Welcome to the Guest Artist Series.

Today, I'm excited to share my interview with Jeanne Oliver. She is generous, wise, kind, funny, and passionate about guiding people through the process of building a creative business.

Jeanne has been my mentor for the last year and has helped me on so many levels. Talking with her about my goals and dreams to build a business I truly love has been such a gift.

If you feel a calling to begin a creative business of your own, or, you want to make your current business stronger and more aligned with your life. I promise you will find the answers you're looking for within Jeanne's beautiful Creatively Made Business Course.

So, without further adieu…

Welcome, Jeanne, I'm so happy to have you as my guest. You are now in your 12th year of running your creative business, and it has grown and changed over the years into a beautiful offering of online classes, live workshops, and now, a Creatively Made Business Course. What has been your favorite part of running your business?

Thank you so much, Renee, for having me! It has been a crazy and beautiful journey so far growing our business. I think my favorite part of running a business is having the freedom to dream up new ideas and then deciding what we are the most passionate about to pursue. I love coming up with new ideas and knowing that we can make it happen and walk it out if it is right for our customers, business and life. This box of possibilities has given our business and family some pretty incredible adventures.

I know you love to talk about business, tell us why you decided to start a creative business.

Twelve years ago I had a one, five and seven year old and once they were in bed each night I would create until the early hours of the morning. I look back now on those nights and know that those hours to myself to create and finding time no matter the exhaustion the next day was what brought my creativity back to life. It all started with home, gathering, making handmade journals, altered letters and frames.

I always say our business “accidentally” started because as I was engaging in my creativity others in my life starting noticing what I was making and started asking to purchase them. It first started with friends, then small shop owners, a small preschool Christmas fair and then Etsy. Each step of showing up before I was ready was bringing me from a hobby into a business.

I attended your Creatively Made Business Workshop at your personal studio, and it was transformative on so many levels. You are now launching an online version of the workshop, would you explain your vision and intentions for the workshop?

These are the words and the transformations we love to hear! Our hearts are to stand beside other business owners no matter if they are in the dreaming, building or expanding stages.

I have been teaching and speaking to women in business for the past seven years and with so much changing in the market place, marketing and even within our own business we knew it was time to offer a new and more powerful business tool.

Not everyone can attend one of our live business workshops so we wanted to take everything amazing about our live events and go even deeper! We are doing something totally different than any online workshop that we have ever created before. We will be taking the business owners through a 6-month online workshop where each month and module builds upon the other and by taking the time to really digest this course you will be implementing change and growth from month one.

Creatively Made Business takes you step by step through the tools your business needs to succeed and your creativity to thrive. Each month you will receive new training videos with me, downloadable worksheets, monthly calls to action, podcasts, printable encouragement, live Q+A, monthly book club, and community.

The workshop will begin on February 3, 2020, and after the first week, the workshop will be closed to all new signups. This allows this group of business owners to create community and to become the best resource to one another.

You are a big believer in gathering creatives together to support, share, and encourage each other. How do you think being a part of the Creatively Made Business will work in developing a supportive community for creatives?

When I think of each time our business hits another milestone I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we reached that goal through collaborations and community. We need each other. We need advice when we are lost, we need cheerleaders when we are facing our fears, we need others to share what we are building, we need other creatives to collaborate with and bring new things into the world that would otherwise not be possible alone. Community in life and business changes everything.

Often, it is difficult to begin any creative endeavor, feelings of overwhelm and comparison can stand in the way of creating the business of your dreams. Do you have any encouraging words for anyone who is thinking about starting a creative business?

I would just encourage anyone reading to start where you are with what you have. There is so much power in beginning and we are never ready. It just doesn’t happen that way. Most of us have to learn to walk through fear to find the next direction and path. It isn’t easy but it is the most beautiful life you can imagine connecting with your gifts and then walking them out in ways you couldn’t have ever imagined. Just start!

To learn more about Jeanne’s Creatively Made Business, or register visit her site here.

I hope you enjoyed my interview with Jeanne Oliver, I had such a great time learning a bit more about her and the new online Creatively Made Business Course.

I hope you’ll join me again in November when my next guest will be Ivy Newport. She will share with us the inspiration behind her beautiful Studioworks Journal and also how she overcomes frustration, failure, and fear when creating.

Have a beautiful weekend!

xo

Renee