Kate Bradley is a children’s portrait painter who I have mentored.

In less than four years she’s making art that she can be proud of and earning a very good living.

However, just like you she’s failed and faced many obstacles.

So I asked her to share her three biggest fattest failures and the lessons that she’s learned from each.

Big fat failure #1 happened just this year. Kate temporarily lost site of her mission by focusing primarily on selling her art.

But as I say all the time. “Selling art sucks! You don’t want to sell art. Create value above and beyond the art and share your mission.”

She was miserable and began to abandon her successful business. I reminded her that she shouldn’t be selling her art.

She only has to share the truth of her worthy mission and serve it.

Your mission has nothing to do with you or your art. It is the one problem that you believe is really worth solving.

Kate’s mission is “To help kids by know that they are loved and valued for who they truly are.”

Kate has shifted her focus back to serving her mission and as a result she’s way ahead of schedule on meeting her annual sale goal.

Big fat failure #2 was that Kate was being a horrible boss. Which is really bad because as an artist, you are the boss of you.

Kate’s boss was being really critical. She also was not giving Kate clear direction, any encouragement, or acknowledgement for her all of Kate’s hard work. Sound familiar?

Kate was a good employee but her boss needed to clean up her act.

So I suggested that she write a letter to her boss and vent her frustration.

Besides providing a good laugh it immediately turned things around.

Big fat failure #3 was not setting proper expectations with her clients or outlining clear terms.

Her worst experience with this came when she accepted a commission that did not align with her mission.

She spent almost a year “pulling teeth” and “herding cats” with this patron.

It culminated in Kate showing up at his door at 8:30 am and collecting her payment while he was wearing his pajamas and rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

Her lesson? Always maintain clear terms and boundaries.

Kate’s one piece of parting advice to you?

You have to acquire the highly specialized entrepreneurial skills required to sell your art so “get help.”

Kate did her a lot of research trying to find someone who could teach her these skills.

But she couldn’t find any one to help her who actually made a good living making selling their art. They had some theories but no direct practical experience.

Kate was told that she needed to apply to grad school, try to get representation, and hopefully teach or get a grant.

She read every one of my blog posts and said what I was saying was very different from everyone else and she knew “I have to work with this women.”

Lets keep this real. Kate is doing very well selling her art but she’s telling you that it can be hard and challenging.

But she loves making and selling her art and she can’t imagine doing anything else.

What’s your biggest failure? What did you learn from it?

As an artist, you’re the boss of you. So if you’re frustrated or feeling burnt out, just ask yourself,

Would I hire myself or fire myself?

A children’s portrait painter who I mentor, Kate Bradley, mentioned during our recent one-on-one call that she’s feeling exhausted and that she’s even considering reducing her annual sales goal.

I reminded her that she was the boss of herself.

And if she was fed up with “management” she should write a letter to her “boss” and let her know exactly how she was feeling and ask “management” to outline clear employee policies. She did just that.

Dear Boss Kate,

I say this with as much civility as I can muster, but quiet frankly, I am sick of your shit.

I have worked for YEARS for you, and all the thanks I get is feeling like I haven’t done enough/aren’t good enough. Rarely do I get the encouragement and compassion that I need from you. All I hear is how I could have done something different.

Well, I’ve had enough.

For my own sanity and well-being, I will no longer let you berate me any more. When I left my job 5 years ago, it was to free myself from bosses and mind-numbing work. It was NOT to subject myself to a bitch (yes, that’s right) who is never satisfied.

I’m sick of you showing up at my house after work, and on vacation…I should really get a restraining order for you.

I don’t deserve to be treated like this. I’ve worked hard for you, and never even get a good job, much less a raise. What kind of employee do you think I am? Even the people at McDonald’s get benefits.

I’ve let you push me around for too long and I’m done. You don’t give me much direction, and then get mad at me for not doing everything right! I put myself out there day after day, and I deserve a little more thanks than this.

You beat me up about my goals, and then don’t give me any credit when I achieve them.

So I’m leaving.

And good luck finding someone who can do what I can. (Hint: THEY DON’T EXIST).

Peace,

Employee Kate

We had a good laugh.

She reviewed her the weekly updates to me where she reports her insights and shifts in her perspective.

This review gave her the insights to craft her new written employee policies.

1. Things can change very quickly so don’t give up.
2. Be bold and take daily action.
3. You can’t control other people, nor are you responsible for their choices.
4. Progress, not perfection.
5. It’s not about you, it’s about them.
6. Focus on your mission.
7. Dream BIG. Don’t sell yourself short.
8. Be your own biggest fan. Don’t forget how far you’ve come.
9. Have fun!
10. Get out of your studio and make a friend.

Can you relate? What kind of employee are you? What kind of boss?

Would you hire yourself or fire yourself? Tell us why below.

Why do artists give up on their careers?

Artists give up on their careers because there are no careers for artists.

What am I talking about?

Fact: According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics only 3,660 Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators were employed in 2014.

If there are no jobs, there are no careers.

Unless you’ve won the big lottery, meaning that you’re one of the very precious few artists who’ve actually secured reliable long-term representation by the art establishment, you don’t have a career.

However, eventually most the lucky lottery winners will fall out of the art establishment’s favor because another more marketable artist will come around and eclipses them.

If you’re a successful artist today, you have a business. You’re a thriving member of The New Creative Class.

You’ve built a distinct brand, platform, and following.

And you are not competing with other artists to sell your art. You’re delivering value above and beyond your art that serves a target market.

Just like playing the lottery, you can continue to throw your money and time away playing the art establishment’s game. Maybe you can afford it? Maybe you have family or a partner who takes care of you financial needs? Good for you.

Maybe you’ll win. It could happen.

But since life is short and resources are not unlimited, another option is to plan your success as an artist and to build a business.

To build a business as artist, you’ll need to first understand what type of “product” you’re selling. It’s not paint stuck on canvas in that very special way that you’ve mastered and is explained so well by your artist’s statement.

The “product” you’re selling is emotion. Collectors are not concerned with your technique. You are. They want to feel, to be reconnected with their humanity. That’s the function of art.

This is where the product of art parts ways with conventional goods and services. Until you fully realize this, you’ll be chasing your tail and hoping for success instead of planning for it.

The artists who “get it” are rappers. Rejected initially by the music establishment, they created their own genre that served their tribe.

They offer some of best example of independent artists who took their power back from the music establishment and turned the tables on them.

Our notion of artistic success has been defined the competitions like American Idol.

But those contestants are not winners. They’re actually indentured servants. I’ve read the contract contestants must sign requiring them to surrender all of their income from any source for the rest of their lives to the entertainment company. WTF?! Yes. That’s what it says.

So why do artists give up on building their careers? Because they’ll never have one. And no one told them that they have to build a business to be successful.

Basically what artists are told is, “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about money. You just do what you love and the money will follow.”

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Because there are none.

First things first. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with making and selling your art as a hobby.

Unless what you really want is a thriving and sustainable creative enterprise.

But it’s so easy to get confused about how to “make it” as an artist with people freely throwing around false notions and downright destructive beliefs, such as:

• starving artist

• getting discovered

• gaining exposure

• selling out

• getting a big break

Here are 10 indicators that you are approaching your art as a hobby and not approaching it as a sustainable business.

1. You’re using Etsy as your primary distribution channel.
2. You display your resume on your website instead of communicating clear benefits to your target market.
3. You have a poverty consciousness and you take some pride in it.
4. You have a website versus an e-commerce site. That’s like having a store without a cash register.
5. You’re proudly display inventory that’s already sold. Think about it. Would Tiffany’s display a diamond engagement ring in their front window if it were not for sale?
6. You spend more time hoping versus planning so that you can take daily focused action.
7. You do not have a current one-page business and marketing plan.
8. You do not have professional photographs of your inventory or yourself.
9. You enter art contents for validation. Please tell me you don’t pay to enter these contests. Selling your art is validation, not showing it.
10. You don’t have a mentor who has accomplished what you want to accomplish.

So ask yourself.

• What do you really believe about the terms above?
• Do you score on any of the ten indicators above?
• Are you approaching selling your art as a hobby? If so, is this working for you?

Be honest. The truth will set your free.

Really want to get free? Confess in a comment below.

Many artists who I work with struggle struggle initially with not feeling enough focus and confidence.

Interestingly, they’re tied together.

How? Focused action yields confidence.

But what if you don’t know what to focus on?

If you really don’t have a specific goal then start by making a list of things that you really appreciated about this past year.

Don’t think about, feel about it.

Just jot down whatever comes to mind.

This will make your priorities and desires clear so that you can best determine a specific goal for next year.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’ll start.

1. I’m thankful for my students who are demonstrating their commitment to selling their art without selling out.
2. I’m thankful to my mastermind partner Ron Douglas for his friendship, inspiring example of integrity, and for teaching me the power of morning journaling.
3. Although it’s frustrated me more than anything this year. I’m thankful for the technology that allows me to connect with you and to deliver my teachings to a global audience.
4. I’m thankful for my friends and colleagues who support my journey every day.
5. I’m thankful for the opportunity to work with my friend and Creative Live Producer, Justin Barker, who helped me reshape and improve my teachings so that I could deliver them to a live worldwide audience.
6. I’m thankful for a peaceful home and studio that provides me with a stunning view of the Pacific Ocean. Something that I appreciate every day.
7. I am thankful for maintaining my own resolve and commitment to a worthy life mission, to help artists free themselves from the “starving artist” slur and secure their creative freedom through business savvy.
8. I am so very thankful that I am free from the suffocating anxiety and depression that clouded my world for so many years.
9. I’m thankful for art, which the world needs so very much to connect us with our humanity, reflect our values, and heal us.
10. Last but not least, I’m thankful to courageous readers like you who may not be taking an easy path but who are taking a brave and worthy path as artists.

What are you most thankful for?

Leave a comment below.