a grandma, a ceo and a high school senior walk into a bar...

No, wait. 

They walk into my studio.

If you can't see where this joke is going you are right where I was last month! I love goal setting and deep dives and was working on the next level of my marketing when I kept running into the same problem. I don't have one ideal client. I have three. And I hate only focusing on one because my business really is split between them pretty equally. Mothers. Business Owners. High School Seniors. I have a blast with each one and kept asking: What in the world do they have in common? How can I market to the common feature instead of the three categories? I love to celebrate each of them but they seem so diverse!

I kept coming back to the same place and hitting a wall. But then it finally clicked. It clicked when I was making a congratulatory comment on a fellow alumni's post – an alumna of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute. A few minutes later, I was messaging a fellow alumnus of the 10,000 Small Business program thanking him for his work. And then I learned a new word – freudenfreude – from Brene Brown’s new book Atlas of the Heart. Freudenfreude is the enjoyment of another’s success. (Evidently that isn’t an emotion all people feel as strongly as I do!)

It finally all clicked together when I realized I love to celebrate leadership.

That is what I do. I celebrate leadership at home, in business, and for our future. (Matriarchs, entrepreneurs and high school seniors!) They are leading in unique ways, but they are all inspiring to me.

So it turns out a grandparent, an executive, and a roboticist can all walk into my studio, and leave feeling seen, celebrated, and worthy of the artwork we created together. Because leadership does come in many different packages, but it is beautiful every single time.

This month my Instagram feed is filled with seniors as I head to speak at one of the largest high school senior conventions in Florida this weekend. But there will be time to fill it with extended families, and to highlight the business men and women who make Central Iowa such a dynamic place to grow, too.

Let’s celebrate your leadership with a painting or portrait this season.

with love,

 Kat

(hope you like the new headshot of me by Becky Ochsner Photography - trying to capture a bit of my... vibrancy ;-)