29: What Problem Do We Solve?

I think people feel icky about marketing and icky about like putting their work out into the world.

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. I recently got to sit down and chat with my dear friend Sarah Watts and I loved this potato particular part

of our conversation where we really started

to talk about marketing and art and what problem we solve and what it feels like to shift our mentality around

marketing, our creative side of our business and our work.

And so I'm sharing that with you here.

But before we dive in, I want

to do a proper introduction for Sarah Sarah Watts is an illustrator and business owner.

She's based in Atlanta, Georgia.

She graduated from Ringling College in 2008 with a BFA in illustration. She landed her first job at Carter's and Oshkosh and then went on to design for international greetings. In 2011, Sarah left the corporate world to pursue her work in art, licensing and book illustration. She was always passionate about working for herself and running her own business. She spent several years illustrating kids books for various publishers through Red Fox Literary such as Penguin Books and Random House. She also licensed art to gift and stationery companies like Hallmark, Piccolina Kids and American Greetings who sell goods internationally. Sarah co owns the company Crafted Moon with her husband Scott, specializing in eco friendly stationery and gifts for the crafty homebody. They have more recently launched a school division of the brand called School for Misfit Makers. Sarah specializes in teaching Adobe Photoshop ink techniques and procreate with teaching. Sarah loves to empower people to see their potential in working in the arts and how they can make a living doing what they love. When she's not teaching, Sarah designs fabric for the prestigious new brand called Ruby Star Society who is a division of Moda Fabrics Designing fabric is Sarah's biggest licensing passion. Sarah is a mother to two bright young women, Willow and Violet. She and her husband enjoy Halloween and love dressing up as a family with the kids. She loves animals, black coffee, and making people laugh.

You are going to love Sarah. She is incredible.

And I hope you enjoy our conversation.

I think people feel icky about marketing and icky about, like, putting their work out into the world. So what kind of like, you know,

I love this topic because it is just such a. It's such a different mindset. I was actually listening to a book this morning called the Power to Change, and I'm a little early in the book and devouring, just loving it already. But one of the key takeaways today was the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. And so many people are in a fixed mindset. They think that they are the way they are and there's no changing it. And the growth mindset is, you know, I am. I do the things I do because what I believe about myself. I do the things I do because what I believe about myself. Meaning if you're grumpy in the morning, right? Well, you've probably been told you're grumpy in the morning, and so you just lean into it, right? Like, I'm grumpy in the morning. Everyone's already always told me that, and I very much identify with it. But a growth mindset says you can identify that and say, you know what? I'm no longer grumpy in the morning. I'm going to wake up bright and ready to attack the day. And you can change that. You can change your behavior and what you believe about yourself. Studies, research, fact 100. It's all in our minds and how we think about it. So anyways, marketing. Yes. Okay, so do we need to go back this far? Like, number one, if you are creating artwork because you want to contribute financially to your life, your family, then you have a business. And you. The only way that you have a business is if it makes money. So business is not a business if it doesn't make money. And a business doesn't make money unless you offer something. And so marketing is part of it. And though I'm really passionate about what

I call heartfelt marketing, like who love,

I actually love to be sold to. When I'm sold to. Well, like, when I'm like, oh my goodness, they get me and this is the exact thing that I've been waiting for. Like, I. I'll even know exactly what they're doing. Because I read a lot of marketing books and I'll be like, oh, now they're doing this. And I'm excited. I'm like, I'm here for it. Like, keep selling me. Just do it. Sell. You know? So I think that one of the easiest ways to sell what you have is to truly believe in the problem that it solves. I think this is where we as artists have to work on our beliefs. Because, like, honestly, it's really, really easy for me to talk and sell the immersion course because it works. It's worked for thousands of students. It's incredible. It truly is. It's a world class experience. I've never experienced a better course in my life. And it gets results 100%. I believe in it to my core. And so I'll tell you, you will not regret it. Right? Like, that's where we want to get with our marketing for whatever it is that we're selling. And so oftentimes, artists are like, well, I don't solve any problems.

I just make pretty things.

Anybody heard that? Okay. I always have to think about this story from Kristen Chronic. You know, Kristen Sarah, she's a fine artist and she was a Navy seal.

She's awesome, hardcore, really cool.

So she was out to sea for multiple months on this ship. And this ship is just completely void of anything other than the bare minimum necessities. It's void of music, it's void of art, it's void of, I mean, it's canned food. It's very, very essentials. And she said, the moment that they came into port, I think they were in like, maybe Louisiana. The moment that they came into port and she stepped off of the boat, she was inundated with color and beauty and smells from the restaurants. And it was in that moment that she realized what problem we solve. Because a world without arts is not a world that any of us want to live in. Right? Like, void of music and art and plays and. And beautiful textiles is not a world that any of us want to live in. But beyond that, think about the problem that you really solve. Like, I think about someone who sells wallpaper and the person who uses the wallpaper. Like, you have to go really deep because there are people who are. Don't feel like they're good at decorating or they're embarrassed of what their house looks like. And so they're not only embarrassed, but they' inviting their friends and their family over and. Or they just feel like, oh, when they walk into a room, like, it's just not a good Reflection of who they are. And then they find the wallpaper that speaks. It sings hallelujah. The moment they see it.

Right.

They bring it home and they put it up. And you've changed everything for them. You've made them believe in their decorating ability. You've made them love the space that they walk into every.

Every day.

You made them feel differently. Like, you. Anybody else. Like, stand up a little straigh creator when you walk into a beautiful room that's well designed. Right. Or a wallpaper that makes you happy. Like, you affected the way that they feel when they walk in their room every day. Now they're proud to invite people over. So now you've helped build community and relationships and depth around a subject. Like, it actually goes that far. Yeah. And so we're making tremendous change and impact by simply adding beautiful things into the world. And the. The quicker you get your head wrapped around that, no matter what it is. Like, I. About our fabric, Sarah. And when it ends up on a quilt of a lap of someone's grandmother who's dying in the hospital or wrapped around a newborn baby and bringing home. Like, that's legacy work, y'. All. We're in the business of doing legacy work, meaning your artwork is a part of that person's story and their emotions for well beyond our years.

Yeah.

So. Yeah. Anyways, you should sell your stuff.

Stop making me cry, girl.

Get out of here.

Like, someone makes a quilt out of my artwork, and that's a collaboration. They get to feel like they made something pretty. I got to feel like I got to collaborate with somebody. And then that thing gets passed down to multiple generations, and it becomes part of history. Like, it's. It is really cool what we do.

It's really cool and everything. It's worth something, and it's worth us having the guts to stand up and say so. You know what? You should buy this thing that I have. Like, I have it available, and I honestly. I can't change your life unless you give me your credit card.

Yeah.

Let's go so far as to say that I can't change the way you feel when you walk in your room unless you pay me for this. And that will change the way that you show up in your business.

Right?

It's okay to sell stuff.

We all.

We're all buying stuff every day. Why not? Why shouldn't we be buying your stuff?

Yeah, you never expect the plumber to come fix your stuff for free, right? Like.

Right.

Come on.

Like, I'm. I'm willing to buy pretty Things. And. Yeah, are too. But I only buy the things that make me feel a certain way.

Right.

And so it goes. Marketing goes way beyond. Like, there's this. This story when you're selling a drill.

Yeah.

You're not selling a drill. You are selling a hole in a piece of wood. Right. Like, that's what they need. Somebody needs to make a hole in a piece of wood, and so they go to the store and buy the drill. And so don't spend your time talking about the drill. Spend your time talking about the hole in the wood, because that's the end result. And it's much more meaningful than, like, the drill, because the drill is a means to an end, and so is your wallpaper. The wallpaper is a means to an end to get you to feel a certain way about your space.

Exactly. Oh, my gosh. I love that so much. Yeah. Like, I. I love to think about how we. It's the transformation that your art gives someone. Like, it's one thing, like, we're selling prints this week at quiltcon, and it's like, okay, wow, that. That made me feel something, because I love that joke on that art print and that. That makes me feel like. You get me. Right. But then the moment that they take it home and put it in their sewing studio, it. It gives them an identity that they couldn't quite, like, replicate themselves. And so I feel like artists are literally, like, helping people, like, express themselves and their message. You know, maybe they don't draw or whatever. Like, let me help you do that then.

Exactly. Express your true personality. Like, I'm thinking about Tessie, who teaches people how to make their space a reflection of themselves. And not a lot of people are using their own artwork. I mean, very few of us. Right. That's kind of a side, like, perk to doing this because you can just. Whatever you want. Like, I want this wallpaper, so I'm just gonna make it.

Yeah, exactly.

Which is so fun. But, you know, it really is our ability to connect with other people who connect with our work and help them have the Persona and the personality fully brought to life.

Yeah, 100%. Oh, I love it so much. Yeah. So I. I do think about how, like, don't you feel? It's a lot of. It is a mindset shift in the artist's mind.

100. Did any of you just feel that shift?

I did.

It's like the. It's sort of like the. I have something I made over here

if you want it, but you probably don't want it.

So I'll just. Never mind. Just never mind.

Yeah.

You know, like, I made this, and it's gonna change your life.

Come and get it. Yeah, exactly. And. And I know people go through this because I see it all the time, especially with my students. Like, they see, you know, all of this work in the world, and they're like, oh, I could do that. Why am I not doing that? Or, oh, like, you know, I. I offer the same thing. How come my. And it's like, you just have to shift the way that you're seeing your own work. They have the audacity to do it. They're not any much better than you. They're not. Like, they don't have some special thing. It's like they just had that mindset shift and that audacity to say, I deserve to share my work with the world just like the rest of you, and I'm willing to do that.

And, yeah, I had this. I don't know if I'm going to be able to say this correctly, but I just had this, like, revelation probably eight or ten years ago, and it was just like, if someone is doing what I want to do, why can't I? And like, surface design.

Yes.

So fabric design, it helped with that, but I went, like, way deeper. I was like, if I wanted to be a brain surgeon, like, people know how to make you one. Like, there are people out there who, like, it's going to take a minute, going to take probably 10, 15 years. But, like, I got that. Yeah, I can do that. 10, 15 years are going to pass anyways. Like, what if I want to be a pilot? What if I want to go to the moon? Like, still at my age, I could 100% go to the moon if that's what I wanted to do. Because there are people, people who can teach you how to do that.

Yeah.

And so do you believe in yourself? If so, then just go do the things that the other people who've already done this tell you to do, and you'll do it.

I love it.

Let's not over complicate this.

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Professional Creative podcast. Remember, you can get show notes for this episode and all other episodes at Professional Creative. Always remember, create the beauty you want to see come alive in the world. There's room for you.