Meet Shirley Kaci
Welcome back, my friend! Let’s continue our interview series with highlights from my chat with Shirley Kaci, a creative entrepreneur who is now working on her own clothing line!
Shirley is one of many students who have taken my mini course, From Doodles to Dollars®, and my signature program, The Pattern Design Academy®. Her story shows us the beauty of owning your creativity and your creative process. You’ll be inspired by how much attention she pays to every phase of her journey.
Grab the full transcript here or keep reading for a recap with key takeaways and highlights. The interview itself is over on my YouTube channel here. Please subscribe to my channel when you pop over there to watch it. That helps YouTube show my videos to more people.
Here’s what I learned from Shirley’s interview:
#1 – Know YOUR art.
You’ll notice that Shirley often describes her art as “bold”, “wacky”, or even “funky”. She owns these traits about her art and uses them to guide her creative process. For instance, knowing she likes really bold designs, she always prints her designs to see how they scale up.
Ask yourself: What inspires me? What am I always doodling? What types of colors and paint do I like to use, and why?
When you appreciate your art for what it is, you get to discover your signature style and define your creative process in a way that helps you highlight the traits you love most about your art. This will help you attract the audience that appreciates those same traits and wants to invest in your work.
#2 – Your art is not for everyone.
In line with knowing your art, it’s important to know who your art is for so that you know your target audience. Shirley says about her art that, “people that would really like our stuff are show people, you know, people that are on stage”. She also tells us how her mom never liked her art, but came to like her fabric.
This is a great example of how knowing who your art is for can give you confidence, especially when those who are not drawn to your designs are loved ones. It also illustrates how some people may not appreciate your art in one form (like on stationery), but may love your work in another form (like on fabric).
I encourage you to let go of the feeling that your art needs to please everyone, and tune into the community your designs are really for. These are the people who will encourage you, and the perfect target audience for your creative business.
#3 – One step at a time.
Throughout the interview, you get to see how Shirley acknowledges each phase of her journey. As she shows us her work, she says, “I’ve spent five years investing in all the testing. It's important that the quality is good if I'm going to try and sell, so now I'm at the stage where I really need to concentrate on marketing.” She recognizes the value of each step, and focuses on the next step to take.
This is super important because as artists and creative entrepreneurs, it’s easy to get excited and lose patience with the process, but we have to remember that progress takes time. I encourage you to celebrate every step, and be intentional about tracking your progress so that you stay grounded and confident in your journey. This will also remind you to have fun and enjoy each phase!
You can learn more about Shirley Kaci through her Instagram, @kacidesigns, and her website, kacidesigns.com.
To read more inspiring stories about students in #annesuniverse, pop over to my special “celebrate” page HERE. While you’re over there, join the waitlist for my signature program: The Pattern Design Academy®. Enrollment opens again in May.
Feel free to pop over to my YouTube channel to watch the video version of this blog. Please subscribe while you’re over there. I’d really appreciate and it makes a big difference for my channel.
Don’t forget to join me LIVE for my weekly Wednesday chat on Facebook. Every Wednesday. Noon pacific / 3pm eastern. Click HERE to bookmark my page.
Bye for now!
xo,
Anne
Dive even deeper into how to Craft a Career You Love in Surface Design by downloading my free ebook HERE.
Have fun and I’ll see you next week.
Remember,
It’s Never Too Late to Create®
If you enjoyed this blog please share it with your friends and family. Click your favorite social platform below. And join my email list for weekly creative inspiration and an invitation to our private Facebook group, Anne’s Art Club.
MEET ANNE
Hi…I’m Anne!
My creative inspiration comes from a lifetime of observation. I grew up in Paris on the Place St. Sulpice and walked to school through the Luxembourg gardens. And that was only the beginning… Learn more by watching the video on my About page.
