you've added to their lives. And that is money. That

Nicole York:

is this exchange. That is this. I spent 20 years making art that

Nicole York:

I want to share with the world. And now you get to say, I value

Nicole York:

this. And that's how you say it. And maybe the best way for you

Nicole York:

isn't necessarily to run a textile business or to become

Nicole York:

you know, a fashion mogul, maybe the selling of that art becomes

Nicole York:

the side of teaching people and that aspect of teaching is what

Nicole York:

funds your ability to pay for somebody to run that side of the

Nicole York:

business. I realized that this was kind of along along blab

Nicole York:

about stuff and oh, no, I see we've lost steam. I hope you

Nicole York:

will be able to come back. But I hope that that made sense. I

Nicole York:

realized I blabbered a little bit.

Carol Gonzales:

No, it's so good. And the thing is my heart

Carol Gonzales:

is in that. I mean, I can totally, I get very, very

Carol Gonzales:

excited about you know, sharing look, and you can do this or you

Carol Gonzales:

can do this and and helping people to have to have that kind

Carol Gonzales:

of vision. You know? Yes, I rather than oh my gosh, yes.

Carol Gonzales:

Yes. That's nice to me. And it. I mean, yeah, my stuff can go a

Carol Gonzales:

lot of different directions. Because pattern designs on

Carol Gonzales:

anything. It's not real. And I get some joy in seeing that. But

Carol Gonzales:

the real I really light up about being able to let other people

Carol Gonzales:

begin to see and be able to see their vision change. I've done

Carol Gonzales:

that for some people where they don't see things the same and

Carol Gonzales:

it's just, it's just such a cool thing and being able to do that.

Carol Gonzales:

In exchange. I can get into that. Thank you. I'm sorry I

Carol Gonzales:

took up all the time. I appreciate it.

Unknown:

I had a quick thing real quick on in that same vein,

Unknown:

Nicole. I was just kind of musing on a different

Unknown:

opportunities for Carol there. So my mom is an artist and she's

Unknown:

a multidisciplinary artist. She's a musician, she's a

Unknown:

painter. She's a sculptor, very talented, creative person. And

Unknown:

she's never made huge amounts of money off the art itself like

Unknown:

she has, you know, regular music gigs and she sells some pottery

Unknown:

and stuff. But her livelihood for the most part has been

Unknown:

through teaching and through that Joy of you know, teaching

Unknown:

children how to see and how to think creatively. And she's not

Unknown:

an accredited teacher, she didn't go get a degree, she's

Unknown:

taught almost exclusively in private schools, and in through

Unknown:

private tutoring. And that has been very lucrative for her. And

Unknown:

it also then has served as you know, a networking opportunity

Unknown:

for her other kinds of art, specifically, when she has, you

Unknown:

know, students who are interested in a particular

Unknown:

subject that she's been teaching or a medium that she's been

Unknown:

teaching. And then, you know, they want to pursue additional

Unknown:

private tutoring, or their parents want to hire her for a

Unknown:

gig or commission a piece or something like that. So I mean,

Unknown:

that obviously, I hate the, the phrase that people will say,

Unknown:

like, Oh, if you can't do teach, because it's such total

Unknown:

bullshit, because you're still in the art of doing, you're

Unknown:

still going and you're creating art for yourself, and you know,

Unknown:

for others, and then passing that along to the next

Unknown:

generation, or whoever it is that you're teaching to, is such

Unknown:

an incredibly powerful skill to have. So if that's something

Unknown:

that you have in your community already, if there are people who

Unknown:

need to learn art, whether through a community center, or a

Unknown:

private school, or something like that, that might be a

Unknown:

wonderful opportunity for you to start building up a revenue flow

Unknown:

from something artistic, and also then building up your

Unknown:

networking as well.

Carol Gonzales:

I'm Becca, just want to say, I'm not gonna do

Carol Gonzales:

like the traditional classroom teaching anymore. I did that for

Carol Gonzales:

a while. Again, I'm not accredited. I did teach

Carol Gonzales:

privately. But I could see an online something where these are

Carol Gonzales:

things that can be used later, as well, you know what I mean,

Carol Gonzales:

it could be ongoing, after, you know, it, documenting basically,

Carol Gonzales:

the processes is and being able to share that, if that makes

Carol Gonzales:

sense. Online. Thanks.

Unknown:

Totally. Yeah, that's, that's, I mean, that's

Unknown:

brilliant. And like in the current age of the world, right

Unknown:

now, there's so much remote learning and so much respect for

Unknown:

remote learning that that could absolutely be a fantastic idea.

Nicole York:

Oh, yes, 100%. Agreed. So I'm glad that we were

Nicole York:

able to walk through that all together. Because what I'm

Nicole York:

hoping is that people in the audience today who are getting

Nicole York:

to see you go through this experience of okay, I know what

Nicole York:

I need, right? We all need to make that income we need to make

Nicole York:

a living. And oftentimes, our art is the way that we feel the

Nicole York:

most capable of doing that. And then comes this question. Why,

Nicole York:

right? What what is it about this, about making things about

Nicole York:

learning to communicate visually, and to be able to see

Nicole York:

and share? Why does this need to be the thing. And oftentimes, it

Nicole York:

really takes some hard knocks, and some bumps and bruises for

Nicole York:

us to come to that conclusion and understand what the deep

Nicole York:

motivation is, for why it should be this and not something else.

Nicole York:

And as I'm listening to you talk, Carol, as the times that

Nicole York:

I've heard you be the most passionate are talking about

Nicole York:

teaching and exploring and learning and seeing and going on

Nicole York:

that journey with somebody and seeing them get to light up from

Nicole York:

that experience, which just kind of keyed me in to think we

Nicole York:

might, as creators, get caught up in the fact that we can make

Nicole York:

beautiful things and and somehow we think that that must be where

Nicole York:

our income comes from. And without realizing that those

Nicole York:

those things can just become supplementary like that can

Nicole York:

become our that can be we have to do it right. Like we can't

Nicole York:

walk away from that I can't not continue to make things, I must

Nicole York:

do it. But that doesn't necessarily have to be more my

Nicole York:

income comes from I can get that from teaching other people to be

Nicole York:

able to do it or from planning or facilitating or whatever it

Nicole York:

is. And it just made me really wonder if that would be the

Nicole York:

right road for you. Because like Becca said, it can facilitate

Nicole York:

the sale of those other pieces of art. Because people do want

Nicole York:

to learn, they do want to look at somebody who has done

Nicole York:

something beautiful and find out how they did it so they can do

Nicole York:

that for themselves. So I hope that people who are in the

Nicole York:

audience today got to see that process, begin a little bit in

Nicole York:

real time and that you can look at yourself and your business

Nicole York:

and ask yourself, Okay, so how does that apply to me? Does it

Nicole York:

apply? Am I in a place where my business is moving forward, but

Nicole York:

I don't have that deep heart motivation, that philosophy that

Nicole York:

is going to sustain me through all of the hurdles I'm going to

Nicole York:

have to jump through because my my guess is that When it comes

Nicole York:

to earning a living off of something that doesn't light you

Nicole York:

up, the ability to motivate yourself to do the other parts

Nicole York:

you don't like, is going to be so much more diminished compared

Nicole York:

to our ability to do those things when it aligns with what

Nicole York:

lights us up, and what makes us feel passionate and excited. And

Nicole York:

we can still do the other things, but maybe those things

Nicole York:

become supplementary. So if you're here in the audience

Nicole York:

today, and you haven't gotten to that place yet, where you really

Nicole York:

have a philosophy of business, number one, you're not allowed

Nicole York:

to guilt trip yourself about that. So I've decided that for

Nicole York:

you. And I want to make sure that you take that to heart,

Nicole York:

you're not allowed to guilt trip yourself for it, you are on a

Nicole York:

journey toward that place. But do take some time and reflect

Nicole York:

think about it and ask yourself, why. Why do I want to run this

Nicole York:

business? Why does it feel to me, like running a photography

Nicole York:

business? Or a painting business? Or a teaching

Nicole York:

business? Or whatever it is? Why does it feel like that has to be

Nicole York:

the thing? Why have I landed here, as opposed to other

Nicole York:

places? And then when you answer that question, ask yourself,

Nicole York:

Okay, so why continue to push that until you don't have an

Nicole York:

answer anymore, until you've got to that deep heart place, that

Nicole York:

emotional place, it's going to feel some kind of way, guys,

Nicole York:

when you get that answer, it's going to feel like a hammer

Nicole York:

struck a bell inside your chest, at least for me, that was the

Nicole York:

experience. And it, it turned on the light that through

Nicole York:

everything else I knew about myself.

Nicole York:

It got rid of the shadows, it lit up everything in a new way

Nicole York:

so that I could see it and understand it from a perspective

Nicole York:

I never seen before. And it throws that light backwards.

Nicole York:

That's the really interesting thing is it's not just lighting

Nicole York:

up where you are now, it throws that light backwards and

Nicole York:

illuminates all of the other things that you didn't even

Nicole York:

think to look at before. So do that for yourself. Give yourself

Nicole York:

that gift, ask yourself those questions. And then take a look

Nicole York:

at how the answer is going to help you frame everything that

Nicole York:

you do with your business. Because you'll see, as we dive

Nicole York:

into each one of our respective businesses over the next four

Nicole York:

weeks, we are going to see this philosophy come back over and

Nicole York:

over, it's going to manifest itself in how we deal with our

Nicole York:

customers. It's going to manifest itself in the kind of

Nicole York:

products we sell and how we sell them, it's going to become kind

Nicole York:

of the beating heart and the blood that pumps through our

Nicole York:

business. So tomorrow, we are going to talk about the non

Nicole York:

negotiables. So now that we understand what it looks like to

Nicole York:

have a philosophy at the heart of our business, we're going to

Nicole York:

talk about those non negotiables that become the guardrails. When

Nicole York:

we crossed those lines, we recognize, nope, this this isn't

Nicole York:

something that's going to happen. If I cannot do the thing

Nicole York:

this way, then it's not worth doing right. If if I see that my

Nicole York:

clients are not walking away feeling like they have changed,

Nicole York:

then this isn't worth doing that is a non negotiable for me at

Nicole York:

the heart of this must be the ability to serve them in that

Nicole York:

way. So we'll talk about those tomorrow. I hope we will have

Nicole York:

this on with us because obviously he is kind of the king

Nicole York:

of this. And if you haven't heard of the non negotiables

Nicole York:

yet, please head over to the artist forge comm. But Sam has

Nicole York:

written a fantastic article on non negotiables that you can

Nicole York:

look at so that you have a good primer for what we're going to

Nicole York:

talk about tomorrow, how our philosophy informs those non

Nicole York:

negotiables. And those non negotiables help us do our

Nicole York:

businesses in the direction that we want to go. And for the rest

Nicole York:

of this week. That's going to be what we focus on, we're going to

Nicole York:

look at the type of business so once we have the heart of the

Nicole York:

business, what type of business is it, we'll talk a little bit

Nicole York:

about things like being a sole proprietor versus running an LLC

Nicole York:

or an S corp build and then we'll talk about business

Nicole York:

structure as well, and how we can plan what that structure

Nicole York:

looks like so that it supports the philosophy also. Alright,

Nicole York:

y'all, we don't have a whole lot of time because we've already

Nicole York:

gone over our hour but I do you want to allow for a couple final

Nicole York:

thoughts. So if you have a final thought now is the time to share

Nicole York:

it. And then we are going to close things down for today.

Matt Stagliano:

No final thoughts here. What a great

Matt Stagliano:

discussion it was today. I'm already starting to make some

Matt Stagliano:

notes for non negotiables tomorrow.

Nicole York:

All right, if we don't have any other final

Nicole York:

thoughts, then let me just say thank you so much to everybody

Nicole York:

for being here today for participating in this

Nicole York:

conversation. I hope you will join us tomorrow as we talk

Nicole York:

about non negotiables and how we structure those to help us

Nicole York:

support the philosophy of our business. I hope you will be

Nicole York:

here for that and if you're getting value from this y'all

Nicole York:

please please let other people know that we are here because if

Nicole York:

it matters To you, there's a really good chance that it's

Nicole York:

going to matter to them as well. So let them know that we're

Nicole York:

here, pull them in, you can share the club, you can let

Nicole York:

folks know where it's at. Just point them in this direction. We

Nicole York:

want people to be able to profit from this. And hopefully, we

Nicole York:

will see you sharing your thoughts and ideas in the

Nicole York:

Facebook group that has been going beautifully so far. And

Nicole York:

visit the artist forge.com and check out the articles that are

Nicole York:

there so you can get a good feel for who we are why we're here,

Nicole York:

shared that with folks and we will see you bright and early

Nicole York:

tomorrow morning at 7am Mountain Standard Time. That's six for

Nicole York:

the West Coast nine for the East Coast afternoon for our friends

Nicole York:

overseas. In the meantime, go make something amazing and we

Nicole York:

will see you tomorrow morning.

Matt Stagliano:

Thanks again for listening to this live clubhouse

Matt Stagliano:

discussion moderated by all of us at the artist Forge. We hope

Matt Stagliano:

you found the information useful and that it helps you gain a

Matt Stagliano:

little bit of insight as to how you work on your craft. For more

Matt Stagliano:

episodes, please join us each week day on clubhouse or visit

Matt Stagliano:

the artists forge.com and go make something incredible

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About the Podcast

Morning Walk with The Artist's Forge
How to Critique Art
Learn how mindset, creativity, and visual literacy will help you think like an artist so you can create work you love and build a career that matters; bridging the gap between technique and art.

About your host

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Nicole York