Rockstar Mentor

Rockstar Mentor

By Sonya PazBusinessEducationArtsHow ToMarketing
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Rockstar Mentor episodes

  • Ep. 052 Happy New Year and the 5 tasks to get you started for a great 2017
    Greetings friends and listeners, Sonya Paz here with the RockStar Mentor podcast and I want to wish each and everyone out there a fantastic happy new year. We are officially in 2017. I love it.  I feel optimistic and hopeful for an amazingly creative new year. I want you as an artist to be empowered and to really flourish and excel with your art business and I am so glad that you're here with me today.    Today we are going to talk about  goal setting and positive thinking.    As much as I am a big advocate for goalsetting at any time throughout the year and positive thinking 24/7 ... 365, I thought for many folks would like to start things on a clean slate at the beginning of the year, I believe everyone can pretty much relate to that, right!   I know this is the time of year when a lot of people of all careers, all areas of the world want to start the new year with resolutions and promises to themselves that from everything from losing weight to curbing any bad habits, to stop the procrastinating, to have better relationships with people and of course how to make your business flourish and thrive.    Throughout the past several months I really haven't given everybody a list of assignments to do, it's been pretty much motivational to get you in the right track, to make you more aware of what's going on out there in the art world but today I am going to give you a small assignment and don't worry my assignments are effective, however they're not going to kill you they're not going to make you make your brain fall out of your head and they're there to get you motivated and inspired. Mainly my assignments to you right now are going to be for you to reflect inside yourself and really dig down deep and perform a small task.    I'm going to give you a little bit of homework today, get a notebook, a notepad something that will be dedicated for you and your success as an artist. List five strong things that you want to accomplish this year - starting off with just the first quarter of 2017. Yes, I know we are looking at a lifetime of goals and ambitions, but let's just work for the next three months first.    The point of this short exercise is to give you some guidance in the journey of being a successful artist. Some of the things that you might consider are getting your social media better organized, perhaps you have a great online presence but you want to learn how to talk with your customers face-to-face better, or simply, you might be quite introverted and you want to learn how to step outside your comfort zone.    List five things that you would like to accomplish, and by writing these down you are step one into determining to make all of this happen. You are going to set yourself up for this commitment that you will need to really be committed fully.    One thing that I really want you to focus on is doable goals yet challenging. Challenge yourself, take something that you think might take longer to accomplish and have that as one of your goals. You might very well surprise yourself!   One thing that I start each year off of is writing down five goals for myself, I would love to say that I have completed all five of my goals, but I managed to successfully do four of my major goals last year for 2016, I have to admit that I set the bot the bar pretty high for myself and my goals are not just lightweight tasks. One of those goals was to write, orchestrate, arrange, and produce this entire podcast so I have to say that that in itself was enough for 70 tasks!   But seriously. Give yourself 5 goals that you would like to achieve in three months, write them down and be sure to listen to future podcasts so we can work together to achieve your goal setting management.    If one o

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    16 min
  • Ep. 051 Re-purposing Art Supplies and Destashing!

    Episode 051 - Re-purposing Art Supplies and Destashing!

      Greetings friends and listeners! We are on the edge of 2016 and tis the season to be giving, but to be clearing out your unused art supplies, tools, equipment or whatever you have that you've got lying around that you're not using, there is somebody out there that will truly benefit from art supplies that you're not utilizing.    That's right! We are artists ... and yes, we do hoard all types of art supplies, and if you're like me you buy art supplies with the intent of learning something, or practicing a new craft and it sits there and sits there and sits there... and in many cases I have purchased art supplies thinking that I would use them, I've tried it and it simply not for me so there I have maybe $50 - $100 worth of art supplies that are taking up valuable resources of space in my studio.    So instead of letting it sit around collecting dust until you have time to get that art attack on, use modern technology to sift through and get rid of some of these supplies that you're simply not using.    In the past I have sold lots of sets of things on eBay and a used to do really well, but now since a lot of the big retailers or on eBay and it's not the small business owner conducting business there, it's a little more of a struggle, plus you have listing fees. And if you're like me listing fees can certainly add up so what I have found that really has worked for me is that I have gone on to Facebook and research some of the "Destash" groups that are on Facebook which you can join, there are craft destash, there are destashing group specifically for a medium that you may work on, oil painting, encaustic, glass, stained glass, polymer clay, woodworking and the list goes on. What's nice about these groups is that it's a community of folks like yourself who are looking for specific tools and supplies as well as selling tools, supplies, tutorials etc.   One thing that I would like to mention and I have learned the hard way, whenever you join a group you must adhere to the rules of that group and 99% of these groups have very strict rules on how to post and dues and don'ts. The reason for this is because a lot of these groups have hundreds, perhaps even thousands of members trading, selling and sharing resources and the groups have admin's who monitor and have to in so many words babysit the group to make sure that everyone plays nice.   One group might have a layout where you can sell multiple items and build a little store per se, some others do not allow that. Some others will allow you to post only so many items per day, but will only allow you to post one photo, so it's really imperative that you read their rules before posting. If anyone has ever been an admin to any type of site or group you will know that there's nothing worse than having to remind people to follow the rules, and basically police the activity. Please keep all of that in mind when joining a selling group.    I have also joined and been part of artist group in my community where I have been able to sell and offload some bigger items, I had an over abundance of huge campuses and was able to move and sell those locally where people would pick them up and I wasn't having to ship. Check in your area to see if you have any type of buy and sell groups that you can benefit from.    I know as artistS we tend to hoard art supplies, and also office supplies, you would not believe the amount of people that would buy just about anything, some office supplies maybe popular in one area of the country and not popular in another, so if you're not using something instead of throwing it away consider selling it or if you are not in the mode to be selling and shipping stuff, locate them to a loca

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    16 min
  • Ep. 50 Winding Down Holiday Time Crunch and Prepping for 2017

    Episode 50 - Winding Down holiday Time Crunch and Prepping for 2017

     

    Today's episode is to let you know that you can breathe and get caught up for the final wind down on the holiday orders, shipping, exhibits, holiday art and craft shows. 

    We have a collection of questions from Alex, Sam and Deirdre, they are asking what happens after Dececember 26th?  This is the perfect time to get your ideas scheduled and prepped for new year. Time flies fast, so get yourself organized and get prepared.  This might be a great time to explore your blog, perhaps get your branding project underway.  This episode is packed full of inspiring ideas to get your new year refreshed for a positive year.

    Again, I am your host Sonya Paz as your podcast host for the RockStarMentor.com and RockStar Mentor podcast, I am thrilled and have much gratitude for those who tuning every week and listening so that you can learn how to rock it with your art business.

      You can visit my work and products at http://SonyaPaz.com     For the full summary of these show notes visit me at http://rockstarmentor.com/blog

    Please visit our website to sign up to be on the front lines of amazing information and free downloads that I have prepared especially for you. http://rockstarmentor.com

    Visit me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/crushitmentor

    Visit me on Instagram: http://instagram.com/rockstarmentor

    To support via Patreon is greatly appreciated! https://www.patreon.com/rockstarmentor   If you love audio books, visit http://AudibleTrial.com/rockstar
    Over 180,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle or mp3 player.

    Need art supplies? Shop on Amazon!

    To learn more about me, my art and colorful product line, visit Sonya Paz through my artist website, http://SonyaPaz.com

    Thanks to "The Brush Guys" they can be located at http://thebrushguys.com they offer the best in all things brushes for all mediums and amazing specials on art supplies. Save 5% on your online order, use promocode: ROCKSTAR

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    14 min
  • Ep. 049 Say bye bye to the Bah Humbug Part II

    Episode 49 - Say bye bye to the Bah Humbug Part II

    Haters are gonna hate.... but that OK, we don't care.First of all, we are sending condolences to the victims and their families of the recent Oakland Fire that took place in Oakland this past weekend.  It was a terrible tragedy that took over 30 lives.  So incredibly sad.

    The Rockstar Mentor podcast is excited to announce that we have another new sponsor. Today's podcast is brought to you by audible.com - get a FREE audiobook download and 30 day free trial at www.audibletrial.com/rockstar. Over 180,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle or mp3 player.

    For you, the listeners of [The Rockstar Mentor Podcast, Audible is offering a free audiobook download with a free 30-day trial to give you the opportunity to check out their service. Check it out at www.audibletrial.com/rockstar.


    Sponsor time! If you like art supplies as much as I do be sure to visit my website RockstarMentor.com and check out the art supplies tab on the right-hand side of the podcast page and you can get discounts at Amazon.com just by simply clicking on the art supplies tab. If you like the RockStar Mentor podcast and would like to support the show for as low as $5 a month you may do so by visiting the Patreon  link on the right-hand side of the podcast page as well.

    This podcast is part II of the "Say bye bye to the Bah Humbug Part II", this segment of the podcast will focus on people (aka trolls) who like to anonymously tread in shallow waters.  People who like to hide behind keyboards and write unpleasant things to others, namely to artists.  NOW, no one like a bully or a coward and the reason that people do this to others is very confusing and bothersome to me, especially since I have many friends that have encountered this style of abuse.  

    I had promised to share with you a letter that I received a few years ago after I decided to close the formal gallery and moved back to my studio by appointment. The podcast will detail the contents of the letter, so be sure to tune in to get the juicy nitty gritty details.

    My choice to have a full retail gallery in the heart of Downtown Campbell was my choice, it was MY journey and MY experience. Sure there were highs and lows, but that's OK.

    To conclude, don't let others make you feel like you are not important, rise above it all and keep killing it with creation, be strong and determined. I know that it's hard to persevere when others are unpleasant, but for the sake of your art creation, your sanity and getting through it, let it go.  It's not worth trying to debate with someone that negative who is obviously lacking a few brain cells.

    Again, I am your host Sonya Paz as your podcast host for the RockStarMentor.com and RockStar Mentor podcast, I am thrilled and have much gratitude for those who tuning every week and listening so that you can learn how to rock it with your art business.
     
    You can visit my work and products at http://SonyaPaz.com

    For the full summary of these show notes visit me at http://rockstarmentor.com/blog

    Please visit our website to sign up to be on the front lines of amazing information and free downloads that I have prepared especially for you. http://rockstarmentor.com

    Visit me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/crushitmentor

    Visit me on Instagram: http://instagram.com/rockstarmentor

    To support via Patreon is greatly appreciate

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    28 min
  • Ep. 048 Say bye bye to the Bah Humbug - Part I

    Episode 48 of the RockStar Mentor Podcast - Part I

    Diffusing the Negative Crabby Holiday Shopper

    Tis' the season for a wonderful perspective holiday season, and as much as I don't want to delve into negativity based on some questions I received from a few of you in regards to how to deal with crabby shoppers this holiday season..... ahhhhh BAH HUMBUG! It doesn't matter where you go or what you do or what kind of art you do, you could have the happiest are in the world and eventually someone will come up to you and be a naysayer, will say something negative about your artwork. So I've received a couple questions about this and I want to be able to address some of these questions, specifically what to do or how to say certain things to get your message across.
    Now perhaps many of you grew up in a household where if you have nothing nice to say you say nothing, however I believe in this day and age especially with the over excessive bashing and behavior online sometimes the filters are not up and people say what is ever on the top of their head because they think it's fashionable to behave this way. Bad form indeed!

    Now as you might know, I have owned a gallery (several in fact) and I have heard it all. Everything as blatant to "why does this cost so much" to "do people really buy this stuff". Now being an artist I have found positive and creative ways of spinning the comment into a nice conversation, a little detour to the "crabby person" to lighten the mood a bit, and I try to put myself into their shoes, perhaps they don't realize the way that something had come out of their mouth and that they have possibly hurt your feelings. Another thing is that they don't realize you're the artist so they can freely say whatever they want even if it's hateful or bashing.
    I have gotten this several times, I simply don't I don't blatantly tell them I am the artist, but I will hint around about my creation process so that it is a lightweight way of telling them hey, I am the artist, are you serious?

    Some people are more direct and they say I am the artist and you've offended me, that approach is a little too rough for me so I prefer to "kill it with kindness" and be more creative about it. The bottom line is, it's personal, and it hurts and for many... "how dare you talk crap about my art". It's almost as though you're telling someone that their baby is ugly. (Good grief, I certainly hope that people aren't doing that now and this day and age because that would be really bad.)

    Simply telling someone that they're wrong doesn't make their comment less intrusive or rude. I have found that explaining the artwork typically works better than trying to prove if one is right or if one is wrong.

    The top three things to keep in mind is:

    1) Ask the person: "what is it about the artwork that you don't like?"

    2) Ask them "Do you prefer presently collect original art?" If they say yes then ask them what kind of artwork do they gravitate towards and talk a little bit about that.

    3) Then proceed to tell them a little bit about yourself, why do you create, why you create the artwork that you do, and what drives you as an artist. It gives them a sense of who you are and what you're about without being combative. You may event end up with a sale because of this approach!


    Rockstars, do you feel this way as well? What do you think are the motives behind somebody's raw opinion of your work?

    I would love to hear more about this. I was hoping for the holidays to pass to share something very personal with you, but I might go ahead and bring this up next week, it was an anonymous note that was sent to me from a person, that I will not give credit to because I don't want to give them the satisfaction but it was sent to me by way of my website and this person proceeded to tell me and judge me on why I close my gallery and their opinion o

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    17 min
  • Ep. 047 Be a PRO with an Effective Artist Statement

    Episode 047 Be a PRO with an Effective Artist Statement. 

      Greetings everyone! It is starting to cool down here in November much like last week weather has changed to it being cold blustery and rainy out, but I am finally happy that this is boot and sweater weather!   Happy November and happy turkey day as we are approaching Thanksgiving this week. I always give thanks to everything I have, Family, friends, health, the ability to create beautiful art for others and I'm honored to collect art from artist that I admire and works that I like (well most artist that I can afford, some are out of the ballpark and I'm just going to have to keep putting it on my wish list). LOL   This week I want to point out some top three things to remember in creating a effective and informative artist statement. 
    1.) Create a statement about why you do what you do as an artist.    The first section of your artist's statement should start off with a description of what drives you as an artist and what drives you to create art.  Make it as personal as possible, people want to know about you but details should be to the point and brief. Outline what your purposes and what you hope to achieve with creating your art. 
      2. Let the reader know what inspires you as an artist and outline interesting techniques or processes that you use.  The second thing to consider in your statement is to describe how you create your work and if you have any special techniques that you use, describe what it is, everyone loves the how to and learn more about components and materials that you use in your art. Your readers and collectors want to know what makes you stand out from everybody else.  For instance, do you create artwork that is only and solely based on personal experience is, does your work tell a specific story, are you involved in a special charity or do you have a specific niche, or a vision that you wish to inform the reader, include this in your statement.    And of course, last but not least...

    3.
    K.I.S.S     Keep it Super Simple (or short, sweet). Be direct and the point. Your artist statement is an introduction to your work, this tells everyone about you and why you do what you do. Your artist’s statement should be one to two paragraphs and no longer than a page. For Pete's sake's, you're not riding in a book, or at least not yet, so keep your statement direction to the point so you don't lose your readers interest.    Most importantly the artist statement should be written by you a at  http://SonyaPaz.com the author (as the first person) for the reader.   You should always have a statement along with your artist bio. But be careful not to confuse the two. Your bio is basically your artist resume. Your statement outlines what you do as an artist and why you create.    Some people combined the two or put them on one page, they used to be such a formality about all this but in this day and age and the way the people right in the way that people read it has evolved somewhat and the rules have not have carried through such formalities.    If you are in need of help with your bio or statement you may contact me at RockstarMentor.com and I can assist with getting you on the right track.    Again, I am your host Sonya Paz as your podcas

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    10 min
  • Ep. 046 Get the Winning Hand with Cards... Credit Cards....

    Ep. 046 Get the winning hands with cards... credit cards....
    Maximizing your sales with merchant services

    If you're not taking credit cards now you're creating a disservice for yourself!

    Hey everyone, Sonya Paz here with the Rockstar Mentor podcast and it is a bright and beautiful day out here with our California weather is bringing us fabulous sunny and warm weather!

    A couple of quick things that I want to talk about first of all is that due to the crazy holiday season I am going to consolidate the fan mail Friday Q&A to our regular episode that occurs every Tuesday, I just have such a crazy busy schedule in the studio and we are in full production with ornaments, jewelry, gifts and online orders right now that doing two episodes a week has proven to be a bit much at this time. We will revisit after the first of the 2017 year.

    The time is just swooshing on by and I cannot believe that we are already five weeks until Christmas or maybe it's 41 days something like that, but it is crazy the days are going by so fast that it's nutty!

    It didn't take long for the Art and wine's festival season to conclude before we started embarking on all of the holiday shows, craft shows, bead and jewelry shows you name it it's out there already and people are selling and people are buying!

    I will say that I have been in this business a long time, and I say that gracefully, a looooong time! I remember when getting a merchant account to take credit cards used to be a painful and agonizing process with all kinds of business references needed and personal references and paperwork up to Yazooo and then there was a point where some people didn't even take credit card so you had to have a business check, or get your items ordered via COD, (COD, somebody you don't even know what that is) it was when you had to have a purchase order for items, you ordered them with a wholesale minimum, the company you were ordering from didn't take credit cards, they only took certified check or money order, and then if all went well you would have your order shipped to you and you would have to pay the driver and intern UPS would turn around and pay the manufacturer, now if that doesn't sound like a lot of hassle, it certainly was. And that's how it was done back in the 70's, 80's, 90's.

    One thing I can say for sure is that taking credit cards now and excepting merchant payments and paying for items is far easier than it has been ever in all of my years in business.
    As of recently I have noticed that there were a couple of merchants at some of the craft and art shows that did not take credit cards, they took only cash or checks. And I know everyone has a reason for doing things and they are set in their ways or they are maybe have personal reasons for not taking credit cards.

    I cannot think of one person other than my parents or the older generation that actually still carries a checkbook around, I'll carry one or two checks in my wallet in case I have to have a check but I won't carry a Checkbook around, I don't know a lot of folks who still do this other than the older generation, however everyone carries around a credit card, it's easy to carry around the instantaneous ability to purchase something is quick and easy.

    Well, I say that unless you take credit cards you're probably eliminating a lot of sales, yes, I will say that, because it's true. But like I said maybe there's a personal reason that somebody doesn't want to take cards. A good friend of mine was still taking cash or checks and I asked her why she wouldn't take credit cards, she said she didn't like the fact that they took a percentage.

    This is one of the things about having to there are fees with having a business and this is one of them and it is not a big one. The fact that you can lock in the sale quicker and sell more product is evident wh

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    16 min
  • Ep. 045 Polishing Up Your Sales Spiel
    Episode 045 Polishing up your art Episode 045 Polishing up your sales spiel!   Greetings friends and listeners, happy November to all of you and I am energized that this holiday season is approaching. Before you know it we will be in the midst of getting lots of orders, ornaments, jewelry, commissions finished with the crazy December deadlines but it's all good.  I am Sonya Paz,  your host with the Rockstar Mentor podcast.    First and foremost, not sure if you noticed but I was absent last week, a lot of things going on we are in the process of moving the editing studio and had some Family commitments and I decided to take a break off for one week. 

    But I am back and here we are. I am going to talk to you about one of my favorite subjects and that is polishing up your art spiel. This the season to be creative and his the season to make lots of sales.  

    This not only goes for your online communications, but this is very pertinent to the way that you communicate with customers if you were doing any holiday, Christmas shows, craft fairs, Studio sales, open studios etc.   Over the past summer I visited a few art and wine festival's that are very popular here in the Northern California area, I get to visit friends that I know who are doing the shows, and I also get to see what's new out there, check in with many people who I've known for years and it's always fun to talk shop.   While perusing the shows early one day before it got too hot in the day I happened to notice an artist who was in the process of setting up his booth and a couple approached him interested in his work. This gentleman not only looked annoyed but pretty much barked at the couple "I'm not set up yet, I'm still unpacking, come back later".  Well, needless to say the couple was quite taken back by the comment and it wasn't so much what he said it was how he said it, it was very unfriendly and certainly wasn't screaming "yes, come check out my stuff later."   I if I had known who this artist was a little better I would've went up to him and told him that he had just lost a sale, but being that I didn't know this person I chose to just observe from afar and make note for this episode.   Now, it goes without saying that this couple I am pretty positive did not come back, the sale was lost, in fact I would say that the sale was executed ... Game of Thrones style!   You don't have a second chance to make a good impression and you certainly don't have a second chance to rewind and take back things like this. I will tell you from my own personal experience I made some of the best sales while unpacking well getting my show ready for an event, as well as packing up a show. The possibilities are there and the possibilities are endless so don't squash on these valuable opportunities.     I recently had an artist write to me and tell me that she listens to my podcast on the way to doing her shows or on the way to exhibits, and of course as you know, podcasts are audio so you can download it to your device whether it's android or iPhone or iPad or what have you and pick up lots of great free valuable information. One of the things when doing a show and having some downtime is to work on your sales presentation. It's a lot easier than you think.

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    14 min
  • Ep. 044 FMF Beware of Scammers - Yes they're out there!
    Episode 044
    Fan mail Friday Question today from Alberta from Menlo Park California

    "Hey there Sonya I wanted to touch base and ask you if you're ever going to do an episode about scammers and how they prey on artist. I would love to hear what your viewpoint is. I know lots of artist who get scam emails and how to detect them"
    Thank you, Alberta

    Hey there Alberta thank you so much for writing in.

    Well, it is no secret that scammers have been trying to steal money from unsuspecting individuals for as long as I can remember. But with the age of the Internet and the creativity of the scammers the solicitation can look quite real and sincere.

    I have received more than my fair share of scam he emails, everything from the the old scam where scammer will pay you to do a money transfer or I will pay for the shipping with interest if you send me your artwork, and for those of you who might be new to selling yard online or even new to the Internet, I always go by the same rule "if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is".

    I had one of the most creative emails that I can say that I received was from man with an average name, and what I mean by average name was John Brookstone or Robert Middlefield, something like that and their request was that they had been on my website and located some artwork that they really liked and he happened to notice that his wife had been Perusing my website and thought it would be a really nice thing to do is to gift her some of my artwork.
    Well being that this is close to the holidays I thought it would be it seemed appropriate. But there was just something askew about the email. First, he referenced that he was interested in a specific artwork but didn't name the artwork, he also there was also some gaps and some of the spacing on the email as well as some verbiage inconsistencies.

    Now, I have a general form submission on my website so he went ahead and fill that out, so he did not have my email address first hand. And typically with request that I receive I'll pick up the phone and make a phone call for individuals who are interested in my artwork,  I'll have one of my gals in the studio call to arrange a phone meeting. But like I said, something about this email just seemed "different".

    I decided to copy his email and put it in Google to see if anything came up, and boy did some things come up! I happen to locate a number of artists who had received the same style of email from this individual. Some of the artists where unsuspecting and proceeded to start a dialogue with this guy, and some people did the same thing that I had done, checked him out online.

    I don't want to say that this is a bad thing, and I want to say this is a good thing. But you have to protect yourself and if something sounds too good to be true, and go with you guys and research it. I would say 8 times out of 10 the requests are legitimate and the client is sincere. Especially when you can contact the individual by way of phone and really have a conversation.

    I happened to notice that there was a website called stop art scams, it was not only a blog but it was also a Facebook group more people would share their stories and share the name and email of the person who had contacted them.
    You can see their page here:
    https://www.facebook.com/Stop-Art-Scams-135887239769963/

    Now, I can see where a scammer would totally reach out to an artist, every artist wants to sell the work, correct? And they obviously think that artists are suckers and will fall for this ploy. So, they have gotten very creative with their approach.

    No, I'm not saying that every person is bad, but if you read the emails over and over that you can start to detect who is a good eggs and who

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    11 min
  • Ep. 043 Ask no questions, get no answers!

    Episode 43: You ask no questions and you will get no answers

      I am sure that you all have heard this term "ask no questions and you will get no answers" and I will tell you firsthand and foremost is that it's true. If you want to know something, don't expect people to read your mind. If you want to accomplish something you go out and you do it.    I will tell you based on my experience that none of the things that I have accomplished have come to me by way of a silver platter. Nope. Zip zero. Does not happen. Nope. Not ever.
    if you want to know something you go out can you grab it by the "you know what: and you make it happen. You need to be tenacious.   For example, I wanted to do a fundraiser years ago with a specific film director in Hollywoo, so what did I do?  Did I mess around and tap dance around the idea adn wait for it to happen? No, I picked up the phone, I made the phone call, I established the connection and asked for the meeting. Not only did we have the meeting but it was a successful meeting. And the project was scheduled and completed.   Another sample is back in the mid 90s I wanted to do an art exhibit of Lucille Ball and I located the perfect photograph of  Lucille Ball that I wanted to use the artwork. Off  I went to work researching who to call to get the permission to use the image. I ended up calling up the publisher of the book and I got some very stuffy guy in Manhattan who listened to my request. Needless to say I was quickly down, he proceeded to tell me that these type of request go through many steps and processes and it may require hundreds or thousands of dollars  and lots of letters back-and-forth to acheive the permission. I will tell you that based on that feedback most people would have just drop the idea and never gone through with the project.   But I am tenacious. I thought about it and then I realized why don't I just go straight to the source of who photographed the image, the publishing company had to get permission from somebody, so why don't I just go there.
    Now I will remind you that this was back in 1996-1997 there was not the Internet that you are familiar with today, large there were no big large containers full of data with bottomless pits that you can dig out just about any information.
    I did a little research on the photographer and found out that he was from the Hollywood area so I picked up the phone and dial directory services, asked for the photographers name and they gave me a phone number. I made the phone call I reached his widow, I told her all about my art project. She was gracious and eloquent. She said that if I would write her a letter and mail it to her with what my requests were she would respond to me by mailing me a letter with back with her decision.   About three weeks later I received a letter stating that she was going to allow me the permission to use the photograph, but she was not going to charge me because she believed in my project and she liked me as a person. The only thing she asked is that I would give her husband applicable credit for my exhibition somewhere in the acknowledgments. Bingo!   These are couple of examples of how asking a simple question and taking that leap just a little bit further toward your goal, may bring you a surprising result. There has been dozens and probably hundreds of other examples I could have pointed out, but I wanted to provide a couple that were really important to me that I feel have helped shape me to be assertive and tenacious and not to mention, fearless.    I am not typically intimidated by too much and I'm not very timid and if I want to know something I will ask a question. What's the worst thing that can happen? The worst thing that can happen is that someone tells you "no" however…

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Welcome to the Rockstar Mentor Podcast Show. Marketing brand strategies and interviews with Sonya Paz

The podcast to inspire you and bring you the kickstart you need to CRUSH it in the fine…