Ep. 07: From Burnout to Breakthrough: Transform Your Art Career with Rest

Summary

Podcast Summary: Art + Audience – Ep. 07: From Burnout to Breakthrough: Transform Your Art Career with Rest

Host: Stacie Bloomfield
Release Date: August 6, 2024

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Introduction

In Episode 7 of the Art + Audience podcast, host Stacie Bloomfield delves deep into a topic that resonates with many artists: burnout. Titled "From Burnout to Breakthrough: Transform Your Art Career with Rest," this episode explores the challenges of maintaining an art business, the pitfalls of overworking, and the transformative power of taking intentional breaks.

The Challenge of Burnout

Stacie opens the episode by sharing her personal battle with burnout, a state she describes as being "completely burned out" after years of relentless hustling. She reflects on how ignoring the warning signs led to an "identity crisis" where she questioned her role as an art licensing teacher amid her struggles ([00:00]).

Notable Quote:
"I was like at a point where doors open to grow my education business, to grow my licensing, to do all the things... last year was the first year in my entire licensing career where I could not get traction." ([00:00])

Signs the Business Was Unbalanced

Stacie acknowledges that despite following all the right business practices, her efforts weren't yielding the desired results. She emphasizes that sometimes, "A + B does not equal C," highlighting the discrepancy between hard work and actual outcomes ([03:30]).

Notable Quote:
"When you're doing everything right and you're just not seeing the traction? Well, my friends, I'll tell you that it's time to take a hard, hard step away from your business and pause it and take care of yourself for a little bit." ([05:10])

The Decision to Take a Sabbatical

Faced with mounting stress and declining business performance, Stacie made the critical decision to take a two-month sabbatical. This break was more than a vacation; it was a necessary step to recharge and gain clarity. She recounts the emotional turmoil leading up to the sabbatical, including a near-signing with an art agent that fell through just days before her planned break ([04:50]).

Notable Quote:
"If I hadn't taken my break, if those licensing deals would have happened... sometimes we think that when we want something so badly, we almost like strangle it." ([07:45])

The Power of Rest and Reflection

During her time away, Stacie focused on genuine rest rather than superficial relaxation. She emphasizes the importance of disconnecting completely from work to allow the mind to reset. Stacie shares how this period of rest led to newfound clarity and momentum upon her return, illustrating the "miraculous" turnaround in her business ([09:09]).

Notable Quote:
"Sometimes we think that the problem is we're not giving something enough attention. And sometimes we've given it too much attention, too much power." ([12:15])

Lessons Learned and Advice for Artists

Stacie imparts several key lessons from her experience:

1. Recognize the Signs of Burnout: Understand when your dedication becomes detrimental.
2. Take Intentional Breaks: Step away completely to allow for mental and emotional recovery.
3. Trust the Process: Believe that the universe will provide opportunities when you're ready.
4. Balance is Crucial: Strive for a sustainable work-life balance to foster long-term success.

Notable Quote:
"Progress at the expense of your own well-being is not going to work in the end. It's not sustainable and it's not scalable." ([13:50])

The Breakthrough

Upon returning from her sabbatical, Stacie found that her business began to thrive in unexpected ways. She secured multiple licensing deals, which she attributes to the fresh perspective and renewed energy she gained during her break. This turnaround underscores the episode's central message: rest is not a weakness but a strategic tool for growth.

Notable Quote:
"What's even funnier is, no, I didn't get signed with a different agent when I came back from my trip, but all of a sudden, in the last bit of 2023... Licensing Opportunity. It finally came together." ([10:45])

Embracing a Balanced Approach

Stacie advocates for a balanced approach to running an art business. She encourages artists to embrace both the highs and lows, understanding that both are integral to personal and professional growth. By prioritizing self-care and maintaining balance, artists can sustain their passion and creativity without succumbing to burnout.

Notable Quote:
"Life is filled with these ups and downs. Like, we have to have the lows so that the highs feel more meaningful." ([16:00])

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Wrapping up the episode, Stacie urges artists to claim their personal power by recognizing when to rest and reset. She emphasizes that taking breaks leads to fresh perspectives and renewed vigor, ultimately fostering a more resilient and thriving art career.

Notable Quote:
"Real rest is what's going to get you regrouped so that you can go pitch that portfolio again with new clarity, so that you can create new, fresh art that has vigor and life in it." ([18:10])

Call to Action

Stacie invites listeners to share their own experiences with burnout and breakthroughs on her Instagram page, fostering a community of support and shared growth.

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Key Takeaways:

• Burnout is a signal, not a failure: Recognizing when you're overworking is crucial for long-term success.
• Intentional rest fosters growth: Taking breaks can lead to unexpected breakthroughs and renewed business momentum.
• Balance is essential: Sustainable success in the art business requires maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
• Trust the process: Believing in the timing of opportunities can alleviate stress and open doors unexpectedly.

Overall, Episode 7 of Art + Audience serves as a powerful reminder that rest is not just a pause from work but a vital component of a thriving and sustainable art career. Stacie Bloomfield’s candid sharing of her struggles and triumphs provides invaluable insights for artists navigating the complexities of building and maintaining an art business.

Transcript

[A]

I had worked myself in such a hard way that I was completely burned out and the universe had been trying to slow me down. I believe there have been things that weren't working in my business and I just ignored them and muscled my way through and pushed my way through. I was like at a pride. Doors open to grow my education business, to grow my licensing, to do all the things. And last year was the first year in my entire licensing career, specifically where I could not get traction. I had this identity crisis. I'm like, oh my gosh, who am I to be teaching art licensing whenever I'm struggling with this right now? And I started to panic, I'm not going to lie. And then there's just like, universe. Why? Why am I not able to be picked up to be represented as a licensed artist? Wouldn't it be nice if your art.

[B]

Business loved you back? Hi, I'm Stacy Bloomfield. After years of trial and error and late night doodling, I went from being a coffee shop manager to running a vibrant seventh figure art business that I love. And now I'm on a mission to help more artists create an art business that they love too. So I invite you to find a cozy spot, pull out your favorite sketchbook, and listen in. It's never too late to chase your creative dreams. Welcome to the Art plus Audience podcast.

[A]

Hi everybody, it's Stacey Bloomfield. And welcome back to another episode of Art plus Audience, the podcast where I am helping artists just like you learn how to grow your business, how to make money from your art, and how to avoid some common missteps in your career. Because I'm going to be sharing openly and honestly about some boo boos I've made and how I overcame them. And I'll be inviting guests on to help also kind of share their own experiences because our goal here is to help you grow an audience faster. For years I have been helping artists learn how to monetize their art, license their art, run a product based business, because that's what I've done for 15 years in my company, GingerBR. But one of the big issues that people have is like, how do I grow an audience? So that's why you're here. And I'm really excited to dive into today's topic. So what we're talking about today is maybe counterintuitive to the idea of business growth, but what happens whenever you are working diligently at your business? You're trying to grow your audience, you're trying to sell your products, you're pitching that portfolio over and over Again, using the techniques that I've taught you and leverage your art and you are not getting any traction. Have any of you ever experienced that? I know that I have 15 years of not having momentum in some areas and then later realizing there are other parts of my business that are going to grow at the same time. So what do you do whenever you have invested so much into your business and you're just not seeing results? I mean, do you work harder? Do you buy another program? Do you hire a coach? In some cases, yes, yes and yes. But there's something else I want to suggest and that is taking a hard, hard break. I was recently talking to one of the people that I coach privately. They are building a phenomenal business. It's one of the best business ideas I've seen, seen like ever. It's so fantastic. And there is no reason why this business should not grow. And yet we are hitting roadblock after roadblock in terms of like, we're defying math. Like A +B does not equal C right now. So what do you do whenever you're doing everything right and you're just not seeing the traction? Well, my friends, I'll tell you that it's time to take a hard, hard step away from your business and pause it and take care of yourself for a little bit. This is going to be about mentally needing to take care of yourself so that your business can grow and flourish. So I'm going to speak from my own experience. Fifteen years of hustling. So you know, we like to hustle, but then there's hustling for the sake of like being a workaholic. And sometimes whenever we want to grow a business, we lean so heavily into the workaholicism that we kind of lose sight of who we are. We've lost balance in our business and sometimes I think doors don't open whenever we are completely out of alignment. It's actually like I'm actually thankful sometimes in hindsight that parts of my business have not gone exactly the way I hoped they did because gosh, I like to work, man, I get a lot of my self esteem out of my work. I love to accomplish things on my task list. I've always been like ultra responsibility oriented in running an art based business. Even though I, I like to create and I like to feel and I'm emotional and all these things that describe me when it comes to like the idea of growing a business, gosh, it just lights me up, it sets me on fire. But with that has meant over the last 15 years, I have come to the edge of burnout and all the way to burnout so many times. In fact, one year, I burned out so badly that I had to take two months off of work. That was actually just in 2023, which I presented it to the world as a sabbatical, which it was. I took my family to Europe, saved up for that trip for three years. It was amazing. But in reality, I had worked myself in such a hard way that I was completely burnt out and the universe had been trying to slow me down. I believe there have been things that weren't working in my business, and I just ignored them and muscled my way through and pushed my way through. I was looking to pry doors open, to grow my education business, to grow my licensing, to do all the things. And last year was the first year in my entire licensing career, specifically where I could not get traction. And here I am, the art licensing teacher who's helped so many people in their own businesses have momentum and make passive income from their licensing and then use that portfolio to create other products to sell. But in 2023, I was doing everything right. Gosh, this girl couldn't get anyone to even respond to her emails. And I had this identity crisis. I'm like, oh, my gosh, who am I to be teaching art licensing whenever? I'm struggling with this right now? And I started to panic. I'm not going to lie. And I've been working so hard. And right before my sabbatical, I had this opportunity where I was going to sign with an art agent. I've never worked with an agent before in my life, ever. And I finally had reached out to someone and shown them my portfolio, and I was like, maybe we'd be a good fit. And they're like, absolutely, we're going to do this thing. Had a contract, thought it was happening. And like, two days before I was leaving for my sabbatical, the whole deal fell apart. Shocked me. Did not see it coming, but it all stopped. And if I gotta tell you, that is not a good headspace to be whenever you're going to take a break from burnout. I thought I was finally, like, swinging things in the right direction. And in truth, there's reasons why. I still don't know why that deal didn't work out entirely. I mean, there's. There's facts and then there's just like, universe. Why. Why am I not able to be picked up to be represented as a licensed artist? And so what did I have to do? I took my break. I stepped away from my company for two entire months now, I've disclosed I have a team, an amazing team of people who helped me be able to do that. And I worked ahead really far and called in favors from colleagues and did everything I could so that for two solid months, I did not work. And I really, really didn't work. I really tried to rest and take care of myself because I was just in a state of such burnout that if you had seen me right before I left for my sabbatical, you would have thought, oh, gosh, Stacy's cracking. This is not good. So I went. It took me about a week or two, honestly, to shake off the feeling of rejection and the feeling of like, I'm not good enough and the imposter syndrome to finally not think about work and to get some perspective. Hey, friend.

[B]

Are you ready to pitch your artwork for art licensing? Then I have the thing for you. Presenting my brand new art licensing pitch Playbook. This free email course gives you everything you need to start pitching your artwork for licensing while leveraging your already awesome work into the next level of profitability and possibility. I'm going to teach you the five biggest mistakes that keep artists from crafting irresistible pitch emails, reaching out to their dream partners, pitching their work with confidence, gaining experience with collaborations, and building an art business that they love to run. So if you're ready to kickstart your art licensing business, visit artlicensingplaybook.com and I will send you my free five day email mini course. I can't wait for you to try it out.

[A]

And so you know, there's one version of this story which I share which is absolutely true, which is the vision board story. I'll do an entire episode devoted to this, but there is a version of this story where my sabbatical was the culmination of a vision board I made five years ago and all this hard work. And so eventually I was in Scotland, which is my dream place to be, sitting in my dream coffee shop, journaling, listening to a podcast. And it was like, oh my gosh, I am embodying everything that I ever visualized that I wanted for myself. But there was another reality, that taking this trip was because I was so burnt out and so exhausted. And so instead of getting to be triumphant in my sabbatical and my dream trip, my vision board come to life. I was lost. My identity was so tied up with my work, the things I had always done just stopped working. And I just wondered why. And I journaled about it a lot during my trip and I don't have an answer. Except now, in hindsight, I'll tell you that when I came back from my sabbatical, I was refreshed and recharged and had new clarity at other parts of my business. And my team can tell you I came back like a changed person. My friends can tell you I came back a changed person. And the momentum that I had in my business in all areas when I came back from my break was almost like otherworldly. It felt miraculous, to be honest with you. And what's even funnier is, no, I didn't get signed with a different agent when I came back from my trip, but all of a sudden, in the Last bit of 2023. Licensing opportunity. Licensing opportunity. Licensing Opportunity. One opportunity with one client that is going to just be phenomenal. The amount of work that we have licensed with them. I think we've done 10 collections since we first connected at the end of 2023. Maybe, maybe nine collections. But we're talking like the kind of thing that you dream of as a licensed artist. It finally came together. And you'll all get to see that work in 2025 whenever it's released. With licensing, you work really far ahead. And then the products have to be manufactured and sold to stores. It's a whole thing. And I teach all about this process, you know, and leverage your art. But what I can tell you is I don't know for certain, if I hadn't taken my break, if those licensing deals would have happened. Sometimes I think that when we want something so badly, we almost like strangle it. We'd like deprive it of oxygen. We want it so badly that it becomes all consuming. And in truth, like whenever we over care for things, sometimes, you know, they die. There's under caring and there's over caring. Like sometimes when I try to keep plants alive, you know, I. I think I'm doing a good job by watering them consistently. And then I'll find out later it was a succulent and watering it too much made it die. And so sometimes we think that the problem is we're not giving something enough attention. And sometimes we've given it too much attention, too much power. And so going back to the beginning of this podcast, I have this person I'm coaching and they are working so hard in their business, they are doing everything right. They have sacrificed. They're on it 24 7. And the advice I gave to them is based off of my own experience of overwork and burnout and maybe focusing and fixating. On something so much because you want it to work so badly and you've invested in it. I said, man, take a hard break, walk away for a couple of weeks. Don't even look at it. I don't even want to hear from you about your business for a little bit because it's time to rest, it's time to regroup. And whenever you come back, you're going to have new clarity because when you're tired, the work becomes harder. The things that used to be easy become excruciating. Right? Whenever you're exhausted, the idea of answering an email feels like it's all the brain power you have working on your portfolio. Who has time to work on their art whenever they are uninspired because they are overworked and unenthusiastic and honestly doubting the dream. So rest. So step away and rest. Step away completely. Lock up the computer, give your iPhone to someone and take a hard break from everything. I've learned this about myself. When I am starting to go on the verge of burnout, I ask my husband to hide my devices. Otherwise I will spin and spin because I like to work. My body is just trained at this point. It's so reflexive. I love progress, but progress at the expense of your own well being is not going to work in the end. It's not sustainable and it's not scalable. And honestly, sometimes I think that the universe closes doors to try to protect us from going to a place of no return where we're no longer able to take good care of ourselves whenever we are making messy mistakes because we're so tired. I was making so many mistakes before I took my two months off. It was like I was really thankful it wasn't worse than it was. And so taking a long break and then coming back at the goal with new fervor, with new focus, with new insight, that's my call for you. How many of you are where I'm talking about right now? You've been focused. You're doing everything right. The answer is not to throw it all out. The answer is not, oh my gosh.

[B]

This is not for me.

[A]

The answer is not that your work isn't good. The answer is maybe something else entirely. And it's not intuitive. It's take a break, go get outside, go create art. Not to sell, go on a trip, even if it's a staycation, drive somewhere, get out of your current environment. For me, I cannot unwind if I don't leave my house. I love my house. It's relaxing in so many ways. But when I'm in this place, my kids know and my family knows that Mama needs places to go for inspiration, for rest. So I don't get caught up in, like, I need to do the dishes and I need to clean up after my kids. Sometimes it's just a day of driving, going to Tulsa, which isn't far from us, to see family. You need that break. And whenever you come back, I want you to kind of be self aware enough to recognize if you feel any different. Did you have any aha moments? Did something just click? Did you get a new idea, a new approach, or. This is my favorite. Whenever you all of a sudden meet someone and the problem you had, a solution appeared right before your eyes because the universe brought you, the answer threw away, you didn't realize it. I always tell my team that what we need and who we need always arrives whenever we need it. And I can't tell you how many times in my art career, whenever I have been looking for the answer and I put it out there, I'm looking for the answer. Where is it? All of a sudden, out of the blue, out of left field, someone will come, drop some knowledge on me, or recommend a podcast that has the answer, or I'll stumble upon something that just makes it all come together. And that's where I think the universe is kind to us. I think so. And if you can adapt this mentality that what you need is always going to be there for you when you need it, and recognize whenever it's time for a break and actually take it. Not one of those fake breaks, you know, where we're like, oh, yes, I'm resting, but secretly I'm just scrolling Instagram and, you know, taking photos and, you know, doodling for my portfolio. Because rest has to be productive. No, not that kind. Real rest. It's what's going to get you regrouped so that you can go pitch that portfolio again with new clarity, so that you can create new, fresh art that has vigor and life in it. Because, believe me, your audience can tell whenever your art feels sad and stale. Gosh, if you'd seen some of the art I was making during my extreme burnout, it was like the saddest art. There's a lot of typography. Like, I'm so tired and I don't want to keep going with flowers all around it. Very optimistic. Totally would have sold right. Maybe people would have resonated with that. But that was a peek into where I was at. And I want you to claim Your personal power to take the breaks that you need to reset and regroup so that then whenever it's time, whenever you feel like you have fresh perspective, you can come back, and maybe that part of your business that's not progressing will all of a sudden progress. I want to know if you've ever had this happen. So if you'll do me a favor and go over to Instagram and on the post on Leverage youe Art for today, I'd love for you to share if you've ever had this kind of experience where things weren't working, you took a break, and then all of a sudden you had fresh perspective. And I want this for you. I want you to have balance, which is not perfect. I want you to experience breakthrough. But most of all, I don't want you to give up whenever things get hard, because it's going to keep getting hard, and you're going to have seasons of plenty, and you're going to have seasons where it's hard. I was listening to A podcast called 10% happier has a lot to do with meditation and mindset. And in the episode I listened to today, it asked, like, what? What is happiness anyways? There's this idea that in life, maybe people who are killing it, they're supposed to be happy all the time. And in truth, what they went on to say in this podcast is like, life is filled with these ups and downs. Like, we have to have the lows so that the highs feel more meaningful. And I hate feeling low. I want to feel good. I want you to feel good. But reminding myself what happiness truly is, it's not killing it and winning all the time. One of my favorite hype songs is All I Do Is Win, Win, Win, no matter what. You know that song? That's not reality. Reality is it's highs and lows. It's wins and losses. It's everything in between. And it's our job, as we're maturing as creative business owners, to recognize that, take the space that we need, and then come back stronger. All right, thanks for joining me for another episode of Art plus Audience. Do me a favor. Give me a little like and a follow and a review if you feel like it. I appreciate your support, and I'll see you next time.

[B]

Bye. Thanks so much for tuning in.

[A]

Hey, could you do me a favor?

[B]

Could you subscribe to this podcast and then share it with one of your best art friends? I'd really appreciate it. And then head on over to Instagram and follow me at the leverageyourart account, and you can keep up with all of our future episodes. Thank you so much for your support. It means everything to have you here listening and learning.

[A]

Bye.