Ep #4: Dorothy Shain

Dorothy Shain is a mixed media artist who in a short period of time has already made a real career out of her truly beautiful and unique art. As a “left brain” person, it’s taken a lot to cultivate and enhance my creativity, so I had a lot of questions for Dorothy about her creative process and learned quite a lot through this conversation. The menswear market is crowded, and I knew that going in, but I have so much respect for artists who go all in on their talent to build a career in potentially the most crowded market there is! Anyone can call themselves an artist - few can make something really valued out of a career in it. I loved hearing how Dorothy internalized the lessons from Danny Meyer’s “Setting The Table” about really owning the touchpoints and relationships in her world to create a memorable experience and story for her customers and art. She also has a unique approach to the morning - 10 minutes of meditation, 10 minutes of reading, and writing down 10 things she’s grateful for - that have helped keep her sane on a very tough journey of building a career out of her art. This was a really different conversation in many ways while being so very similar to convesrations with more traditional business founders. I was fortunate to have it and hope you find value in listening to it. You can support the amazing work she’s doing for cancer survivors via her Instagram. I just bought one of the commemorative scarves after hearing the story behind the initiative.

Show Notes:

• 6:00 - Why opening her inbox is like Christmas
• 6:43 - The first time I’ve heard the word Gouache
• 10:00 - How international travel changed Dorothy’s perspective on her career path
• 10:40 - “So what exactly do you do with an art major?”
• 12:30 - #CubeLife
• 13:30 - Why it took so long for Dorothy to get back to art
• 18:00 - Background on the inspiration for her art
• 22:45 - The struggle of what art an artist keeps - pick just one
• 27:00 - Thank you notes and gratitude
• 31:30 - How Setting the Table changed Dorothy’s perspective on hospitality and business
• 34:30 - Morning routine: ten minutes of meditation, ten pages of a book, ten things she is grateful for
• 41:00 - Moment: an app that can change your life
• 45:30 - When Mindy Kaling bought her art and posted it to social media
• 49:30 - Let negativity fuel your fire
• 57:15 - A meaningful initiative to support cancer survivors by raising $50,000. Check it out here
• 1:03:00 - How I Built This podcast
• 1:05:00 - This best gift ever is probably the best gift ever