In this episode we continue our deep dive into Taylor Swift and what we can learn from her success as an artist and the impact she has made. There are only three steps that you need to take in order to become a creative success. I reference these in another episode 3 Steps To Creative Succe$$, but I’ll summarize the 3 steps here: Make Your ArtShare Your Art Ask Others For What Your Art NeedsIn part 1 of our deep dive into Taylor Swift we talked about the first step to become a creative success- Making your art. (link to that episode below to go and listen)In this episode we will dive into the last two parts, sharing your art and asking others for what your art needs and I will show you how Taylor Swift does both of those things and what actions you can start taking to model how she does this. Things referenced in episode: Pepe Silva Meme: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/pepe-silviaPrevious Taylor Swift Episode: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/9490396c-fbd9-42b4-b036-fc847008c7903 Steps to Creative Succe$$ Episode: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/3e8e1ab0-dc80-4fdc-966e-e72f70ade1ee Work and Connect With Me Here:Let's Coach: www.makingartistspodcast.comMake Art Mondays: https://www.possiblethings.co/make-art-mondays/Newsletter: https://www.possiblethings.co/newsletter/IG: https://instagram.com/thenancysunTiktok: https://tiktok.com/@thenancysun/Music credit: Positive Experience by Sunny TonesA Podcast Launch Bestie production

It’s time we talk about Taylor Swift and what we can learn from both her success and impact that she has made. In this episode I'm going to talk about how Taylor Swift identifies as an artist, makes art, shares it, Sells it to make a fuck ton of money and makes an impact.Her art, in itself, is sufficient to make an impact. Her music creates connection, empathy, self compassion, catharsis, and community. And her success makes her a role model for other singer songwriters. After this episode of Making Artists, I hope that her success makes her a role model for you too.There are only three steps that you need to take in order to become a creative success. I reference these in another episode 3 Steps To Creative Succe$$, but I’ll summarize the 3 steps here: Make Your ArtShare Your Art Ask For What Your Art Needs And Taylor Swift has mastered these three steps. In this episode we dive into Part 1, how she has mastered making her art. Taylor Swift makes a great case study for this episode, and how she offers so many lessons on how to be a successful, professional, and impactful artist who makes art. My hope for you is that you will put any objections you have about learning from her success, as her journey is a great teacher for all of us who want to make art and make an impact. Make sure you join me for Part 2! Link to 3 Steps To Creative Suce$$ referenced in this episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/3-steps-to-creative-succe%24%24/id1644954213?i=1000587895931Work and Connect With Me Here:Let's Coach: www.makingartistspodcast.comMake Art Mondays: https://www.possiblethings.co/make-art-mondays/Newsletter: https://www.possiblethings.co/newsletter/IG: https://instagram.com/thenancysunTiktok: https://tiktok.com/@thenancysun/Music credit: Positive Experience by Sunny TonesA Podcast Launch Bestie production

This special episode about how to make art worthy of accolades, using the 2023 Oscar for Best Picture 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' as a case study. When I fall in love with a piece of art I go on an internet binge to learn as much as possible about its creators and its origin story: what inspired it, who made it, under what circumstances, and with what obstacles and what allies.After doing that for EEAAO, I learned so much that I just HAD to share it. It reinforced the ways I’ve already been treating myself, my process, and my art AND how I coach other creatives.The lessons I’ve learned from EEAAO, in no particular order, are:Having imposter syndrome doesn’t mean shit.Believe that others believe, and let that be enough.Allow the journey to make your idea better.Let go of being the best and just get started first. Success is a lot closer and a lot more possible than you think.Let these lessons help you start getting in your own way. Need more support? Subscribe to my newsletter and get on my VIP waitlist at makingartistspodcast.com or connect with me on IG @thenancysun.Episode 11 - The Self Worth Myth: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/57213fdc-2f9f-4704-b30d-08e37b218d2fNYTimes Profile of Ke Huy Quan: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/05/movies/ke-huy-quan-everything-everywhere.html?unlocked_article_code=-biN46GaKsEhhwOVJ73GtwjAfswnK05eC0kMPgLuixyBlIydegXvjFfdpgS51pY-56Hwzg_EG17oZxAKMZ9SG5mnqC-6hWy_GMjdCsQA27WxkeTjbIhLnxjKXvQdOSG6ccsb9-8mToRYsdx9PrnaAKPNtATyOgcMxBEl3zFAAoRFtlo2gnuGykq16rcovvo8wkZ1fRA5-DBOzjh1-8jLggUcQ-6yypOWQ3k5Nv2MwTTDaSJYAc7PZyDxuh3B0zT3gBK4ymhxx-qHtgWr-wM-M68DErcxMYkyppgIu34SGE2KxExYSaSn62CdjF9ZzvcTZiKbDyloawRHpc9U6zKXl7NFyT_4QtmTvaw&smid=url-shareTrust the Process by Shaun McNiffhttps://a.co/d/1tyVIRJMusic credit: Positive Experience by Sunny TonesA Podcast Launch Bestie production

For this final episode of Making Artists Season 1, I want to share with you the lessons I have received on how to be a human, how to be an artist, and how to treat my art that I have learned from being a parent, from being a mother, from raising another human being. I hope that these lessons will inspire you to treat yourself differently, to treat your creativity and creative process differently, and to treat your art differently so that you can have all of what you want and you can leave the rest.The first lesson I learned from watching my son get used to tummy time and learning how to walk is this: You don’t need to know the how to be able to begin. You don’t need to know the end to start taking a step. My second lesson was to start in a rested and relaxed state. I want you to experiment with coming from a place of having all your needs met first so you can be playful, adventurous, and take big risks.My third lesson was to start small, because if nothing else, at least you’ve started. Everything starts with tiny steps, and everything counts. How can you change your creative practice to make it more conducive to you?Lesson 4: Allow “training wheels” steps. Intermediary steps still count, and they need to happen without judgment. Lesson 5: Progress doesn’t have to be linear. Some milestones may be a bit of a fluke, and shouldn’t immediately be made the baseline. It’s okay to give yourself some grace and follow the fun.Fear As Fuel episode 4: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/2bddd5b2-8535-4ccb-99e3-db01750b0506The Self-Worth Myth episode 11: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/57213fdc-2f9f-4704-b30d-08e37b218d2fReady to start making art, making, money, and making an impact? Visit makingartistspodcast.com or connect with me on IG @thenancysun.Music credit: Positive Experience by Sunny TonesA Podcast Launch Bestie production

Often, people see their lack of self worth as the reason they’re not going after their dreams. That can include anything from going on a trip, going for a big goal, making a big decision, or even the way we own our identity. In this episode, I’m going to talk about self worth in a way that you’ve probably never heard from a mindset coach before. When you don’t believe in your humanity, you don’t allow yourself to show up fully for the human experience. The usual solution is to build self-worth by doing exercises, indulging in things we’ve been conditioned to believe are helpful, and going on a pampering binge. What’s conspicuously missing from this cycle is actually doing the thing you want to do when you’ve attained the self worth you’ve been missing.What if your sense of self-worth doesn’t really matter? What if lack of self worth is an invented problem? Is it true that you have to have an unflappable sense of self-worth to get what you want? Will you be doing the busy work trying to pump yourself up or will you be showing up to do the work?Ke Huy Quan NYT ArticleReady to start making art, making, money, and making an impact? Visit makingartistspodcast.com or connect with me on IG @thenancysun.Music credit: Positive Experience by Sunny TonesA Podcast Launch Bestie production

Most often, people who hire me want to become a creative success. Usually, that success is defined with a dollar amount. I counter that in order to call yourself an artist, all you need to do is make art. It doesn’t all need to be polished, published, or even finished, but assigning a dollar amount to it doesn’t make you any more or less of an artist. If you watch The Great British Bakeoff on Netflix, there’s a mini-competition in each episode called the technical challenge. The bakers are given a list of ingredients and very simple instructions, with very little guidance on how to combine the ingredients. That is what I’m giving you today, because this recipe looks different for every artist.Make, Share, and Ask. That’s it. Make your art, share your art and skills and identity as an artist, and ask for sales, sponsors, collaboration, or whatever will help to grow your audience. Let this marinate and integrate.I’m going on sabbatical! While I’m taking some time off from coaching in order to lean into my own artistry, feel free to connect with me on IG and join my mailing list!Ready to start making art, making, money, and making an impact? Visit makingartistspodcast.com or connect with me on IG @thenancysun.Music credit: Positive Experience by Sunny TonesA Podcast Launch Bestie production

Here in the States, and much of the Northern Hemisphere, we’re heading into the winter holiday season, if we’re not there already. This time of year gets many of us thinking about the end of a calendar year and beginning of the next, bringing to mind new beginnings and fresh starts. One thing that comes up often is that people, and artists in particular, are wanting to create more balance in their life. Usually, the feeling of balance comes down to how time is spent.Artists usually come to me for coaching on how to create more time to create their art, so I have a lot of experience with this. In this episode I thought it would be particularly timely to discuss time and balance today with a narrow and urgent focus on what that looks like and how to do it during the holidays.Two phenomena I see happen to artists during the holidays are:They give up. The competition for time between family obligations, travel, financial obligations, and just resting makes some artists just give up on their creative endeavors and vow to make up for it in the new year. Instead, consider that there are still several full weeks to make an impact on your 2022 goals. This isn’t the same as making a conscious prioritizing choice.Or, the opposite of hustling through the last 6 weeks of the year. You know you’re in that hustle energy when you decide to get a head start on 2023 instead of “wasting time” on the holiday celebrations that everyone else is doing. Both of these come from the same belief that you don’t have enough time and that you need to borrow or lend yourself time in order to get shit done.You create time. The way you spend your time is not created without you. I’m calling you to step into being the protagonist, the subject of the sentence, “I have time. I create it.” Expand your timeline. Is it really true that December is the end of something and January is the beginning of something else? What if it made more sense to think in terms of seasons rather than days and weeks?Ready to start making art, making, money, and making an impact? Visit makingartistspodcast.com or connect with me on IG @thenancysun.Music credit: Positive Experience by Sunny TonesA Podcast Launch Bestie production

I was inspired by episode 6 about your creative process and I thought it might benefit you and me to share a peek behind the scenes of how this podcast gets made. I hope to accomplish 3 things here: I hope it makes all you creatives out there feel less alone, no matter how your process works.I hope to debunk any myths you have about me, both as an artist and a coach.I want to show you the difference that coaching can make, because these are the processes I have used with myself.For example, all of my recordings for these episodes have been late for internal production deadlines. I could choose to beat myself up about this, or I could coach myself through whether or not this is actually a problem. I do this with my clients, too. We work through what perceived shortcomings are actually a problem, then intentionally choose what things need to be fixed, and fix them.What we usually find is that there aren’t many problems. When we reclaim the energy spent on things that aren’t actually problems, then we have more time for what we actually want to do. Things like making art, making our audience, or making money from our skills and talents. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if or how much your creative journey goes according to plan. What does matter is whether the art got made. A success audit is your key to problem solving, learning, and moving forward with the new information you have found.Ready to start making art, making, money, and making an impact? Visit makingartistspodcast.com or connect with me on IG @thenancysun.Music credit: Positive Experience by Sunny TonesA Podcast Launch Bestie production

What you believe about yourself is often the reason why you aren’t who you want to be, where you want to be, or living the life you want. So many artists think that they are in their own way, that they are the problem, and I hear it all the time.This might show up in your thoughts like:I don’t believe in myself.I don’t trust myself to…I’m not good enough at…I’m not worthy of…I haven’t earned…I’m too far behind…I am too much for…I have those thoughts too and I get it. In this episode, I want to give all of us permission to release the perfectionism when it comes to cultivating a new belief in yourself. I invite you decide that the amount of belief you have in yourself is enough.Don’t let your speck of disbelief in yourself filibuster your creativity. No president has won 100% of the popular vote, yet they are still allowed to run our country. Revisit episode 5: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/b39aad66-5656-4e1b-9653-641420d1184dSenator Joe Manchin III: https://www.congress.gov/member/joseph-manchin/M001183Senator Susan Collins: https://www.congress.gov/member/susan-collins/C001035Ready to start making art, making, money, and making an impact? Visit makingartistspodcast.com or connect with me on IG @thenancysun.Music credit: Positive Experience by Sunny TonesA Podcast Launch Bestie production

Welcome back and thank you for being here! Also, a huge thanks to my community who responded on IG when I asked what topics need to be covered. I’m so excited!For today, we’re getting foundational. What is your creative practice? Do you even have one? Is it working, or not? What is your relationship to it? Before you can make an audience or make money with your art, you need to actually make your art.Your creative practice is simply the container and your process for making your art. If you’re not happy with that practice, if you even have one, you may even struggle with calling yourself an artist because you don’t feel productive enough.Relate it to a self-care habit that you have no problem keeping. Maybe it’s a skincare routine, taking your vitamins and meds, straightening up the kitchen before bed, whatever it is. You’re consistent enough that you feel good about it, and you want to keep doing it.I invite you to apply these thoughts to your creative practice:This is an act of self-love. Offer yourself grace and forgiveness so you actually want to spend time with you.It is supposed to take a long time to see results. This gives you access to the ability to commit long-term and to encourage you to keep showing up.I don’t need to like or love everything about this self-care habit in order to let myself do it.I don’t need to beat myself up if the situation isn’t perfect, or I missed a day, or there were mistakes. Just pick up where you left off. You don’t need to make up for it tomorrow.Ready to start making art, making, money, and making an impact? Visit makingartistspodcast.com or connect with me on IG @thenancysun.Music credit: Positive Experience by Sunny TonesA Podcast Launch Bestie production

Today’s topic has come up a lot in my one-on-one practice and in my Making Artists Mastermind, so that’s what I want to talk about today. We’re often told to dream big, set the impossible goal, and believe wholeheartedly that you can get there. As an artist though, if the belief isn’t 100% there, that can keep you from taking the next step.We don’t need to worry about what the Academy will think of your performance if you go to that audition. We don’t need to worry about winning a Grammy if that stops you from writing that song. Don’t think that big. Play for the next point, not the whole match. Stay in the game, one point at a time.Have just enough belief that would have you showing up in your craft today. Accumulate enough of those mini-milestones, you will be on your way to being your best.What can you believe that will get you to take the next step?The story of Serena Williams and Ajla Tomljanovic: https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/serena-williams-us-open-us-open-09-02-22/index.htmlReady to start making art, making, money, and making an impact? Visit makingartistspodcast.com or connect with me on IG @thenancysun.Music credit: Positive Experience by Sunny TonesA Podcast Launch Bestie production

In this episode, I’m going to talk about the ways using fear as fuel can sabotage you. A metaphor for you: If you want to run a marathon, and you hire a bear to chase after you so you finish the race, you probably won’t run linearly and you’ll spend more time looking behind you than ahead of you, and you definitely won’t enjoy the marathon. If you take the time to prepare, condition yourself, and practice, you will feel much better about the journey and you might even enjoy it and want to do it again.Using fear and shame as motivation is going to result in wasted energy to stress, anxiety, and shame. Being stuck in that cycle of stress can force your body into a fight, flight, or freeze response, and you can’t always choose which one. When you remove fear as motivation and you’re out of your stress response, what processes, systems, and strategies can you apply now that you’re not spinning in panic?How efficient, effective, and pleasurable can meeting deadlines be? How can we learn to work with our natural cycles and rhythms rather than manufacturing scary conditions as motivation?Ready to start making art, making, money, and making an impact? Visit makingartistspodcast.com or connect with me on IG @thenancysun.Music credit: Positive Experience by Sunny TonesA Podcast Launch Bestie production

Recording this episode, I’m feeling a roller coaster of emotions on top of being physically tired. It’s tempting to put off this episode until I’m feeling better, but that’s a classic example of emotional perfectionism. That is the belief that in order to be creative, you need to be in a certain emotional state, or at least not be feeling anything negative.Emotional perfectionism is totally normal, but it’s getting in the way of your success. Once you release this belief, you’ll be able to stop misdirecting your resources and start investing it in actual support that will help you achieve your dreams.Feelings are temporary and you’re not going to feel good 24/7, whether you’re actively pursuing your goal or not. Why waste your time, money, and energy fixing your feelings instead of actively pursuing your goals?Negative feelings aren’t problems. They’re just part of being human, and nothing is more human than creating art.Ready to start making art, making, money, and making an impact? Visit makingartistspodcast.com or connect with me on IG @thenancysun.Music credit: Positive Experience by Sunny TonesA Podcast Launch Bestie production

You may be wondering about me and how I’m qualified to coach artists. I am a writer who writes, and an actor who acts. I make this distinction because many of you may identify as an aspiring writer or artist or actor, but aren’t showing up regularly doing that work.In this episode I will introduce myself, give you some context for who I am and the life I live, and define privilege and marginalization in relation to artists creating art. Even though everyone has their own combination of privileges and disadvantages, they don’t define you and what you are capable of. Who you are in relation to your circumstances is what allows you to create.I am an Asian-American actress and writer based in New York City. Notable TV credits include NBC's Shades of Blue, Showtime’s Homeland, TVLand’s Younger, and NBC’s The Slap. I recently appeared onstage in the world premiere of Deborah Stein's Marginal Loss at the Humana Festival at the Actors Theatre of Louisville. American Theatre called my portrayal of a star-on-the-rise trader in the days immediately following 9/11 "the festival’s most nuanced female character." Broadway World wrote "Nancy Sun drives home...these moments with emotional probity, and it is evident that she took this role to heart. " I also made my studio feature film debut in Going in Style, directed by Zach Braff and opposite Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Alan Arkin. I am a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Maggie Flanigan Studio two-year acting program.My writing online has earned a SXSW Interactive Award nomination and mention in the New York Times. I have previously workshopped scripts at the Asian American Film Lab and am currently working on a feature-length screenplay.As a supporter of independent film, I have also served two years on the Tribeca Film Festival Preselection Committee and worked as the Industry Registration Coordinator for the IFP Project Forum (now known as The Gotham).On a personal note, I am currently raising a dog and a baby with my husband in Brooklyn. Ready to start making art, making, money, and making an impact? Visit makingartistspodcast.com or connect with me on IG @thenancysun.Music credit: Positive Experience by Sunny TonesA Podcast Launch Bestie production

Welcome to the Making Artists podcast! I’m your host, Nancy Sun, and this podcast is a container for me to help other artists out in the world, outside of my coaching practice.These episodes are intended to unblock artists like you and allow you to realize your full dreams for your personal and artistic life. The world will change when all humans realize they have the power and ability to create, and not only entertain, but educate, inspire, influence, and spur others into making their own impact.Ready to start making art, making, money, and making an impact? Visit makingartistspodcast.com or connect with me on IG @thenancysun.Music credit: Positive Experience by Sunny TonesA Podcast Launch Bestie production

Hey artist! Want to learn how to go from aspiring artist to full-time creative? Look no further.In this podcast, we will coverWho gets to be an artistWhat an artist’s life looks likeHow to become a successful, professional artist And we will bust the myths that keep so many creatives starving, struggling, and stuck.I’m your host, professional certified coach and fellow artist Nancy Sun. I’ve acted with and been directed by Academy Award nominees. The New York Times and SXSW have recognized me for my writing. All without an MFA or BFA. As a coach, I have helped writers get their first byline, actors get their first credit, fine artists get paid residencies and freelancers get their first six-figures.Ready to make the art, money, and impact you want? Visit www.makingartistspodcast.com now!You can also follow me on instagram at @thenancysun