We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marissa Huber. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marissa below.
Marissa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?
I do have a regular job. It’s part of my story and I genuinely love my job. I’m a consulting director focusing on workplace strategy, change management and experience and culture. I help companies figure out how to make their office places and hybrid strategies work better for their people, teams, and positively impact the company. It’s why I’m also interested in coaching, and helping others to find their passion – whether that is a side gig or passion project or their actual career.
I have an interior design background and had a job that was not as fun for may years. Creating art, and doing passion projects like starting Carve Out Time for Art (www.instagram.com/
As time went on, the side gigs of my art, art licensing, and creative community pursuits grew bigger than me, and influenced how I view my corporate consulting job. I have brought skills learned from TikTok and Instagram to use storytelling on video to help corporate clients, marketing from social media to apply to how I communicate on projects, and presentation skills honed from teaching a course or being a guest speaker on podcasts or at colleges.
If you have a regular job and think you can’t do both – my answer is yes you can. It is not going to look perfect like Instagram (but is that really real?!). But it is possible and can be yours. Look at the lives of artists along the ages, and you’ll see how many had dayjobs and did their work. Mason Currey’s book “Daily Rituals” (https://www.masoncurrey.com/
My advice as a coach who specializes in this — just start somewhere and set yourself up for success with small goals. Toni Morrison wrote books in the morning. Henri Rousseau was a customs clerk. And I know plenty of artists who did what they loved full time, and it felt like too much pressure to produce versus create what they wanted if they had a stable income. I’m lucky I support my family with my career, and whatever I make can be on my terms which works for this season of my life.
I am not saying that every creative should have a dayjob or career. I think it’s great when people make art their full time living (one of my former clients is pursuing it!). I’m just saying that it is not the ONLY way to create art or be creative and happy. There are so many ways to live a life, and your job is to find the things that make you happy, light you up, and give you meaning.
Marissa, 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?
I’m an artist who also has a professional career as a Consulting Director and side hustles in coaching, art licensing, occasional brand partnerships on social media and writing. What’s unique about me is that I make it all work, in addition to having 2 young children and I like to show the behind the scenes, imperfections, and the humor in it all.
In my artwork, I focus on painting, collage, and digital art. It’s all very colorful, and usually connected to memories, the meaning in our everyday life, hope, frustrations, and beauty in color and pattern. I sometimes make things very simply, but also love to sketch, draw, try new things, and hone my skills. It may be different, but it’s usually colorful!
I’m most proud of doing the work. It’s not always easy to find time, energy, or inspiration for art making — but I’ve been creating consistently since and more intentionally since 2015. I’ve made a ton of friends on Instagram that have become good friends and collaborators in real life, have built my confidence, and found my path. I love helping others figure out their own unique path as well, and got my coaching certification in 2022, so that I can better serve the artists in our “Carve Out Time for Art” community of 33K on Instagram, and others like me.
I’d like my potential clients and friends and collectors to know that art is something that can mean something to all of us. Life is short, and sometimes difficult. Having small moments or reminders of the beauty of it all is healing and helps fill our lives and homes with joy.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
Yes! As mentioned previously my corporate consulting job focuses on helping people find more fulfillment, and usually it makes a big difference if they have something meaningful in their life that they enjoy doing. I think that everyone is creative — to be a human is to be creative. We are problem solvers, resourceful, and have the ability to learn from experience, history, and others. I’d tell others who don’t get it – that when those of us with a hardwiring to create don’t get a chance to do it, it feels like our light has been dimmed. Insert an example of whatever it is you like doing (golf, running, baking?) and how you feel when you don’t get to do those activities.
For art making and creativity – I don’t think it’s only for people born with innate talent. Many likely have a proclivity, interest or disposition. But I think we discount the work and dedication needed to hone those skills and learn. Do you want to learn to draw? Go draw. Practice, enjoy it! Remember not everything has to be “scalable” or profitable to be worth it. Start a creative hobby if you want to and enjoy that it’s just for fun – same way as you may tennis lessons or taking a pasta making course. Creativity and play is for everyone – please join us!
A fine dining experience and exquisite meal. A film that makes you cry. A comic that makes you laugh so hard your sides hurt. The music that makes you feel connected to everyone at a show. A book that makes you change your perspective. A painting that makes you gasp – and feel transported to someone who made it hundreds of years ago. They wayfinding in an airport that helps you find where you’re going and makes you feel inspired thanks to a designer or architect. The music that gives you the chills when you watch a film or a video.
Need I go on? But I’ll focus on one last thing. Hiring artists and creatives helps people on teams see things in a different way. As a consultant, I work with many people who have a lot of analytical and data experience. That’s an incredible skillset to have. However, one of my super powers as an artist that I bring is my ability to work within the nebulous areas. A project we don’t know how to tackle yet? Put me on that. As an artist, I’m frequently figuring out how to get to the next step, how to solve the next problem in a painting or a digital drawing. We always figure it out, and we are comfortable in the uncomfortable, and have the confidence to know we will make it out. We can translate data and visualize it, so that people can understand things more intuitively. We can make things happen, and we’re usually a bit fun, playful and know where the cool spots are.
I hope one person will read this and realize how much the arts impact our world, and that they themselves are more creative than they think!
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Being an artist allows me to be myself, and experience, see, and respond to the world in my own way. It makes me feel peace, experience flow, and feel like my whole body can breathe deeply. If I’m cranky, frustrated, or feeling crappy, making something with my hands boosts my mood the same way taking a walk or laughing may.
Calling myself an artist was not always an easy route – there was a lot of doubt, comparison to others, and thinking I wasn’t good enough. Perhaps my 40s and just life…and doing the work — showing up, consistently, and being brave and doing it for myself — that shifted things. It just feels good to make the things I want to for me and enjoy it while I’m on this planet.
The alternative is that if you have the yearning to create and you ignore it, it’s awful. I hope one person reads this and goes and buys some art supplies just for fun.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.marissahuber.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/marissahuber.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marissahuber/
- Other: www.carveouttimeforart.com https://www.mbgreene.com/collections/work-of-heart