Everyday Talent Podcast

“Let my work speak for me” is the mantra of many artists’. When we look at an artist's work, we get immersed in the beauty, the craftsmanship, and the style, without knowing the behind-the-scenes process. And it’s not just the process of honing making the art, but also the process of transformation, reinventing oneself, finding belonging, and taking risks. 

Today on the podcast, we are going behind the scenes with the celebrated tattooer and multidisciplinary artist Yi Shi. Yi shares with us their journey of building their tattoo practice as a first generation Chinese immigrant in Canada, and their process of continuously learning and expanding their points of view and interests as a multidisciplinary artist. 

Key highlights of this episode 

• How Yi started their tattoo practice
• The balance between abstract thinking and creative practice
• Advice on working as an immigrant and freelance artist
• The pros and cons of being self-employed tattoo artist
• How imposter syndrome showed up for Yi
• Yi’s ongoing journey in exploring filmmaking and other forms of arts

About the Guest

Yi is a queer Chinese multidisciplinary artist and tattooer born and raised in Hangzhou, China, currently based in Tkaronto, aka Toronto, Canada. Their works seek to investigate the complexity of human emotions - vulnerability, grief, and diasporic longings.

Find Yi at:

• postyism.com
• @postyism on instagram and twitter

If you’re in Toronto, check out Yi’s short film Once in a Red Moon as part of the Unsung Voices program at the 2022 Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival 

About Betty

Follow me on Instagram @bettyxcoach for more resources and my behind-the-scenes story working as a creative and a coach for creatives

Want more raw reflections on creative practices? Subscribe to my emails here

My 1:1 coaching program is OPEN! I help creatives like you to grow career, practice and income by embracing exactly who you are. My clients have been able to deepen their craft, make big career moves, and make happier money without overwhelm.

Book a free consultation call here: https://calendly.com/bettyxcoach/consultation?month=2022-08

Learn more about the program at xiebetty.com/coaching

The Everyday Talent Podcast is produced by Betty Xie and Benice Detoon.

Last time, I discussed the first part of breaking the cycle of survival mindset as creatives, and the most important step of redefining the notion of success for ourselves.  What’s next and how do you sustain the momentum on your change journey? How will you know that you’re on the right track of moving beyond the survival mindset? Today, I'm here to continue our discussion about the process of change and what you need to know about moving past the survival mindset. 

Key Highlights: 

• breaking the cycle of operating for a survival mode
• myth of the change process
• setting expectation in the change process
• two types of change: subtle and structural change
• sharing my story of structural change
• signs to watch out for if you're breaking the survival cycle

Follow me on Instagram @bettyxcoach for more resources for creatives

Subscribe to my emails

My 1:1 coaching program is OPEN! I help creatives like you to grow career, practice and income by embracing exactly who you are. My clients have been able to deepen their craft, make big career moves, and make happier money without overwhelm.

Book a free consultation call here: https://calendly.com/bettyxcoach/consultation?month=2022-08

Learn more about the program at xiebetty.com/coaching

The Everyday Talent Podcast is produced by Betty Xie and Benice Detoon.

One of the most common phenomena I see is that creatives are stuck and living and working in a survival mode. This is a prevalent issue largely because we have been conditioned to hustle to make it in the creative industry at the expense of everything else. There are systemic changes that are required, but here is the thing: you can still support yourself on an individual level to move beyond this survival mode and create a life and practice that is full of meaning, fulfillment, and impact. 

In this first part of the two-part series, I’m walking you through some of the steps you need to identify if you’re indeed operating in a survival mindset and how you can move beyond surviving and begin thriving. 

Key Highlights: 

• how to identify if you’ve been operating in a survival mindset
• Why some of us continue to operate in a survival mindset even after we gain some success in our career
• The first and most important step moving beyond the survival mindset

Follow me on Instagram @bettyxcoach for more resources for creatives

Subscribe to my emails

My 1:1 coaching program is OPEN! I help creatives like you to grow career, practice and income by embracing exactly who you are. My clients have been able to deepen their craft, make big career moves, and make happier money without overwhelm.

Book a free consultation call here: https://calendly.com/bettyxcoach/consultation?month=2022-08

Learn more about the program at xiebetty.com/coaching

The Everyday Talent Podcast is produced by Betty Xie and Benice Detoon.

For many of us, when we have a creative mission or a great creative business idea in mind, we usually pursue the idea on the side while holding a full time job. How can we sustain our momentum for our creative business or project on top of a 9-5 job? On this episode, I invited Sydney Cabioc, a full time arts admin and the owner of an artist management business. Sydney shares with us her secret sauce on finding a balance, sustaining her passion, and setting systems and boundaries in place that help her to grow her creative business with confidence. 

Key highlights of this episode 

• How Sidney started her artist management business in the pandemic, challenges she faced, and what kept her going
• Tips on decision-making as a creative solopreneur
• Sydney’s journey in learning how to say no and let go
• Tips for emerging performers and artists who manage themselves

About the Guest

Sydney Cabioc is an events management professional and artist manager. Sydney works as the Programming Coordinator for the Department of Arts, Culture and Media at the University of Toronto Scarborough. Past work experience was with festivals in Toronto and abroad, such as National Canadian Film Day, the Edinburgh Fringe, and 150 Neighbours at UTSC. Sydney graduated with a Masters in Festival and Event Management from Edinburgh Napier, where she is interested in cultural pluralism in the context of cultural festivals. She has started up her own artist management service, Porchfront Collective. The artists she currently works with are Iranian-Australian opera singer, Shirin Majd, and Canadian Indie R&B artist, Nattra.

Find Sydney at Porchfront Collective: 

https://www.instagram.com/porchfront.collective/ 

https://porchfrontcollective.ca/

Sydney is open to collaborations: whether you are emerging artists/creatives wanting to perform, or businesses wanting to create unique experiences with artists - email Sydney at [email protected] to chat! 

About Betty

Follow me on Instagram @bettyxcoach for more resources and my behind-the-scenes story working as a creative and a coach for creatives

Want more raw reflections on creative practices? Subscribe to my emails here

My 1:1 coaching program is OPEN! I help creatives like you to grow career, practice and income by embracing exactly who you are. My clients have been able to deepen their craft, make big career moves, and make happier money without overwhelm.

Book a free consultation call here: https://calendly.com/bettyxcoach/consultation?month=2022-08

Learn more about the program at xiebetty.com/coaching

The Everyday Talent Podcast is produced by Betty Xie and Benice Detoon.

Our creative rituals are a powerful grounding force in our life. Not only does it inspire us to create, but it also helps us connect with others and the world around us in a way that's both nourishing and healing. And Helen's work is all about bringing those two things together—creating spaces that bring people together through the art of pottery, and using tea as a way to connect with one's self and break away from the hustle of everyday life. And today, on this special episode recorded onsite at Secret Teatime, Helen will be joining to share her journey of her creative practice. 

Key highlights of this episode 

• How Helen started Secret Teatime and explored her passion of making tea and pottery 
• Helen’s journey of finding a sense of belonging in her creative rituals
• How making tea helped ground her through burnouts 
• Helen’s take on the socially constructed hierarchy of high and low art 

Helen Kong is the owner of Secret Teatime, a clay maker space hidden in Scarborough, Toronto. She specializes in making teawares for Japanese and Chinese Tea. She is also an ongoing student/practitioner of Chado (The Japanese Way of Tea). The way of tea is her guide in life and in her creative practice.  Tea has been the source of inspiration and sense of grounding during times of life/creative burnout. Her practice is a lifelong journey of learning and development. Currently, Helen is stepping into a new role in organizing collaborative group projects and creating multisensory tea experiences in hopes to mutually promote and support local makers and small businesses.

Find Helen at Secret Teatime

https://www.secretteatime.com/

https://www.instagram.com/secretteatime/

If you are in the Greater Toronto Area, consider attending Ichigo-Ichie at Nuit Blanche on Oct 1, 2022, a collaborative tea event curated by Helen.

Follow me on Instagram @bettyxcoach for more resources for creatives

My 1:1 coaching program is OPEN! I help creatives like you to grow career, practice and income by embracing exactly who you are. My clients have been able to deepen their craft, make big career moves, and make happier money without overwhelm.

Book a free consultation call here: https://calendly.com/bettyxcoach/consultation?month=2022-08

Learn more about the program at xiebetty.com/coaching

The Everyday Talent Podcast is produced by Betty Xie and Benice Detoon.

I'm sure you've heard the saying that "artists suffer for their art."  You have to be a tortured soul, and you have to be able to push through the pain. 

What if there are a lot of bs in that narrative?

What is a more holistic way to look at creatives’ relationship with mental health?

My guest, Chad Hopson, shares with us his journey of self-discovery and helping others to uncover their creativity. We chatted about the good, the bad, and the raw stuff about diving into a creative pursuit, and how might that pursuit allow us to achieve greater awareness of ourselves and the world around us. 

Key highlights of this episode 

• Chad shares his journey and life lessons on discovering himself through creativity
• How he deals with difficult life situations 
• How the designer mindset helps him in different life aspects
• The role of mental health in his creative career
• Advice for people in nurturing their creative potential

Key Takeaway: 

• Making art can improve our mental health because it allows us to give voice to feelings and ideas that are difficult to put into words. 
• Define success for yourself, and never use a broad term that everyone else uses as a goal.

Chad Hopson is a multidisciplinary artist focusing on mental health and the power of creativity. His brand So Indifferent provides graphic design services, but at its core, it aims to help others realize their own creative potential.

Visit Chad’s Koji Link:

https://withkoji.com/@SoIndifferent

Download So Indifferents The Support Report here:

https://www.soindifferent.com/portfolio/the-support-report/

Learn more about The Fear Theory: 

https://www.soindifferent.com/thefeartheory/

Follow me on Instagram @bettyxcoach for more resources for creatives

My 1:1 coaching program is OPEN! I help creatives like you to grow career, practice and income by embracing exactly who you are. My clients have been able to deepen their craft, make big career moves, and make happier money without overwhelm.

Apply for my 1:1 coaching program here.

Learn more about the program at xiebetty.com/coaching

The Everyday Talent Podcast is produced by Betty Xie and Benice Detoon.

For a long time, I've been thinking about how I can create an elevator pitch to introduce myself in a succinct and clear way. And if you're a multifaceted creative like me, you know it's difficult to sum up who you are in a sentence. It forces us to take something complex and boil down into something very simple. But why do most of us still spend so much time on our elevator pitches? And why do we feel anxious when others fail to recognize our complexity in one short paragraph? In today's episode,  I'm going to talk about exactly that, and why you should get rid of your pitch today and ways to shift your energy so that you show up more powerfully. 

Key Highlights: 

• a fun story about how I overcome the need for coming up with an elevator pitch for myself
• My hypothesis on why people obsess over their elevator pitches
• How you can address issues a pitching your work to impress others or collaborate with potential clients
• A better approach of showing up powerfully and authentically

Key Takeaways: 

• Everything that you say reveals a little bit about you and no one paragraph in the world will need to totally represent you. 
• Make genuine connections by being a good listener, a natural conversationalist and by being honest about who you are, rather than boxing yourself in with a few sentences.  

Follow me on Instagram @bettyxcoach for more resources for creatives

Craving for more honest and intimate reflections on creative practices? Subscribe to Gentle Signals - where I deliver deep reflections about the good struggles of creative practice to your inbox from time to time. 

http://eepurl.com/h7DaqT

My 1:1 coaching program is OPEN! I help creatives like you to grow career, practice and income by embracing exactly who you are. My clients have deepened their craft, made big career moves, and made happier money without overwhelm.

Apply for my 1:1 coaching program here.

Learn more about the program at xiebetty.com/coaching

The Everyday Talent Podcast is produced by Betty Xie and Benice Detoon.

You probably have way too many creative ideas competing for your time and attention. And in the midst of all the chaos and stress of daily life, it's so easy to lose sight of what drives you in the first place. So, how do you strike a balance between your professional and personal life? And what do you need to sustain your passion and joy in your creative practice? Join me in this conversation as Lindsay shares with us her creative process as a writer and how she manages her multifaceted career, family, and personal life all at the same time. 

Key highlights of this episode 

• Lindsay shares her story about how she started her writing journey and how she developed her identity as writer without needing to practice her craft everyday 
• Lindsay tells her insights on how you can sustain the momentum over a long period of time in your creative practice
• Lindsay’s jar-method approach in writing - a must-have method in your toolbox!
• Lindsay’s passion for grant-writing and her honest thoughts how to manage uncertainties in a creative career

Key Takeaway: 

• There are no rules in “how one should be” as a writer or as a creative person in general. You have the freedom to create your own rules. 
• Everybody's creative process is unique, and finding a structure that works for you will enable you to create freely and joyfully 

Lindsay Zier-Vogel, is a Toronto-based author, grant writer, educator and love
letterer. She is the author of the acclaimed debut novel Letters to Amelia and her first picture book will be out in Spring 2023. After studying dance at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, she received her BA in English and then her Masters in English and Creative Writing from the University of Toronto. Her work has been published widely in Canada and the UK and her hand-bound books are housed in the permanent collection at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. In addition to leading ongoing creative writing workshops with adults and youth through the Toronto Public Library, she is also a professor in Humber College's Professional Writing post-graduate program.

You can buy Letters to Amelia at Book*hug Press or all other major book outlets. 

Follow me on Instagram @bettyxcoach for more resources for creatives

My 1:1 coaching program is OPEN! I help creatives like you to grow career, practice and income by embracing exactly who you are. My clients have been able to deepen their craft, make big career moves, and make happier money without overwhelm.

Apply for my 1:1 coaching program here.

Learn more about the program at xiebetty.com/coaching

The Everyday Talent Podcast is produced by Betty Xie and Benice Detoon.

It’s been 1 year since I started my coaching business! I've got so much to celebrate, and now is the perfect time to reflect on all the lessons I've learned from working with other creatives. In this episode, I'm going to reveal my top secret to starting my own business and becoming successful on my own terms, so that you can apply it to your own business and creative practice.

Key highlights of this episode:

• I share my story of how I started coaching 
• My top secret in starting my business and be successful in my own term 
• Why is it counterintuitive to set an arbitrary timeline for your business's success?
• The importance of intention and directionality on planning your business 
• I’m sharing the bucket approach and other practical tips in implementing intentionality and directionality of your creative business 
• 
  

Key Takeaways:

• When we set a fixed destination and arbitrary timeline for achieving our goals, we become very rigid and anxious on meeting the deadline that we forget to enjoy the process. 
• Focus on key strategies and pillars rather than task-oriented goals to plan your creative practice because that will allow you to be flexible. 

Follow me on Instagram @bettyxcoach for more resources for creatives

My 1:1 coaching program is OPEN! I help creatives like you to grow career, practice and income by embracing exactly who you are. My clients have been able to deepen their craft, make big career moves, and make happier money without overwhelm.

Apply for my 1:1 coaching program here.

Learn more about the program at xiebetty.com/coaching

The Everyday Talent Podcast is produced by Betty Xie and Benice Detoon.

How do we sustain the momentum to build an artistic practice of our own and make shifts when our souls desire? I cannot think of a better person to talk about this than my friend Jasmine Gui, who always amazes me and friends around her that she holds space for the different facets of identities and consistently has an intimate relationship with her craft and creativity.   

Key highlights of this episode 

• Jasmine shares her story as a process-based artist and why interest motivates her more than fixed ambitions.
• She gives some advice to those who are planning to take their PhD and shares her personal experience. 
• She also shares valuable insights on how she balances practicality and stability in her creative career.
• Her loose-fist approach to building her practice and deepening her relationship with creativity.

Jasmine Gui is a Singaporean-born interdisciplinary artist, programmer at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, and Jasmine Gui is a doctoral student working in decolonial, diasporic literature and media. She is the co-founder of TACLA, a community archive initiative and runs Teh Studio and San Micropress. Her creative research practice centres the decolonial imaginaries of grief, memory and joy. Her work has been exhibited at Xpace Cultural Centre, and featured in publications such Hungry Zine, Canthius, Room Magazine, Held Magazine, SineTheta amongst others, and she collaborates on experimental paper arts as one-half of the creative duo, jabs.

To connect with Jasmine, visit  www.tehstudio.ca or follow her on Instagram @jaziimun, @tehstudio.sanpress

Follow me on Instagram @bettyxcoach for more resources for creatives

My 1:1 coaching program is OPEN! I help creatives like you to grow career, practice and income by embracing exactly who you are. My clients have been able to deepen their craft, make big career moves, and make happier money without overwhelm.

Apply for my 1:1 coaching program here.

Learn more about the program at xiebetty.com/coaching

The Everyday Talent Podcast is produced by Betty Xie and Benice Detoon.