(Transcription)

Artist, Rod Smith,       
Scotland

Ann Rea: (00:00)

Hey everyone. This is Anne. I am an artist and I am the creator of the Making Art Making Money program. And I’m here with one of my students, Rod Smith, who’s coming from Scotland. So I brought my tea. And he brought his caber, and his hag, and sandwich.

Rod Smith: (00:19)
And so the porridge too.

Ann Rea: (00:21)
The porridge, and kilts. And what else? I don’t know. Anyway. So we’re here because Rod– I asked him to come and share his mission, and if you have any familiarity with the Making Art Making Money program, I’m not a big fan of artists’ statements. I’m a big fan of speaking your soul’s truth. And I’m a big fan of having inspiring conversations and not trying to sell people, because artists don’t need to sell. We just need to inspire. And that will be enough for people to buy our art. Or it will make it clear to someone that they’re not interested, or you they’ll be so interested in your mission that you will earn something called “Conversational Currency,” which is a basic tenant of luxury marketing. So just a little bit of background of why having a mission, knowing your purpose is something that’s really a requirement to be an artist. And it’s like because art is so personal, you have to know yourself. You’re really, you’re literally the factory. You’re the factory. You’re the manufacturer. So, in order for you to make art that has meaning not only to yourself as an artist, but to others, you really have to know your purpose. And when you know your purpose, which I refer to as your “Why,” then you know your mission. So Rod’s here to share his. So Rod, what is your mission? Tell us.

Rod Smith: (01:55)
Well, my mission is the problem in the world that I believe to be worth solving is “Instead of people trying to fit in to be just like everyone else to get acceptance and approval, people really need to celebrate their individuality, and their uniqueness, and realize that they do not need anyone else’s permission to be 100% themselves.”

Ann Rea: (02:29)
Yes! Amen to that. And so let me just ask you, what was– I know you had a moment, a very painful moment, and you also had a very joyful moment that helped you come to an understanding of who you are and help you come to an understanding of not only who you are, but what you stand for, and what you stand against. And so can you share those two moments with us and how you felt in those two exact moments?

Rod Smith: (02:57)
Yes. Well, one moment that helped shape that mission was when I was living in New Zealand. And, I was waiting for my former wife to bring my five-year-old son across to join me when she told me that she wasn’t coming across. And that if I came back to Scotland that she was leaving.

Ann Rea: (03:17)
How’d you feel when that moment– when you heard that?

Rod Smith: (03:20)
Yes, I put the phone down and I just felt this overwhelming feeling of panic. And I also felt really alone and isolated as away from everything, and everyone that I knew. Even though Kiwis are amazing people, and it’s a beautiful country, but I felt really alone and isolated. And I’ve also felt really, really frightened. And I was really frightened that I was never going to see my son again. Cause I didn’t know what was going to happen when I went back.

Ann Rea: (03:53)
Yeah.

Rod Smith: (03:55)
Okay.

Ann Rea: (03:57)
What did that teach you? What did that moment teach you? Cause obviously your life moved on from that devastating moment and you learned something from it. Well, actually let’s go to– before we go there. Let me ask you this. So you had this moment, you hung up the phone and you felt the way you felt. But of course, one thing that’s inevitable is change, right? You can stay feeling that way, and eventually you got distanced from it, and you came to some realization, there was a lesson in it for you. What was that lesson?

Rod Smith: (04:31)
Yes, the lesson I learned from that was I had made one of the biggest mistakes in my life by getting married to someone who I wasn’t in love with. I did love her, but just like a sister or a friend or something. I felt kind of compelled to get married to her to fit in, to be just like everyone else, and to get acceptance and approval, especially from my friends and family.

Ann Rea: (05:00)
Was it the time to get married? Was that sort of the pressure you’re feeling?

Rod Smith: (05:05)
Yes, it just felt, I felt like I was obligated to do it, you know?

Ann Rea: (05:12)
Yes. So let’s share with us, like what was your– to counter that because there’s two sides to every coin. Yeah. What was your most joyful moment? How did you feel in that exact moment and what did you learn?

Rod Smith: (05:26)
Okay. Well that was when I was on holiday in Turkey. And I dived into the beautiful crystal clear Aegean Sea from the yacht and I sliced through the water. And when everything clear and saw these beautiful little colored fish swimming by. And I could just remember feeling so exhilarated, completely exhilarated. And I felt so connected and I really really happy.

Ann Rea: (06:01)
What’d you learn from that moment? How, how did that, what did that teach you?

Rod Smith: (06:05)
That taught me that I deserve to feel happy, and connected, and exhilarated.

Ann Rea: (06:13)
Hell yes!

Rod Smith:(06:14)
I don’t need anyone’s permission to feel like that.

Ann Rea: (06:15)
Hell yes! You don’t need anyone’s permission. You don’t need anyone’s sanction. So hopefully everyone who’s listening to this, whether you’re listening to this live or you’re listening to the replay, you can see how these moments helped shape Rod’s mission. Now I know that those students, by the way, if you’re not enrolled in the Making Art Making Money program, I’m going to invite you to watch or apply for a private Master Class where you will learn a lot about how artists are selling their art, even during the pandemic, without feeling like a sellout. And you’ll also learn about the Making Art Making Money program. You do need to apply, and there’s no– it’s free. There’s no obligation. And you’ll learn a little bit more about “Why.” what Rod is talking about has so much importance when it comes to being an artist. So what I’d like to do is just kind of travel back in time, not as far back, but Rod, when you first joined the program, what were like the top two things you were struggling with as an artist? What was happening for you?

Rod Smith: (07:20)
Okay. I felt really frustrated. And I was going into small gift shops and trying to sell my things, or I went into this place called “The Target Gift Shop” and she was just wanting to take 50% off my eminence.

Ann Rea: (07:41)
Which is standard. Yup.

Rod Smith: (07:43)
As well as art when I was, uh, I was like, “No, no, you’re not getting 50% of my eminence.” And she wanted to take photographs of my work, copy it.

Ann Rea: (07:58)
So I will say this. I mean, retail percentages are– the standard is 50%, but that’s not the biggest part of the loss. The biggest part of the loss is that you don’t get your customer’s contact information which means you don’t get to have relationships with your customers, which means you don’t get to get referrals where you earn on average, just on average, 80% more sales, where you could have kept a hundred percent of the money. That’s the big, big problem with art galleries and art representatives, not even the 50%, it’s that exponential growth in sales that you can’t access. So you were frustrated with it.

Rod Smith: (08:46)
And I actually believed that was me. I thought it was me. And I thought that…

Ann Rea: (08:52)
A lot of artists do by the way, there’s something wrong

Ann Rea: (08:56)
with them. No, there’s something wrong with the model, the system, that it’s broken. The scarcity and permission-based art establishment is broken. It’s not you, you guys, it’s not you.

Rod Smith: (09:07)
Yes. So that’s what I thought. And um, it kind of erodes your confidence and also erodes your, you know, your determination to move forward on your motivation. That’s what it was waiting for. It erodes your motivation.

Ann Rea: (09:26)
Yes. Exactly. And so, since you’ve learned your mission and you understand your purpose, how do you think that’s affected your current level of confidence and motivation?

Rod Smith: (09:40)
It has really that word that you’ve just used X potentially, is that right? Um, it has affected it really positively. And you know, if I’ve got anything on my mind, I talk it through with study partners who I really trust. Yeah. So my, I feel like my confidence is going up and up and up.

Ann Rea: (10:09)
Yes. I’ve seen it go up up. I’m a witness. I’m a witness.

Rod Smith: (10:12)
Yeah. I mean, I, I can remember the very first conversation I had with you on and I could remember I was a bit of a mess. I felt a mess. And you said to me, “Rod, R-a-d, Rod, you need to trust yourself. You need to trust you.”

Ann Rea: (10:32)
Yeah.

Rod Smith: (10:32)
And I was like, “How am I going to do that?”

Ann Rea: (10:38)
Oh, I don’t trust this guy. He couldn’t get into the tart and gift shop.

Rod Smith: (10:45)
So anyway, um, that’s, that’s where I was and just gradually and gradually, um, you know, and what’s so good about having study partners in a different country. Like mine, most of mine are in the US. I have, one or two.

Ann Rea: (11:05)
Can you explain what a study partner is? Because not everyone listening is going to know what that is.

Rod Smith: (11:09)
Okay. Well a study partners are people that are on the program as well. And–

Ann Rea: (11:16)
They are in the Making Art Making Money, so my students study with other study partners one-on-one. So those are study partners.

Rod Smith: (11:24)
So the way that it works is, you know, you’re just seated, you send a request, could be possibly have on Facebook, a private Facebook group, could we possibly have a study partner meeting? And, um, the brilliant thing about it is that everybody, every individual has something completely different to offer. And, um, you know, I did struggle a lot with my mission, but I wasn’t on to click, click, click through. I wasn’t wanting to do that. I want it to, I want it to like kind of, I want you to ingest all. So that’s why I did. And I don’t. And one thing that you said on that’s stuck with me is run your own race.

Ann Rea: (12:17)
Yeah. It’s funny. Cause I never know what sticks in my student’s head. So this is delightful to know what did you say, run your own race because comparing yourself to other people is one of the most disempowering things you can do, always going to be someone ahead of you always gonna be someone behind you, just focus on your own race.

Rod Smith: (12:39)
So, um, the study partners and it’s good to have different study partners and changes study partners. You don’t want it to become like, um, what’s the word, uh, state, none of us study partners.

Ann Rea: (12:57)
Let me ask you this. So, um, cause there are artists who are listening to this who are not in the program. So I’m wondering what are maybe the two most valuable you lessons you’ve learned as an artist in the Making Art Making Money program that you could share with other artists?

Rod Smith: (13:15)
Okay. Well, um, I used to have this kind of, well, you brainwashed to art college to think that, um, yes you are. You’ve got to have this amazing talent and this amazing skill. And um, those are such as those who of allow you into their amazing world by all means

Ann Rea: (13:41)
Into the privilege and prestigious arena in prestige is the French route for the word, prestige is a French word and it actually means illusion or deceit. So just FYI. That’s what prestige means.

Rod Smith: (13:54)
Well, I’m going to say what I’m going to say. It’s another French word in reaction to that nuts. Uh, mayor [inaudible]

Ann Rea: (14:11)
Okay. So, okay. So that’s what you learned in arts college, but then what’d you learn in the program? What did you learn?

Rod Smith: (14:20)
Well, I’m learning day by day is, and we talked about the wet, well, halfway up and ours every Monday and um, they are really constructive. Um, what I’ve learned, what I learned day by day, I’m doing the paint, just know obviously and drawings just know, and I just think, well, the pressure who’s some kind of invisible force is going to be judging you. Well, no, they’re not because I’m not letting lying. Right. And it doesn’t

Ann Rea: (14:52)
Matter. So. Okay. So what I’m getting out of that was this, and you tell me if I’m tracking it correctly, rod, it sounds like before you came into this program, you had this ex that you had this internal pressure about external judgment of the stick ability. And since you’ve joined the program, it seems like you’ve released that in your head.

Rod Smith: (15:21)
Um, uh, hopefully start story in my head. And I just re um, you’ve talked about this as well about pretentiousness and about jealousy and about insecurity

Ann Rea: (15:33)
In the art community

Rod Smith: (15:34)
Or within the art community. And people keep on saying to me, I mean, there’s a big studio, big ma there used to be a mill down the road from where I stay. And, um, they’ve renovated all into studios, artist studios, and people keep on saying to me, why don’t you get an artist studio road? And I’m like, no, thanks, I don’t want to be around other people. Other artists insecurity I’m on a program where everybody empires everyone else.

Ann Rea: (16:02)
It’s true. I see it. I see you guys holding each other up, having each other’s back. And the reason why, you know, I’m going to give you a little bit of background, why I created the study partner aspect of the Making Art Making Money program. And it was because when I started to get, just earn some success as an artist, my other artist, friends became jealous and catty and critical and frankly mean, and then with the exception of two other artists who I knew who were just farther ahead, they were far more successful. So they didn’t turn on me. And I thought, man, this is just such a lonely journey. What if I could create a program where it was safe and where jealousy was not allowed and where you helped each other. And that’s where, that’s where it came from. It came from my painful experience of, Hey, I was proud of the success that I was earning and I wanted to share and celebrate with someone. I didn’t have anybody. It’s not, it really sucked. It was sad. And so I wanted that for my students. So I’m so glad when I hear that my students have it because that’s what I wanted. That was my intention. So let me ask you, what was it like, what’s another lesson that you have learned that you could share with other artists who are maybe not in the program. I see we have Anya here and Angela. Hello?

Rod Smith: (17:24)
Um, another, another, um, aspect of the, um, I need to give myself my own time.

Ann Rea: (17:35)
Yeah. Well, it’s kind of like art. Can you rush art? I mean, you don’t want it. You don’t want to let’s, you know, if you, if you did all around, when you’re making art, it kind of shows up in the art itself. Right? So we’re not talking about that. You don’t sun diddling around, but everyone is running their own race at the pace. They’re going as fast as they can go as fast as you can, but it’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon. This is the long haul. This is a life– to be an artist is a lifetime.

Rod Smith: (18:09)
Right. Okay. So I suppose the lesson would be then, um, but let’s loo to lessons of limb and um,

Ann Rea: (18:19)
In your head though, like, Oh, that was good. Or that helped me a lot. This would help other artists if they knew this,

Rod Smith: (18:27)
Let me reframe

Ann Rea: (18:28)
it. So it’s more specific question. If you went back to the Rod who, when we first spoke, you were a mess, you said, right. You said it for a minute. All right. Let’s just pretend I’m not there. What would you, if you travel back in your time machine to that Rod, what would you tell that rod? Here’s two things you got to know. Rod,

Rod Smith: (18:53)
“Stop worrying. Stop worrying especially about technology.”

Ann Rea: (18:58)
Yes. You don’t need to master it all

Rod Smith: (19:03)
Technology and take some risks. Yeah.

Ann Rea: (19:09)
And look at your using technology. I mean, I’m sitting here in San Francisco. I’m less than a mile from the Golden Gate Bridge and through the power of technology. I have this fantastic student from Scotland and he’s learned what my program and connected with artists all over the world. How technology technology, there’s a lot of tech phobia among artists. And I always tell artists, “Look, it’s your attitude about technology.”

Rod Smith: (19:40)
Well, that’s what you said to me that night. You said, “Rod, you need to change your attitude.” And he did. He listened. So, you know, I hear it all. I could hear all I do. I don’t share with cynics, but I could hear them all. Oh, that’s just another pro. No, it’s not just another program. Oh, I hear it a lot so well don’t do it to your detriment.

Ann Rea: (20:15)
Yeah, there is. So there’s a lot of cynicism and skepticism with artists and I I’m on the receiving end. I’m like, “Oh, it’s just another program trying to take advantage of artists.” I’m like, well, hold on a second. I actually am an artist. And I decided to do this because I saw what was happening to my intern. And I realized that I had an obligation to help other artists learn what I had to freaking figure out on my own alone, all alone. And that’s motive me, motivated me to create this program. I don’t know about all these other, non-artists trying to teach artists how to sell their art. I can’t speak for them and I’m not going to speak for them, but I can just tell you what inspired this program and what my mission is. And my mission is to help artists take their power back. And I think you are assigning example of taking your power back rod.

Rod Smith: (21:12)
Yeah. Well, it’s, it’s, it’s a common, it really more of it’s got to come. Here’s here’s the, um, here’s the, the, the sentence in, in, uh, quotes upon to sell R R without a plan is a plan to sell new art.

Ann Rea: (21:32)
I say this all the time. It’s true. Like you, the God has stopped dreaming of success as an artist and make a frickin plan. First of all, make a specific goal. How much art do you want to sell? And by when, and don’t pick some number that you don’t believe you can attain because that will not help you. You have to think of it as rungs on the ladder. And I talked about this during our class. Like you have a ladder, you want to climb up this ladder and you want to get to the top. But if you’re focused on getting reaching your leg over to put your foot on the top wrong of the ladder, you’re going to fall over. You need focus first before. I’m very practical. You need to first and foremost, focus on that first wrong, but for how much art do you want to sell?

Ann Rea: (22:20)
And by when and number two, what have a written plan to accomplish it. And number three, you better have someone to help you because we don’t succeed alone. You mean you need to have someone to hold that ladder as what if it’s, what if it slips? You need someone to hold that ladder. And like rod has his study partner still hold his ladder. He is, as he goes up the rungs, you can’t do it by yourself. I just can’t do that. I can’t emphasize that enough. You, first question you should be asking is, is when you determine how much, you know, you want to sell so much art. And by when the next question should be asking and who will help me because you’re not going to do it. If you could figure it out all by yourself, you would have done it by now, right? Rod.

Rod Smith: (23:08)
Yeah. We’d have, and also things before, but I need consistency. And what this program has done is taken away the desperation now. And that’s huge. That is really huge because people don’t want to buy from people are desperate. Yeah.

Ann Rea: (23:24)
Oh, this is so huge. And people and artists who discount their art are desperate. And artists who priced their art are desperate and artists who won’t even look at their expenses and know if the price that they’re selling their art for gives them a profit are desperate. And you don’t want to come from a desperate place because truth is, is that confidence sells. And if you listen to how Rod sounded, when he was sharing his mission, that was a confident man. And you are more likely to connect with trust and be inspired by someone who is confident in their mission. That’s all. And that’s why I’m having artists come on, who are in my program just to share. We’re not sharing everything. We don’t have time, but we are going to share the mission because it’s so foundational to every single artist in history, you guys living and dead had a mission. It’s part of the four-part code. They all did. So I’m just going to check the comments really quick here. Um, Susan says howdy from Arizona. Just found this site as a retired art therapist. All right. I can support others. However, I find it hard. Getting motivated with self-talk towards doing, being risky. Yeah. Susan, I don’t think you’re alone. I think rod was in the same exact place that you’re in. So what would you say to Susan rod?

Rod Smith: (24:46)
I would, here’s another thing I would say, if you don’t mind me talking about a code to joy. Yeah, go ahead. That’s part of the program. It’s probably really relevant to, um, an art therapist because that’s true. George PRA has helped 40,000 people globally. Olympic athletes, musicians. Who else?

Ann Rea: (25:09)
By the way, that’s why he’s in the he’s part. We’ve integrated Dr. George Pratt’s teaching. He’s a noted performance psychologist. So that’s just so everyone knows who you’re talking about. Right?

Rod Smith: (25:20)
Okay. So George product practices in Scripps Memorial hospital in LA Jolla in California. And I have no idea what you would cost to go and see George for another. I would have imagined it was that, although I would say probably about $5, a thousand dollars, I know, or a minute, hello. On this co this program, we on recommends a book called “The Code to Joy.” Um, I must say it’s heavy. I read that book four times, but I’m a bit obsessive about things, but I wanted to get that crock. And every morning by saying the way, um, event, which I feel are might be holding me back. So do I, I can’t be without it.

Ann Rea: (26:20)
You can, you guys, you might want to check that out code to joy. Angela, a student of mine. She’s just posted the title for you. If you want to have a listen. So we’re going to have to wrap up soon. Hey Angela, if you have it handy, can you, uh, put the Lincoln to share with other people who might be listening, who want to maybe apply for the private master and learn how artists are selling even more art since the pandemic than before, um, and acts and, uh, have them have it’s also at the top of the comments, but let me just check and see if there’s any Corrina says resonate. I’m sorry. If I’m Karina, I may be pronounced, mispronouncing your name. So just whip me with a wet noodle. If I am. I apologize. I blocked myself from inside my own head. I don’t let myself play.

Ann Rea: (27:11)
Success is really a head game. You guys, especially for artists whose product is so internal and emotional, our product is emotion. We’re not selling goods or services. So this is why having clarity about your purpose and having confidence and focus are so critical to success. And she goes on to say, I expect perfection straight up. Oh, perfectionitis kills creativity. And it does do D it does do your head in. So I, if I can’t see it in my head as coming out perfect, I don’t start. Yeah. Also perfect is the enemy of done. You never get anything done if you expecting it to be perfect. There’s so much spontaneity and so much beauty and so much interest so much, so much such as some more interesting if it’s not perfect. Yeah. You know, it really is. So thank you for sharing that, Angela. So I’m going to wrap up. We were supposed to only chat for a little minute, but that’s okay. We’ve we’re we enjoy it. We enjoyed hearing your mission and I, and hearing the lessons that you’ve learned and how far you’ve come from when you were just, as you say a mess, you’re certainly not a mess. Now.

Rod Smith: (28:30)
I was a bit of a mess. And another thing that comes with the courses, one course in the program. Yeah, it is. I can’t remember which course it’s in, but it’s definitely the program in it’s. Um, about Marie, someone called Marie Kondo. Yeah. And she teaches you and she shows you how to, well, it’s not things Sri, but it just energizes your environment.

Ann Rea: (29:00)
It does. And it’s like, you’re, it’s, it’s, it’s all about again. It’s about focus. It’s about honoring yourself. Remember you’re you, the artists are the factory, right? You’re also your own boss and you’re also your own employee. So you have to have a conversation with your boss. You don’t want to work for a boss who is a perfectionist. You’re going to quit. You don’t want to work for you. Don’t want to be an employee. Who’s a perfectionist and never gets anything done because you’re going to get fired. So I will say that one thing that’s really important. If you’re thinking about applying to the program is you don’t have to be perfect. Okay. You don’t have to have it all figured out before you. I mean, that is what the program is for. Uh, and rod has been willing to like Ben, he’s being willing to share with you. Very honestly, he was a mess and there’s not many men who will say, Oh, I was a mess. That’s like takes a level of bravery that you don’t see in. A lot of people, never men, women, whatever. It’s, it’s important to just say, look, I don’t get it. I need some help. I need a community. I need a mentor. I’ve got no roadmap. I’ve got no confidence. I don’t know what to focus on. Yeah. Great. We can fix that.

Rod Smith: (30:16)
Yes. So, and here’s for that lady that was talking about perfectionitis um, what liberated me in this program is another one of your sins and it’s progress, not perfection.

Ann Rea: (30:32)
Oh yeah. It’s, that’s actually not my thing. I don’t know who to credit that with, but I do repeat this phrase a lot. Focus on progress, not perfection, perfection doesn’t exist. So just a little bit on progress and progress means not the top wrong of the ladder. Progress means you’re on this rung of the ladder. Now focus on the next one, not the one that you can’t yet attain that will get your head in and you’ll never get anything done. And you’ll always feel like a failure. But if you focus on the progress that you’ve already made, then you will realize, Oh, okay, well, I’ve come. I’ve climbed up this far. So that means I can climb up that far again. And it’s really important to remember to remember that, all right, everyone, I have to skedaddle. And when rod is up really late, by the way, what time is it in Scotland?

Ann Rea: (31:24)
He’s willing to do this at what time? 10 to one. So 10 to one, a M everyone. This is how dedicated my students are to sharing what they’ve learned with artists who aren’t even a member of this program. He didn’t have to stay up this late. So I want to thank you, rod. And, uh, also I like my audience to thank rod for being so open and sharing. And, uh, yeah, you guys should, you should come to the, she come to the masterclass. What are you waiting for? Come on now. Right? Are they doing, what are they doing? Rod.

Rod Smith: (32:00)
Okay. So I’ll just say something else in French. It means you serve as your views on plea, which is I’m at your service. Okay.

Ann Rea: (32:12)
Thank you. All right. Then see everyone.