Windowsill Chats

Margo is joined by two creative powerhouses, Erin Drews and Leigh Standley to discuss their collaboration of art, words, and working together. Erin Drews is a Michigan based artist inspired by nature and Fauvism. She loves using color to create visual excitement and play, most typically through the subject of flowers. She's been described as "pink lemonade with a shot of whiskey," and when she's not creating, you can find her laughing, connecting, collecting art, immersing herself in nature, and enjoying the people she loves.

Leigh Standley is the artist, writer and owner of Curly Girl Design, Inc. where her line of clever and colorful greeting cards and gift items have taken the industry by delightful storm. Focused on the magic of the small moments, her product peeks into the corners of life and taps into the hearts of all.Founded in 2003, the company began with just 12 greeting cards and grew steadily. In 2005, Leigh was the recipient of her first LOUIE award for greeting card excellence and was nominated for 3 more in 2010. Her work and studio have been featured in creative publications like Where Women Create, Stationery Trends, Boho Magazine. Leigh believes firmly in the power of a creative community and the power of that community to unlock our truest selves.

Margo, Leigh and Erin discuss:

• Their own creative businesses and a beautiful collaboration they're working on

• Mental health, adult ADHD, depression, PTSD, and how it has informed their art

• The loneliness that can come from being a solo creative and how they work through that

• Some of Erin's unique art collections

• Why she currently has a career outside of her art

• What it means to live in wonder and curiosity

• The intersection of the creative act and faith or spirituality

• The very unique funding model that Erin works on through Hope College and how it can be a difference maker in many people's lives

Connect with Erin:

www.isntagram.com/drews_barrymore

www.erindrewsart.com

Connect with Leigh:

https://www.curlygirldesign.com/

https://www.instagram.com/leigh.standley/

Connect with Margo:

www.windowsillchats.com

www.instagram.com/windowsillchats

www.patreon.com/inthewindowsill

Margo is joined by independent artist and art business agency owner, Sarah Lörenk. Sarah graduated with a BFA in 2011 and has worked as an independent artist since then. She first began her creative business as a stationary designer moving from retail into wholesale before venturing into street art. She learned through several iterations of her business the difference between artist and entrepreneur and realized there was a big gap in the market for supporting artists as entrepreneurs. Now, through her company, The Time Art, she provides artists with the essential tools and support to help them run successful and sustainable creative businesses.

Margo and Sarah discuss:

• Her creative journey from stationary to graffiti and business management

• Selling wholesale versus retail as a paper goods creator

• Setting goals in relation to who you're marketing to

• Visual intelligence

• The fundamental differences between artists and entrepreneurs and why you have to have business structure if you want to turn a profit from your art

• The pros and cons of social media as an artist

• Why you need to have content pillars and what they look like

• Visibility versus profitability

• And more!

Mentioned in this episode:

Visual Intelligence: Sharpen Your Perception, Change Your Life by Amy Herman

Connect with Sarah:

https://www.thetime-art.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thetime.art/

https://www.tiktok.com/@thetime.art

Business Model Template

Margo is joined by artist, art retreat facilitator, and author Carrie Schmitt. Carrie began painting in 2009 while bedridden after being diagnosed with a life-threatening allergy to heat. She paid attention to a very poignant internal message. Since then she has devoted her life to creativity in many facets and allows herself and creativity to continue to evolve. Her mission is to teach students not only how to paint, but more importantly to have a loving relationship with your art because it has the power to heal, empower, and transform us when we offer it our tenderness instead of our criticism.

Carrie teaches online classes and in-person retreats at her home and artist sanctuary called House of Miracles in Steilacoom, Washington. She also licenses her art for products, including stationary, home décor, clothing, and more. She has written several books, including The Story of Every Flower, a 10 year celebration of her journey as an artist. Her picture book A Flower in Her Heart: The True Story of an Artist Who Bloomed, won the Mom's Choice Award in 2022.

Margo and Carrie discuss:

• How creativity has guided her through big life changes and transitions

• Her life changing diagnosis and how it really became the catalyst to her spiritual and creative journey

• The story of what she calls her "accidental spiritual pilgrimage" and what she learned from it

• Creating the House of Miracles and how it came to be

• Her experience of working through feelings of shame and silent suffering and how things changed when she became more vulnerable and spoke on her struggles

• Honoring the feminine

• Why she talks and listens to her paintings and encourages others to do the same

• Finding freedom and non-judgement within herself

• Getting to know creativity in a new way

Mentioned in this episode:

Puget Sound Plungers

Chromophobia by David Batchelor

Ilarion Merculieff

Connect with Carrie:

www.carrieschmittdesign.com

www.instagram.com/carrieschmitt

www.facebook.com/CarrieSchmittArtAndDesign

Margo is joined by former teacher & blogger turned entrepreneur, and second time guest in the Windowsill, Anna Huff. As a business mindset coach, Anna works to empower women to pursue their passions and live in authentic alignment with who they were divinely designed to be. Through years of burnout and struggling to find alignment, Anna played small. Thinking that if she just did more, worked harder, learned more, and achieved more she would find what she was looking for. What she discovered was that nothing she could ever do, earn, or say would make her any more worthy of becoming who she was divinely designed to be. Through the process of fully discovering her purpose, she now helps others master their own mindset practice in order to live in alignment and acceptance of who they really are.

Margo and Anna discuss:

• Permission and acceptance to be multi passionate

• Human design and how it allows you to go deeper in self-discovery

• How to sit in the discomfort and feel your way through fear

• The mindset shift that made meditating easier for her

• What success mindset is and how to operate from it

• Detaching from the outcome

• Not letting fear have all the fun

• Vulnerability, openness, and growing awareness to one's thoughts

Connect with Anna:

www.instagram.com/theannahuff

www.facebook.com/theannahuff

www.theannahuff.com

Join the Mindset & Marketing Facebook Group

Margo is joined by sisters Kim and Tracy of Hearts on Fiber out of Davidson, North Carolina. Kim and her three daughters were of the belief that every small town needs a local yarn store so when the Davidson craft center closed, an empty space for fiber arts opened. The urge was so strong to try and fill the "space" that they quickly began planning a way to open a new kind of craft store.

Hearts on Fiber started with little more than an idea, late nights dyeing yarn out of their kitchen which became the laundry room and eventually the attic until their passionate mission to be so much more for their town came to fruition. Since moving into their current location in downtown Davidson, the business has expanded and Kim's sister Tracy has taken on a role within the business. Hearts on Fiber provides kits and tools for a range of fiber arts, along with the space to learn, inspire, explore fiber arts, build community, and so much more.

Margo, Kim and Tracy discuss:

• The stars aligning and how Hearts on Fiber really came to be

• Instilling creativity in her daughters from a young age

• How working with family impacts their business and managing different personalities

• How Tracy came into the business

• How to cultivate community through inspiring and teaching

• Making knitting/fiber arts accessible to people of all levels

• Demystifying knitting techniques

• Private class offerings versus group classes

• Where to start if interested in knitting for the first time

• And so much more

Connect with Kim & Tracy:

https://www.heartsonfiber.com/

www.instagram.com/heartsonfiber

Connect with Margo:

www.windowsillchats.com

www.instagram.com/windowsillchats

www.patreon.com/inthewindowsill

Margo is joined by self-taught polymer clay artist Rachael Skidmore. Rachael's passion for self-expression, penchant for artistic creativity, and dedication to hard work have been the foundation of her success as a small business owner for over 13 years.

She established MadebyMaeberry in Aug 2019 and has inspired large audiences through her social media presence online and delivered hands-on teaching by hosting intimate classes in person.

While she is widely recognized in the polymer clay community for producing high-quality pieces, her voice of genuine support for inclusivity is what makes her stand out as a creator. A curator of color with a knack for original design and tantalizing patterns, Rachael takes inspiration from all aspects of her life; from her passion for vintage clothing to her love for hiking in the mountains with her family.

Margo and Rachael discuss:

• Her journey from social work to polymer clay creativity

• Her mental health journey: therapy, medication, and living with ADHD

• The importance of having people to lean on to aide in your success

• How to scale when you like to work for yourself and by yourself

• Finding harmony between creative work and family life

• Risk taking and growing her audience

• Her experience in publishing a book

• And more

Connect with Rachael:

http://madebymaeberry.com/

www.instagram.com/madebymaeberry

Polymer Clay Jewelry; The Ultimate Guide to Making Wearable Art Earrings

Polymer Clay Jewelry Design for Beginners (Dometika Course)

Margo is joined by self-taught artist, writer, and internationally recognized best-selling author Meera Lee Patel. Meera writes books that help people connect with themselves, each other, and the world around them. Her books & journals for everyone have sold well over a million copies and have been translated into more than a dozen languages worldwide. In 2021, Meera was awarded the Olin Fellowship to pursue her MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. After spending many years waiting for "the right time" to pursue her first love, children's literature, she's finally following her heart. In the forthcoming years, while continuing her advocacy for greater mental health awareness through her work, she hopes to write and illustrate for children and the grownups who care for them.

Margo and Meera discuss:

• Meera's journey from feeling disconnected in her career to finding fulfillment through creativity

• Upholding the values instilled by her immigrant parents

• Managing her full time job and her creative career for 8 years and what it taught her

• The importance of building resilience and discipline

• What she believes is the main difference between people who are successful or not successful

• Having dedication to your vision

• The vulnerability and unknown involved in deciding to work on oneself

• Imposter syndrome as a self-taught artist and author

• Why she decided to go to school for her MFA, how it's been challenging, and how she's used it as a unique opportunity

• Navigating motherhood, marriage, and multiple family businesses

How It Feels to Find Yourself: Navigating Life's Changes with Purpose, Clarity, and Heart

Connect with Meera:

www.meeralee.com

www.instagram.com/meeraleepatel

https://twitter.com/meeraleepatel

https://meeraleepatel.substack.com/

Margo is joined by printmaker, surface designer, textile artist, and author Jen Hewett. Jen's work combines her love of loud prints, 1970s maximalism, and saturated colors with the textures and light of the landscapes that surround her. In addition to creating her own products, Jen designs fabric for the quilting and home sewing market, and home collections for national manufacturers and retailers. Her clients include: Moda Fabrics, World Market, Anthropologie, Blue Sky Planners, and Brewster Home Fashions. She is the author of Print, Pattern, Sew, and This Long Thread: Women of Color on Craft, Community and Connection.

Margo and Jen discuss:

• Her creative path from HR consulting to creative and where she got the courage to change career paths

• Creating creative momentum

• Finding harmony as a self-employed artist

• Keeping your day job until your business is viable

• Why she shares her income sources and breakdown publicly

• When and where she started to notice a lack of diversity within the craft community

• Why she believes in selling her misprints (and why they often sell quickly)

• Working in digital versus analog and her process for each

• Some of her new collections and projects she's looking forward to

• And so much more

Connect with Jen:

https://jenhewett.com/

www.instagram.com/jenhewett

Margo is joined by Utah based photographer Justin Hackworth. Working throughout the United States for a variety of wedding, portrait, corporate and editorial clients, Justin's work has been shown in galleries throughout Utah and in publications such as Parade, Glamour, American Photo, The London Times, The Wall Street Journal, along with many others. In addition to his photography work, Justin is a sought-after speaker and educator, offering workshops and events, and even teaches as an adjunct professor at Utah Valley University.

Justin's unique style and engaging approach to photography have earned him a loyal following on social media, where he shares his insights and experiences with fellow photographers and enthusiasts. He is always trying new ideas, exploring what is possible with his camera and discovering new creative avenues, making him one of Utah's most sought after photographers.

Justin and Margo discuss:

• His creative path and how he ended up in the field of photography (thanks to elective credits)

• His longtime mentor and inspirer, Kent Miles

• Learning and understanding what makes great light

• The drawback to knowing what works and finding your style

• The importance of not caring what others think in certain scenarios when it comes to creativity

• His approach and process of getting to know his subjects before shooting

• Overcoming fear when it comes to your creativity

• How a clear vision is critical to quality

• And much more

Connect with Justin:

www.justinhackworth.com

www.instagram.com/justinhackworth

Connect with Margo:

www.windowsillchats.com

www.instagram.com/windowsillchats

www.patreon.com/inthewindowsill

Margo is joined by productivity expert, author, and host of the "Take Tiny Action" podcast, Monique Malcolm. Monique helps overwhelmed women take control of their lives, one tiny action at a time. Her approach to coaching and personal development is holistic, taking into account the mental, emotional, and physical aspects of well-being. With her book "Don't Let Fear Have All the Fun" and one-on-one coaching, Monique helps clients overcome their fears and achieve their goals. Monique's larger mission is to help people see a greater possibility for their lives.

Margo and Monique chat about:

• Her creative path and how she brings her ideas to life

• The importance in building sustainable businesses that feel good

• Having self-awareness around creating your own process

• Releasing the "how" and trusting in your higher power

• Owning the things that cause you fear

• Creating structure and strategy in order to spend time being creative

• Tuning into your greater possibility and opportunities

• And more

Connect with Monique:

https://taketinyaction.com/

https://www.instagram.com/taketinyaction/

https://www.instagram.com/moniqueemalcolm/

Don't Let Fear Have All the Fun (Book)

Connect with Margo:

www.windowsillchats.com

www.instagram.com/windowsillchats

www.patreon.com/inthewindowsill