Ep #81: (Part 2) Crown On, No Hesitation with Anna Ryan Drew

Anna: Since I have been doing more of this, as a practice, and it’s not just foo-foo that we’re talking about this. This is like, I sell paintings and I make money selling paintings. But I think that now I know how I’m doing it, and the mindset work has helped me see the disconnection that I brought to the table at one point, that now I’ve turned into a connection that is, seriously, so fun. It’s very – it’s energizing. That’s why I feel like it is energy. It’s energizing to just play with it and not feel all this wound-up disappointment about whether this happens or that happens. And once that was let go, it opened up the space for, “This is how it happens.” And I make that happen.

Leah: Yes, and it’s no longer, “Oh, I got lucky. Somebody chose me.”

Anna: Right. And it’s no longer, “Yeah, if you want to succeed, you have to have a gallery,” or all these paradigms that exist in art culture, that maybe aren’t true. I love a lot of galleries, but I’m just saying, it’s actually you.

Leah: Well clearly, it could be true. You can make money in galleries. But then, why have the thought you can only make money in galleries?

Anna: And that’s kind of what I meant. I meant more the restriction of, if you’re not in a gallery, you can’t make money.

Leah: Which is not true.

Anna: That’s not true. You can make $17,000, no gallery…

Leah: In one sale. And that’s not even hypothetically.

Anna: No, it’s just – yeah, and that’s what’s so exciting for people that might be listening to this, that yeah, if you’re resistant, that’s okay. But if you’re not resistant and you’re like, “Oh, this sounds interesting,” I think it is such an introduction to what you do, Leah, because it’s like everything that is involved in the Art School is, like, an integration of all these different components that then just you can’t help but rise from it.

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That was a clip from my recent conversation with artist, mental health advocate, therapist, coach, and creative force of nature Anna Ryan Drew. If you missed the first part of this conversation, you want to make sure to go back and get episode one. Episode two, we pick right up where we left off, and this one is jam-packed with a great discussion about why people flourish in the environment of Art School, about Anna’s own experience making money as an artist, and how money work is sacred work, and about busting the paradigm of permission and instead learning to choose yourself.

So, if there is something that seems impossible for your currently and you want it to become inevitable, you want that to be the result that you create, be sure to listen in to today’s episode. It’s jam-packed full of wisdom and inspiring Anna energy.

You are listening to The Art School Podcast; a show for artists and creatives who want to become the next greatest version of themselves. Learn how to cultivate an extraordinary way of being and take the mystery out of making money, and the struggle out of making art. Here is your host, master certified life coach, artist, and former lawyer, Leah Badertscher.

Hello, everyone. And welcome back. I am thrilled to be back with you once again. And I’m hoping I won’t have to rerecord this intro too many times. Because, I tell you what, I went to the orthodontist today and I took the plunge and decided to do Invisalign. I’d made the decision months ago and then COVID happened.

I had braces as a kid, and because I had some serious crowding, over the years it’s just returned. It makes it difficult to close my mouth. And I’m like, you know what, I’m just going to bite the bullet, get this taken care of. And then today, I’m glad for coaching, because I’ve been thinking all day, “Oh my gosh, what have I done? What have I gotten myself into? This is so uncomfortable so far.”

So, those of you that have done it, please just write to me and tell me that it will get better and tell me that I’ll be so glad I did this. Because right now, I took them off to do this. I thought, “Well, I’m going to be compliant and I’m just going to train myself to record my podcast with them in. But I was just spitting and mumbling, tripping over my tongue all over the place.

And then I took them out and I was still tripping over my tongue, all over the place. And it seems to have impaired my thought process as well. So, let’s hope I’m able to right this ship and we can get into this episode. Because before I release you to soak up all the Anna energy that is packed into this episode, I wanted to tell you about some exciting things going on.

I mentioned last week the Mother Lode project with Karen Anderson. If you’re listening to this, there is still time to sign up for that. It’s free. It is going to be an epic month of conversations and creative rocket fuel. You and your muse should get on the list for that. It’s a month-long of essays or short videos submitted by contributors such as myself and amazing women. It’s an awesome lineup.

And we’re answering the question, what did your mother, or your matrilineal line teach you specifically about emotion, power, and creativity. And how have you taken that and used it intentionally in service to what you do or your own life or what you’re creating in the world? And she writes, in the description of the project, about how many women in our maternal lineages suffered mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically as a result of the unexpressed emotion, the unused power, and the untapped creativity within them.

The Mother Lode is about changing that dynamic forever. And it just gives me chills. I am so about changing the dynamics of unused power, unexpressed emotion, and untapped creativity. And I know the way that that transforms an individual’s life. And I know too the endless ripple effect that has out in the world. So, be sure you sign up for that free project.

I also had this full-circle moment because there is a woman that is on that panel as well – I bought a journal years ago, when I was a law student. I was going through the mall on a study break and saw, in this gift store, this lovely journal in the window. It had a quote from Mary Anne Rademacher – I hope I’m pronouncing her name right – on the front.

And I’m sure many of you have seen this quote. I’ll share it at the end of the podcast. And I just thought, “I want to live according to the words on that quote and I’m going to fill that journal with my dreams and my plans for how I’m going to live that way.” So, that’s what I would do on my study breaks or in the morning.

And I, a week before Karen reached out to me to ask about participating in the Mother Lode project, I had been packing up some things in my studio to get ready to move to the new house. And I had that journal on my shelf because it’s one I keep near. And I thought, “Well, I’ll pack it. I’ll just take a look through this.”

And I kind of took a trip down memory lane and thought, “Wow, a lot of those things I wrote down, key part right there, I wrote it down, have to come to fruition, and I’m living it. And I’m living the cover of that book.” And then, also, part of the story, this serendipity, this synchronicity, the stars aligning is that Mary Anne Rademacher is also one of the collaborators for this Mother Lode project.

So, I thought that was a pretty sweet full-circle moment, and relevant to share with all of you who, whatever stage you are at on your journey, don’t discount that power of dreaming, that power of writing it down and then, absolutely – you’ll hear me talk about this if you sign up for the Mother Lode – I am passionate about not just leaving your dreams and your goals in your journals.

I’m passionate about you breathing them into life and bringing them off the page so that it becomes the landscape, the outer reality of your life, and you walk right out into it. I’m for all of the process. Write it down. Dream it. And I also want those impossible dreams of yours to become inevitable in what you create and what you live.

And so, that, I think, is a pretty awesome segue into this part of Anna’s. because Anna is someone who she lives the work and she’s so courageous. So, I wanted to share her energy with you. She also has experienced, is a seasoned veteran, of the Art School and so, I wanted you to hear from someone on the inside that’s not me, what that experience is like. And she’s also someone who is a great example of, like, within the community, not just the benefit of coaching. Although that is for sure, I bring it, world class.

My intention for the Art School and the Art School Mastermind is that nothing touches them in terms of the quality and the rigor and the brilliance of coaching that creative minds receive. And that it just allows people to unleash their creativity and allows for growth that’s explosive, and then also grounded, and also allows for a slow burn and a slow unfolding; all of it.

If you’ve ever heard about the theory of constraints, I’m going to sum up something. It’ll be a very abridged version. But essentially, you find the thing that is a constraint in a system, and then the theory is then there is unlimited potential. And I really think that’s the potential with mindset coaching for artists and for creatives.

There is – it’s like we’re riding this crest, that it’s inevitable to me, that this is going to be part of the creative revolution, is cultivating a way of being intentionally for artists, just as athletes, just as the best athletes in the world have the best coaches, people in the arts who want to tap into those still latent and sleeping powers, who want to be able to navigate the terrain of their careers, but also essentially be able to master their emotions and cultivate extra ordinary mental health along the way, those people will be unstoppable and it’s so exciting to think about the human creativity there already is and what can still be once we really take care and know that it’s relevant and good for people to have this level of modern mental health and emotional wellbeing and also to not be doing it in isolation, but in a community of people doing it.

Then it spreads like wildfire and the results that people get in a community are just exponential. So, once again, I’m honored to have Anna on and speak about this. I hope you enjoy the episode, the conversation, and I will see you on the other side.

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Leah: They’re operating, like, someone said in this last Art School, “I know I’m feeling more centered, less harried, more myself, less anything else.” And I think, when someone is living like that, then the draw other people then – they’re given permission to be more themselves, less anything else. And it happens intellectually, but I think it also happens biologically. It I like a contagion, like, a very positive constructive powerful contagion.

Anna: Which is the counter to, “Artists aren’t making any money right now,” or statements that dismiss that kind of cohesiveness.

Leah: That create more disorder, right?

Anna: Yes.

Leah: And they implant ideas of, like, it’s an uphill battle or it’s impossible or it’s not available.

Anna: Who does she think she is?

Leah: All of those things, totally inconsistent with what we’re doing, what we’re about. It’s all – I think about the vision that I have for Art School and this podcast too and for the mastermind and the way my clients take the work and make it their own. And then the endless ripples that go out from that. Because you take this work and make it your own and mix it with everything else about you and your innate genius and your life, and then it meets other people in a way that I could never meet them. And then it’s just the potential for positive creation in the world seems, to me, to be endless when we – we talk a lot in the Art School about the master keys.

Like, what master keys can we find that help people, rather than focus on every tiny little thing, go for the essential, the most important things that will unlock the biggest things. And, like, I think shame is one of those. It boggles my mind to think about how much human potential and creativity and contribution is bottled up right now, that shame has a cork on. What cures for cancer aren’t existing right no because somebody has too much shame and is too busy second guessing their ability or felt ashamed that they had to take out a loan to go to med school, or what have you? Or what moving, breathtaking, staggeringly beautiful movies haven’t been created because of shame? And I just think of what the world could be if, without that impediment.

Anna: That’s why it’s called a creative revolution.

Leah: That’s right.

Anna: Coming down a street near you.

Leah: And, and then I wanted to make sure to talk about the money aspect then too. Because we talk about – it may seem like this level of conversation about consciousness and unleashing creative potential and creating a paradigm where shame – it’s an inhospitable environment for shame, incompatible with, and instead creating this thriving artist paradigm may seem inconsistent with a very pragmatic and pedestrian thing like money. But, as we know, it’s not. But it’s a discussion worth, I feel like, spelling out and having here, especially form your perspective.

Anna: Yeah, I think that it’s the same, all paths lead to Rome. I think that the money work, like you said, is sacred work, but it is also mind work. It’s not just – it’s figuring out how easy it can be. Not even like what you’re worth. I feel like I’m disconnected from that at this point. It’s like an energetic exchange of I have these gifts that I have to offer and I am going to reveal them to the world of wherever I’m putting them out into.

And I don’t do that in the mindset that I am desperate for someone to come knocking on my door and give me their money and feel bad for making money in this COVID time. That is not up to me about what they think, what they do with their money. And plus, there’s gaps in money out there. and we do have a lot of abundance. So, I’ve just worked on that part of it and mostly focusing on that I have a lot to offer.

And we live in a society of commerce. And so, if someone would like to purchase a painting or clothing or whatever – anyway, I think that’s most of the thoughts I have about it. The other thought I have about it is when I’ve become more grounded in my knowing and trusting of what I have to offer, and when it’s less work, then it comes with the amount of ease that you think should be surprising but is not.

Leah: Yeah, so, let’s just say more about this. Because I think it’s one of those things. This is such an important point because it seems like if you’re on, at one point. Your journey and you hear someone say, actually, making money is easy. It can be easy and it can be fun. And also, again, it’s a paradox because it’s not like you just don’t work. But it’s like you’re loving your process and I love how you did not attach your worth. Like you didn’t say, “I’m worth it, therefore my paintings are worth it.” It’s completely separate. Like, we know our worthiness is off the table. This is what we’re offering to the world and deciding what price we are going to charge for it.

Anna: Yes, and I think you need to say that again. Because that’s the part that is – the separation is huge, especially for artists it’s huge. So, say that again…

Leah: Yeah, your worth is not – this is what I want to offer. I know it’s been said that you should approach making money as an artist by thinking, “I’m worth it, therefore I’ll charge this.” Instead I would offer, your worthiness is known. It has nothing to do with the price of our art work or the price of whatever it is that you’re offering the world. This is not transactional. Your worth is not transactional at all. This is, creating money is solely about you deciding, “I decide I’m going to charge this.”

And then, in your mind, knowing that that value is resonant about what you believe about what you’re offering. But it has nothing to do with your worth as a person, that like what you’re offering as a business, with art has nothing to do with your worth as a person.

Anna: Yeah, I love that. I think that is a huge one to be able to integrate, to make it be fun. Because when you bring the baggage into it of, “I should do this because I’m worth this and this has this much value,” it’s this whole conversation that can happen that…

Leah: Right, I think the sneaky thought too can be, “Well, I deserve this.” Because then you start to get into all these mental gymnastics and calculations that have to go into what you charge for something that basically, what’s going on as you’re doing some sort of calculation of what you’re worth still. And then we’re back into that old cycle we talked about earlier, about deserve.

Because who decides that? That that word even implies that you’re trying to earn something, that you have to be permissed. And I’m so about disrupting the permission culture, especially in creativity. And all about the, “No, you choose you. You choose who you’re going to be. You choose who you are now. You choose who you’re becoming. You choose what you’re creating. You choose how much money you’re making.”

And I feel like that’s where money work is the sacred work because that’s a place where people are usually like, “Yeah, yeah, I’ll choose me.” They get to that point and then a lot of times, the work, like where the rubber meets the road, “And then you choose the money you’re going to make,” and people are like, “Back up…”

Anna: Hesitation.

Leah: “I can’t do that with money,” because money is still so much, especially for creatives, like still a permission culture. “Oh no, someone has to give it to me.” So, what I’m talking about is a high-level concept, but it is like divorcing the idea of creating money from a permission culture. It is about just declaring, “This is what I have decided. I’m not letting the market dictate my prices. I am deciding and then I’m doing everything I can.”

Because I know, for coaching, for instance, decide the price, and then I believe that what I’m giving is life-changing. And like I say with Art School, I want everyone to 10-times this investment. Do it financially, do it otherwise, but at least 10-times it. But it’s not in order to feel like that I’ve deserved a transaction, like that feels so unclean to me. Rather than creating and offering what I’m creating and offering, and then this is the price.

And then there’s no – I know it’s like, an, “I’ve done my work,” when I just feel like no drama about it. And I think that’s also available as an artist because people are like, “Oh but wait, it’s my baby.” And I think that’s where you have to walk that paradox line of it’s sacred, not sacred. It’s not your baby. You pour yourself into it, and then it’s also not you.

Anna: I think that it’s also, it comes back to that root of being creative. What you just said just made me think, that’s the root there. Because if you’re divorcing the idea of the permission or the transaction or the acceptability, then you become creative about it. And then you have freedom. And then, you’ve already built all this structure that if someone doesn’t want to buy something, it doesn’t mean anything about what your worth is, you know. It’s disconnected from that.

Leah: And also, this is a part too that’s like where really doing the mindset work will revolutionize your life. For instance, let’s say you have a painting and you’re sure, like, it’s going to sell for $20,000. You just know it. And then, you’re not waiting for the purchase to validate that knowing. You could get, like, 10 near misses and you wouldn’t make it mean a thing because you so know that painting is a $20,000 painting. And the 10 near misses don’t slow you down from going back to your studio and then making more.

Like Andy Warhol said, “You draw this to make art, and while the world is having thoughts about it and judging it, you just go back and make more art.” And I think too, he was adept at making money and making art too. And I don’t doubt that he implied that philosophy in that spirit of being financially, commercially successful too.

Anna: Yeah, I totally agree. I think that everything shifts once you do the mindset work on it, I think.

Leah: Well, and too, just so it doesn’t sound like we’re making something sound easier than it is, you get to that point where you’re like, actually, once you make the money, it does get to be easy and it does get to be fun. Maybe it’s not always, but then there are times when it happens, you’re like, “Actually, it does get to be easy and fun.” And then you can also recall being on the other side, where you’re like, “I have no idea what she’s talking about.”

Anna: Right, but I do think that part is, the resistance part to what you’re talking about, is the truth part, which goes back to the basics. Like, if you look at the chakra, like, you need the root. So, you need the root of worth and love in yourself before you can skip up and get more enlightened about blah, blah, blah. I mean, that’s what it makes me think of.

And I think that since I have been doing more of this as a practice and it’s not just foo-foo that we’re talking about this. This is like, I sell paintings and I make money selling paintings. But I think that now I know how I’m doing it, and the mindset work has helped me see the disconnection that I brought to the table at one point, that now I’ve turned into a connection that is, seriously, so fun. It’s very – it’s energizing. That’s why I feel like it is energy. It’s energizing to just play with it and not feel all this wound-up disappointment about whether this happens or that happens. And once that was let go, it opened up the space for, “This is how it happens.” And I make that happen.

Leah: Yes, and it’s no longer, “Oh, I got lucky. Somebody chose me.”

Anna: Right. And it’s no longer, “Yeah, if you want to succeed, you have to have a gallery,” or all these paradigms that exist in art culture, that maybe aren’t true. I love a lot of galleries, but I’m just saying, it’s actually you.

Leah: Well clearly, it could be true. You can make money in galleries. But then, why have the thought you can only make money in galleries?

Anna: And that’s kind of what I meant. I meant more the restriction of, if you’re not in a gallery, you can’t make money.

Leah: Which is not true.

Anna: That’s not true. You can make $17,000, no gallery…

Leah: In one sale. And that’s not even hypothetically.

Anna: No, it’s just – yeah, and that’s what’s so exciting for people that might be listening to this, that yeah, if you’re resistant, that’s okay. But if you’re not resistant and you’re like, “Oh, this sounds interesting,” I think it is such an introduction to what you do, Leah, because it’s like everything that is involved in the Art School is, like, an integration of all these different components that then just you can’t help but rise from it. And it’s just so powerful. It’s undeniable really, the revolution.

Leah: We need to clink over Zoom.

Anna: I’ll get my cowbell and you can get yours and then we can cowbell together.

Leah: That’s right, we’re always cowbelling in the Art School. We’re going to celebrate, for sure. But I think there is a lot to celebrate. And that’s part of that contagious rising energy too. And I think that that too, in a lot of ways, it’s so much about taking full responsibility for your life. And then I feel like it’s also this space where you can relax because you’re in a community where you’re like, “Oh my gosh, it’s so exhausting to continually doubt myself and to think that this thing, this dream that I think is possible to be back and forth.” And you don’t realize the toll that that takes.

But then, once you’re in a space, in the most loving but stern way possible, does not tolerate that kind of shit, that we don’t have ourselves any of that, it’s about decide – it’s like what we were saying last week in the Art School. Once I decided to go to the moss, now we know it’s inevitable, they went to the moon. It’s inevitable. But if you put yourself back there, they both had to get to a place where it was inevitable and it was the most impossible thing at the same time. And what did that do? What kind of genius did that draw form that community of humans? Incredible, like remarkable. But what was not on the table was they weren’t being like, “Oh, maybe it’s not possible…”

Anna: No wavering.

Leah: No wavering, no hesitation. No, they weren’t doing complex geometric equations on how to get the rocket to go in the ocean instead of through the atmosphere. They were single-mindedly, they got to that point where impossible and inevitable.

Anna: And I think that’s the part, also part of the basis of possibility. And that’s where you have to be. If you really want to dream about what’s possible and about a moonshot or about anything that seems like out of your grasp right now, then you have to commit to that belief that there is not another option.

Leah: Right, there is no other option. But it goes from possibility to, “My only option.”

Anna: And that might be a little scary. But it is less scary than living your life figuring out who you are and doubting every move you make because you don’t put in the commitment to your own brain and your own mind to be where you want to go.

Leah: And its like what you were saying with the hesitation, right, like it can be scary. But I think, when people hear, “No other option, full resolve, full commitment,” but the alternative is all that hesitation.

Anna: And fog.

Leah: Fog, oh yeah, all the confusion fog, the overwhelm fog, the, “I don’t know,” fog, the, “I might not be good enough,” fog, the, “I might be wrong about this,” fog, the, “This might not be the right decision,” fog. So, can you talk a little bit about – you’re not saying you’re never afraid of anything, right?

Anna: I mean, I might not be… I’m joking. But sometimes, I think that fog looks really mysterious and pretty to people and they just think, “Okay, let’s just keep being foggy about it.” What was your question? Do I have fear? What was it?

Leah: Because I think people are waiting too often, they think that the fog will clear and they’ll feel ready. Like, the time to act on that possibility, on that dream, is when they’re still in reactive mode, not realizing that they’re indulging in the fog, not realizing that they’re creating the fog, not realizing that they’re creating hesitation, that they’re thinking these emotions are all just happening to them and that they’re a sign that they’re just not ready yet.

But then, once they wait or once they do some more research, wait another decade, go get another degree, then they’ll be a different persona and then they’ll be – courage should somehow feel differently than what they’re feeling right now. Whatever they’re feeling right now, whatever they are right now is not good enough to begin and embark upon this journey of, “I’m in, I’m doing this for myself, I’m honoring my life, no more of this fog, dancing in the fog and dancing in hesitation.”

Anna: Well, all those people want to feel better. But feeling better is discomfort and it doesn’t have to be pushed away. There’s not anything you can separate out. Like, we can talk about it in different thoughts people might have, but I think that it is people want to wait because they think that they’ll feel better about themselves and then be able to do it. But you have to build feeling better inside. It’s not something you obtain when you reach your goal or when you do your grocery shopping for your family. It’s something internal that is cultivated. And if you don’t cultivate it, then you stay in that fog.

And then you don’t get the essence that it takes, of the, like all the way better is the discomfort and the knowing that you can expand and have discomfort and then come out and still be committed to what you want in life.

Leah: Yeah, that feeling that is labeled discomfort too, that’s the ticket right there.

Anna: That’s the ticket. And also, this goes back to one I did at the start of the Art School and I had the anxiety in my chest and I was on a coaching call with you and you said, “Lay on the floor,” and I just lay on the floor. Like, “Feel the solid ground beneath you and think about just that holding you and holding your angst.”

And then I cut to two weeks ago, three weeks ago in the Art School Immersion, we did a group art studio call. There was so much energy in this call. It was palpable to me and I was super in-tune with that. And I made like five paintings. I had painted three shirts. And I had to lay down on the floor and it was the same exact feeling though that I had two years ago that I identified that something was wrong.

So, that is powerful. If we do not go first to, “This is what’s wrong. I’ve got to push it away. I’ve got to fix it,” and instead go to, like, “What is this telling me?” Even if it’s, “Oh bitch, you’re back, I don’t want to deal with you, I don’t want to feel like this,” What is it informing us? Because we’re always being informed by all of these things. So, I just think it is a push and a pull of someone really being aware that the external thing that they really believe at the bottom of their heart is going to be the thing that makes them feel better.

It’s like the Sahara Desert and you’re in the desert and there’s constantly something that you think is water and you never make it to the water because you’re in a delusion. So, that’s what I think So, to really have the expansion of all of the things that make us human and not identifying them as negative or positive, becoming beyond that in a way that helps serve us more than being in that position of good and bad, negative-positive.

Leah: Well, and I, like, a more expansive life, a more expansive paradigm. And that’s such a powerful image of the Sahara Desert and the oasis because, as you were talking, I was thinking, “Yeah, then how do you leave that?” But you wake up and decide, “I’m not going to be in the desert chasing illusions of water anymore. I’m going to wake up to the life that’s right in front of me…

Anna: I make the water.

Leah: I make the water.

Anna: And that is the awakening…

Leah: Which I love too because it’s like, “I make the water and I make it rain.”

Anna: “I make it rain. I’ve got the crown on.” Who am I?

Leah: That’s one of my favorite money mantras, “I make it rain,” that’s such a good one. Because it’s funny, but it’s also true. And it’s like, water is a creative energy too. Money, currency flows. That’s a water energy too. And then also, it puts you in the driver’s seat. If you’re not waiting for the weather to make it rain, like I make it rain. And it’s such a, too, like an empowered place to be as an artist and as a woman, to declare that.

Because I think, sometimes, when you declare that as an artist and a woman, you can feel a little bit like, “I make it raid and I just made myself a lightning rod.”

Anna: Yeah, I mean, we know plenty of women like that. And I say, bring it on, the lightning. That’s the disruption. If it’s too powerful, if it’s too much, “I am time, I am money, I am art, I am power, I am force.” If that’s too much, get your next ticket for the different train.

Leah: Yeah, because I’m welcoming all the big energies. I know what I envision seeing coming from – and already, 2018 was the first Art School, and the momentum that has been created already. And I’m like, that was just a warm up. So, for you, I would love to hear, for you, what are some visions that you have. Like, what sounds extraordinary for you? What are you playing at a few years out and where do you think – like, when you look back on this time and this Art School community time, what do you think this is about? What do you think is going on right now and what’s it going to look like later? What’s going to come from it, for you and for other people?

Anna: I just get really giddy. I get really smiley. I think of the words, “Building an empire.” And I don’t mean that in a way – I think it is that kind of level of what you’re doing and what the Art School is creating and that you, as my friend, master life coach, former – all the things you are – is just so inspirational to see and watch and literally be like, “Wait, I feel like a front liner here.” And I have and always will call myself the valedictorian of the Art School. But I mean, I see that vision that you’ve had and I see what’s happened and I, very palpable, the energy.

Leah: So, I just want to interrupt for a minute and say to you that this actually, this is probably – this will be the 80^th episode or 81^st, but actually, Anna was the first episode ever of the Art School. So, this is how she saw from the beginning, you were one of the first ones that heard about the idea of the Art School. And then you were actually intended to be my first Art School Podcast episode. And we had an amazing conversation, and I thought it recorded, but my hard drive, it was corrupted an di couldn’t open it anymore.

But this is kind of a full-circle moment because now I’m asking you a couple of things. You have heard this from when it was a seed for me, the first seed idea of the Art School. And then you’ve been a part of the process all along. And now it’s a seed and there’s a seed within the seed that’s growing again now. So, can you share your perspective on that? I wish I had that first episode.

Anna: Oh my gosh. And I think, when I met you for the second time, you were talking about the podcast and I was like, “We should just do it. let’s do it.” This is what I do to my friends or people I love, like, “Hey, let’s do it. we’re going to do it.” So, did you say you want to go to Disney Land? I’m going to give you the Four Seasons Disney Land. I mean, I just get really enthusiastic about such things.

So, like, that seed, I remember you coming into my studio in South Bend and it was like this big beautiful studio and you were very tall, you had heels on and yeah, I just think it’s then mind-blowing that that – like, the ripple that that has given to me in my own life is then astounding, and then all the things that I’ve done. And so now, the seeds that I’m planting are going to finish this book in the next year that I’m writing about my life, my experience, the feelings I have about the paradigm of mental health and where I should go. And I’m loving that seed.

I am going to go to Art Basel and that’s going to be great. And I’m also loving being a mother and being married to Brain and having all these things have value and being able to do all the things. I think my mom used to say to me that she would ask her girlfriend, her and her girlfriend would talk about whether they really thought women could have it all, and something always had to give, that’s what she said.

And the other day, I was like, “You know, that’s a story, mom. That’s a story of this society that I’m not passing that on. I’m divorcing that statement and story.” I think that it’s not just about my art, because I have so many other things going on too in my life. But the being and the way that I feel so empowered and I do fear things, but I don’t. Like, don’t tell me I can’t do something. I can do whatever I put my mind and my vision to doing.

And I think, at this point, it is from the seed – the seed part for me is then a lot of finding my purpose. And in a larger purpose and how to really offer what I have to the world, and not in a way that I need some notoriety or I want to get the gold star about it, but because I know how powerful it is to be able to do that. And I know it’s contagious.

So, you know, I am just super-grateful that you recorded our podcast incorrectly and sought me out for the second time meeting me. Yeah, so I can’t wait for the next one and to see what pioneers we gather.

Leah: They’re gathering.

Anna: Oh, they are, yeah.

Leah: Yeah, this will be great because we’ll be able to be like, we were on the cusp of another evolution and another something beginning and we were sensing it. We talked about it in that podcast and I feel like it’s been, with this whole journey, it’s been as incredible, extraordinary as I envisioned it would be. And then beyond. The actual experience and living into it is like – I have to grow my heart in order to hold it and lay down on the floor…

Anna: Yes, but I think that’s what it is. And it’s laying down on the floor, like, at how much more beautiful it is that you thought it would be, and also, like, laying down on the floor, that there’s no finish line that I need to get excited about. This is everything this moment. at 5:14 on May 12^th, like, this is just, this is the summary. It can be the summary of all of those things instead of feeling like, in your life, you have to get to…

Leah: Right, it’s like, in this moment, this is a great time to be alive. This is a great time to be alive. And I feel like the whole unfolding and being in love with the process of unfolding, at every stage. It’s incredible to see someone come in with, “Here’s what I think I want to work on.” To the, “Oh my gosh, I actually believe it’s a possibility.” To the point where you said, people will hit a point and you’re like, “She’s going to win a Grammy. She’s going to win an Emmy. She’s going to publish that novel. She’s getting a book deal.” But the achieving of the thing is no better than that experience of being immersed in the creativity and in the becoming and in the living and the journey all along the way.

Anna: Yeah, and I think that’s the part that has been so enriching because it’s the being all the way. I still have things I want to get coached on sometimes that, you know, it’s not like you do something and then it’s gone. You know, constantly, it never ends. The list will never end. Your life will never, I mean, until you die, you’ve got ample opportunities to keep on experiencing life and choosing different things.

So, I think that it’s just then so nice to get to a point though in my own experience where I’m very – I feel like my feet are very much on the ground and I feel just really super-grateful, not in a cheesy Hallmark move I’ve got to cry way, but with just a deep feeling of gratitude for everything that I have in my life and everything that’s going to come to me in the future. But right now, I have so much gratitude. And I do not think that I would have been able to be that present with the feeling of gratitude if I had not chosen to invest in myself and invest in how my mind affects my life.

Leah: Period, pause.

Anna: Period pause. I love you.

Leah: I love you too. Thank you for that. My life is incredibly enriched because you exist. And then, on top of that, you’re such a dear friend and a beautiful human being. And I’m grateful for the way you share your energy and your spirit so generously through your art, the Art School, through your coaching of others through the Crown Academy. We didn’t even touch on the fact that you were also a therapist…

Anna: Still am…

Leah: Oh yeah. Because and also, we didn’t even touch on the fact that you and another Art Schooler cowrote a beautiful song together and recorded it and yeah…

Anna: Looks like you’ll have to have me on again, Leah.

Leah: It looks like I will. Thank you so much for being here. And if people want to find you…

Anna: So, I’m on social media. Instagram is @a.r.drew.art and then my website is ardrewart.com and Facebook is, I think Anna Ryan Drew on Facebook. And my cell is… I’m kidding.

Leah: You’ll get too many calls, especially because I was going to say, your Crown Academy, your coaching is powerful and you’ve coined the phrase crown adjustments. And I think everyone in the Art School knows what it is to get an Anna crown adjustment…

Anna: In the most loving way. I did, you know, 10 years of community mental health, and so I sat in offices and I listened and I did a lot of things. And now I am down for the most effective experience you can have in your own journey, but I will, you know, not be a little toddler. I like to just get right to and move through it. And I don’t like to mess around.

Leah: Not everyone is able to cut to the chase in the way that you do. You get right to the heart of things. And I know the way you’re able to do that is because it comes from, you really see the person. And it comes from such a pure loving place. And so, the most living thing to do – and I think you and I both cherish this kind of laser coaching, is to cut to the chase and not to let somebody muck around in their fog.

Anna: I agree, and I think that it does come from a loving place. I have been the therapist and therapized and coached and so I do have lots of empathy for the bravery that it takes to show up exactly where you are. And I think it’s a gift,

Leah: Well, you were a gift. Thank you so much for being on.

Anna: Thank you, Leah.

—

I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Anna and took lots of notes. So, this brings me to the part of the podcast where I want you to do more than just listen. I want you to lean in and really work with me, and coach with me.

This week, I’m going to tie it to last week’s coach with me. Because last week, I talked to you about moving out of hesitation and moving into breakthrough. And again, I want you to kind of harness the momentum of Anna’s energy here and the example of energy. Because one thing she is such a powerhouse at, a special gift of hers, is that ability to see an idea and launch into it. And also, it’s infectious.

I’ve seen her. I’ve seen, in a community, that mindset shift for people when they’re like, “Oh yeah, I don’t have to hesitate. I can just go for it.” And it is enlivening. So, I want you to think again, where in life are you hesitating and where do you need to move out of fog and out of hesitation and go from, “This is a possibility and this is a dream,” go from that to, “No, this is my only option and this is what I’m creating, and I am creating it beginning today.”

And then ask yourself, what are you going to do today that sets that in motion, that moves you out of fog and hesitation, that moves you out of mere possibility and sets those inevitable wheels in motion? Make it your only option and decide today, how are you going to do that? Commit to it, write it down, share it, and then also commit to moving it off the pages of your journal and ask yourself every day, how am I moving this out into my life?

Thank you so much for listening to another episode of The Art School Podcast. If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, if it’s been useful for you, the best thing you can do to pay it forward is to share. So, subscribe, share it with your friends, share it with your allies, share it with colleagues, share it with your tribe. And then also, please go to iTunes and leave a review.

I am really grateful for everyone that takes the time to do that. And it also helps me reach more people with this work. Just recently, I’ve had a few new reviews. I so appreciate that. I wanted to share some of those on upcoming podcasts with you, including this one.

It was a five-star review and MiastuffNumberone writes, “Life-Changing. Leah Badertscher will make you question everything you’ve been thinking about being an artist in the world. Don’t mistake her for her gentle and sweet manner. She is a powerhouse. Her transformative insight and coaching will give you the perfect kick in the butt you need to become the artist, woman, person you always knew you could be.”

That makes my week, makes my month. So, thank you, MiastuffNumberone. I so appreciate that. And those of you that have been out there thinking about leaving a review, leap out of hesitation. I would love to read yours next week. And again, I so appreciate that.

And if you are ready to take this work deeper, if one of the ways you want to commit to moving out of fog and hesitation and going from possibility to, “My only option is to do it,” with world-class support, now is an amazing time. There are three options going on right now for Art School.

By enrolling in the Art School fall 2020 right now, you are also automatically enrolled, at no extra cost, in the summer workshop series. So, you essentially get three extra months of support and masterclass coaching and community included in the regular price of the Art School fall 2020. So, those are two options right there, the Art School fall 2020 enrolls you in the summer workshop series.

Third is that you can also apply right now to join the Art School Mastermind. So, both the application and enrollments for the mastermind and the Art School are at my website, www.leahcb.com. And, if you are not already on my mailing list, be sure to go to my website and sign up for that because, if I offer a bonus class, a free group coaching call, a free masterclass, or an early adopter rate for any of these programs, that community on my list and the community in my Facebook group are the first to know about that. And you can find links to sign up for both the email list and the Facebook group on my website, www.leahcb.com.

One of the most commonly asked questions from people who are interested in the Art School and now the Art School Mastermind is, will I be supported? And oh, holy smokes, I will be so in your business, coaching your face off. Yes, support, and yes, a lot of tough love. And also, Genevieve Jordan, who was one of our participants in the Art School Immersion gave me permission to quote her on this.

She posted on our Art School Immersion page that, “I have never felt so supported.” And Genevieve is an artist and a writer. She completed 31 paintings through the course of the last four weeks. And then she immediately turned around and signed up, applied to the mastermind, and was accepted because she’s going to use this next container and incubator as the place to finish the musical that she’s been wanting to create for years. And before we’ve even officially kicked off, she wrote the other day that she’s already started and launched into that.

So, for you, what has been a dream, a long-held dream? It could be a project on the backburner that you want to move to the front and actually complete this year. It could be a project that’s always at the center of your life. It could be an already thriving creative career and now you want to see what you’re capable of with this kind of extraordinary support.

So, if that sounds like you, I would encourage you to go to my website and fill out that application for the mastermind. If nothing else, I’ve heard feedback from many people already who have said even the application process was coaching and there was so much value in just filling out that application.

So, I highly encourage you to do that if you’ve decided, “This is the year I move out of fog and hesitation,” or, “This is the year when I move to that next level. And that’s going to be my only option.”

So, to close the podcast, That Mary Anne Rademacher quote that was the artwork for that journal I bought so many years ago. And I thought this was the perfect thing to close out this podcast because it ties in that story. It ties in the story of, follow your dreams, write them down, and then live into them. Bring them off the page.” Also, these words so embody to be what I know from watching Anna as her coach, and then also knowing her as a dear friend.

She lives this way. These words also embody the culture of the Art School knowing the kind of people that are listening to this podcast. I know you will appreciate and likely live by these words as well, “Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.” Because it is, my friends. And isn’t it so beautiful?

Have an amazing week, and I look forward to talking with you next time. I’m not even going to edit out that little bit of mumble because that’s me getting used to talking with braces. Alright, everybody, bye-bye.