As creatives, it can be so helpful to hear what other creatives have learnt in their journey. It makes us feel less alone, helps us see how other people navigate the things we're struggling with, and saves us from making those same mistakes ourselves.

So when I interview artists and makers on this podcast, I always ask them the same question: What is the biggest lesson you've learnt about branding your passion?

And while those answers are helpful on their own and alongside each artist's story, I also thought it would be fun to compile some answers together and see what we can learn from the commonalities and differences between them!

So I've done just that and compiled the most powerful branding lessons from 12 incredible artists and makers who've built thriving creative businesses. From illustrators in New Zealand to designers in the US, these creatives have cracked the code on turning their passion into profit—and they're sharing their hard-won wisdom.

Ready to discover what the most successful creatives know about branding their passions? Let's dive in.

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WANT MORE?

Want your questions answered on the podcast, or be part of an awesome community of creatives supporting each other? Join us in the Brand Your Passion Collective at www.makerandmoxie.com/community. We’d love to have you 🧡

🎧 87. 12 branding lessons from professional creatives

🎧 100. How to grow your creative business in 2024 with Mia Saine, Renata Paton, Whitney Manney and Penelope Wickman

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CONNECT

📷 Connect on Instagram @makerandmoxie

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We've all been there – staring at that project or product that's consuming our time but just isn't delivering results. You know the one. Maybe it's that course that barely sells or the client work that drains your soul. The hardest part? Admitting it's time to let go, especially when you've already invested so much.

In this episode, we’re talking about the key signs that it's time to let something go in your business, making those tough decisions and giving yourself permission to finally let go.

I'm also getting vulnerable about something significant I'm letting go of in my own business for now. So stay tuned to the end for that announcement!

If you've been holding onto something that's not working, this is your Maker & Moxie permission slip to let go and make space for the things you are passionate about.

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WANT MORE?

Want your questions answered on the podcast, or be part of an awesome community of creatives supporting each other? Join us in the Brand Your Passion Collective at www.makerandmoxie.com/community. We’d love to have you 🧡

🎧 89. 9 goal setting strategies for creatives

🎧 129. Protecting your creative energy: A guide to brand boundaries

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What do you get when you cross retro vibes with ecological magic and throw in some seriously large paintbrushes?

You get Kell Sunshine aka Kelly Spencer – and this conversation will leave you inspired to think bigger (literally).

Kelly is a muralist, letterer, and illustrator from New Zealand who's spent 17 years creating vibrant work that celebrates the interconnectedness of all living beings. Her distinctive style features lush, retro-inspired colour palettes and flowing, curvaceous forms, often centred around soil-sorceress protagonists that embody the earth's wisdom and magic.

With over 250 clients and 50+ murals across six countries, her portfolio spans everything from album covers to tarot cards, gig posters, jigsaw puzzles, and beverage labels.

In this episode, Kelly spills on combining passions, photographing your work, pitching your first mural, what happens when you develop "blank wall syndrome" (seeing mural potential everywhere), her 17-year secret to staying creatively motivated, and finding the willingness to ask "hey, can I paint that?”

Fair warning: after listening, you might find yourself eyeing up every blank surface like it's your next masterpiece waiting to happen.

Connect with Kelly Spencer:

Instagram: @kell.sunshine

Website: kellsunshine.com

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WANT MORE?

Want your questions answered on the podcast, or be part of an awesome community of creatives supporting each other? Join us in the Brand Your Passion Collective at www.makerandmoxie.com/community. We’d love to have you 🧡

🎧 117. Eliza Williams on creating a community, applying for artist residencies and the value of relationships

🎧 106. How to create a cohesive brand personality as a multi-passionate creative

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CONNECT

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You know that feeling when you keep seeing the same artist's work in every shop?

That's exactly what happened during my recent holiday - I kept spotting the same distinctive ceramics everywhere I went. The work was so recognisable and impossible to ignore that I knew I had to track down the artist behind it.

That artist is Sophie Holt, an artist and illustrator with a real love for clay. Born in New Zealand but raised in The Netherlands studying Graphic Design, she returned to discover her roots and fell in love with the country all over again. Since setting up Studio Soph in 2015, she's been making a living creating art.

In this episode, Sophie breaks down wholesale in a way that actually makes sense - how to approach retailers, build genuine relationships, and why working in collaborative studios has been massive for her business. She also shares why focusing on play is crucial for any artist and how being around other creatives taught her most of her business tricks.

Her diverse range spans ceramics, stationery, and textiles, proving you can build a recognisable brand across different mediums. After nearly a decade of Studio Soph, Sophie's living proof that you can turn your passion into profit while staying true to your creative vision!

Connect with Sophie Holt (Studio Soph):

Instagram: @studiosoph

Website: www.studiosoph.com

Episode mentions:

Little Beehive

Zappekin

Tikitibu

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WANT MORE?

Want your questions answered on the podcast, or be part of an awesome community of creatives supporting each other? Join us in the Brand Your Passion Collective at www.makerandmoxie.com/community. We’d love to have you 🧡

🎧 121. Itzel Islas on releasing collections, running a successful sticker club, & scaling outside social media

🎧 109. Jessica Hische on opening physical stores, separating social media pages, and communicating multiple passions

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CONNECT

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DROP SOME LOVE

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Every quarter, I love doing a Q&A episode where I answer questions from the Brand Your Passion Collective community. This one's full of real questions from creatives who are probably wondering about the same stuff you are.

In this episode, I'm talking about how to market your creative business offline (yes, there's actually life beyond social media!), what gets me out of bed every morning, where I find inspiration when I'm feeling totally stuck, how I actually manage to switch off from work, my favourite ways to chill out, and let's be honest - how I deal with burnout when it hits. Plus I'm ending with a random but super important question about my favourite Pokémon!

These are real strategies I've figured out through trial and error in my creative business. Whether you're just starting your creative journey or you've been doing this for years, you'll get some solid ideas you can try right away.

So if you've been wondering how to grow beyond Instagram, stay motivated when things get tough, or just figure out how to not work 24/7, this episode's definitely for you.

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WANT MORE?

Want your questions answered on the podcast, or be part of an awesome community of creatives supporting each other? Join us in the Brand Your Passion Collective at www.makerandmoxie.com/community. We’d love to have you 🧡

🎧 41. Freakin clever ways to brand your market stall

🎧 122. The power of partnering up: Your guide to collaborating with other artists

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CONNECT

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Want to know why I'm so passionate about what I do? Because it honestly breaks my heart seeing incredibly talented artists with jaw-dropping work getting absolutely SQUAT in return - no recognition, zero visibility, and sales that don't match their true worth.

In today's episode, I'm showing you exactly how to transform your creative business from completely overlooked and undiscovered to totally unforgettable through strategic branding. We'll cover the six critical elements that make a brand stand out from the noise, plus my must-have three-step playbook for creating a brand people can spot a mile away.

You'll walk away with actionable strategies for uncovering what makes you unique, getting creative with your content, and building a community that can't stop talking about your work. It’s time to become the artist everyone recommends and remembers!

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🔊 Ready to take your brand from undiscovered to unforgettable and finally build a community of raving fans who adore your creative business?

Join us in the Brand Your Passion Collective for the Undiscovered to Unforgettable challenge: the 28-day content challenge that'll take you from hidden artist to fan-favourite.

You’ll get a different prompt every day that’ll vamp up your visibility, build your brand and increase your engagement as well as examples, feedback, and celebration inside the community of creatives!

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WANT MORE?

Want your questions answered on the podcast, or be part of an awesome community of creatives supporting each other? Join us in the Brand Your Passion Collective at www.makerandmoxie.com/community. We’d love to have you 🧡

🎧 34. Applying your brand across the entire customer journey

🎧 46. How to build an unforgettable brand identity on a start-up budget

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CONNECT

📷 Connect on Instagram @makerandmoxie

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🎙️ Sponsor Brand Your Passion

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When I ask artists what they struggle with the most, it's almost always about social media - what to post that actually works, how to stand out in the noise, why someone would engage with their content over other creatives, and how to build a community of raving fans. Sound familiar?

Today, we're going to talk about how to show up, stand out, and sell your work online with confidence, with something I like to call your YOU-SPs.

You’ll learn what makes you and your creative work unique in a market filled with millions of other artists. We explore how to uncover your YOU-SPs - those special qualities that set you apart and make your audience remember you. You'll learn how to research what's truly different about your work, decide on your core unique selling points, and weave them through all your messaging so you can be confident in what you're sharing online.

It’s time to turn your unique qualities into content that resonates and helps you build a community of people who truly love what you do!

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✨ Ready to suss out & share your YOU-SPs so you can show up, stand out, and sell your work online with confidence?

Join the free 5-day YOU-SP Challenge at bit.ly/YOUSPChallenge where we’ll work through all of these steps together alongside your fellow creatives! You’ll get a prompt every day, a community of creatives, feedback & support from me, and more!

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WANT MORE?

Want your questions answered on the podcast, or be part of an awesome community of creatives supporting each other? Join us in the Brand Your Passion Collective at www.makerandmoxie.com/community. We’d love to have you 🧡

🎧 59. Why creatives need to pinpoint their people

🎧 79. Brand voice: what creatives need to know about finding and using your brand voice

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CONNECT

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How many times have you put "write brand values," "update logo," or "redesign website" on your to-do list only to keep moving it to another day, another week, another month, and on and on until it's at the bottom of the list, or deleted altogether?

This happens to the best of us. As creatives, we all have so many things on our minds and our to-do lists that it's easy to keep pushing something that doesn't feel as “urgent”. But branding is urgent and important, and if you're reading this, I reckon you know that already!

Today, I'm going to share some practical tips on how to finally make progress on your branding, stop relegating it to the bottom of your to-do list, and transform your creative business.

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WANT MORE?

Want your questions answered on the podcast, or be part of an awesome community of creatives supporting each other? Join us in the Brand Your Passion Collective at www.makerandmoxie.com/community. We’d love to have you 🧡

🎧 32. How to design a brand that makes you (and your audience) feel good

🎧 64. The ultimate guide to creating a consistent brand experience

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CONNECT

📷 Connect on Instagram @makerandmoxie

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DROP SOME LOVE

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Have you ever heard people tell you that you need your brand to be personal, and that your audience wants to know and connect with the person behind the brand?

Sounds great in theory, right? But how do you know how personal to be? Should you be sharing what you had for breakfast even if it has nothing to do with your work? Or documenting every random thought that pops into your head? Where’s the line between relatable and TMI?

Here’s the thing - yes, people connect with people, that's true. But the "right" amount of personal in your brand is whatever feels authentic to you. If you don't want to share much, forcing it won't work. You need to set those boundaries that make your content feel good to create AND connect with your audience.

In this episode, we're exploring how personal your brand really needs to be. You'll learn how to align your sharing style with your brand values, figure out your “why” before hitting that post button, and craft a social media approach that works for YOU, not what others are doing.

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If you'd like help, feedback, advice, or to hear how other creatives are approaching this so you can feel confident in your content, join us in the Brand Your Passion Collective. We're talking about things like this all the time in there on our calls and in the community (in fact, that's where this topic came from!). So head to brandyourpassion.co and start building an unforgettable brand alongside your fellow creatives today!

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WANT MORE?

🎧 106. How to create a cohesive brand personality as a multi-passionate creative

🎧 88. 15 powerful branding habits for creatives

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📰 Join the Moxie Musing newsletter

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CONNECT

📷 Connect on Instagram @makerandmoxie

🤳🏼 Find me on TikTok

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🌐 Check out my website

🎙️ Sponsor Brand Your Passion

–––––––––––

DROP SOME LOVE

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Want the inside scoop on what it takes to thrive as an artist and creative business owner for 20 years?

In today’s episode, I have the AH-mazing Hayley King (AKA FLOX) on the show where she shares her amazing journey from street art beginnings to building a thriving creative business with hand painted commissions, large scale murals, and producing seasonal luxury bag and personal stationery collections.

Hayley opens up about building a business that stands the test of time, growing her team, setting up her studio, and the practical steps that took her from independent artist to a recognised brand name over two decades. As well as Hayley’s approach to creating product collections, what marketing tactics actually worked for her, and how she handled rebranding after 20 years.

Whether you're just starting out or looking to level up your creative business, this episode is a MUST listen!

Connect with Hayley King (AKA FLOX) :

Instagram: @floxnz

Website: flox.co.nz

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WANT MORE?

Want your questions answered on the podcast, or be part of an awesome community of creatives supporting each other? Join us in the Brand Your Passion Collective at www.makerandmoxie.com/community. We’d love to have you 🧡

🎧 119. Ellie Compton on entering art competitions, elevating your brand experience, and positioning your work through pricing

🎧 100. How to grow your creative business in 2024 with Mia Saine, Renata Paton, Whitney Manney and Penelope Wickman

💻 Read the blog post

📰 Join the Moxie Musing newsletter

–––––––––––

CONNECT

📷 Connect on Instagram @makerandmoxie

🤳🏼 Find me on TikTok

🎨 Find me on Threads

🌐 Check out my website

🎙️ Sponsor Brand Your Passion

–––––––––––

DROP SOME LOVE

🎧 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

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🧡 Provide feedback & get a free workshop!

🫙 Add to the podcast tip jar to support the show