“Sometimes all you need is someone to believe in you and show you what is possible.”
I work with the most unique and quirky clients, who really want to walk their own path, and create a dream life. Zlatina was one of them. Zlatina, or Zlati, as she calls herself, was working as an architect in a comfortable office job in England for quite a few years. But she got bored of it. Her dream? To make money as an artist, be much more creative, and go on an adventure. But how? This is the story of a young woman who grew wings, and went traveling full-time as an artist, while making money on the way.
Traveling full-time as an artist, where to start
Zlati came to me with a vague idea for an arts business, selling paintings perhaps. She’d had one exhibition. She also decided on a sabbatical, and was about to embark on a backpack adventure to South America, “probably for six months”. After that, she would decide whether to go back to England or settle back in Bulgaria, her home country. She was already planning ahead, thinking about what sort of creative business she wanted to launch.
She put so much pressure on herself, already living in the future, wanting to have a plan ready to start for “when she’d come back”.
I knew things would pan out way differently for her. She had to start living in the NOW. Having been backpacking for three months on my own in South America myself in my twenties, I knew it was going to be life-changing. She would have new insights and conversations, meet the most inspiring people on the way who may change the course of her life forever. You cannot plan for this. And you wouldn’t want to.
So I told her to relax. “Just go and stay curious”. I said. “You will find answers on the way.”
During our sessions, which normally center around creating an Authentic Message and a winning strategy, we talked about the wonders of life. About spirituality, about parental conditioning, about grief, about guilt, about keeping ourselves small, and about dreaming big and thinking outside the box. Not keeping her limited to ‘six months before having to make money again’. I wanted her mind to be free.
A manageable plan to keep focused
We did make a plan, but we focused on bite-size steps. “In Argentina, I want you just draw each day”, I said. “Create a habit, train your creative muscle.” I quoted the famous book ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Julia Cameron, to give her some guidance.
“Find some places to stay and create, like artist’s residencies.” She applied and got accepted, which gave her structure for the months ahead, and a purpose. In between, she saw the most incredible sites and landscapes, danced tango in Buenos Aires and salsa in Bolivia, and met a thousand people on the way.
During those artist residencies, I could sense that she was changing and growing. She had left behind the Western rat race and had thrown off the pressure of ‘needing a plan’ for when she would go back home. Instead, she entered her own natural flow.
She let go of fear.
She went from one residency to the next, working as an artist in return for accommodation and food, and materials. Sometimes she got paid a small fee. She built up an incredible portfolio, and entered collaborations and partnerships with other artists.
She discovered a love and talent for painting large murals, which small businesses (often in the most dreamy places like jungles or tropical beaches) now pay her for. By now, her murals can be found in five countries across Latin America. Her latest work is in Mexico.
Alongside her murals and artist residencies, she also sells her own work, and is a freelance designer online. She has proven that traveling full-time as an artist really is possible.
She has been traveling for two and a half years now, leading a much happier, freer and fulfilling life. And I don’t see her coming back soon.
Zlati says about working with me:
“Working with the Creative Business Coach came at the perfect timing, when I was in need of a major reset of my life and the work I was doing. I was about to embark on the biggest life change and needed someone to believe in me and encourage me in my endeavour. And Nina not only did that, but she helped me to clarify and organise my next steps, break down the “mission impossible” into tiny possible missions, and create a strategy. In addition, I found it very inspirational to hear of her own life story, of her life in a Spanish speaking country enjoying the sun and doing more of what she loves. It showed me that what I dreamed of was possible and can be done, and Nina was already doing it.”
