10 Jan 2023 · 17 min
In this solo episode of the Professional Creative Podcast, host Bonnie Christine explains how a simple mental trick—"10 seconds of courage"—has been the engine behind her rise from a struggling artist to the owner of a multi‑seven‑figure creative business. She defines the concept as a brief, intentional burst of bravery that quiets nerves and initiates momentum. Bonnie walks listeners through five concrete ways she applied this technique: (1) cold‑calling art directors with a scripted phone call, which opened doors and generated personal connections; (2) showing her hand‑made portfolio in person at the International Quilt Market, leading to her first fabric‑licensing contract with Art Gallery Fabrics; (3) reaching out to mentor Stu McLaren via a direct Instagram message, which resulted in a lasting mentorship and entry into his Impact mastermind; (4) submitting her story to Jeff Walker after reading Launch, which produced a published interview, conference attendance, and ongoing relationship; and (5) accepting a live‑broadcast invitation to a charity predictions call alongside industry leaders (Amy Porterfield, Jeff Walker, Brooke Castillo, Jenna Kutcher), which expanded her network and reinforced the value of stepping into uncomfortable situations. Throughout, Bonnie emphasizes that repeated practice of short‑duration courage makes the uncomfortable become comfortable, ultimately enabling creative entrepreneurs to build impact, freedom, and profitability. She also promotes the free "60 by 60" project—a curated series of 60 artists sharing income‑generation tips in 60‑second videos—and teases an upcoming episode about mastering live‑video formats. The episode ends with a call to action for listeners to identify their own 10‑second courage moments and to keep pushing forward.
Chapters
I left that show with my very first fabric licensing contract with my dream company, Art Gallery Fabrics, and I would have never done that had I not had 10 seconds of courage to walk in to the booth. I'm Bonnie Christine and this is where all things creativity, design, business and 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. Courage means the ability to do something that frightens one. And I believe that it takes some serious courage to follow a creative dream and have an idea and really go after it. Or at least it did for me. I felt like I was truly bounding into the unknown. And I know that that's true for so many creative entrepreneurs. It's scary. We have so many unanswered questions like what if I'm not successful? What if I'm not talented enough? What if I can't learn what I need to learn? Or how much money will I make? Will I be able to make it? How do I even get started? I finally realized that I really just needed some courage in order to get many, many years ago, I heard my pastor, his name is Craig Groeschel, say that for so many things in life, all we need is 10 seconds of courage and then the momentum begins to happen. And so I have taken this to heart and I use it all the time to calm my nerves and get momentum going into the direction of something that honestly is so scary. Because the truth is, becoming successful means putting yourself out there and doing some pretty scary things over and over and over again. I am just naturally the nervous type. I don't really enjoy public speaking. I don't like approaching strangers. I don't like making cold calls. Honestly, my husband knows that I don't even like to call in takeout. I just, I don't even want to pick up the phone and talk to someone. But all of these things have been really Essential in getting my business to thrive and to get it to where it is today. I've had to show my work to important people, which is so scary. I've had to give presentations. I've had to speak in front of huge crowds. I've had to make cold calls and introduce myself to strangers more times than I like to even think about. And do you know what got me through each and every time? Remembering that it only takes 10 seconds of courage. Then I'll have started what I need to say or what I need to do, and my nerves will have quieted down. It's really just that initial burst of energy that it takes, and then things begin to roll. I feel so passionate about this because I've used this so many times to get things started in my career over the years. Because the truth is, we have to get comfortable being uncomfortable this side of practicing 10 seconds of courage over and over again is 100% worth the risk. In fact, I want to share five ways that using this method of just 10 seconds of courage has helped me gain huge strides in my career. The first way is by cold calling companies. So the first time that I finished a portfolio, I knew that I was ready to share it with the world. I wanted to share it with everyone. And I knew that in order to do so, I really needed to stand out from the crowd. So I handmade a beautiful portfolio. I had my website ready to go, and I knew that I could email art directors. But I knew that there's something unique about hearing someone's voice. I mean, am I right? As you're listening to this podcast right now, there's a deeper connection that happens when you're able to listen to someone and even a greater connection when you're able to see them face to face. But for this purpose, I knew that I couldn't do that. So I wanted to call the companies, ask for the art director, and introduce myself. And I was so nervous. I would find the phone number, and I would sit with my phone in my hand and just be so nervous to pick up the phone and call. I was so nervous, in fact, that I had to write down a script, which was so silly. It was like, my name. Hi, my name is Bonnie Christine. I'm an artist. I would love to speak to your art director and see if you would be interested in licensing my work or working. You know, it's like something that I could have never forgotten. But just having it on paper helped me so much, calm my nerves. And so I would just get up, I would Walk in a circle around my room and I would say, 10 seconds of courage and dial the number and it would ring and my belly would feel all nervous. But as soon as someone started speaking, the conversation began to flow. And almost every time I did this, I, I would get the feedback from the art director that it was so nice to speak to someone because almost everyone just emails or, you know, sends something in the mail. And so for me to have had the courage to call and connect over the phone was. It meant so much to them. And so I always have taken that lesson with me. Number two is by showing my portfolio. And so no matter what you create, there's this moment that you'll show it to someone or you'll reveal it or share it with the world. And it's vulnerable because you're really asking for feedback. You're opening yourself up for feedback. And this is how I felt the first time I was really showing my portfolio. Now my story is somewhat unique because I, I found myself at International Quilt Market being able to approach art directors in person with my portfolio in hand. I had several appointments, but there were a few that I couldn't get a hold of before the show. And so I had to just walk into the booth and do the same thing I did on the phone, but this time it was in person. Is your art director here? I would love to meet them. I mean, one time I did this and they were like, yeah, it's me. I'm like, oh, can we, you know, sit down? I'm an artist. I would love for you to see my work. And that was so nerve wracking. 10 seconds of courage to just walk into the booth and introduce myself and sit down. I am so excited to share with you a brand new project we've been working on. It's called 60 by 60. Because there are 60 incredible artists who have come together to share with you one way that they create income from their artwork in under 60 seconds each. Which means that it's 60 minutes of incredible knowledge and wisdom being shared by some insanely talented artists that I know you're going to love. Our hope is that it not only shows you what's possible, but it also encourages you and helps you get clarity on the very next step you want to take in your own creative endeavor. And it's entirely free. We've also created an interactive directory with all of the artists included so that you can go dive into all of their worlds and get to know them a little bit better. To watch the video, head on over to bonniecristine.com income Again, that's bonniecristine.com Income. You'll be able to watch the 60x60 video right away. Cannot wait to meet you there. The payoff was incredible. I left that show with my very first fabric licensing contract with my dream company, Art Gallery Fabrics. And I would have never done that had I not had 10 seconds of courage to walk into the booth. The third way that this has really been monumental for me was that I decided to reach out to one of my biggest mentors. And in 2019, his name is Stu McLaren. And I had just finished a course that I had taken from him called the Membership Experience. And I had learned so much and felt like I had this story that I would love for him to know. And so I decided to write him a direct message on Instagram, and I typed it all out. I wanted him to know how meaningful the course had been for me and the results that I had gotten from implementing so much that I had learned from him and also what that had meant on the people in my membership. And I was so nervous to send this. I wanted to be, you know, so respectful of his time and his energy, but I wanted to connect so much as well. And so I mustered up my 10 seconds of courage and I hit send. And this unfolded into such an incredible friendship and ultimately an invitation to come join his mastermind called Impact, which I've been in since 2000, 2019, which has been one of just the most monumental, you know, things in my career. And it all started with the courage to send a simple, direct message. Okay, number four is I got an email from another one of my mentors. His name is Jeff Walker. I read his book called Launch, and I implemented it. It's a similar story, but a little bit different. And I had had great success with what I had learned from him. And one day I got an email in my inbox that invited anyone who wanted to to share their story with them. And so I was nervous to do so, but I sat down, I wrote my story, and I submitted it. And this led to so many, so many things. Initially, it led to an interview with Jeff Walker that got published on how I had implemented what I learned from his launch and the subsequent success from that. But that also led into me attending one of his conferences in Arizona. And then we just recently met again. He came and spoke to my mastermind last month, and just a relationship that has been incredible. And it all started with my 10 seconds of courage and working through those nerves to just submit my story. To them when I was called or invited to do so. Okay, number five is fresh. It's very recent, and it's one of the most nerve wracking things that I've ever done. I got invited to join a couple of these people that I've been sharing with you about for a event to raise money for Stu McLaren's charity called Village Impact. And so in December of last year, I was invited to join some of the incredible entrepreneurs to join them live in Arizona again to do what we call a predictions call and share about our predictions for the upcoming year. But the main takeaway here was that if you registered, all of the proceeds went to their charity called Village Impact. But I was so nervous to do this. It was broadcasted live. We broadcasted it out of Dean Graziosi's studio, which is amazing. And I was alongside some of who I consider my biggest mentors. Amy Porterfield, Jeff Walker, Brooke Castillo, Jenna Kutcher. So many incredible people. And obviously Stu were there, and I got to be in the same room with them and spend the day with them. And I was nervous. I was really nervous. I was so nervous to walk in and, you know, be confident, but also, you know, so incredibly humbled to be there. And so I kind of collected myself right outside the door. I took a deep, big breath And I said, 10 seconds of courage. And I walked into the room and I introduced myself to Amy Porterfield and Brooke Castillo. We all got a cup of coffee together and sat down and just started chatting away. And I had been so nervous about it. And it has even since just led to some beautiful relationships and an opening up. And my point is that it would have been so much easier to not have done any of these things. It's so comfortable to stay comfortable, right? It would have been so much easier to just not do any of these things that required so much courage. But every time, it has been 100% worth it, even when it leads to maybe receiving feedback that's hard to hear, it has been so worth it because it's so important to learn these things. So my question for you is, what about you? What do you need to do right now that requires 10 seconds of courage? And the next time that you're feeling nervous about reaching out to someone or introducing yourself or making that phone call or submitting your work or sharing your story, can you just remember, take a deep breath and say, it only takes 10 seconds of courage, and then it will either be over. If you have to hit send on something, it'll be over in 10 seconds or it will have at least begun and it will be flowing and you will have initiated the momentum that will lead you into the next heights. You have to have courage in order to follow your biggest dreams. And I know that it's hard, but I want to encourage you to keep it up. In the very next episode, I'm going to be sharing with you something that has taken me a lot of courage over a lot of years to grow. And that is to grow. To love going live. Going live on Instagram or doing a live workshop or doing live Q&As or I used to do a bunch of Facebook lives. They were always really nerve wracking for me. And so over the years it has just taken me a ton of courage to get comfortable with it. But I've also learned some things that have helped me get better and better and make this feel easier and easier to the point that today I don't really get nervous to go live. And so I thought I would share them all with you later this week. Some hacks that I've implemented that help me get comfortable going live and some tricks and tips for while you're on live in order to feel more comfortable. So that's coming up next. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Professional Creative Podcast. You can get show notes for this episode and all other episodes over at professionalcreative.com Remember, always work to create the beauty you want to see. Come alive in the world. And remember, there's room for you. I'll see you next time.