Sara Wilcox

I don't know if I'm so successful - my bank account wouldn't say that I'm so successful in terms of financial success. But I do have a lot of wealth in my friendships and my clients, and I think I attribute that to having a positive attitude. Just being likable, approachable, a get-her-done girl. I'm really seeking happiness between my clients and myself and the project that we're working on, and seeing it through. Making sure the client's happy is of extreme importance to me. I think just my attitude, staying positive, is what has helped me build the relationships and success I have.

One of my clients said this on our first meeting for a mural I was doing for her. She said, 'We'll work together, we'll create something beautiful, and we're both gonna make mistakes, and we just have to get past it.' She just made it comfortable right away, like we're gonna do this, it's gonna be beautiful, and it might be a little bit of a process, but we've got this. It just humanized the work and made me feel comfortable. That approach of acknowledging that mistakes will happen but we'll work through them together to create something beautiful really stuck with me.

I would say just keep dreaming, keep going. Even if you get a bunch of door slams in your face, you keep going. If you're really meant to do this work, you will keep going and persevere, even when it feels like the odds are stacked against you. Don't let rejection stop you from pursuing what you're meant to do.

One of the biggest challenges is people thinking that because it's something you love to do so much, they question why they should pay you so much. It's a weird thing, because it's a job, it's work. Art, for me, is something that if I don't do, I will die. Like, if someone said, Sara, you can never do art again, I would not want to be here anymore. That's who I am, it's what I do, it's what I will do. But people don't honor or respect artists' talents and don't pay them what they are worth. There are artists that absolutely charge too much, so it's a game, definitely a game. But if I were to boil it down to one word, it's about respect - working honestly with an artist and respecting their time and value. Another challenge is marketing yourself - as an artist, I want to just do the work, and I find it harder to spend time marketing yourself. I do get my business through word of mouth, which has been really good.

I would say really just taking care of myself. Wellness is very important. Just resting, eating, and hydrating - because if I don't have that, I will fall to the wayside. Self-care and wellness are essential for me to be able to do my work and take care of the people in my life, including my mom who is my North Star.