We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Paula Telizyn a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Paula, appreciate you joining us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

My company’s name is Better Than Cheese. It sounds daft, I know, but it’s also a name that sticks. You see, I help visual artists, specifically painters, create thriving and profitable businesses. Essentially I help them become powerful artists, which makes them better than cheese.

Ok, so I might have a thing for cheese, we’re not going to look too closely at that, but I also have a thing for visual artists. Art brings us together, it transforms ideas, it makes us feel things, it reminds us about what it means to be human. We need as many thriving artists in this world as we can possible get, considering how upside-down recent years have felt.

Paula, 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?

As an entrepreneur for 23 years now, I know how to set up and run a variety of businesses. This made it so much easier for me to go full time as a painter. So when I had my accident, which suddenly left me unable to paint, I pivoted to teaching artists how to set up and run profitable businesses. It kept me in the field I loved, and still love, and it turned my tragedy into something positive.

For several years now I’ve run online classes, done private mentoring, and group coaching and written books on the business of art. My passion and goal has been to get more artists in this world, earning good money. Considering how upside-down the 2020’s have felt, art is a good reminder that there’s hope for humanity. Art brings us together, it transforms ideas, it makes us feel things, it reminds us about what it means to be human.

I’m proud to say that I’ve helped hundreds of artists master marketing and get their message clear so that they sell more art without having to go through third parties like galleries. The biggest compliment I get is when an artist doesn’t need me any more. I’ve done my job and they are soaring.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients for me is word of mouth. I get most of my new clients from existing clients. I run a business based on integrity and ethics and it comes through with every referral I get.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I became a full time artist later in life. It took a dramatic mid-life crisis for me to claim my place as a portrait painter. And then I had a catastrophic accident which left me unable to paint for a few years. This happened, as accidents do, without warning. I had no backup income, no family to support me and I was a single parent. I had to pivot fast.

Since I couldn’t paint, could barely type, I knew I had to do something online and on video. I started up an artist mentoring business and proceeded to teach as many people as possible how to set up and run a thriving and profitable art business. It’s what I’m still doing, even though I could go back to painting. I never would have believed that the devastating accident could actually lead me to create a business I loved so much.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://betterthancheese.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/better.than.cheese/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterthancheese
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulatelizyn/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ipKhGYtQqRCswIPyUutzQ
• Other: My podcast on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4yKImwGijUktbN28DBNVkp