By
Katherine Suarez
We have so many interests, and we have so many different untapped worlds, waiting to be explored.
As a solopreneur, it can be overwhelming at first. To sit down, and collect all of your thoughts, your ideas, and your hats – prior to starting your business.
Not to mention, there are so many limiting beliefs drilled into us about turning our passions into profit.
One of the most common questions I find my clients ask is: “Can I weave my passions and creative interests into one financially abundant business model? Can I still be creative, make money from my art, and wear the entrepreneurial hat?”
The answer? YES!
Today, we’re exploring this process with one of my clients, Chiara Della Santina of Claire Lune Ceramics
Claire Lune sells handmade ceramic objects for both ritual and home decor pieces.
Chiara Della Santina is a self-taught artist, working primarily in ceramics and abstract painting. She spent her formative years studying and working in Florence, Dublin and London until 2015 when she decided to move back to her hometown in south Tuscany, where she works from her home-studio in the countryside.
Chiara first came to me with the same issues that many business owners face: she felt frustrated in her structures and needed guidance in the business aspect surrounding Claire Lune. But, she also needed help finding her true voice, and she wanted to figure out exactly what it was that she wanted to manifest and bring forth in her business.
Chiara’s creative practice explores silence, intuition, movement, and breath. So, how could we combine Chiara’s creative passion into a successful business that represented her truest self?
When I begin working with clients, the first thing we focus on is their Personal Blueprint—a soul-mapping exercise that helps us examine their strengths, passions, limiting beliefs, and areas where they might be holding themselves back.
We often overlook what comes naturally to us and don’t even consider the concept of making a living from it.
Through our Personal Blueprint, my clients and I work through a 3-step process where I help them go deeper, guiding them to connect the dots. Here’s a glimpse of some of the areas we explore.
▸ Listen to YOURSELF: Take time to observe what comes natural to you, and what energizes and excites you. Pay attention to those things you do that make you lose track of time. What do others come to ask you about?
▸ Know your WHY: Feel, know, and understand your purpose. What can people learn from you? What do you feel passionate about changing or contributing to in the world? Reflect on what drives you and what values guide your decisions.
▸ Find your IKIGAI: The concept of Ikigai, is a Japanese term that means “reason for being”. This framework is about designing a lifestyle where you connect your passions, talents, with something truly meaningful that the world needs and is willing to pay for. Recognize your unique talents and skills. These are areas where you excel naturally or have invested time in developing.
Creative entrepreneurs may sometimes find this exercise challenging, as they might feel the need to offer everything and struggle to clearly convey what they want to be known for. The key is to approach it with a fresh perspective, looking at what emerges from a different angle.
This 3 step approach is to help you find your superpower and zone of genius where your passions, talents, and sense of purpose intersect with what the world is willing to pay for.
Some insights can be integrated into your approach, allowing you to cultivate a distinctive signature that sets you apart in your field. It doesn’t necessarily have to become a service or product you offer, but it can greatly enhance your unique positioning.
For Chiara, it was imperative that we honored the artist within. The intention behind her ceramics and unique paintings are to encourage people to slow down, take that time for themselves, and create a setting for their own mindful ritual.
We weaved her love for rituals into various aspects of her business, from thoughtfully curated packaging with her artistic touch to introducing new offerings centered around rituals, bespoke collaborations, and embark on a rebranding journey that transformed her website, evoking emotions that resonate with her true identity. We refined her messaging, clarifying what she wanted to be recognized for, and elevated her pricing. Through this journey together, we seamlessly weaved different facets of her identity into her offerings, providing clarity to the world.
– Chiara Della Santina, Founder of Claire Lune
Our limiting beliefs can also play a large role in telling us what we can, and cannot do, especially when it comes to making money. As creatives, old stories and ways of thinking are often drilled into us at a young age.
How many of us were taught that we wouldn’t be able to make money off of following our creative pursuits? And through honoring the artist within?
Think about the conversations you have with yourself. Learn how to begin a dialogue with your inner critic. It’s about facing those limiting beliefs, and not shying away from them.
Here are three ways you can shift the limiting narrative in your mind, and elevate your business and creative mindset:
Remember, our thoughts and our feelings aren’t facts. When faced with an opportunity, instead of thinking of all the ways it can go wrong, ask yourself: What are all the ways it can go right? What is the worst that could happen if I try?
Inner Critic: People will never pay money for your paintings.
You: Well, people buy paintings all the time. Give me concrete facts that people don’t make money from selling their art.
Inner Critic: You are not known, how would they even find you? I just know people won’t come, and you’ll be broke forever.
You: By myself, it can be hard, and I could face some challenges but there are so many more channels to be visible online. And, this time, I am getting help to support me on what I am not good at. I’m working with someone to help me be more visible, tell my story, and understand how to attract clients that will pay me what I expect, and what I deserve. Why are you always stopping me from trying?
Remember that most times, the Inner Critic doesn’t have concrete facts. That’s a red flag and can help you know when it’s your limiting belief that is talking.
Is this thought or belief going to push me forward into the life of my dreams? Or is it going to keep me stuck? Are these real facts that can prove I will fail, or is this just something that I heard when I was young?
Success comes when we actively work on rewriting old narratives.
The power of our thoughts and of our subconscious mind influences 95% of our daily habits and behaviors.
Choose a mantra that is going to counteract the limiting belief. Write it down on a sticky note, or even set it as your phone background. Place it somewhere that will easily be seen.
“I’m too old to start a business on my own.”
→ Now that I know what I want, I will find the right support to help me make it happen.
“It’s a struggle to make money from art.”
→ My work is meaningful, it has value, and people are willing to pay for it.
“What if I don’t know enough?”
→ I will learn along the way, trust what I do know, and tap into my true potential.
Just as we wear many hats in our personal lives, it is also possible to wear different hats in our professional lives: one of the entrepreneur, and one of the creative. When we align our strengths with our passion, and when we confront those limiting beliefs, we honor BOTH the artist and entrepreneur within.
RESOURCES:
▸ Learn more: nomadatelier.com
▸ Instagram: @nomad_atelier
▸ Book a Discovery Call
LINKS:
▸ Download free Personal Blueprint Workbook
▸ Listen to Claire Lune’s Transformative Journey Together