Lessons

Lesson Info

The Artists Journey

Would you come up here and sit in the hot seat, please? Burning bush, in which your website bush voice voice, church, church dot com that come to okay, where did that come from? Voice church. Yeah, what's the what's the basis of that. Um, well, as we work together, I I it's funny I was having resistance a lot of resistance to this because I was brought up in church and I thought, oh, you know, church people are going to live here just explain to your father, my father, my father was a minister and, you know, and then you bring up church, people have a whole lot of stories around it, like money you and I have stories to. So, um, I thought, well, wouldn't this be great if, for me this is what I do is all about the voice and, you know, my my unique proposition, the value proposition for me was bringing community get community community together through voice like, yeah, like a church so they boys church that's it so that's kind of how it got developed. It was so simple, but I thought, you...

know, I thought it's gotta be more than that any more complicated that's sometimes it's the things that just are so simple, like that's it you know because that's the truth truth that's who that is the truth of who you are that's the truth of your history that's the truth of tradition musically and and growing up the pretty powerful father in hysteria and I had you know, for me I had a really great experience growing up in the church cause for me it's all about community and it was all about thinking it was all about because it was from, you know, gospel traditions that was really lively and it's very um it was for me as a kid was fun, right? So that is that is what like I've been to some of vernon's gospel sing along you don't have to say and I don't know gospel music and it really is a way to gather together in an experience an immediate heartfelt community and so it's completely reflective of who you are as a person and so your missions the mission is that was that proverb where do you come? Where did you come come across that african problem um my kind of my travels to south africa um if you can speak, you can sing and I and the other part of that is you can walk you can dance and it's true it's true and in the african culture that's what it's really about it was so immediate that, um everyone sings, even if you don't sing, and I encountered kids, kids that I taught that didn't really like the voice, but inside of the community, they could sing inside the community and feel okay, well, yeah, they felt safe, just like in american community, just like growing up in church was the same thing people like, I don't have such a great voice, but they knew in community that oh, yeah, totally oh, yeah, like I could do that, so I'm gonna give you a little inside scoop, so I did it. I did a seminar in berkeley, and vernon came to my seminar, and after the seminar, he said, and then you have a great voice. You, you know, you probably be a good singer, is that which is good? And remember what I said? I lied about not you wouldn't. I said I would rather swallow a chair thing saying out loud in front of other people, because the thought of singing actually just terrified me, and I never thought I could sing and every thought I've never thought of it. If I have a voice, I can sing, and actually, vernon, help me get past some of that so on dit was very emotional, and it was certainly way more value than just learning how to thing or hit notes but technique of it it was like the technique was secondary to the emotional breakthrough is actually the value that comes out of it for me and I know for the other students that you have so that so that I mean so that's really you know, your mission and your value proposition you see what it's really true to his values right? It's really who I am I mean it really came out of because I professional singers I sing and it comes out of my being so present when I'm singing that people get like oh how does he do that? And my thought was all right it could do that it was like it was so like but that doesn't donna so yeah who's seen a gospel choir just just who's seen a gospel choir just you know, on fire who's seen it so if you go to glide memorial church, you'll see vernon there and I mean, who doesn't want a piece of that right like that that's you know that's amazing that's amazing joy and you help people access translated through me this is what this's what I personally do you have to be present when you're president you get all that get all the joy inside of me so the pain is the pain it solved is what um it's sort of the alleviation of people stuck nous you know, people get stuck with the story of I can't sing and I I feel like everyone concerning you were given a voice when you were a baby you cried that singing it's another form of singing right but it's a it's a the inside the cry it's an expression of your being righteous why the baby cries because they're trying to express so I feel like in terms of singing or in terms even speaking it's an expression of what you're trying to be and what you're trying to say to people, so so much so my experience of what year? The pain that you're solving is that you peel off the layers you peel off the emotional stuck nous right that keeps people from expressing not just their unique voice vocally but frankly it's emotions just actually expressing their emotions and that is I've had that experience myself and I have a friend who also took one of your lessons and she's also experienced this where she feels like she's freer to express her emotions. So can you take your scarf off it's great, but it's looking like all right is live alright so well we're three top success is just off the top of your head three top successes completing the website and the mission statement of voice church so for a voice church dot com voice rich dotcom it was um, it was a wrangling for me because I had to fight. I mean, I was fighting it. Were you fighting? Um myself? I was fighting, like, who I am, and it was so I'm well, that's you and it's, like, I don't know, it got me like, yes, you know, I was present for this. I can't. So yeah, it was that was the struggle of really accepting this is who I am, it's, almost like you were just saying about going back around, going through the whole yellow brick road and then redefining and realizing, like, oh, my god, that's, not me, but it was the opposite. It was like, that is me that difference. So, really understanding what? You know who you are years and what you stand for, I think also what you stand for, what was another big, big, big success that you experience the website. Understanding a mission was a third one big success for you. Um, I think, it's, I think one of the big things I didn't hp hewlett packard ad featured what I want my mission was, and it was totally by accident. I didn't. It was one of the one of the guys who was doing the filming for that, they I knew who I was and you know you'd be great doing this and I got tio was one of eight people around the world that got to speak about my own mission was like, wow, I get to speak about what giving out really an accident not right on you negotiated to use that that's what I negotiated to use because basically I didn't really make any money off of it. I negotiated kind of footage for my mission because everything I was saying in the in the ad was me was like, this is money basically got a commercial films for free a really high quality when you could see that a voice church dot com off so what's one of what's what's one fat failure you've experienced in the past recent recent was putting all my energies into a workshop and no one showed that was like feel good yeah, yes, yeah okay and I think it was a lesson in that, um that I had to rethink what is it that I'm not doing? Um and what was it that you were not doing? Have you figured that out? I haven't you know? Okay, I still haven't figured it out. Okay? And what was not another fat failure uh, anyone, uh e think sometimes that following through yeah, you mentioned that earlier, okay, not following through what is there a lesson in there for you um when you haven't followed through yeah you don't get your results you don't get what you're trying to get you don't get do you have against you get have you gained any insider any perspective on why you don't follow through sometimes um la atmosphere a lot of its fear of getting exactly what you want I think that's okay I mean I I've lived with it for a very long time and and that's the artist have hid there's parts of certain parts of my artistry that I'm just now beginning doing this work for voice church that I'm really starting to open up like wow this's I've been closed off of this thing for a long time I think you're I think you were traumatized so vernon was in whitney houston's first major music video and he couldn't go anywhere without being recognized right and it flipped out a bit they freak me out thank you for it right now because well I think a lot of it was it scared me because it was like one minute she was the one who she was in the next minute it was like everybody it was I was living in new york at the time and everybody was stopping me I just and it was like overwhelming like I wasn't even the star person and yuri are you really able tto deal with it? Yeah table tio to deal with it, but I also put a sort of little fear myself on my do I really it made me think when all this recognition, right, which comes with your success. Okay, so I just want to finish what you have one piece of parting advice from what you've learned so far. Would you tell her what would you tell the younger version of your self? Um, I would say, don't give up, don't this is part of the process. It's really, you know, it's, actually the fun part of it, because once you get there, you realize why I did all that, you know, even the bad stuff like, oh, you can laugh about it every time when you get to a certain place in your life and you look back on it. So funny, but it was it was timing, no colour on you laugh about it, and you realize that that is as you're going through life, that is part of the process, right? You know, for all of us, it is part of the lions on the tires in the bear's, oddly enough, otherwise you'd be a boring, spiraling lock rate down the yellow room, but brick road, right, so don't give up, persist, thank you so much hope. You're learning from what I have to say but I hope you're also learning from what other artists have to say and they're all at different stages of development and experience right now have something to contribute to the conversation and it's really you guys are very generous and sharing that just your time but just your experience I really appreciate it and I'm very proud of burning bush and his website vernon vernon voice that keep getting the two confused voice dash church dot com here in san francisco go to glide memorial church cm but I really want to get lessons changes things quite significantly alright so next up we have a google hangout prepared and um colleen colleen hi colleen thank you so much for coming then we're going to the year where can we find you online you confine me under my name colleen terra dotcom thank you alright colleen you know when before you and I started working together when someone would say hi collie nice to meet you what is it that you do? How would you answer that question? I used to say that I was a green artist and I kind of left it at that I might have added the word happy so I don't know what that means but then okay now how when someone says hi colleen nice to meet you what is it that you d'oh what do you say now and then I say that I'm an ico artist and that I use salvaged materials and reclaim materials and I turned them into healing and joyful art okay great all right does that give you a little more sense of what she does okay all right. So colleen what's your if you described in your mission what would how you describe your mission monkish in an is tio form partnerships that allow me to transform materials and nobody sees any value in it in and actually make a emotional connection with people while at the same time doing something healthy environment okay and it could go to her website she does just that and she has formed brilliant strategic partnerships with material is gonna wind up in the landfill otherwise right so you get your retention smart getting material gets her materials for free right so yeah so we talk about your unique value proposition what would you say what you said how you how you what unique value do you offer? I think the fact that I'm taking materials that have absolutely no value I'm offering people hope and transformation andi andi I think that really goes a long way with people that I serve and their artistic on their very eager reminded there on a path of personal development so the story and how I go about getting these materials and then what happens after is important to them right? So it resonates with their values and that's so that's a very specific target market if you look at some of the words here thrive and explore their all positive affirmative where there are people they are words that actually support someone on a personal development journey right really resonates with that tribe of people okay all right so great so we got a good sense of what colleen is up to and she's doing very very well very very well I'm very proud of you calling because you and I started a long time ago and you've just done so well and you just kept you've been consistent and persistent all along the way so that is amazing and that's why I've invited you because it's inspiring thank you thank you. What I want to ask you just real quickly is what what did you say your what's your number which top three successes I think my first six success was when I was one of seventy artists in a two million square foot hospital and there were were seventy artists they were fine major permanent installations and I has seventy foot installation in the hospital and that really changed things changed things for me too because I worked on it for a year and a half and personally I just proved to myself that I could pretty much do anything it taught me a lot about planning about partnerships you know about showing up on and really showing up on time right I think it also saw you that that success enable you to see yourself differently and maybe in a bigger way, right? Yeah, it definitely did and threw that success and I was able to go and get grants and get other business just because I have proven that I could do that I can do that sort of work we'll be number two but was number two six no, you would have to say are the words that I script because in order to do that I worked with the company and they say the scrap material for me and it would have had no value they had anyway but as you pointed out, I'm not paying for the material but I am paying for every single cuts we'll have this material that had no barry but now it has value to both of us and I'm going to say in the past two months I've gotten about I think a little over two hundred orders for these words and because it's crap I cut two of each one. So now what I'm doing is I'm taking ah the extra word and I'm donating that to schools and shelter, so I just keep finding ways to make the materials work and it just makes me feel like I like I'm doing something I'm doing something yeah, so you're also what's that you're doing is you're also employing goodwill marketing yeah okay number three number three real quickly what would be three is I'm going to be in the national station or show and have a card line coming out and I'm really excited about that okay? Quickly again three fattest failures uh imagine trying to do everything myself. Um really overscheduling myself is a huge one for me saying yesterday too many things okay, number two status failure I'm sorry what was your number two status failure b um actually well, I'm sorry. You know, I gave them so quickly and I gave them all to months but I think my first one I'm not even sure now the order that I gave to you but was very what's whatever springs to my right just just trying to do too much myself yeah thinking I could do everything on right you know, emotionally just get shot, right? Yeah. Okay that's a big time management in prior prior to prioritising is a big challenge for a lot of us were going to talk about that tomorrow in the late last segment some tactics and some strategies to howto make that better. So so I cast the other thing. All right, so where were we at number two in terms of give a third challenge failure you know what I mean? I'm sure we can all name so many more than three so I can call another one you know, not having the paperwork when I'm dealing in big projects with people may be having an existing relationship and feeling as if I didn't need that signature on the dotted line I learned very quickly and it yeah, you needed your rules and you needed the rules and right and will signed and then way you you pay a price, right? Yes, yes, that was a lesson that you learn from that and what? And, you know, it sounds like the lesson you learn from not managing your time or your priorities is that if you don't, you're going to suffer emotional burnout. Is that right? Yeah, yeah, you know, you can't do everything well and so right now and great people doing my website and I don't put any of my own products on my website just something like that really awesome shipper, you know, people that surrounded that can pick up slack for may that understand what I'm about and are like minded as faras, environmentally conscious and that sort of thing. So again, you don't succeed alone and, you know, you share values with these people, the people that you work with, and so I'm sure that makes it a joy to work with them because you share the same values. Hey it's, syd really important for green because you want to make sure that like my shipper he's using the materials that I wanted to use to use so much material, stuff like that so you know you really I mean you really stick into this there's no greenwashing going on brainwashing is a term where we're just playing lip service to environmental consciousness, but there's really not there that's really not the case entirely, but I know colleen and it truly is everything is very mindfully, thoughtfully done in her entire process of manufacturing and her entire also your process with your with even your relationships you know the children hospital, right? So that residents with values what's one piece of parting advice that you would give tio people are I know it's hard just one piece of advice like you mentioned two of my favorites already, but I think something it's really meaning be impact on me is having one friend a very close friend who is also an artist. We were very, very differently she's got very good values are not in competition, we understand each other and we constantly was left each other on I don't know what I'm doing out heather wea we need to tweak and she keeps me on task and a little bit colleen because we could just keep you out of your face you want a hero my entire practice okay okay so this is so she's kind of like a mastermind buddy it sounds like you for my master mai's her yeah absolutely so I talked about that throughout that you've got you know, find your find your partner, find your mastermind your advisory board whatever it is you want to call it but you won't succeed by yourself you'll get there faster if you have help and it sounds like you've helped each other quite a bit yeah, I would say that when we look back over a year we made some major steps and I don't know that we would have made them without each other. Okay, so colleen I want to thank you so much for your time and sharing I appreciate it just give a shout out real quick your website again colleen a terra dot com okay that's wonderful and you just relaunched right? I did idea spread new like I haven't I haven't I haven't had an opportunity to see it, but I'm definitely going to check it out. And one of the things that actually colleen emailed me this morning and we were talking about you talked about your website structure and the home page is actually a shopping cart page so that people can immediately don't go through some long preamble about who you are and what you what you offer the world and you know you actually dive right into the shopping cart and that's, very smart from an online e commerce from an e commerce perspective. So with that, thank you again. Thank you.