06/15/2026
Dear business owners:
Nobody needs:
a watercolor class,
a retreat,
a Patreon membership,
a pet portrait,
a metallic dot card.
These are all things people can live without.
Which means every dollar spent with me is a dollar someone consciously chose to spend.
Nobody needs a Highland cow watercolor workshop.
Yet they're buying them.
The question isn't:
"Can you provide a service?"
The question is:
"Can you create enough value, joy, connection, and experience that people choose you even when money feels tight?"
What's interesting is that I don't think my customers are actually buying watercolor.
Not primarily.
They're buying:
community,
a night out,
confidence,
creativity,
stress relief,
accomplishment,
connection,
belonging.
The watercolor is the vehicle.
I believe that's why my business has remained resilient.
If someone is struggling financially, they may stop buying random decorative items.
But a lot of people will still protect the things that make them feel human.
And there's a LOT of people who aren't feeling human lately.
A two-hour class where they laugh with friends, create something they're proud of, connect - either with themselves or with others - and forget about the news for a while?
That's a surprisingly valuable thing.
And I suspect that's why my students keep showing up.
Because when someone leaves my studio, they aren't saying:
"I purchased watercolor instruction."
They're saying:
"I had a really good night."
Or:
"I didn't think I could do that."
Or:
"I needed that."
Those are very different purchases.
Building a business is -
"Here's how to build enough value that people choose you anyway."
That's a much harder business to build—but it's also usually a more durable one and to me, a much more rewarding one. One that also brings me as much joy as it brings the people who attend my classes.
So when people hear:
Started painting watercolor in 2020.
Moved to New England 2.5 years ago.
Built a studio.
expanded the studio.
Sold-out retreat 18 months out.
Growing Patreon.
Wait listed classes, wait listed commissioned orders...
Teaching a luxury product during a tough economy.
That's when the eyebrows go up.
Because now it's not just an art story.
It's a business story.
And it's a business story that I believe more people can create and a business story that I think this world needs more of.
We're now in a world where doctor visits happen behind screens, high schoolers tour colleges via a 3D online tour, the intake at the vet's office is with an AI bot, and we're constantly questioning whether the cute video of the polar bear is even real or AI - the world is craving real life.
And that's all I've done. Give people that moment back for themselves.
And it is the most incredibly joyous experience to be able to do that for others.
So business owners, potential business owners... do what brings you - and others - joy. Because there's a major supply issue when it comes to joy.
