144: The Journey to One Million Downloads

Okay, my friends, we have hit a milestone. This podcast, the professional Creative podcast, has officially hit 1 million downloads. I, I say that and I don't even know how to put into words what that makes me feel like. So I started the podcast in November of 2022. So we are about 18 months, a year and a half in, and I remember feeling like if I ever were to hit 1 million downloads, that would be the moment where I just felt like it was all worth it. That, you know, the juice was worth the squeeze, if you will. But I wasn't sure that I would ever hit it. And we hit it faster than I ever could have imagined. So this episode is a thank you to you. Thank you for being here, thank you for listening, thank you for contributing, thank you for sharing, thank you for reviewing. You have no idea how much it means to me. And I love our time here together. It's my favorite thing I've ever done in my business. So in order to celebrate, I thought I would take a few minutes and answer questions that you have submitted to me for this podcast. Now, you might not know that that's even possible. So it is. If you go over to Instagram, you can at any time submit a question for the podcast. You can suggest a podcast episode. It's in my links, it's in my list of links, over in my Instagram profile. I'm just Bonnie Christine on Instagram. So if you ever to suggest a podcast episode, if you want to ask a question, that's where you do it. So I have revisited that and pulled several questions that have been submitted recently in order to answer for this this episode. Okay, sound good?

I'm Bonnie Christine and this is where all things creativity, design, business and marketing unite. I'm a mama living in a tiny town tucked right inside the Smoky Mountains, running a multi seven figure business, doing

the most creative and impactful work of my life. But when I first set out to

become an entrepreneur, I was struggling to make ends meet and wrestling with how to accomplish my biggest dream of becoming a fabric designer. Fast forward to today. I'm not only licensing my artwork all over the world, but also teaching others how to design their creative life and experience the same success. I'm here to help you spend your

life doing something that lights you up.

I'll help you build a creative business that also creates an impact, changes people's lives, gives you all of the freedom you want, and is wildly profitable. Welcome to the Professional Creative Podcast.

So the first one is from Haley. Haley says how to create an office space that is both beautiful and organized so that I can work. I am so affected by the space that I work in, and I love the look of your studio. Love this question. I am also so affected by my space. And listen, I have had to work in all sorts of different spaces. I have worked out of a guest room before in our house. I've worked in kind of a dark corner of a bedroom before. Probably the most difficult time in my life from a work space perspective was in 2000 and let's see, 2010, David and I were in Colorado Springs for a really short amount of time. So six months were there for his job training, and then we were moving on out to California, where we were for a couple years, and then we came back to North Carolina. So anyways, we were in Colorado Springs and we had to just get, like, a very practical rental. And so we got this rental that felt safe and clean, you know, and also it was so dark and uninspiring. There were no windows where I had to work. It was very sterile, it was very cold. And I was stuck at home all day learning Adobe Illustrator. So this is the time sitting there when I was learning Illustrator, and it was hard. And so I tell you that story just so that you know that even though it affects your work, it doesn't have to prevent you from doing deep work. It doesn't have to prevent you from doing and learning the best things that you'll do and learn in your whole life. But I do have some tricks up my sleeve. So I very much prioritized natural light after that. So every place we lived after that, I really intentionally placed my work area where there was natural light coming in so that I felt alive. And then even when I didn't have any natural light in that rental that I'm talking about, I kind of surrounded my space with plants and things that felt like they brought life to the area. I was stuck in that rental. I couldn't paint or, you know, we were just there for a short amount of time. So I. I shopped at thrift stores for that furniture and stuff like that. So it was just not my favorite place. But I still did everything I could to bring life into it. So if you're stuck in an uninspiring place, the first thing I would do is try to identify some things that you love that bring you inspiration. This, for me, is typically plants, a vase of flower, pictures of people who I love, beautiful things like beautiful artwork. And then I do also really thrive in a clean and tidy space. I think that There is an amount of mental clutter that is inevitable when your space is cluttered. Now, I know as artists and creatives, sometimes a little chaos can actually help in the creativity. But I mean, things that feel overwhelming, like stacks and stacks of papers, like things that represent to do's, will keep you from doing your best creative work. So just to be clear, every picture you've ever seen, well, maybe not everyone, but most of the pictures that you see of my studio were taken when I knew we were going to take photos. So it's clean, and I want to be very clear that it's not always clean. I have a stack of papers on my desk as we speak. But I did start this practice in the last six months where rather than come into the studio and immediately get to work, I set a timer for 15 minutes and I tidy. And when I don't do that, things pile up and then it feels like a big deal to reset the studio. And when I do, it's just 10 or 15 minutes. I set a timer. I usually listen to messages or catch up on. I've got, you know, my mastermind is talking to me on an app called Telegram. My team is talking to me on an app called Slack. And then, of course, I've got podcasts that I always want to listen to. So I typically put something on that makes me feel like I'm multitasking. I'm getting caught up, ready for the day, or I'm learning, I'm listening to a podcast and I'm tidying. So 10 or 15 minutes, I pick up, reorganize, put things where they go, open the mail, whatever. And it has drastically changed the way I show up in the studio because I just do this little reset every day. Revolutionary, right? But it's like, why have I not been doing that earlier? So that's what I recommend. Figure out what you love, if it's natural light, if it's plants, or whatever it is that you will make you feel inspired and lovely and then set yourself up for success. Do a reset, do a big reset, and then keep on top of it in little increments every day. The next question is from Natasha. What was it like joining the Mastermind?

You're in.

How did you come across it? What were your reasons for joining and what have you learned from being a part of it? Oh, I love this question. So I am in Stu McLaren's mastermind called Impact. It is for membership owners who have a membership that does seven figures in a year. And I joined in 2019, so it's a big investment and it's a year commitment at a time. Even though I'll never leave, I. It is one of the best things I've ever, ever done. And so the way it's set up is that we have. It's capped at around 30 people. We have a daily group message, we're on voxer for that group, and then we have a Facebook group, and then we have monthly share calls, and then we meet in person three times a year for like three day intensives. So the way that I came across that was that I had taken Stu's course, the membership experience, and I had had tremendous results. So I took his course, applied everything I could that I had learned and relaunched and just really had tremendous results that I would have never had without what I was doing with what I had learned in TME. And so I just sent Stu McLaren a message on Instagram DM. I sent him a voice message just saying thank you. And this is what I've been able to do from taking the membership experience. And this is the amount of people that I've been able to impact. And it's been so incredible. And that all that did was start a conversation. And so he kind of dove in, you know, congratulated me and was nice to meet me, and then dove into my business a little bit. And that led the conversation to the mastermind. I qualified. And so he asked if I would be interested. And hands down, I was. So I joined that fall of 2019. Now, being a part of this group, I'm so passionate about for you, and any time in your life, I want you to be in a group that really challenges you, that pushes you, that knows how to support you, that understands what you're going through, and that can expand your mind as to what you think is possible. And so every time I step into that room, my mind gets expanded. And I think it's really important. Even if you grow out of a room and need to step into a different room, and by room, I mean group of people, then do that. But be really intentional about placing yourself in a room that meets you where you're at, and then takes you even further. And that's what impact does for me. It's just been incredible. It's my. My favorite thing that I do. Now, this is a similar question, and it comes in from Amy. Amy says, I would love some advice on what to do when you grow out of your PE groups or accountability groups. What do you do when you're moving and learning at a faster pace than the group that you're in and you realize that the group is not challenging you anymore or helping your business grow anymore. And actually these meetings become you coaching and mentoring others rather than kind of a give and take that you're looking for. I loved this question because it's a hard question to ask. And I commend you, Amy, for bringing the conversation to the table because I know that you love the group, I know that you don't mind pouring into other people. But what you're missing is also really important and you're missing that challenge, the pouring into you. And so this will naturally happen. As you grow, as you grow in your mindset, as you grow in your business, as you grow in your success, you will outgrow groups. And I think that this is one of maybe the loneliest parts of success that don't get talked about very often is that you will, at some level, at some point, find that you don't have in common certain things that are really important to have in common with the people that you are always with. In other words, you'll really find out who your true friends are when you start to develop and change your mindset and grow in your success. And so it can be lonely. And so that's another reason to always put yourself in a group that challenges you. So I think that this can be really natural. I think that you've got to very intentionally seek out that next level. So if the group that you're in, it sounds like you're in a peer group, that's I'm going to guess between five to eight people. If you're at the top of that group, totally fine and beautiful and needed for you to pour into those other people. But you've got to find a group that pours into you. So I would in your community start reaching out to people who you can kind of identify as being in a similar place or just above you and start that conversation, see if they want to do like a pop up mastermind session, a little group zoom call or something and just kind of navigate that peer to peer connection that it's really networking. Right? It's like making friends online is weird, but also very similar to how you do it in real life. So reach out, say that you think that they're in a similar place and you're looking for someone that can really meet you where you're at and grow together, hold each other accountable. Would you want to start a small group, let's meet every other week or once a month and see how it goes. And go from there. So you're going to have to do a little bit of connecting and digging. You might have to go check out people's social media profiles or something in the community that you're in. And then I would just very slowly kind of move from one group to the next, unless you want to stay in both and you'll kind of lead one and get poured into in another. But I think that it can also be a really easy flow from one to another. Maybe you drop back to just once a month in the group that you're currently in and maybe eventually you do end up graduating on from that and that's okay. That's growth and it's a beautiful thing. But you do have to find a new group.

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I'll meet you there. Okay. This question comes from Katie. How do you move through internal blocks? And there's a similar question. Let me read it from Fatima. That says, how do you stay firm when you're designing and do you have creative blocks? So I don't know of a creative that, that doesn't come across a block every once in a while, but I do have a method for kind of preventing them. And this method, for me as a surface pattern designer, involves a thorough process that sets the foundation for the collection that I want to work on. And this foundation setting is really validating my idea, making sure that I have enough inspiration, that I have a story that I want to tell there, that I have enough ideas before I actually start. And so it is a process that I teach in the Surface design Immersion course. But in summary, it looks like really telling the story, writing it down, identifying the theme that I want to kind of stay faithful to. And then it is a list of words that support that story and theme. And then it's a thumbnail sketch. So I typically do about 152 by 2 inch by 2 inch squares on a paper and I just do these rough sketches of the pattern ideas that I have for that collection that will tell the story. And this is a really telling part. It's like, do you have enough ideas or do you not? Now, I don't always stick very close. Like I always follow it, but there's always wiggle room for changing, right? So if I do 15 squares, I typically only do about 10 patterns in a collection. So I'm giving my myself space to. For ones that just aren't going to work out. There will always be patterns that I can envision and that I just cannot work out on paper. For whatever reason, I can't get it to match what I have in my head. And there's no way to know that at this stage I'm just ideating and so there. Likewise, I'm also leaving room for new ideas to come to me later in the process. The. The best example I have of this is that I was working on a collection called Lambkin and they had little lambs, little lamb faces. And at some point, this shape that I was using in for the nose, I just pulled it out because it was cute. And I started repeating it in almost like a geometric blender pattern. And it ended up being produced. And you can't tell that it's a little lamb's nose now, but I also would have never been able to ideate that at the beginning. So I'm always leaving room for like, I know some of these won't work out. I also know that some will be born in the process. But at least at this stage I'm validating the idea and Then I begin collecting inspiration that supports what I need to make that collection come to life. And that process really kind of ensures that I don't hit a block along the way. I've set the foundation, I've done the inspiration board, I've fleshed out the idea, and if I do this and I don't have enough ideas, I'll table it. I won't throw it away, but I'll table it and move on to the next idea. So I kind of safeguard myself against creative blocks as much as I can. And if I'm just not feeling it for a day, maybe I give myself the day. But also maybe I show up and do it anyways. Like, if I'm not feeling inspired and I don't want to start making marks on paper, sometimes I'm like, get out of your own way and just start making marks on paper. And I'm always glad that I did. So I do that as well. Okay, so this question is from Lisa. In Immersion and in various workshops and podcasts, I've mentioned attracting a few. A favorite or a dream company. Typically, I would be talking about a dream fabric company or any company. So what makes a dream company, in my opinion? And how do I find them? And how do you attract them? Well, Lisa, I do have something coming that you are going to love. That's all I can say. Yeah, that's all I can say. But in just a few weeks. Stay tuned. There's something coming that you are going to absolutely love. Make sure you're on our email list so that you hear about it. You can sign up@bonniecristine.com it's gonna be good. So anyways, though, to answer your question, I think that when I look for dream companies, I'm looking for a company that is reputable, meaning it is a company that I would be really proud to work with, that I would be proud to share, that I work with, that I would be proud to people to their website for. It's a company that has a good reputation, meaning their products are quality. And if I'm not sure about that, maybe I'm getting samples or ordering from them to verify that they work with other artists and designers that I think are complementary to me. Now, this one is important. So when you look at the work, the lineup that a company has, you must be able to tell if your work is complementary. It could be competitive. And now competitive doesn't mean that you copied anybody or anybody copied you, but it could mean that your work is, in essence, so similar to another designer's that it wouldn't make sense for them to produce work from both artists. And then similarly, it could kind of just not go with the lineup. Like, there are companies where when I put my work on their website, in my mind or against the other work that they're representing, mine sticks out like a sore thumb. That's also not necessarily the best direction. So I like to look for a company that is super complementary to my work that I could really see myself in. And again, that the products are reputable, that their reputation is good. Right. That they have good reviews, and that they work with other artists and designers as well. So that's what I would say when I'm looking at any company, whether it's fabric or otherwise. Okay, this question comes from Ms. Stuck. This one says, I can't seem to finish what I start. How do I get over this? Well, good news and bad news. You're not alone. You're not alone. So I've said this before and I'll say it forever. Our ideas as creative entrepreneurs, it's our superpower. It's the thing that makes us so unique and so able to be successful. However, our biggest, most rare, like our biggest downfall, our rarest resource, our kryptonite, is the ability to focus. And so when you can really bring these two things together, great ideas and the ability to focus and finish what you start, then you have cracked the code to success. So I struggle with this too. I don't know of a creative that doesn't. People call it shiny object syndrome or like almost guilt over their other passions. And so the best thing I can tell you to do is create a way to place the ideas that you have. You could do this in something like, like a project management system like Trello, or you could put it on a calendar. So I'm a big fan of a big calendar. I have a big 4 foot by 6 acrylic calendar in my studio. And anytime that I have an idea, a big one that I want to follow through on, I'll make space for it on the calendar. And so that allows me to finish what I'm working on now. Meaning I just have rules. We all have the ability to create rules, by the way. Rules are things that we follow every single day. We stop at red lights, we stop at stop signs, we wake up in the morning, we brush our teeth. Like, these things are rules. And so we're capable of creating rules around the things that we want to change. And so what if one of your rules was, I will not move on to a new project until I finish the one that I'm on, End of story, no matter what. Now, that doesn't mean that you can't make room on your calendar for a new idea that you have. Go ahead and put it up there, but just make sure that you have space for the one that you're working on now, and that'll help you feel like you're honoring your ideas, you're honoring that creativity, but also you're committed to finishing the one that you're on. There's a lot here you could be afraid of finishing the one you're on. You could be afraid of the next more difficult step that you have to take in order to finish it or that you have to take after you finish it. It's basically self sabotage. And so when we self sabotage and I'm right there with you, we don't let ourselves feel the accomplishment of completion because it's like we don't deserve it or we're afraid of what it looks like. And so we self sabotage by never finishing. So we must finish what you start. You were committed to it at one point, and you've got to faithfully see it through to the very end. Now, if you have a new idea, put it somewhere so that you can honor it and come back to it, but not until you're finished with the one that you're on. And then another kind of trick to this is building in rewards, like really, really good rewards, like something that you love to do. Maybe you get a massage, maybe you go on a trip, maybe you take a day off. Whatever it is, you don't get that reward until you finish the project that you're on. And if this doesn't work, your reward is not enticing enough. So make sure that you make a reward that will actually help you get out of bed in the morning and finish what you started. But do know that this is something that we all, we all struggle with, but that we are all also capable of overcoming. That's a wrap for today. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening to this podcast, for supporting this podC Again, for sharing it and reviewing it. And listening to is not lost on me. And it is my great honor to be in your ear and in your life. And if you have an idea for a podcast episode, go drop it to me over in Instagram. So if you go to the links in Instagram, you'll find one that says suggest a podcast episode. And on occasion I go there for ideas and for episodes like this, my friends Create the beauty that you want to see Come alive in the world and remember there's room for you.