Willow Talk

The episode:

Our season 2 finale is here! In the first episode of this season we walked you through some of the lessons learned in the year prior and gave a sneak peak into some of our plans for 2023. Well, we’re 3.5 months into the new year and we thought there’d be no better time to pull back the curtain and give an overview of our 2023 plan: how it started, what we’ve changed already, and how we’re pacing against our goals so far.

We also talk about:

• The importance of building savings (when you can) to allow yourself flexibility and optionality to try more things

• Why we didn’t back plan from our goals in 2022 and why we absolutely did in 2023

• Why there are only lessons to be learned and never failures (ie: why we needed to make the mistakes we did)

• Ways to diversify your revenue streams and how to plan your monetary goals around those revenue channels

• The best time to plan your annual goals

• The humbleness of biting off more than you can chew

• How time is a more valuable resource than many think

• Critical goals vs. nice to have goals

• How to prioritize your projects and make hard decisions on which to devote your time to and which ones aren’t going to move the needle

• Why it's important to have contingency plans to lower risk when possible

Keep listening:

Did you enjoy this one? Here are a few other episodes of Willow Talk you may like as well.

The Interview

In this episode of Willow Talk, we talk about getting comfortable making uncomfortable choices, why you need to let go to do more, and - of course - the value of your time and the role it plays in moving yourself and your business forward.

• Emma’s exciting new business venture!!
• Why we’ve decided to figure everything out as we go along
• How to accept the chaos in your life
• Why no one can avoid risks when starting a business - that leap of faith is inevitable
• The importance of pushing yourself when you feel scared
• Allie’s fear of the New York City subway system
• The definition of failure and how that’s changed for us over time
• Experimentation and its role within failure
• How to make certain choices when you feel you’re at a crossroads
• The value of your time and where to shift your focuses
• Protect your time - find the space to move yourself forward
• Hard work is unavoidable but hustle culture sucks

Did you enjoy this one? Here are a few other episodes of Willow Talk you may like as well.

In this episode of Willow Talk, we chat through the difference between working ‘on’ your business versus working ‘in’ your business, why you need to carve out time for both, and ways to stop yourself from spending too much time on one over the other.

• Growth strategy and implementation
• Giving yourself the space to grow
• What it means to set goals and how to keep yourself accountable
• The roles systems play in working on our businesses
• Why short term losses can lead to long term gains
• How to decide which goals are right for you
• Ways to keep you moving forward with your growth goals and avoid being stagnant
• Why you need to trust your gut
• Tips for time management
• Why you need to be able to give yourself a break when your heads just not in it
• Ways to set yourself up for success
• Why success is sometimes seasonal

In this episode of Willow Talk, we talked with Becca Lane the owner and artist behind One Lane Studios. Join us for this conversation and learn about Becca’s relationship with art over the years, the steps she took to go full time with her business in 2021, and how her desire to help others connect and relate in this world plays a role in the pieces she creates.

• A Becca’s art background, how she got started in creating, and some of the styles she is most commonly creating
• The early feelings Becca had when she took One Lane Studios full time in 2021
• Becca’s early interest in art as a child and how that shaped her relationship with art throughout her life
• The various channels Becca has utilized to sell her art and how that has allowed her to make a full time income from her art
• Her goal to destigmatize mental health and how mental health plays a role in much of her work
• The moment when Becca realized creating art was something more than just a hobby
• The two major concepts and themes found in Becca's work and the inspirations and significances of these concepts
• What it means when your career and your coping mechanism are the same and how to combat that
• Becca’s formal art school experience - what allowed her to grow and what challenges she faced
• The doubts Becca had of the feasibility of taking her art business full time and how she overcame those challenges
• The criticalness of taking breaks
• The role perfectionism plays in Becca’s art, how she’s managed that over the years, and the moment in art school that set her “free” of it
• Some of the challenges Becca has faced starting a small business and the skills learned to elevate One Lane Studios to where it is now
• Some advice she would give to an artist just starting out
• A common misconception people have about turning your art into a business

In this episode we sat down with Massachusetts based metal smith, Rose Koerner. Tune in to learn more about Rose’s first few months as a full time artist, how she juggles the many hats a artistic entrepreneur must wear, and how she needed to trust in herself to make one of her biggest leaps.

• The feasibility of making art for a living
• Trusting yourself to know what’s best for you, rather than doing what people expect of you
• Reflections of Rose’s first few months as a full time artist
• Rose’s career progression as an educator to an artist
• The importance of having people in your life to support and uplift you in your work (especially when you are having doubts in yourself)
• The real impacts of burnout
• Why we need to go through uncomfortable emotions to reach the other side stronger or more enlightened
• Why we sometimes need to walk away from things we enjoy to make space for achieving our goals and dreams
• How artists can and should learn entrepreneurial and marketing skills
• Why you can’t fail if you view every experience as an experiment
• The inflated importance of social media goals and how we weigh social success as overall success
• Why rose first got into metal smithing
• The misconception that being a full time artist is only for a select few

The Interview

For the second installment of our founders deep dive series, we interview Willow Talk’s very own Allie McDevitt to learn when she became intune with her creative spirit, how she got into the world of fiber art, and why she decided to open her shop, Lavender & Lilac.

We Also Talk About

• Her hesitancy to be an “art kid” in her youth and where that stems from
• How she manages her time between her “day job” in corporate marketing, and her entrepreneurial ventures: Lavender & Lilac and The House of Willows
• The steps she took to start her own business (and the mindset she had to be in to do it)
• How her shop, Lavender & Lilac, got its name
• The connection between art, interpersonal connection and feelings of nostalgia and why that is so critical to the essence of Lavender & Lilac
• How her creative style and the products she makes have evolved over time
• Who you create for as an artist. Yourself? Your customers? Both?
• Why not every “opportunity” is right for you
• The importance of staying true to your brand and your values
• Allie’s catchphrase: It’s not an “if”, it’s a “when”
• What her dream career scenario looks like
• Why you need to map out your goals in order to achieve them
• Who she leans on for support
• Why making friends as an adult is hard and how you can go about finding people with shared interests
• The dynamics of Allie and Emma’s personal and professional relationship

Where to Find Allie

The Interview

In this episode of Willow Talk, we talked with Nanette Pengelley the owner and artist behind Hew Jewelry. Join us for this conversation and learn about Nanette’s journey to operating her artistry business full time, the significance of individuality in Nanette’s life, and how this concept shines through within the pieces she creates.

We Also Talk About

• A closer look at Nanette’s upbring and how that influences her work today.
• Her strong sense of individuality and where that comes from.
• Nanette’s experience as a Black, queer woman in the arts and the challenges she’s faced.
• How Nanette discovered her love of adornment and jewelry making.
• Her experience as a full-time art student at Mass Art and “finding her people” there.
• The realities of financial burden placed on artists living in areas with astronomically high costs of living, primarily New England.
• The autonomy and freedom Nanette found in metal smithing.
• The significance of one very special charm bracelet that sparked her love and interest in adornment.
• The guilt she feels by truly enjoying what she does for work every day.
• The fear that can arise with associating your personal identity with your brand identity.
• The importance of associating your personal identity with your brand identity.
• The desire to open up the conversation of artists’ pricing structures and the benefits we all can see by doing so.
• Her frustrations with being taught how to make Art, but not to sell art.

Where to Find Nanette

In this episode, we put our very own Emma D’Arpino in the hot seat as we dive into an interview to learn more about Emma, her experience with finding her creative passions and her journey to her two career paths of photography and being a licensed dietitian. Join us as we learn a bit more about Emma and the iconic hot pink digital camera that ignited it all.

• The law of attraction and why you get the energy you put out.
• The lessons she’s learned as an entrepreneur in the last year of business.
• How to create systems that will help you succeed.
• Being aware of burnout - how to see the signs and how to set boundaries to protect yourself.
• What it means to ask yourself, “Am I happy?”
• Why you need to identify (and prioritize) your “why”.
• The concept of “compassion fatigue” and why it’s okay to put yourself first.
• Why we feel the need to force ourselves into “fitting the mold” and how to break out of that cycle to find our true path.
• What photos and photography mean in today’s society.
• Emma’s journey with disordered eating and her path to becoming a fat positive dietitian.
• Finding and building the communities we want to embrace and the tools present to overcome of fears of joining in.

In this episode of Willow Talk, we sit down with the fabulous Johnny McDevitt for a conversation on finding art in the simplicities of your everyday existence. A must listen for anyone who doubts that there’s an artist in everyone, we talk about everything from society’s limiting definition of an artist to Johnny’s recent dive into the world of modeling in New York City.

• Why, if you don’t think you’re an artist, you actually are.
• How self expression in any form is art.
• How there’s art in simply living your life.
• Society’s limiting definition of an artist and why many people feel fear in labeling themselves as “artists” or “creative”.
• The bravery in breaking free of boxes and confining labels.
• How creativity and the outlets we chose to express ourselves will always ebb and flow.
• A variety of “non-traditional” art forms (as deemed by the mainstream).
• Johnny’s experience getting into modeling - their fears of trying something new and opening themselves up to the judgements of others.
• The role of our relationships in pushing yourself both creatively and in trying to grow as an individual.
• Finding people in your life who amplify and encourage your creativity.
• Pushing ourselves in uncomfortable situations.
• The importance of authenticity.
• How the hardest part is getting. started.

Happy Birthday! In this episode of Willow Talk, we sit down 1:1 to celebrate one year as The House of Willows and to reflect on the lessons we’ve taken away from all of our experiences thus far. We chat about everything from our biggest failures to our largest successes to how to keep the momentum going forward even when you’ve hit some of your major milestones.

• Why we’re constantly learning and how that will never change.
• Why when you think you’ve mastered a skill, there’s always room to learn more.
• How to appreciate the small victories on your way to larger ones.
• Why missed milestones are not failures.
• Some real life examples of some of our biggest failures this year.
• The thought process that went into our decision to pause our Patreon subscription model.
• How to make peace with what you can and cannot control.
• How the physical and monetary ability of our friends and family will dwindle, but their support for you will not.

The Interview:
In this episode of Willow Talk, we had the absolute pleasure of chatting with Ezra Cohen. Tackling Ezra’s thirteen year music career in one session, we did our best to get as much insight out of this music industry veteran! We chatted about everything from Ezra’s earliest days in music (and some questionable middle school fashion choices) to what it’s like to be on tour, and why creating meaningful relationships is so important to Ezra (and anyone looking to find their place in their local music scene).

We Also Talk About:

• How Ezra’s passion for music first sparked and the people in his life who supported his interest. 
• His impressive 13 year musical career. 
• Why so many of the important lessons we learn in life come from not knowing and simply jumping into the experience. 
• Changing course when you’re dealt a new hand - in life and in your career. 
• Ezra’s exploration of new facets of the music industry, from singing and songwriting to performing and producing.
• Balancing your passions with your day job. How Ezra balances songwriting, band practice, and a tour schedule with another full time job.
• Why hustle doesn’t equal success and why we’re often happier with our final products when we take the time to slow down and enjoy the process.
• What it’s like to rely on others - friends, family, bandmates, your community - and why it’s so important to your growth and making meaningful connections. 
• How a positive mindset = positive energy and why the genuine, positive energy you give out often comes right back to you.
• Ezra’s take on social media and the relationship he’s had with the outlet over the years. 
• The comparison trap and the feeling of being genuinely happy for the success of other creatives.

Where to Find Ezra:

Ready to start marketing your art business? In this episode of WillowTalk, we discuss a few of the strategies we took to get both of our art businesses up and running, how those strategies have changed over time, and what you can do today to start (or scale) your marketing efforts.

• Active versus passive marketing channels.
• How to identify what strategies work for you.
• Why it’s critical to pivot your marketing strategies when needed.
• The resources we’ve used in our own marketing efforts.
• Free marketing channels and platforms you can use to get started.

The Interview

In our first minisode of Willow Talk, we talk about the need to adapt as artists when it comes to our work, our routines, and our ultimate goals. We each speak to our own creative mediums along with our goals for The House of Willows – keeping in mind product, client expectations, and creating for ourselves.

We Also Talk About