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

Diane, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

“You can be a secretary” This was the only career option my high school counsellor could come up with for me. I knew that there had to be something else out there. Being obsessed with arts and entertainment, I literally picked up my Pat Benatar tour program and flipped to the credits. As soon as I saw “photographer” that was it, I was going to be a photographer. Now if only I had a camera.

You see, my career choice didn’t come from a love of photography, it came from my love of arts and entertainment. I was way too shy to be a performer myself. So photography and later makeup artistry were my ways of getting to be around the artists and performers I admired. I eventually accepted that I was also an artist.

During my 20 years as an arts and entertainment publicist my confidence grew as I was able to make a real impact on the careers of artists, musicians and actors. Now as a coach, I see that my purpose has been the same all along. To use my knowledge, skills and experience to help artists and creatives thrive in the arts.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Artists and creatives have the power to heal, transform and elevate lives. My Superfan Attraction Method empowers you to ditch self-doubt, maximize your talents and promote yourself with ease. So that you can make your impact.

During my two decades as an arts and entertainment publicist I have represented talents such as Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Farrell, South Africa’s The Parlotones, One Day at a Times’s Mackenzie Phillips, Pretty Little Liars Tyler Blackburn and hundreds more. I also represented films at major film festivals and visual artists at various gallery shows.

Five years ago I was struggling to get media coverage for my artist, musician and actor clients. Traditional media had downsized so much that there were fewer opportunities for the up-and-coming artists I enjoyed working with. Honestly, I began to talk people out of hiring me.

Having a strong and captivating personal brand is the most effective way to get the impact and income artists desire. But most of them didn’t know how to cultivate one. That’s when I realized I could make a bigger impact by coaching them through the process.

So I dove into every coach training I could find – from life and creativity coaching to business and marketing coaching. Then the next time an artist contacted me for publicity. I offered coaching first. Now I love connecting with artists on a deeper level and empowering them with personal growth, branding and PR strategies. I’ve also recently completed a Trauma-Informed Coaching Certificate.

As for publicity, I offer podcast booking as guesting on podcasts is the fastest way to establish yourself as an authority. 80% of listeners listen to all or most of every podcast episode they start so you are reaching highly engaged audiences in your niche.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I’ve had more than my share of creativity or spirit killers in my life. My high school counsellor told me that I’d never get the grades needed in chemisty, physics and algebra for the professional photography college program so I should choose another career. I went and got the grades and into that school. Then in that school I cried in the washroom between classes every day for the first semester because it was very challenging. The creativity killer instructor ripped apart everything I turned in so I started to believe him that I sucked as a photographer and looked into other careers for after I graduated. By second year with my belief that I wasn’t going to be a photographer anyways I started to find humour in his criticisms and started asking ok if it sucks how would you do it? “I don’t know, just not this way,” was his answer. In the end I was one of only 8 students that graduated.

That was just the beginning of my 3 decades as a creative entrepreneur. Absolutely nothing came easy for me, but I’m resourceful and never give up. The key is to figure out what you want and why you want it. That why will be the driving force behind your resilience.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’ve pivoted my career many times. Multi-passionate creatives understand that when we have an interest we dive in to learn everything we can about it. If the interest is a career choice we pursue it with unstoppable dedication. Then at some point we get bored with the first interest or discover a new interest to dive into. I was a fashion photographer that pivoted to become a makeup artist. After a short detour into journalism I pivoted into a music publicist and artist manager. Later I pivoted to add in actor, film, tv, arts publicity to my services. The most powerful pivot came when I transitioned into a creativity, personal branding and PR coach. I draw on all of those pivots in my coaching that is now trauma-informed. I love the stage that I am in, but I also look forward to whatever the next pivot will be.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dianefoy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dianefoyarts/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/superfanattraction
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianefoy/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DianeFoyArts
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqh4hRvU1xdj07zEj0HRHzA

• Superfan Attraction Playbook: https://dianefoy.com/freebie

• Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/2hnd6VFOACsg8yT3bMju1b