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

Lynette, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with a fun one – what’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

That non-profit arts organizations need to make a profit.

It can be incredibly challenging for arts organizations to be taken seriously as businesses. They’re often not expected to make a profit and instead must operate with a perfectly balanced budget year over year.

This thought pattern can lead to staff burnout, low pay, constant resets, poor infrastructure, heavy workloads, and an inability to plan for the future.

This all impacts the ability of the arts organization to grow and thrive, both in terms of its operations and in the eyes of the public. It creates a situation where the organization is stuck in a cycle of stagnation that can be difficult to break. This is internally and externally driven and creates a problematic growth situation, especially for micro and smaller arts organizations.

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?

I’m an accidental arts marketer. I began my career in data analysis in corporate America – a field I was passionate about due to the insights it provides into the world and behavior. But as a lifelong tap dancer and dance teacher, it didn’t take long for me to want to shift into something more creative. So, inspired by the shows I used to put on in my basement during my childhood. I started a volunteer-run non-profit performing arts group.

It was a blast…and an overwhelming amount of work. I loved it, and I loathed it. We were creating amazing art, but not enough people were seeing it. This was my side hustle, and I couldn’t get it to the next level alone. I knew what to do but didn’t have the money or staffing resources to grow. I kept spinning my wheels, and I burnt out, and after more than a decade, I couldn’t do it anymore, and we shut down.

During that same timeframe, I also shifted from the corporate world to the arts world for my day-to-day job. I ran a large ballet company’s marketing and communications department and had a decent budget. Oh, and did I make that thing work. I used my love of data and strategy to rework their marketing. And when I was there, we made huge strides in growth, all while keeping the marketing budget flat. The organization’s operating budget almost doubled in size, the marketing department did double in size, and we increased ticket sales by incredibly huge amounts (yes, all within that same expense budget).

But I kept thinking about the non-profit org I had closed and how many amazing arts orgs I’ve seen close during the pandemic. If only there was help. Someone that understood how different marketing non-profit arts is from all other forms of marketing. A resource to provide help during busy times but didn’t mean a full-time hire. Someone that could help shape an organization’s future and give them actual tactics and specifics on how to grow. That understood ticketing and box offices as well as fundraising and boards. To help stop the burnout. To help focus the work. To help the art reach more people.So, at the end of 2021/early 2022, I took a huge leap into the unknown. I combined my love of data, passion for the arts, and enthusiasm for arts marketing and started a strategic marketing and support agency. And it’s specifically for micro and small arts organizations. We don’t work with the larger arts organizations; they have and can afford other resources.

And it’s been non-stop ever since. This is so needed in the arts industry. We’re working to create resources for all levels of budgets.

I’m proud that we’ve grown so quickly. I’m proud that our clients are seeing tremendous growth in just a few months, and we’re doing good work. But I’m proudest that we’re helping foster more art in our communities, which is so needed in the world right now.

Confluence Arts Solutions has four main services:

Workshops and Training – From free webinars, Quick training videos, Complete plan-building courses, and even immersive workshops. Our goal is to provide an affordable way for arts admins and boards can get the training they need to grow their organizations.

Staffing Support – Sometimes, they need more help but can’t afford to hire employees. Do they need a marketing director, a graphic designer, a copywriter, help with digital services, and someone to cover while they’re on vacation? Our goal is to be seen as an extension of arts organizations’ marketing departments.

Coaching – Often, arts admins run the marketing departments, box offices, etc. And they don’t know what to do sometimes when things come up. Should they run a google ad or a Facebook ad, or is it better in the newspaper? When do they launch campaigns, and how much should they budget? The questions are never-ending. The goal is to be a resource they can talk to weekly to run questions, ideas, and thoughts. It’s like having a CMO without paying the full salary of one.

Planning – Arts staff and volunteers are some of the busiest people you know, and they sometimes need more time to research, document and plan effective strategies. And they don’t have it; they only have time to implement plans. So I do a deep dive and create the strategies and step-by-step plans for them. From content plans to subscriber loyalty plans and even just general show marketing plans. Whatever their individual organization needs to reach the next level.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think my reputation is built on having a growth mindset and not being afraid to share what I know and have learned about marketing the arts. I firmly believe that good art can shape the world and that there’s space for everyone to succeed. That’s why I’m
passionate about helping organizations strengthen their communities through art. On top of that, I’m good at what I do, and people have seen the results, so I’m sure that contributes as well.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

My greatest advice is to care about your team first. Not just about the work they do but about who they are as humans. What do they love, who do they love, what makes them happy, and where are they hoping to go in life? Then help them get there, even if it’s to your disadvantage.

I once had a one-on-one with an employee who told me her dream job was to run a film festival someday. I realized the position she currently held with me wouldn’t get her there, but I knew of a job that would help put her on that dream path. I encouraged her to apply while assuring her she would still have a job with me no matter what happened. When she did indeed get that job, did that mean I had to start the process over and find a new employee to replace the fantastic work she did? Absolutely. But guess who helped curate a film festival at her new job? She did, and that feels good. Her success is my success.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://confluence-arts.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/confluenceartssolutions/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynette-shy/