“When I was reading your email today for Artists Who THRIVE I found myself thinking, wow, who is this person?
How brave is she that she took all that pain in her life and was able to find her true purpose.
I thought she is brave for doing that and she really loves her kid.
I read about and see people like this on talk shows, but not me, cause I am just some ordinary person, living on an ordinary street in an ordinary neighborhood, doing ordinary things.
Then I realized it is me! I am that brave new person who is moving forward with confidence and joy because I have a mission in life now.
Something bigger than me!
Something selfless and full of love. This is what God meant by love your neighbor, as you would love yourself!
I am not just some ordinary person who will leave this earth without touching another person’s soul.
I am an artist who is going to touch lives and bring joy to kids who feel like they are unseen.
I understand how lonely it can be to be a kid, but the fact is that they matter.” -Julie Hemingway
This is was Julie Hemingway’s response to her THRIVING Artist profile interview last week’s where we discuss her mastering “Visioning,” or determining her “Why.”
“Visioning” is the foundational first of eight sequential realms.
Each must be mastered to build a profitable artistic enterprise.
“Visioning” is in this realm where the artist as thought leader emerges to claim their “mission.”
“Visioning” is where an artist defines who they are and what they stand for.
As you can see and hear in this interview, it is a profound and powerful process.
I created this process for artists with an open mind and trusting heart .
And no they don’t cover this in art school and certainly not in business school.
Once the artist’s mission is clear then we can move to the second realm, “Valuing.”
“Valuing” is where we can employ the Blue Ocean Strategy to define a unique value proposition, or the “What.”
Then we can determine the target market, the “Who” will be served.
So many artists start by thinking that they have to find their “niece market.”
Actually they have it backwards, they have to first have to find themselves.
The sequence is not:
- Who
- What
- Why
The sequence is:
- Why
- What
- Who
And this sequence starts with you.
I LOVE helping artists find their mission!
I feel like “Glenda the Good Witch” giving “Dorothy” her ruby slippers and leading her to the start of the “Yellow Brick Road” to the “Emerald City.”
Dorothy is going to encounter “lions, and tigers, and bears.” No doubt.
And if she falls asleep in a poppy field, she’ll have to get her own ass up.
But what she realizes in the end is that she always had the heart, the brains, and the courage to get home.
I’m just here to remind her of that and to warn her not to surrender those “ruby slippers.”
You’ve got to know your mission if you want to succeed and to make art that makes a difference.
What is your mission as an artist? Leave a comment below and let us know.