Trusting Another Artist to Help You Run Your Art Business with Angela Fehr and Robin Edmundson (#104)

It can be very difficult to hire someone to help with your
business, but if you want your business to grow, there comes a
point at which you must hire to support that growth. And the wisdom
is to hire before you think you can afford it. In this episode I
talk with Angela Fehr and Robin Edmundson. Angela has been building
a thriving business teaching heart-led watercolor, along with a
community of artists to support one another on that journey. She
knew she needed help, but she wasn't prepared to struggle to find
that help. She was content in setting her intention and being open.

Enter Robin—Angela’s student as well as a member of my former
Inner Circle program for artists. In our conversation you'll hear
how Angela has handled building a team and how Robin has been
able to support her in this process. We talk about the technology
they use, how they communicate with one another, and how they
work with other team members who have since come on board.


First posted: https://artbizsuccess.com/fehr-edmundson-podcast


Highlights




Angela and Robin both focus on watercolor and Angela’s
teaching offers regular lightbulb moments. (1:43)




How has Angela’s approach to watercolor grown her art
teaching business? (4:45)




Building a thriving business while raising families and
connecting in the artist community. (9:09)




At what point do you know it’s time to get help? (11:15)




Finding the best fit—from both Robin and Angela’s
perspective. (13:25)




Learning how to hire correctly while trusting and protecting
your values. (16:22)




Finding assistants that have the skill set you might be
lacking. (19:35)




Building a support staff as your art business needs expand.
(24:13)




A typical week in this thriving art business. (29:32)




The first step of a journey might be a boring one, but it can
lead to a great adventure. (32:18)




Email support, tech support, and everything you might want to
hire an assistant to do for you. (34:54)




The policies and procedures that keep a sustainable business
running smoothly. (39:18)




What are the rewards and challenges of supporting another
artist? (43:32)




Mentioned




Angela Fehr




Angela on YouTube




Angela on Instagram




Robin Edmundson




Robin on Instagram




Resources


 




Grow Your List program at Art Biz Success




Free e-course: 31 People Who Can Help Sell Your Art




 


Guest Bios


Angela Fehr first picked up a watercolor brush
as a shy teenager newly returned to Canada. During her teen years
she’d lived in a remote village in Papua New Guinea, and the
solitude had cemented a passion for art that she was excited to
pursue. She quickly realized that watercolor was a perfect fit,
and along the way, realized that she wanted something more for
her paintings than simply to copy what she could see with her
eyes. Angela aims to show her heart in her paintings, to pair the
beauty of the world with a loose, intuitive, heart-led style.


She launched her first online course in November of 2013, with
the goal of teaching technique and empowerment to help painters
become their own favorite artist. Angela shares her home in
northern British Columbia with her husband and three teens. The
beauty of the Peace River and northern Rocky Mountain region
serves as the main source of inspiration for her paintings.


Robin Edmundson paints everyday rural things in
new ways with bold and unusual colors, using simplified shapes
and lines to emphasize the patterns and rhythms of rural life.
Robin grew up in northern Indiana in an old farmhouse on a
property full of old farm buildings. Her early goal was to learn
as many languages as she could. In college, she quickly found
Linguistics and earned a Ph.D. in that field. She taught in
various capacities at Indiana University for twenty-seven years.
Always looking for creative outlets to balance her academic life,
she learned to dye and weave and became an award winning fiber
artist.


 


In 2011 she began blogging about rural life in southern Indiana.
It took her a while to realize that she was still searching for a
language that could express some things she wanted to say about
life in rural southern Indiana. Imagine her surprise when she
finally figured out that the language she was looking for was one
of paint, color and line instead of words. Nothing makes her
happier than to communicate through her paintings her deep love
and respect for the unruly places and people of rural Indiana.