We recently connected with Tammie Bennett and have shared our conversation below.

Tammie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your creative career?

I’m currently a mindset coach for creatives and the biggest lesson I learned that helps me now is one that I learned as an artist.

The lesson I learned as an artist is that you have to put yourself out there more than you feel comfortable with if you want people to buy your work or interact with your art.

When I was in art licensing and later when I owned a stationery line, I put myself in front of buyers every single week. In uncomfortable ways. I showed at trade shows (NSS and SURTEX), I did craft shows (renegade), and I sent pitches over email and mail. I did this outreach vigorously.

I don’t know if it’s urban legend, but I had heard that about 2% of the people exposed to your work actually buy it.

So I looked at the number of buyers I wanted to have and did the math. That’s a LOT of people that needed to see my work if only 2% were going to buy it and I wanted to hit my goals.

I set out on a quest to put myself out there more times than I wanted.

Now my mantra to my creative clients is “be more you, more often, to more people.” What I mean by that is by showing up as your authentic self, with your authentic work, more often, to more people will bring success.

Tammie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

i’m tammie bennett, a certified mindset coach, podcaster, speaker, artist, and educator.

i was in art licensing for several years and worked with many companies like minted, mpix, chasing paper, deny designs and many others. then i decided I wanted to have more control over my art direction, so i started my stationery line called tigerpocket press. i designed the cards i wanted to see on shelves. My products were carried in over 100 stores across the US.

during the pandemic, i realized i missed interacting with people and coaching. (i had been a coach for over 10 years and i missed seeing people finding out what was possible.) i decided to help other creatives grow their businesses. i walked away from a successful and thriving stationery business to open up shop as a mindset coach for artists and creatives.

I am obsessed with helping creators show up as themselves, more often, to more people. For over 15 years, I’ve helped people accomplish more than they ever thought possible by teaching them to feel safe in putting their work into the world.

I frequently teach workshops for creative organizations including the Craft Industry Alliance, Proof to Product, and Contemporary Ceramic Studios Association.

when i’m not laughing with my husband and three teenagers, you can find me making awkward dance moves and finding things to celebrate.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When I started my coaching business, I reached out to 100 people to tell them I was a coach. I told them how I helped people and asked them to think of me if they ever needed coaching or knew anyone who did.

I got a few replies, but nobody signed up to work with me from those contacts.

I know that getting nos or no replies are part of a successful business. You HAVE to get nos in order to get yesses.

In fact, I had a goal of getting 100 nos many years ago when I started my art licensing business. I knew that if I reached out to enough people to get 100 nos, then I’d also have some yeses in there.

So, back to my coaching business, I kept meeting people and putting myself out in the world as a coach. I coached people for free, created a podcast, taught workshops, spoke to groups, and interacted with people on social media.

Now, less than 2 years later, I’m a fully booked coach with a waiting list.

You will always have some people who don’t want what you are offering. Keep going until you find the ones who DO want what you have to offer.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

There is one supremely important resource I wish I had known about earlier in my creative journey and it’s probably not what you think. That resource is me. My creativity. My ideas. My words. My instinct. Me.

We grow up in a world that teaches us to do what other people want. Parents, teachers, coaches, community leaders, elders, religious leaders, etc. We strive for grades, acknowledgment, rankings, scores, and approval.

I understand that for purposes of leading a group of 25+ kids in a classroom, this may be the only system that works. But somewhere in there, we lose touch with our inner voice.

In our quest to please the “authority” figures or “experts”, we silence the way we want to do it if it differs from what we are being taught. After years of ignoring OUR way of doing it, we teach our inner voice to remain silent.

We forget what methods work for us. We forget what we enjoy. We forget our art and ideas and creativity.

I recently paid $25k for a mastermind that I thought would have all the answers for growing my coaching business. I disagreed with almost everything the instructors taught me. But because I had paid a LOT of money, I tried it their way. I was miserable. And unsuccessful in terms of money.

So I left the mastermind and asked myself what I wanted to do to grow my business. What would feel good to me? What methods align with my values? What would be fun and doable and light?

I answered those questions and took action accordingly. And lo and behold, I made more money than I ever have and enjoyed the process more than ever. I helped so many people and experienced daily joy.

It was sort of Wizard of Oz moment. Everything you need is right in front of you. Actually, everything you need is inside of you. You are your best resource. You just have to trust it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://showupsociety.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/showupsociety
• Other: podcast – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-show-up-society-podcast/id1488375722

Image Credits
natalie kristeen