Lanecia was born the daughter of a pastor. As a young adult, she chose to study divinity and become a pastor herself. But then, at 36 years-old. Lanecia found out she was pregnant. And, as many expecting moms do, she started to examine her life in preparation for parenthood. She began questioning things in the church she hadn’t questioned before, and she started to re-envision who she was and what was possible. And that is when Lanecia began the journey into life as a full-time artist.

Here Lanecia shares her story as honestly as she does her art, her struggles with the church, her loss around her daughter, and her new life as a full-time artist who is finally free.

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In three short years, painter Amira Rahim went from painting alone in her room to selling art in galleries and online, having licensing agreements, and being recognized the world over for her talent .

Amira's work has been featured in The Huffington Post, Time Out, The Chicago Tribune, Ebony and in galleries and personal collections around the world.

Amira spends every day living out her mission: using her art to make the world a more colorful place.

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“Honey-drenched maker, sister keeper, and gentle spirit badass mother fucker,” Jennette Nielsen, creates from just about anything to make just about everything. From goddess mugs to witches salves, from bags and hats to rattles, and inks, Jennette makes to mend and turns rubbish into beauty. When Jennette was four years old her step-father began sexually abusing her. He stopped when she was ten. Jennette found refuge in creating and today makes her living from the art that keeps her breathing.

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Addye Nieves is a self-taught visual artist, writer, and mental health advocate. Her work focuses on trauma, healing, and how both shape who we are and who we become. She “empowers women to transform brokenness in their lives into power and beauty, and amplifies the voices and experiences of those marked as Other in society.” This is her story from broke to beautiful.

In this conversation we talk about:

• the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father

Actor, advocate, singer, and author, Kimberly Beaman, was diagnosed with dyslexia when she was five. She was humiliated, threatened, and segregated in school. By middle school, her self-esteem had plummeted. By high school, Kimberly was officially depressed. Today

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Muralist, Painter, and Performance Artist, Gregg Deal, makes art that is provocative and powerful. Work that explores themes of Indigenous identity, race relations, decolonization, and appropriation. As a marginalized artist in a Western art world, Gregg's work challenges our assumptions and beliefs about what it means to be Indian in America.

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Leah Tumerman makes paintings on canvas, murals on walls, and drawings on paper. Her work explores what it means to be a woman through the lens of sisterhood and community, identity and belonging. And sometimes, loneliness.

In this conversation, some things we talk about are:

Kesha decided she wanted to be an artist when she went to NYC at 15. She's making art ever since. In this conversation we talk about:

Jeweler and watercolor maker, Kim Wildthorne, is a mother, thinker, doer and creative problem solver whose “heart manifests in the world with humility, sensitivity, and gratitude.” Kim brings beauty, intention, and integrity into the world through sustainable made jewelry and eco-conscious watercolor paints.

In this interview we talk about her struggles as she transitioned to life as a full-time artist, the courage to become an artist, how to sell your work with integrity and grow your business authentically, the sacrifices she’s made to stay an artist, and how to hold on to the core of who you are in a world of instant feedback, advice, and criticism.

Karen Walrond is a bestselling author and the creator of the award-winning blog, Chookooloonks. She’s a TEDx Speaker, a certified Daring Way facilitator, and part of One.org, a grassroots organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease in developing countries. Her mission is to help you look for, and find, the light. This is Karen’s story from a 5-year-old told she had no aptitude for art to a woman whose entire life is about making it.

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