This week's Friday replay is with Brittany Smith, and it's one of my favorite conversations about what actually happens between "I started painting again for myself" and "I have a thriving art business." Brittany's path wasn't linear. She turned down a scholarship to SCAD to stay close to family, had a life-altering year in college, once planned to move overseas to teach jewelry-making to women coming out of human trafficking, and ended up instead raising three young kids, one with special needs, before she ever opened an Etsy shop in the summer of 2019. Her first sale, to a total stranger in Texas, arrived damaged because she had no idea how to ship yet. Everyone starts somewhere.

We talk about the floral collection she painted in June 2020 that sold out in four minutes, and how that moment gave her the confidence to keep going. We also get into the year she poured everything into growing her Instagram, hit burnout, and pulled back the following year to just focus on the work, which turned out to be her best year yet. That's a pattern I hear from artist after artist, and it never stops being worth repeating.

The back half of this one is genuinely useful if you're trying to build income that isn't entirely dependent on your own two hands: prints, curated gallery partnerships with a hired designer, licensing deals (including one with a friend who's become both a collector and an unofficial business mentor), and wholesale. Brittany's advice on starting small with licensing rather than chasing the big-box deal right away is worth sitting with.

Her closing advice: give yourself permission to just create without the pressure of a launch calendar, and if you're serious about this, invest in a real website. Etsy is a fine place to start, but your own site is your storefront.

Find Brittany on Instagram and at brittanysmithstudio.com.

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In this episode, I sit down with Ekaterina "Kat" Papova, artist, founder of Create Magazine, and creator of The Art Queens community, to talk about the messy, unglamorous path from making art in your dorm room to running a real business around it. We swap stories about our earliest Instagram days, the websites we obsessed over and rebuilt a dozen times, and the moment we each realized that waiting for the "perfect" setup was just another way of stalling. Kat shares how she built Create Magazine and The Art Queens out of a genuine hell-yes moment, and how she decides which ideas are worth chasing versus which ones just need to sit and simmer. We also get into email lists as a safety net against Instagram's chaos, why bootstrapping before you invest in a fancy rebrand actually pays off, and how knowing your numbers (even the ones that sting) changes what you make and how you price it. Kat's new book with Chronicle Books was about to launch when we recorded this, and she talks about what it took to get there. If you've ever felt paralyzed by a blank Instagram bio or a spreadsheet, this one's for you.

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This week's rewind takes us back to one of my favorite conversations, with watercolor artist, live wedding painter, and podcaster Paige Lindsey. Paige got laid off in March 2020 and turned that gut-punch into Paige Lindsey Design, but the real story starts years earlier, with a BFA program that left her feeling like a failure and a paint-and-sip studio that taught her more about running a business than art school ever did.

We get into all of it. The scholarship trip to Italy that gave her the confidence to come home and start over. How markets, workshops, and a wildly successful bridal bouquet giveaway during lockdown built the foundation for the business she runs today, one that now spans commissions, live wedding painting, workshops both online and in person, and her own podcast.

Paige is also refreshingly honest about the parts nobody posts about: therapy, an early labor she suspects was brought on by overdoing it, and the ongoing work of unlearning hustle culture now that she's a mom. If you've ever felt like your path has to look tidy to count, or like you need a mentor to show up before you're allowed to start, this one's for you. Paige's advice, plus her plans for teaching other artists how to build corporate and small-business partnerships, might be the nudge you need this Friday.

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We're bringing back a favorite from the archives! This week, we're replaying Episode 26, featuring artist Megan Daisy Milner. Even though this conversation originally aired years ago, the insights are just as relevant today.

In this episode, Megan shares her journey as an artist, how she expanded her business into textiles and wallpaper, the importance of professional photography in building an art brand, and how she balances motherhood with running a successful creative business.

Whether you're discovering this episode for the first time or giving it another listen, we hope you'll find inspiration and practical advice for growing your own art career.

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Fan Favorite Friday Replay

This week, we're bringing back one of our most-loved conversations with artist and entrepreneur Adam Trest.

In this episode of The Art Coaching Club Podcast, I sit down with Mississippi-based artist Adam Trest to explore how he transformed his distinctive, pattern-rich artwork into a thriving creative business that extends far beyond the canvas.

Adam shares his journey from traditional fine art and portrait painting to developing a recognizable style that now lives across products, licensing partnerships, fabric collections, tile designs, and more. Along the way, he offers candid insights into building a sustainable art career, growing a loyal audience, and balancing creativity with business strategy.

In this conversation, you'll hear about:

• How Adam discovered and refined his signature artistic style

Whether you're interested in licensing, product development, audience building, or simply hearing how another artist has successfully navigated the business side of creativity, this episode is packed with practical insights and inspiration.

Enjoy this Fan Favorite Friday replay, and be sure to check out Adam's work on his website and Instagram.

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This week I'm revisiting my conversation with Catherine Dolaher, founder of CD Arts Management, and honestly it holds up. We talk about what an artist manager actually does day to day, how Catherine went from working with Riley Sheehy to building her own management company, and why the gap left by galleries has created a real need for this kind of behind-the-scenes support. We also get into the in-person sales trend that's quietly moving a lot of work right now, why three great designer relationships can outperform forty, and the one investment Catherine says artists need earlier than they think. If you've ever wondered what it would look like to have someone in your corner who isn't a gallery, this one is worth a revisit.

https://www.cdartsmanagement.com/

https://www.instagram.com/catherinedolaher/

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Katie Brown grew up in a small town, pursued art in college despite every practical concern, and then spent years taking detours through anxiety and real estate before she found her way back to painting for good.

In this conversation, Hayley sits down with the Greenville, South Carolina-based artist to talk about what it actually took to build a thriving creative career. Katie shares how she developed a style that is distinctly hers, how she built a social media presence that opened real doors, and how she landed gallery representation with Well and Wonder, Shane Gallery, and Gregory Irby Gallery.

But the more honest part of the conversation is about what happens before all of that. The comparison spiral. The detours. The slow work of staying consistent when nothing feels certain yet. Katie is generous with the hard parts and it makes everything else she's built feel real.

If you're in the middle of figuring it out, this one is for you.

Follow Katie at @katiebrown_art and find her work at katiebrownart.com

Friday Rewind: revisiting one of our favorite conversations from the archive.

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What does it actually look like to take your art business seriously on social media? Maddie Grace Maierhofer knows.

In this episode, Hayley sits down with the Savannah-based artist whose joyful, colorful work and daily posting habit transformed her creative career in under a year. Maddie went from 40K to over 160K Instagram followers, built consistent monthly sales, and landed a collaboration with SMEG USA along the way.

They talk about what posting one reel a day actually did for her business, how she balances commissions and creative energy without burning out, what she does when shows don't go as planned, and how she navigated her first brand partnership. Honest, practical, and full of the kind of specifics you can actually use.

If you've been trying to find your rhythm online, this one is worth your Monday morning commute.

Follow Maddie at @maddiegraceart

Friday Rewind: revisiting one of our favorite conversations from the archive.

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This Friday Rewind is one of your all-time favorites — and for good reason.

In this episode, I sit down with artist Kirsten Williams to talk about what really happens between starting out and selling out collections. We cover finding your style (and why it takes longer than you think), building a sustainable art practice, and learning how to treat your creative work like a real business — without losing the joy of making.

Kirsten shares her journey from a 15-year career in marketing to becoming a full-time artist, how years of experimentation led to a breakthrough series, and the behind-the-scenes shifts that helped her work sell out — from email lists and launches to mindset and patience.

If you’ve ever felt behind, stuck, or unsure if you’re “doing it right,” this conversation is a powerful reminder that consistency, confidence, and timing matter more than overnight success.

Whether you’re discovering this episode for the first time or pressing play again, it’s one worth revisiting.

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