We were lucky to catch up with Casey Mccaughn recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Casey thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

It’s very difficult to support yourself in Southern California as an artist.
The cost of living is high, there’s a lot of competition and most artistic jobs barely pay minimum wage.
To sell your artwork in such a way that it’s profitable you really need to be able to attract a high end market and be able to have a conversation with the people who are willing to pay for art at its whole value.
To sell through a gallery or a website like Etsy you have to be prepared that they are going to take a large percentage of the asking price.
Also setting up online selling is frustrating and involves learning how to create listings and how the various sites work.
You have to take into account the additional costs of advertising, web hosting, shipping and the endless array of social media platforms where you need to maintain a presence, get followers and “Likes”.
You have to create a “Brand” and put it out there as much as possible.
For creative people there’s also the challenge of “Doing the Math” of knowing your cost of goods and profitability, doing budgets, keeping receipts and networking to keep your work relevant.
It helps to develop a cohesive style and what will ultimately be your “Body of Work.”
So much effort can be overwhelming.
It helps to read up on running a small business and social media or develop a relationship with a helpful extrovert.
Oh yeah, and the number one thing you need to be successful : LUCK.
The next best thing is a mentor who can help you get your foot in the door.

Casey, 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?

The number one skill of an artist is to be able to look at one thing and then make another one just like it. If a person has this skill they can do any number of things ranging from drawing a hyperrealistic portrait to doing DIY projects around the house. But you can’t let fear or stereotypes get in your way.

For me, there was never any question that I was an artist. Not that I was going to be an artist when I grew up or become an artist at some later date. It didn’t matter what else I did, I was always an artist in the way I did it.

Along the way I tried quite a few things. Acting (I’m a member of the Actor’s Guild), Singing (I’ve recorded with members of the Allman Bros.), Stand-Up comedy ( I’ve performed at the Comedy Store).

It was after trying so many things that I ended up trying Chainsaw Wood Carving. The chainsaw is a big heavy noisy tool mostly used by great big men who look like Paul Bunyan the lumberjack. So for a 5’2″ lady to pick up a saw and start making art, it definitely involved putting aside my fears and stereotypes.

What I liked about using the chainsaw was that it enabled me to make really large sculptures out of wood and much of the time you can pick up wood along-side the road for free. (Remember that Cost of Goods I told you about?)

I am most proud of my fourteen foot sculpture of Engineer Casey Jones in the Travel Town part of Griffith Park. This is a part of Los Angeles History and has been featured on the news several times. I am also proud of the chairs I made for Star Wars Mandalorian Season two, Episode 1 in the land of the Sand people. As well as the life size sculpture of Oprah.

When it comes to my “Brand” this has evolved over the years. Wood carving makes a lot of sawdust so I was thinking maybe I should put the word sawdust into my brand name. But Stardust sounded like so much more fun. After quite a few internet searches to find a name that nobody else was using I came up with “Casey Stardust”. I chose this name because it was available on X, Instagram and as a domain.

You can check out hundreds of things I’ve made over the years on my website: CaseyStardust.com.

What I’ve discovered is that if you just keep doing what you’re doing year after year, after a while it starts to add up.
If you keep bringing people happiness with your work, that’s a lot of good energy out there with your name on it.

Just Remember this:
You do not need a piece of paper
or anybody’s permission
to think things
You can think anything you want to think
You can learn anything you want to know
You can figure out stuff that nobody ever knew
There is NOTHING to stop you.
..Something to think about :)

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Most of my new business comes from my website. (CaseyStardust.com)

If you can afford to hire somebody to create a site, set it up for SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and then set up advertising such as Google Ad Words and if you want to accept credit cards you’ll need to set that up as well.

If you can’t afford to have somebody do it for you there are countless web hosts like WordPress, or GoDaddy that have their own little web designer that will let you do a simple site. There are countless videos on You Tube on how to do this.

For Google Ad Words, I believe they have customer service so just call them and they will get you started. It’s a big learning curve to learn about click thru rate and zip codes, keywords and demographics.

As for accepting payments there are numerous companies and an internet search will let you find them.

It’s a really good idea to set up a special checking account just for linking to credit card companies or payment services like Plaid or Amazon. Do not use your main checking account for any online service in case the site is hacked.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The best part of being an artist is what I call the “Glorious Victorious Feeling”.
That feeling when you finish a piece of art and it’s beautiful and it looks better than the vision and you lift your fist in the air and say “I did it!”.
That internal satisfaction is the best and most important feeling.
To feel that you have done your best and it came out great.
You don’t need approval or input from anybody else to enjoy this moment full strength.

It’s nice when other people say it’s great and you get recognition.
It’s really nice if you get a lot of money for it.
But, you don’t have any control over what other people think.
The most important person who needs to be happy with it is YOU!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://CaseyStardust.com
• Instagram: @CaseyStardust
• Twitter: @CaseyStardust
• Youtube: @CaseyStardust

Image Credits

All Photos were taken by Casey McCaughn. Usually by putting the camera on a tripod and then getting in the shot.