Interview with Stu McLaren: How Could Tribe change your life? || The Social Easel
In this interview, Stu McLaren talks with Christie Renee Hawkins, founder of The Social Easel, about her transition from running local in‑person paint nights to creating a successful online membership through the TRIBE platform. Christie shares the challenges she faced balancing family life and an unpredictable income, how she leveraged a modest local Facebook following to launch a beta membership of 67 women, and the rapid growth that followed—reaching nearly 200 members after a year, over 950 in her original Inner Tribe, and a second membership approaching 200, totaling more than 1,100 members. The conversation highlights the "ripple effect" of her community: members using painting tutorials in retirement homes, rallying to financially support a grieving member, and fostering a supportive sisterhood where Christie openly discusses her own anxiety and depression, encouraging others to share. Christie offers practical advice for creators without an existing audience, emphasizing the need to push past fear, experiment, and consistently share content. She also praises the TRIBE experience, describing the Creative Club as a collaborative network where members choose partnership over competition, leading to mutual growth. The interview concludes with Christie urging listeners to take action, trust their vision, and not let fear hold them back, while providing links to her social channels and free painting tutorial.
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This is what I get to do. My work is I get to be surrounded by these amazing people who are helping the world in all kinds of different ways. When I think about this, I was writing about this the other day and I was talking about the ripple effect of what it is that we get to do. The ripple effect is is not just like, you know, the one-on-one that we have here. In fact, you're gonna hear a story coming up in just a minute from somebody who, I remember this message that she sent me. You know, one of the things that I love is that the person I'm gonna bring up next, every time she makes a new change in her business or a new launch in her business, she's always sending me updates and I love these updates. They're like one of the things that I like look forward to the most. And there was one update that I won't forget, which was she sent me an update and it was a screenshot of a message from somebody in her membership who had taken what they had learned from her and gone and used it and delivered it in an old age home. And she was just saying about the impact that that had had on these people. And I was just like so moved because it's this ripple effect. Oftentimes we don't understand or see the ripple effect of what it is that we do. But you heard it in Teresa, you know, in terms of all of those people that she's helping inside the membership, and then all of those people that are then helping their patients. You hear it in Jason, like Jason's helping these women lose weight, but it's much more than that, right? He's helping these women gain so much confidence, and imagine the ripple effect that that's going to have on the lives that those women impact. And so one of the things that I think is really important as in all of the work that we do is to stay really grounded and really connected to why we do what we do, because what you are doing right now and the way that you are showing up in the world and the, and the people that you want to serve and the people that you want to help, your work matters. And when you own that, it makes a world of difference in the way that we approach our memberships. So our next guest I want to bring up is the one and only Christie Hawkins. How are you, Christie?
Good. How are you?
Good. Okay, so let's, before we dive into it, let everybody know like who you are and who you help.
Okay, so I'm Christie Hawkins and I own The Social Easel and I teach women how to paint. So before I had my membership, I taught local paint nights for the last 6 years. And that, that was my life. I had built that business and I taught paint nights. At one point, you know, 3 to 5 nights a week and then slowly got it down a little bit more. But yeah, so that, that was what I did. And then I came across you about 2 years ago and I was struggling with a few things. One, the time that I had to spend away from my family. I've got 3 daughters and a husband and, you know, busy home life. And now they're 16, 13, and 9. Um, and everyone was busy and I was missing volleyball games and I was missing practices and I would miss a school performance every now and then. And I, I resented it and I started resenting what I was doing because it was taking me away from my family. Um, and then as any local business, you have good months and bad months and I had no guarantee of the income that I was going to bring in. Some paint nights would sell out and they'd be amazing and I'd have an awesome month. And the next month, it could be weather, it could be whatever the situation was, it would drop back down again. And we just lived in this constant, no idea what money we were going to make month to month. And then I found you and I was like, this would be amazing, but it scared me. And I knew nothing about getting online. I'd only taught locally and I was like, how will this even translate into me teaching online. But I just started soaking up all the knowledge. I, you know, figured out what I needed to do. And yeah, so I took TRIBE. I signed up with TRIBE 2 years ago, and that's where the online journey started.
So I want to kind of unpack this because you had this offline business where you're teaching the paint nights. And although you loved it, you, as you said, you were beginning to resent it because The tension was, you were always doing the paint nights when your girls' volleyball games and practices and performances and so forth, and so it was taking you away from that. So, but you didn't have an online audience per se, right, when you started?
No, so when I started, my Facebook following was maybe about 10,000, and those were all local people. Like, if you were not in Springfield, Missouri, you didn't know who I was. I didn't exist to you. So when I launched it, And you know, like I said, I've been painting for 6 years and these women were like my family. Like, I mean, they— I had repeat customers, like they were with me 2 or 3 times a month painting with me. So when I brought up the idea of the online membership, they were like, oh yes, like, sure, we get more of you, that sounds fun. And, and it was, it was my founding members. Was less than the cost of one paint night with me. And they were like, this is, of course I'm gonna do it. So yeah, I started out with my beta launch, my first launch to just bring the idea up. 67 local women signed up. And then I started Tribe and slowly just started, it was terrifying in the beginning, but you know, slowly started doing Facebook Lives and Showing people how to paint online and just kept doing that and slowly, you know, built an audience and now we're about to hit 50K on the Facebook page now.
That is amazing. And what's been so fun is watching the growth over the last 2 years because you started with that founding member group of 67. And then roughly a year later, you— because I always get my, like, my regular updates from Christie, which I love. So you were right around, was it right around 200 after a year if I remember correctly?
It was just shy of that. So I was, we were talking the other day and I was trying to think and it's just crazy because things are so different now. I had launched again last April, so this is usually the month that I open the membership back up and then I remembered going to Florida with my family and my dad was So proud of me. And he was telling my uncle about it and he's like, this thing is crazy that Christie's doing.
I don't know.
And he was like, how many members do you have? And I had 189.
Wow.
That was, that was in June. And we just crossed this year over 950 members in my Inner Tribe group. And then I just launched a new membership last week and we are just shy of 200. In the new membership that I launched.
That is, it's crazy. And this is what I like, first of all, I just want to acknowledge you for the growth and the progress. Because, you know, what I want people to hear is like, you know, year, or when you started, it was 67, 189 after a year, and then now like you have more than 1,000+ members, 1,100 members between your two memberships. And that's the growth that continues to happen year over year. And, you know, we heard Teresa talking about, you know, the compounding asset, and it's happening, you know, exact same thing for you. And what has your experience been like with your members? Because, as I, you know, before I brought you on, I was sharing the story about, like, that post you sent me of that woman who sent the screenshot. Like, what was that like to get that?
Well, it's awesome, and you almost had me in tears before I even came on here, and I was like, I'm gonna start crying, and I haven't even gotten on yet. But it was amazing. Shelly took one of the painting tutorials that I did in the group and took it to a retirement home. And she sent these pictures of all these older people doing a painting that I came up with, which was also just kind of a whole surreal thing. And it just touched me so much. And to see, like you said, that we've talked about it so much, but the ripple effect. But like my women in my group, like I love them. We call ourselves Tribe Sisters, and it is a sisterhood that we've created, and I'm very protective of it, and I keep it full of joy and happiness and love inside of that group. It's about painting and loving on each other. Um, but what I have— and by the way, that I never saw that coming when I started the membership. In my head, it was like paint night online. Like, I— the whole community aspect to me didn't click in the beginning. And then I saw it start to come together and I saw these sisters, you know, talk to each other and talk to me and share, you know, we share personal stuff inside of the group too. And I have been very open that I have— I'm not going to cry— that I have struggled with anxiety and depression since I was a teenager. And, and I talk about that. By me talking about that has allowed other people to talk about that and how much art has helped me with that and how healing it is. And it's just amazing, the stories that have come forth after me sharing that of what this group is doing to people, women who write me who say, this is so not about the painting, like you've changed my life because of this group. This was something that I didn't even know I needed, and now I can't let go of it. Um, and we had a member last month lose her husband, and the entire community just came on and they said, okay, we know how healing art is, and she has to have this right now. I want to— because she was— had to cancel, and she was like, I can't do this right now, I can't. And we were like, of course. And, you know, I was like, take the month, like, whatever. And immediately women came in the group and they were like, I want to pay for her next month. I'll pay for month 3. The members got together and gave enough money to pay for a year of her membership so that she could stay in the group and stay in our community and help her during the grieving process.
What an unbelievable story. I had no idea. Yeah, that is, it's incredible, Christie Renee Hawkins, and it just speaks to Speaks to you and the way in which you have led the community by going first, by being open and vulnerable and transparent and leading with heart. And I think one of the things to realize for all of us in a membership is that we think people are signing up for content. We think they're signing up for the stuff. It's so much more than that. It becomes so much more than that. They sign up because ultimately they want to make progress in their life, but then when the nation forms and develops, this is what creates the magic. It's inspiring and incredible to hear how your members have rallied together to support one another when we need them most. That's a credit to you, Christie Renee Hawkins, and I thank you so much for sharing. So as we wind up here, what thought would you share with somebody who doesn't have the online audience and still wants to launch a membership, still wants to have the kind of impact that you're having? What kinds of things would you share with them based on your experience?
Well, you can't— I mean, like I said, I started with a local audience. But whatever it is that you have, whatever it is that you want to share with people, you know, and it's kind of like what you said, you know, get it out there. I'm thinking about doing this thing because I didn't have it all figured out in the beginning. I was literally just— I say it all the time and I'll message Stu and I'm like, I just throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. Like, I'm like, I just came up with a pop-up paint party. That sounds fun. I'm going to try and see what happens. But like, don't I'm huge, like, I preach to my people all the time about it. I'm like, do not let fear stop you from moving forward. Don't let fear paralyze you. And you have no idea what God has in store for you on the other side of that fear. So if you have something burning inside of you that you think is going to help the world and get it out there, then just trust that and move forward. And do what you need to do to get out there. Create your, you know, create your social media page and start sharing it with people. But yeah, so I mean, number one, I would say don't let fear stop you and that you just need to push through that. And I actually did a blog post about this yesterday because it was 8 years ago yesterday I went skydiving with my husband for our anniversary. And I related it to that moment when I was standing on the wing of the plane getting ready to jump, and it was terrifying. And, you know, I had to pause, and then I had to leap, and I had to jump off the wing of the plane. And then you have the free fall, and then you have the exhilaration and the beauty and the amazingness that came after that. I would have never experienced that if I hadn't pushed past the fear. And then I look at my life now And I was scared in the beginning. I didn't know if it was going to work. And now our life is so different. Not only am I home full time now with my family, I work in my little office that you see here, but it's completely changed our lives. Like, we're together all the time. We are fine in this time period that the world is going through. My husband's a chiropractor and he had to take 6 weeks off. Because it wasn't safe for him to be with his patients. And I was able to take care of us during that time without it being a stress. I no longer live month to month wondering what's going to happen. And I have that security that can't be replaced, you know, in another type of business model like this. So, sorry, I know I went on a tangent, but I just, I would just say just Trust what you're doing and just move forward and make the next step. Action will stop the fear.
You're amazing, buddy. Where can people go to find out more about you?
Everything is The Social Easel, so you can find me on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram. It's all The Social Easel. My actual website is thesocialeaseonlinepaintstudio.com, but you can find that by going to the Facebook page. And if you go to Facebook, you can get a free painting tutorial from me. By joining our free Facebook group, and then that tutorial will get emailed to you if you want to try painting out.
You're amazing. Okay, one final question I have for you, because you are absolutely one of our, you know, leaders in the, in the tribe community. You're always supportive, you're always, you know, championing other people. And you've also, you know, we internally, you know this, that we— you guys have your Creative Club, and it's this bond of women that have supported each other. Normally, you would think, "Oh, no, I can't share if my competitors are here." You're all in the creative space. You all have creative membership sites, and you've all blossomed. What would you say about the TRIBE experience as it relates to the support and the camaraderie that has developed?
I don't know if you saw the post that Heidi put in the group the other day, but so there are a group of us and Stu has named us the Creative Club and we are best friends. We literally talk to each other all day long, every day on our little message thing and we were talking yesterday, we were having this whole thing and we were celebrating each other's successes just like you said, we're like, oh my gosh, you guys, look at where we are right now, this is crazy. Look at where we were a year ago, 2 years ago, we didn't even know each other. And we can't even imagine that now. And none of us knew each other when we came into TRIBE. Someone made a post about who are the creatives in here, let's all meet each other. And yes, you could totally have been competitive about it. And I don't know, we all just came together immediately and we chose to to work together, collaboration over competition. And I believe Tamara Bennett and I were the first ones to do it together. And it was like, she teaches people how to paint door hangers. I teach people how to paint paintings on canvas, similar but not the same. We each have our own thing. And, you know, I'm telling the women in my group, I have a lot of women who are wanting to start their own creative businesses. And maybe it's even following in my footsteps and teaching painting online. That's fine, do it. Like, there is room for all of us and we don't have to like knock each other out along the way. The more you can work with each other and collaborate with other artists, it will grow your business. It will grow your business by working together instead of going against each other. And you will find that in the Tribe community. And that's what I've told all the women I've talked to about it. I'm like, you guys, you know my group of friends, everyone knows that we're all buddies. And I'm like, this came from TRIBE. And it's all because Stu created that community that we now have this friendship.
Well, it's beautiful to see you guys are absolutely a model for everybody. And it's amazing for me to watch each of you, how you support one another, how you help one another, and how all of your businesses have continued to grow. And you know, it's funny because I always talk about like, It's not about competing for a slice of the pie. We got our own bakery here. We're making pies left, right, and center, and you guys have made a whole lot of pies. And so I'm just grateful for the way in which you and everybody shows up. So thank you so much, Christie. Any final thoughts?
No, just do it. Just don't let fear stop you.
You're awesome. Thank you so much, Christie. See you, bud. All right. Amazing, right? And one of the things that is hard to explain is what kinds of relationships you will form. Not only like in TRIBE Experience, you just heard Christie talking about some of her best friends have come from the TRIBE Community. They didn't know each other before they joined the Community, but this is what's so special about the TRIBE Experience is that number one, it attracts amazing people. And you're gonna see and experience that. And number 2 is we have an environment and this mindset of collaboration over competition. And I believe and see it day in and day out that when we work together, we go so much farther than when we're trying to compete. And this has played out to a T.
