Today we’d like to introduce you to Terri Frohman

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?

I would like to say that I started my professional career in High School interning in the education space and already know at a young age I wanted to pursue a degree as an Art Educator. After graduating from SUNY New Paltz I continued a long and successful career as an Art Educator and Educational Mentor for over a decade at both the middle school and high school level in NYC & Newark NJ.

After a long and full career as an Art Teacher, I knew that I wanted to shift into professional development and coaching other Artists on their journeys to building a sustainable career as a professional artist. I knew first hand the path to becoming a freelancer wasn’t easy and after leaving Education I immediately jumped into a private screen printing studio and learned the tricks of the trade by starting my own community called Handmade in Brooklyn. I knew NYC was a place where I didn’t have to go far to reach the resources I needed to navigate selling my art and participating in popups.

Unfortunately, most fine art graduates can agree that the curriculum neglected to provide the support we needed to profit from our passion but I also knew I had the resources at my fingertips through constant networking at popups and openings.

Handmade in Brooklyn was the human resources we all needed as grown artists and makers. I facilitated our monthly meetups in my studio, brought in guest experts and hosted a very successful Creatives in Business Summit.

So, what led me into the Coaching industry?
The week the Pandemic shut NYC down (and the world) I leverage the excitement and open time to be on Social Media and began coaching my first client, who was a member of Handmade in Brooklyn.

The pandemic gave me the push to leave me side hustles behind me and truly commit to providing the professional education I had experienced and knew I could share with other Artists.

7 Years later and many different kinds of Artists, I have impacted the trajectory of Artists in Business by making it possible for them to pursue their dreams with support, knowledge and guidance.

At this moment in time, I am going back for my second Masters Degree in Mental Health to continue providing an incredible, transformative experience for my clients.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

Oof…well to be honest I am great at problem solving and thinking of my struggles as opportunities to experience something new.
The day I was let go from my teaching job, I had one week of full grief and depression and believed that all I had was teaching. I remember asking my sister, “I don’t want to teach and I feel like I have no other skills”.

I was burnt out, but I had a rude awakening when I realized my Art WAS the root of everything I had been doing for 15 years. Making art in collaboration with my students allowed me to continue my own creative expression, so it didn’t mean I had to stop doing that..

Two weeks on unemployment and I hopped into a Screen Printing class nearby, a day later became a full time member and rented out a tiny private studio in the Gowanus, Brooklyn. I completely dove into my art making, experimentation era as a mixed media artist and started selling what I was making immediately.

I hopped back into the childcare world and continued working with children to maintain some sort of income.

Smooth? When I look back, I was able to jump on me feet MUCH quicker than most people. I am not sure if it was my savvy New York Sagittarius self or if I was able to adapt to the realities of being a new freelancer.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?

I am an Artist in Business Coach, Mentor, Career Therapist for Visual Artists.
I support Artists in building sustainable foundation for their Arts Businesses through Private Coaching, Group Masterminds and Quarterly Office hours for on the spot coaching and problem solving as a community.

My favorite part about being able to Coach Artists from passion to profit is watching their immense growth and transformative approach to truly leading a life they have been visualizing and desiring for so long.

Watching them break free of any limitations and give up the starving artist mindset are proud moments that are demonstrated in their ability to market themselves confidently, show up on social media and share their talents with the world while being financially stable.

The most unique part about the services and support I bring to my art clients is that I have a background in Education, working Artist and Mentoring Adults early on in my career.

I chose to approach my new career 7 years ago by combining all of my passions to continue dismantling the limiting beliefs and stereotypes within the Art Community and outside, that being an artist is not a real career or not sustainable.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?

Downtime only means it’s time to recalibrate, get in tune with what you are truly meant to do on this planet and indulge in exploring a deeper meaning in your art practice.

I didn’t waste one second on leveraging all of this “free time” in lock down to focus on what matters, which was figuring out how to carve my own path.

I studied all of the shifts that were happening, learned more about business, took online workshops, learned as much as I could about the virtual space and observed all the ways the art community was shifting.

I created my business during this time.

Pricing:

• Artist Breakthrough Strategy Call: $350
• Artists Instagram Audit: $99
• Artist Breakthrough VIP Day (in person): $950
• Private Coaching (application based) Start at $8K for 6 Months

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.terrifrohman.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terrifrohman
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terrifrohman
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@terrifrohman
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/4jNvnlfxlkNWM3ZxO7gzfg?si=409511f27a6a43d9