We were lucky to catch up with Juliana Naufel recently and have shared our conversation below.

Juliana, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

As soon as I graduated in 2018 I started working as a full-time art teacher, a path that I thought it would be a more reliable one to take – I’ve always heard that you were either an art teacher or you were born rich to work with the Arts – don’t get me wrong, I come from a family of educators and it was still something that I felt passionate about. The biggest challenge for me was the lack of support in the Institution that I worked and how that environment that I was working affected my mental health during the 2 years that I was there. While teaching, I was finally acknowledging myself as an artist and starting to put myself more and more, having group and solo shows nationally and internationally.

One day I was listening to the Arts and Cocktails Podcast and I resonated a lot with guest speaker Michelle I. Gomez, an Art Coach focused on Inner Work and Business for women. It turned out that she was about to launch a new Mastermind Program and I knew right away that it was something that I needed to be a part of. The challenge was that the investment was a scary one for me back then, specially being Brazilian and my income back then being 100% in reais and the program being in USDs. I was grateful to have been awarded a partial scholarship to attend the program and I decided to bet on myself.

During the mastermind I opened my eyes on different ways and possibilities to make a living with my creativity and reframed limiting decisions regarding being an artist and making money with it. I returned this investment throughout that time-frame and felt called to take a leap of faith and making other changes that would fulfill my life more. I decided to quit my position as an art teacher to do an MA abroad and on the day I told my boss I was invited to 4 different exhibitions nationally & internationally – it was like the stars were aligning and it was a sign that I was making the right move. With a lot of anxiety and a lot of faith at the same time, I started running Naufss Studio full-time while I was waiting for the MA to start. Life showed me that it had other plans for me and even though I didn’t do the masters I was hoping to do, I started running a successfull small business, always keeping in mind that if at any time I needed to change change paths again I could. That was January 2020, and I’m still surprised and amazed by how taking these two risks of investing on myself and quitting a full-time job would change my life forever.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hello! My name is Juliana Naufel and I’m a Brazilian manifesting generator, multi-passionate creative and artpreneur. In 2016 I found my voice with embroidery and since then I have been exploring and studying the endless possibilities of embroidering photographs as a way of making amends with the past, healing traumas and using it as an empowering tool for inner work that assists you to rewrite new stories and to create a new reality for yourself through the use of empowering embroidered affirmations.

Without realizing, I was using my art practice as a tool to help me cope with challenges of daily life and also to promote more well-being into my life. Making art can be a lonely process and being a part of a community and connecting with others led me to start offering group workshops – the most surprising aspect of it was that more than 200 people worldwide told me that embroidering photographs was a healing and uplifting experience for them after attending the workshops that I was hosting. This brought me a sense of responsibility and made me want to study more and learn more about art and healing, and that made me become a certified Art Therapist and write the first book ever about the subject: “Stitching Photographs: A Powerful Act”. At this moment, I work remotely with clients from all over the world in 1:1 and group settings. My focus is working with women that are seeking more connection and that are willing to learn to take better care of themselves with the assistance of their creativity, to live life with more ease even during tough seasons of life.

My urge to share my art with others made me learn to create my own opportunities and also follow my own unique path that is different from everyone else’s. By showing up and believing that my message is worth sharing with the world, I was able to have my work exhibited in more than 10 countries and collected by Museu das Bandeiras, Brazil, Taube Museum of Art, USA, The Wonders of Women Museum, USA and The Kanyer Art Collection, USA, and other private collectors from all over. That still feels surreal and also led me to a leadership role in my community, showing other artists, especially young, queer, latina women that it is possible to be seen and live a creative life while running a sustainable art business. A couple of times a year I offer a mastermind group program for artists where we focus on business strategies, inner work and well-being, and I also open a few slots a year for 1:1 art coaching.

My mission – whether it’s with Art Therapy, Creative Coaching or Artworks- is to uplift and inspire others, spreading messages of hope and reminding everyone that no matter how hard our past was, there’s always a chance to move forward with grace and to create a new story for yourself. We’re all here to connect with others, to feel that we belong and to honor how unique each of us is and use our gifts to support a better place not only for ourselves but also for the ones around us.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Absolutely! It is hard to pick just a few, but I would love to share some of the most impactful ones on my business and mindset/well-being.

The Creative Business Handbook: Follow Your Passions and Be Your Own Boss by Ekaterina Popova and Alicia Puig – everyone should read it! Wheter you’re just starting your business or looking to expand your current one this book is the perfect guide for you.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert – this book is a love note to the creatives out there and it will definitely inspire you to keep showing up to your creativity wheter it is for your businness or way of living

You’re a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero – if we don’t heal our relationship with money, it is practically impossible to thrive as a business owner.

Colour Me Happy!: See your everyday ordinary as extraordinary by Brandi Hofer – this book is not necessarily related to business, but it has relevant questions that will make you think about how you want to live your life, what are some of your priorities and how we can enjoy more little ordinary moments.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I believe that we can grow a lot as a society when it comes to nurturing and creating a thriving creative ecosystem. The first step would be demystifying that creativity is only for the “chosen ones”. As humans, we are inherently creative beings – we are constantly looking for new ways to solve problems, overcome adversities, finding different ways of expressing ourselves whether is in writing, speaking, making art, picking the clothes that we’ll be wearing or just the way that we choose to look expressing our personalities or evene the food that we want to cook and eat, bringing different ingredients and flavors together. The second aspect that we could change is demystifying the image of the struggling artist/creative. Art and creativity absolutely can help cope with the challenging seasons, but you don’t have to be in pain or suffering to be creative or produce your best work of art. Actually, you are usually more creative and ideas flow with more ease when you have a great environment that nurtures you and when your nervous system is relaxed.
The same goes to artists and creatives struggling financially – regardless of the path that you choose, there will always be people thriving and making a lot of money on it or having a hard time and not making enough income out of it, there’s definitely not a rule that makes 100% of the people succeed or fail on the path that they choose, and it is so unfair to keep promoting limiting beliefs that artists cannot make it unless they are already rich. If we educate ourselves on these three topics, things will definitely change for the better for everyone.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.naufss.com
• Instagram: @naufss | http://instagram.com/naufss
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliana-naufel/
• Other: To collect my work: https://www.pxpcontemporary.com/collections/juliana-naufel https://kobbigallery.com/

Image Credits
Personal Photo: Laryssa Fraga