Her Story
About Amy
I've been in art education and have been an artist for a very long time, though my business is relatively new - about 6 months old. I was working in a corporate position in education for a private, for-profit school, but I was losing sight of my creativity, so I decided to leave that job and make my own business. Now I run a traveling art studio where I bring art to people. The idea behind it is that I'm trying to show how art can positively influence people, decrease stress, and bring people together in a screen-free environment. In today's world of technology, I'm trying to give people tactile experiences. Right now, I'm really focusing on 55 and older communities because I think introducing a new skill to an older person of mature age has been really enjoyable for me. I think people feel that they know themselves at that point, and then showing them a new skill has been really fun. I have some things lined up with kids for after school for the fall and winter, but the seniors have been a really enjoyable group to teach. The projects I do really depend on the group I'm teaching - I have certain projects for children of different ages, certain projects for middle-aged adults, certain projects for corporate events, and certain projects for the 55 and older community. I can really bend and be very flexible about the projects according to who I'm instructing. I was also a massage therapist for 25 years, so I'm kind of melding my attention to stress reduction and art, combining it together and forming relationships with my background.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Amy
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think listening to my gut is what I attribute my success to. Not ignoring, even though a decision might be hard to make, you can't ignore if something feels that you have to go in a different direction, and your gut is telling you that. Even though it's the hard choice, I think it's important to not ignore that.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received is don't be scared to ask questions, and to understand that we're all just humans trying to do our best. I think that when we get kind of caught up with who's who and people's titles and stuff like that, I think it's a good grounding exercise for me to just remember that we're all just trying to do our best, everybody.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Make sure you love the project or the art when you're teaching something. You have to make sure that it's something that you're also passionate about, that you're very excited about the project. I think people can tell if you're choosing something just because it's easy. I think people can tell that you're kind of in it halfway. If you have natural interest in what you're teaching, people feel that.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think the opportunities and the challenge is kind of the same, because especially now, my business is kind of like a little baby right now, and I understand that I've found a need and people want this. But I'm casting such a wide net, so it's hard to focus on which direction is going to be most successful for my business. I think that there's a lot of opportunity, and there's a lot of space for me in the world and the communities. I just need to find what that is. It's kind of like when you're trying to pick a movie - we have so many ways to stream things now. I think we have so many choices that it's hard to pick a movie. We just sit there watching previews the whole time. Whatever comes to me, I'm going to just reach out to everything that I think of, and then whatever comes to me, I'm going to follow that direction.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I think just creating space for people to allow people to be who they are, a safe space, without judgment. I think that's one of my mantras.
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