Part 11: More of That Please-Fodder School 2

This is the eleventh post in a series about how The Willa Workshops on willawanders.com came to be.

Part 11

Is this the final blog post in this series? For now, yes.

As soon as Tiffany Sharpe and I had l launched Fodder School 1, I knew that this could not be a one and done release. It was just too good. Too powerful. Too special.

The energy that was created by and with Fodder School was very real and people could feel it. Tiffany and I were putting all of our mental and emotional energy behind it.

The other Fodder School 1 teachers were also contributing their creative energy each month to the success of that year long class. The other FS1 teachers were ALL IN on doing each other’s projects, which is where a lot of the magic of Fodder School occurred. Everyone benefited from the collaborative marketing efforts. Amazing bonus lessons were added to the classroom and it became a “living course.” The participants were having a ball and so were the teachers.

Where I was once creating art just for me and only for fun, I now had a pretty decent sized small business on my hands. All of my previous business experiences set me up for a new business and I had a vision of exactly how I needed it to operate.

Did my vision align with what everyone else needed and wanted? Nope.

Did this end up causing some chaos and drama. You bet it did.

Did I learn, grow and become a stronger person because of it? Hell yes I did.

Tiffany Sharpe, Fodder School’s Executive Producer, is a great balancing energy to me. She is a brilliant person, a hard worker, and a talented artist. She remembers everything where my memory is crap. It is because of Tiffany’s background as a high school chemistry teacher that the monthly curriculums in Fodder School are so thorough. The instructors bring their A games and Tiffany turns their As into A plusses! And this is exactly what demanding consumers expect. There’s a ton of choice when it comes to mixed media art education and Tiffany and I both know that if we don’t bring our A+ game every day, we won’t be able to survive in this crowded market.

Sometimes I sit and wonder whether or not I should just go back to quietly making art with no other pressure. But then I quickly remember that I don’t actually have the personality of your typical artist, and that is what makes what I do different.

I absolutely love making art, there’s no question about that. But I also have to admit that I love the creativity that comes with being an entrepreneur. The constant problem solving. The fast pace. The excitement. The challenge. The opportunity to put all of my strengths, experiences and education to the test.

I freely and fully acknowledge that there are way, way better, more natural artists than me (not that I think I’m a shitty artist . . . that’s not my point).

My business is my art.

Crafting the experience that I want is what I show up for every day, seven days per week, from 6 am until I close my laptop for the night.

That’s why it is me still answering all of your customer service emails. That’s why I’m so freaking excited when the lessons of Fodder School drop every two weeks. And this is why I’ll continue to bring you other really fun courses on the Willa Workshops (outside of Fodder School).

My passion and enthusiasm for art is really, really big. I’m going to continue to bring new mixed media art, hand lettering, watercolor and handmade book classes to the Willa Workshops. I’m the customer, and I’m the business owner too. I don’t know if this is unusual or not, but I will tell you that it is hella intense!

TIffany and I are currently in production with eleven other amazing, incredible artists who will be part of the Fodder School 3 offering. And like I mentioned, we are already planning for Fodder School 4 (“poo poo poo”-that’s a thing from the old country-don’t spoil something by saying it out loud!). You’ll see teachers from Fodder School 1 back in Fodder School 2, 3 and 4. I like to believe that this is a large, happy family that we are growing.

And I have no plans to stop there. Maybe this party is just getting started!

This is the end of the series. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading this far. I sincerely hope that you enjoyed it!