Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Vanessa Thayer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Vanessa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been one of the most interesting investments you’ve made – and did you win or lose? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

The best investment I’ve made is choosing to continue learning well after my four years at college. In fact, that was just the beginning of my path to where I am now. I believe education is the one thing that you can never have too much of.

After finding a strong yoga community when I moved to Tampa, FL I became intrigued by their yoga teacher training program and the self discovery that it promised. It was a steep investment both time and money. However, I felt confident in making it, because I knew the outcome would be far more worth it. In 2016 I enrolled in a 200 hour program, which led me to standup paddleboarding and SUP yoga training, multiple Reiki workshops, and most recently an additional 300 hour yoga teacher training program.

Yoga changed my life and how I view everything, especially creatively. Though I’ve always known I’ve wanted to pursue a career as an artist, I draw (pun intended) from my collective training as a yogi to create all my work.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Most days you’ll find me my studio space, moving from computer to yoga mat to easel in no particular order. As a multi medium creative over-thinker, I find painting can be sort of a meditation for my busy brain. It’s a great way to process emotions, problem solve, and just allow myself to stop thinking, and move from an intuitively creative space.

I began my first professional career as a Graphic Designer with a love for typography and a passion for branding. I also taught Hatha yoga and marketing for yogis for many years. And now, two kids and a pandemic later, I needed to get creative with how I can help support my family. Being a mama first, my husband and I knew that me going back to a 40 hour work week wasn’t the best fit for our family any longer.

After squashing some serious self limiting beliefs around the title, I’ve been working on a new chapter as a professional solo Artist. I create unique and striking logo designs for growing entrepreneurs as my bread and butter. However, just when I thought teaching yoga was off the table, I recently began to offer workshops that incorporate yoga with meditative and creative techniques to allow your inner artist to come out. It is a hands on workshop in which we will dive into removing obstacles that allow us feeling stuck or blocked creatively. Anyone can benefit from this experience, even if you’ve never called yourself an artist.

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I think my goals will change often and will need to change often to stay interesting and interested in what I do. I can say that a lot of my passion to begin creating again comes from an emotional place that many can relate to. What I began to realize is that a lot of people can benefit from using art or yoga to move and process emotions that are stuck in our bodies. Everyone has emotions, but not everyone has the tools to process them. I thrive on helping people by teaching them some of these tools.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think the best way to support artists is to literally do just that. Show your support! In anyway you can. If it’s not making a purchase, than its liking or sharing a post, or telling a friend about a local artist instead of getting that same gold framed geode print from that big box store that everyone else has.

Contact Info:

• Website: vanessacohenthayer.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vanessathayer_
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VCTArtandDesign