78 – Painting Murals with AlliKDesign

Laura

00:06
Hi, this is Laura Lee Griffin.

Nikki

00:08
And this is Nikki May, with the Startist Society, inspiring you to stop getting in your own way and start building an art biz and life that you love.

Laura

00:10
We are artists who believe strongly in the power of community, accountability, following your intuition, taking small actionable steps and breaking down the barriers of fear and procrastination that keep you stuck.

Nikki

00:30
Follow along with us on our creative business journey as we encourage you on yours.

Laura

00:38
Alli Koch of AlliK Design is an artist based in Dallas, Texas who has turned her passion for art and design into a full time career. She is the author of over seven published books and is on a mission to inspire others to create as well. You can find Alli’s artwork on murals all around the Dallas/Fort Worth area, on merchandise, in stores all around the country.

Nikki

01:03
When she isn’t creating her gorgeous artwork, Alli speaks about business and entrepreneurship through panels, on her own podcast, which is called Breakfast with Sis, which she records with her dad. While Alli has worked with some incredible companies around the country, her favorite part of her job is still drawing from her bed while cuddling her adorable cat and drinking sweet tea.

Laura

01:24
Alli, welcome to the Startist Society.

Alli

01:27
Thank you so much for having me.

Laura

01:30
We’re so excited that you’re here. And I wish that our listeners could see that cute cat that you have.

Alli

01:37
You might hear her in the background, but hopefully not too much.

Laura

01:42
Alli, we like to start off our episodes with your Startist story. And as we mentioned in the introduction, you do so many interesting things. But the question is, how did you get started with this sort of creative life and turning this into an actual business? What did that look like for you?

Alli

02:01
It, for the longest time, I thought it was just luck. My dad tells me all the time that there’s no such thing as luck. It’s just hard work. And it was a mixture of that. But it’s also like just who you know, sometimes what you know about who you know, being in the right place at the right time, all of that. Knowing how to network properly, and networking to the right people. All of that has kind of helped me get to where I am. That’s like the longest story short. But…I just like a quick rundown, I graduated from UNT with a marketing degree, and I couldn’t find a marketing job. So while I was interviewing for jobs, I started creating canvases and artworks for our first apartment and for friends and family, and those just kind of took off. And so I started painting globes, like I know the real OG fans are when they’re like, Oh, I still have one of your globes. I’m like, Oh my gosh, like, Can I redo that or like you need to get rid of that…

Nikki

03:10
They’re very cool.

Alli

03:12
Yeah, so I really enjoyed doing them. And that’s when I started doing like craft fairs and a little bit of those. I personally didn’t like the craft fairs. But I started doing – because I didn’t like that as like, I’m just gonna do an Etsy shop. And then I actually didn’t really like Etsy. Like, there’s just something that just like, wasn’t clicking. And I was like, I just need and at the time, my husband kind of just saw it as a hobby, because it looks like hobby stuff. And I was like, no, I think I can make a job out of this. Like people were like paying me money to do these globes and these canvases. He’s like, Yeah, that’s kind of like a hobby. And he saw like, Etsy is like a hobbyist and it’s grown so much more than that, but at the time, it was and so I was okay, what can I do that… So I wasn’t like making a lot of money, but I wasn’t going under at the time. So I was like, okay, why can I do that I can make a substantial amount of money. Yeah.

Nikki

04:08
It was enough that you could see the potential even though you weren’t there yet.

Alli

04:12
Yes. Yeah.

Laura

04:13
So what were you actually selling on Etsy at the time?

Alli

04:16
Globes or art prints or canvases. And so, that like just alone, like if you’re starting a business, and that’s all you’re doing, like, that’s really great, but you’re probably never going to see like a six figure business. It is just way too hard, you have to scale that. And so I was okay, I can either scale this or I can find another avenue. And so I found weddings and I was just, I had just gotten married at the time, so I knew how much money goes into weddings. So I thought, I can do this. I did my own calligraphy and wedding invitations for my own wedding, so I was like, I think I think I can do this. I think I like this. And so I started doing invitations and at the time I’m when I was doing wedding invitations. I was one of like the top Dallas calligraphers, sign painters. And it was really great. I grew out of my kitchen when I was doing wedding invitations and so I was like, I need to find a studio. So I found a studio off of Craigslist of all places. It was so… my husband walked in and he’s like, I don’t know about this. Even my parents that like, my parents think that I can, like do anything and everything. My parents were like, I don’t know, Alli. I’m like, no, no, there’s a vision. I got it. Paint the whole thing white, it just makes everything better. So I got my first studio, we painted all those walls white. I was like okay, now I gotta put some art on here. And I asked my landlord, I was like, Hey, can I paint a mural? And they’re like, Yeah, you can do whatever you want, this is your studio space. I was like, yes. So, I painted my first mural, had no idea what I was doing. And I was my Be You mural. I don’t know if you have seen the artwork or whatnot. But it’s kind of an iconic Alli K design now. And I painted that and posted on social media, and then someone was like, Oh, my gosh, you paint murals, I need a mural. Can you do one? I’m like, Yes, of course, I paint murals, like I have it. So I also don’t like the phrase fake it till you make it. I like to say yes and figure it out later. And that’s exactly what I did. I’m like, Yes, I can do this mural for you. And within that time, I was Googling and researching and testing out all these different supplies and things like that. And I showed up to that mural, feeling as confident as I could be. And I painted it. And it’s still up today. And it still looks beautiful. And after that one mural, it just kind of now I’ve painted over 100 murals over the course of four, five years. Within that I also got my first book deal, which I think has helped tremendously, put me on the map of growing my Instagram that’s helped so much with my books, and people knowing me from all over the world which is crazy. Yeah, so it’s just been like a mixture of multiple things. And then realizing that I can’t just, I can’t just paint globes, or I can’t just do canvases or I can’t just do wedding invitations. Like in order to have a really successful career in art, it is helpful to have like passive incomes and multiple things to where like if one thing is low. And I’ve really felt this especially in 2020 of like, okay, when things really low and or non-existent that I can lean on something else.

Nikki

07:45
Absolutely. Yeah, we talk about that a lot about trying to come up with multiple screens. Words are hard.

Alli

07:52
Words are so hard. Y’all are my people… usually it’s me that’s doing this. And I get so frustrated at myself. But you all are my people. I love it.

Nikki

08:03
Yeah, yeah. So we talk a lot about having multiple streams of income, because it’s so important to just have that balance for sure. So you talked about your parents and your dad a bit. It seems like your dad is your business partner in a lot of ways. What’s that working relationship like with him? Like, I love my parents, but I cannot imagine working with them. Sorry, mom and dad, if you’re listening,

Alli

08:31
I totally gonna call him and be like, You are my business partner. Just like no. He’s probably going to be like, I already know this.

Nikki

08:42
Yeah, so what’s that working relationship like?

Alli

08:45
Yeah, I’ve had a standing breakfast date with my dad since I was 13 years old. It kind of started off, which is adorable is kind of started off with my mom saying you need to take YOUR daughter out of THIS house. To give her.. it was I guess 13 year old hormones just all going crazy. And so every Saturday morning, he would take me out to breakfast and we just like started talking about life and what was going on for that week and we’d do highs and lows and what did we learn? And that obviously has evolved from 13, what age is that, in middle school to then the highs and lows of high school and then the highs and lows of college.

Nikki

09:26
And then the high low app.

Alli

09:29
Yes, High/Low app. And then like yeah, then it just kind of evolved into like the high lows of business. And so dad, my dad is a consultant, he has either been a consultant at a business or he now currently is working in HR. So he’s constantly working with people, consulting people, has his own books. He’s so knowledgeable and wise and always has the answer for anything that I am thinking or struggling with. So yes, he’s definitely the business partner when it comes to moral emotional support. He also has really great ideas too. So he’s definitely my, when I’m overthinking something, and he’s like leading me to work smarter, not harder. He’s my go to guy.

Laura

10:17
Can I borrow your dad?

Nikki

10:18
Can Laura call him when she’s she’s doing some overthinking?

Alli

10:21
Yes, yeah. Yeah. Listen to the podcast. He’s got it all the answers.

Nikki

10:27
The overthinking consultant, what a great resource to have for you.

Alli

10:31
I’m very, very fortunate and very grateful. I thank him every single day. We were talking before we started the podcast of where I’m moving up to the burbs, and I it’s gonna be like the longest we’ve ever been away from each other, like, as far as like, distance wise. And he told me last week, he’s like, Hey, guys, we’re moving to the burbs, too. And so my mom got a new house. It’s really great, I definitely like I’m the only person I really do know, that has like this strong a relationship with their parents. But I yeah, I’m very fortunate. I’m very fortunate that my husband has a good relationship with them, too. Like, I’ve known my husband and I’ve been dating my husband since I was 14. So if you think like I started breakfasts when I was 13. So my dad has just been in every aspect of me and my husband’s relationship too, just as guiding me through puppy love to then marriage. But he’s been around my dad as well. So like over half our lives, he’s been in our family. So it’s just been, it’s a really great relationship.

Nikki

11:37
That’s great. Because my dad is like, I don’t want to know, don’t tell me.

Laura

11:43
I actually met your dad years ago at one of your book signings. Because I came to that, the one that had the really cool like bus with the photo op outside.

Alli

11:54
Yes, yeah. So it was one of my favorites, that was for Florals by Hand.

Laura

11:58
Yes. That was amazing.

Nikki

11:59
Did you say bus?

Alli

12:01
Yeah, a VW bus. Oh, cool, super cool.

Laura

12:05
So that was an amazing book. And I have, I have a couple of your books that I just love. And I’m curious if you can share with us… you mentioned earlier that the book came around the same time as the murals, all this was kind of happening at the same time. But can you give us a little bit more information about how you came into that first book deal? And did you self publish? Did you work with a publisher? What was that like?

Alli

12:30
Yeah, so again, I was very, very fortunate and grateful. How I was able to get my book deal, because sometimes it’s not this way. But I was approached by the publisher that I’m using now, they emailed to me, and they’re like, Hey, we have this idea for a how to draw florals book. We want you to do it. And of course, I went to my dad, I was like, Look at this, because he at the time, he had already self published his books. And he was three books in. And so I was like, this is really strange. I think I was two, maybe two and a half, three years into my business. I had like less than 10,000 followers on Instagram, like nothing substantial for me to think that I was capable or popular enough to write a book and I was like, this is a scam. And my dad’s like, well, like hear him out. I’ve was completely thinking that it was going to be one of those like, you just won a free vacation.

Nikki

13:32
Just pay us…

Alli

13:33
Yeah, just pay us this much money. Yeah. I was completely thinking it was gonna be that, but it definitely wasn’t. They’re like, No, no, no, we’re actually going to pay you. They told me about… I didn’t know anything about books. I had no idea about royalties and advances or nothing like that. So I was like, Okay, I’m just gonna go into this very blindly. And I am so glad I did because it completely changed my life. Now, there are so many different resources for self publishing, for finding a book agent for… you can, there’s so many different ways of if you’re wanting to publish a book, there’s so many different ways. A lot of my friends have been approached by publishers, so they’re still out there. So just if you are, a lot of times, publishers look for people that are… they just see… because I asked my publishers like why me? Like this is so weird. Like I wasn’t that… and I was looking back at my Instagram to see like what they were seeing. I did that like probably last year, I was like, What were they seeing? I’m so curious, because I wasn’t posting a ton of florals. I was doing just a little bit here and there but they’re like No, we just saw your joy and you’re just, for as much of every time you posted, you were always willing to teach and and help others and that’s truly my joy, my passion and just being able to build that confidence up in others and so they saw that. I don’t know how or why, but they did, through my Instagram, and that’s why they they asked me so.

Nikki

15:04
And what year was this? The first book? Do you remember?

Alli

15:07
I don’t. Years are so weird these days now.

Nikki

15:10
I know time means nothing anymore.

Alli

15:12
I really don’t. I think it might have been 2017 I believe, 2016… around there.

Laura

15:18
So clearly you enjoyed that process, because now you’ve, what you’ve completed, like seven more?

Alli

15:24
Yes, the minute my book came out, and the first post that someone got my book, and they, they did one of the floral illustrations, I started bawling. I was like, oh, no, what did I just do? Because the illustration was so good. And I was like, I just ruined my career. All of these people are going to start drawing flowers, and they’re gonna start drawing flowers just like me, like, what did I just do? Like, I’m ruined. And then the posts started coming in of like, oh, my gosh, you’re helping me build confidence. You’re teaching me I know, I’m starting my own business. And so it like that completely flipped of like, oh my gosh, what did I just do to like, oh, my gosh, look what I just did, and able to reach all these people around literally around the world. Like, I will never forget the time we meet my husband, we’re visiting Rome, and we’re visiting the Colosseum. And we’re taking pictures, and this girl comes up to me, she’s like, Oh, my gosh, are you

Alli

? And I’m like,

Nikki

16:25
Oh my God.

Alli

16:27
Yes.

Nikki

16:27
That’s amazing.

Alli

16:28
She’s like, I have your book. I love you. I’m like, you’re making my life right now, like oh my gosh! And of course my husband was like, Damn, that’s cool. So yeah, it was really great. So just being able to, like realize that I’m touching people all over the world, and being able to bring in that inspiration and confidence outweighs the fear of people copying, because there are people all over and I get this question all the time. Like, how do you overcome like these people drawing just like you are, or copying what you’re doing? And I have to look at it as like, if they’re copying exactly what I’m doing, then they’re never going to have the confidence to go out and do what I do. Because they’re always going to feel like they have to copy something. So I don’t take it too personal. Because I have to remind myself like that’s, that’s what they’re mentally, what their block is. And it just kind of gives me a push of like, okay, there’s all these people, and they’re kind of in the same race. So it’s a marathon, not a race, but I just need to keep trucking. Because if I stop, then someone’s gonna, maybe replace me. So, it keeps me motivated too.

Nikki

17:43
So let’s talk about this style for a bit. So you had that fear that oh, my gosh, I’m teaching people how to draw what I do. But you have a pretty distinct style. And you’re totally right, that if somebody is just… so copying somebody else’s style is a great way to learn.

Alli

18:00
Definitely, definitely.

Nikki

18:01
But if you’re putting, if all you’re putting out there is somebody else’s style. You’re right, you’re never going to develop your own. But let’s talk about how you developed that style.

Alli

18:11
Yeah, it came out to just really what I personally love. And that’s another thing is like, when I am overthinking, and when I have those blocks, I’m just like, oh, I don’t know what to create. It’s always again, Dad’s wise words. He’s just like, well just create what you like. And then the people that like what you like, are gonna like it. And those are your type of people. Like you don’t want to try to force someone to like something. Those aren’t your people. So the right people will come, just create for yourself. And that’s exactly what I did. I created my first mural for myself. When I was in the wedding industry, I think I painted over 700 jackets, but for brides but the first jacket was I wanted something cool for a party. So I painted one for a party. Everything that literally everything that is in my website that I sell on my shop, it’s because I either wanted it, or I needed it, or I was gonna give it to a friend. I’m like, Okay, this is really cool. Let me just sell it as well. So it’s definitely helped, because I definitely have decision paralysis for sure. So it’s definitely helped with that of just like focusing on like, Okay, well would I hang in my apartment or like, what do I need? And if like, I need something, I’m like, Okay, I need it in Alli K form too so like, I’m like, I’m gonna learn how to paddle or do not paddle pickleball sorry. I’m gonna learn how to pickleball but I need paddles. And I’m like searching paddles. I’m like, I’m pretty sure I can custom make these. And so of course, I did I custom made paddles for pickleball.

Nikki

19:51
I don’t even know what Pickleball is.

Alli

19:53
Oh, Google it.

Laura

19:54
Oh, my parents would love those.

Alli

19:57
Yes.

Laura

19:57
Pickleball is awesome. It is, it’s really fun. Yeah.

Nikki

20:00
Well, I like, I really like that because a lot of people are out there looking at what they think the market wants.

Alli

20:08
Yes, yes. I’m so glad you brought that up. Because they really do that’s like either what the market wants or like… They look at Sally on her Instagram, and they’re like, Oh, she’s doing such a great job. And she’s selling these things. And people get so caught up and like, oh, well, I need to sell those things. It’s really like, it’s not going to like if you are not 100% in that, it’s not going to it’s not going to work 100%. Like, it might work for a little bit, but it might not work as well as you think it would. So I tell people like look around your house, like what is your style like? What do you, what do you wear? What does your apartment look like? What do you when you go to the store, like what are you picking up things like that. And that’s a good way to kind of start figuring out what your style is. I know you like mentioned like, I a lot of people like will look at when they’ll come into my house or look at my cars or look at what I’m wearing to like, Wow, you’re really into the Alli K brand. I’m like, no, the Alli K brand is me. It’s just me, right?

Nikki

21:12
Yeah. Right. So instead of following trends, you’re just creating your own.

Alli

21:16
Yes, exactly.

Nikki

21:18
Awesome.

Laura

21:18
Yeah. And for our listeners who don’t know, Alli K does really beautiful, lots of beautiful black and white work. You know, black line work on on white and a lot of your murals I’ve seen have been that way. I think I’ve even seen some shopfronts that you’ve done in different places.

Alli

21:35
Yeah. I’m starting to add color. Which is interesting, because a lot of people like ooh color. I’m like, Oh, I can still do it, but my favorite is still like black and white type of stuff. It’s sometimes hard, because a lot of people are like, oh, what color? Are you painting this and like, no, but just black and white? And they’re like, Oh, okay. Yeah.

Laura

21:59
Well, it’s a way of defining your brand.

Alli

22:02
It is!

Laura

22:02
But you’re allowed to experiment. And, you know, you’ve niched down. But what’s interesting is, even though that you you kind of have this distinct style, you’ve been able to then apply that to so many different things, so many different products. So, you know, we talked about murals, we’ll talk a little bit more about those. But the books, the cars, because I know you have an Alto car out there. And art licensing, I mean, what else do you have your artwork on these days?

Alli

22:29
Yeah, so I have fabric, I pretty much have like the goal like every year of like, okay, what can I put flowers on? And it’s like, I have this whole list of like, one day, I hope that there’s bandaids with my flowers on them, or,

Nikki

22:47
Oh, I would totally wear some Alli K bandaids.

Alli

22:50
There are so many things, so like, I just like, especially if I assign like products and like, Okay, this product is really cool. Like, let’s see if we can put Alli K flowers on it. A lot of times, like, at the beginning of my career as Okay, I want to do this, and I want to put flowers on it. But getting like an art licensing agent, or reaching out to companies like that can be really intimidating. And I like instant gratification, So I’m like, Okay, I want a home collection, well, I’m probably not going to get into Target because that is just, you have to have so many different connections.

Laura

23:27
Never say never.

Alli

23:27
Never say never, yes, that’s true. But I was like instant gratification. I’m just going to do this myself. And so like I came up with my own home collection, like had the whole catalog, the whole shebang, like it was really great.

Nikki

23:38
We’ll talk to us about how you did that.

Alli

23:40
So I did that through a mixture of like drop shipping. So like Printful…

Nikki

23:47
Print on demand, yep.

Alli

23:48
Print on demand, like that’s essentially like drop shipping is. So I did a mixture of that, a mixture of like finding local, like, I think I had like some tea towels and I designed the tea towels and then they hand dyed them for me in small batches. And I think what else I have, I had like comforters and blankets and pillows and kitchen towels and tea towels. And so I just found all these different vendors that I could use and use on my shop and so I created it bought all the samples. It was really, it was kind of expensive at the time, but I knew that I needed at least a sample of everything. And so I sampled it out, scheduled a photographer, photographered it, or photographered it! Photographed it well and put it out there and put it on social media and blast it through my newsletter and all these people were like, Oh my gosh, who did you partner with? I’m like, No, girl. It’s all me. I did it.

Nikki

23:58
Did you wholesale those?

Alli

24:21
I didn’t because I did everything…

Nikki

24:50
Because that’s hard to do with print on demand.

Alli

24:52
Yeah. You can’t do wholesale with print on demand. So it was just all through my website and just small batches. And so I just kept it very local to my website. But yeah, when I did that I got the attention of Moda, which is a fabric company that sells worldwide. And they’re like, oh my gosh, I love your pillows. I love these designs, like, have you thought about ever doing fabric? And I’m like, Yes, that is on my to do list, I want to do this. Because you can do it like through Spoonflower. And like create your own own fabrics, that is hella expensive to do it that way. And again, you’re still very limited to, it’s essentially like a print on demand type of thing. So you’re very limited. So you can’t really wholesale that either. So I was able to get a really great deal with them. And now I have three fabric lines with them. So it’s like one of those things, it’s like, create for yourself, and then all of these opportunities are going to open up.

Nikki

25:51
That’s fantastic advice.

Laura

25:53
It is, I love it.

Alli

25:54
And people won’t know, like people don’t know what they want until they see it. And so you kind of have to just like it might have probably would have never really like thought like oh yeah, Alli K flowers would have looked really great on their stuff until, because they just saw all of my artwork on walls. So the minute I was able to put it on textile, they’re like, oh, yeah, these are really great. So.

Nikki

26:16
But speaking of walls, I have always been interested in murals. And I’ve done a couple little things here and there. But I wanted I want to hear more about your murals. And I know so you got started just by doing one for yourself in your studio, right? And then sharing images of that and getting interest going. But oh my gosh, you’re so prolific with them, now you do. What did I just see? In the last several years, you’ve done like 27 a year, every year.

Alli

26:46
Every year! It is the most like, gives me chill bumps, I don’t understand it. But literally every single year for the past like since 2018 has always been the number 27. And I’m just like, this is freaky!

Nikki

27:02
Wait, and in in that year, were you 27?

Alli

27:05
Oh my gosh, was I? I’m 30 now… Oh my gosh, you just blew my mind.

Nikki

27:16
Wow. Well, thank you and good night.

Alli

27:25
That’s crazy.

Nikki

27:25
So talk to us. Tell us all the things about murals. So I know the first one was your near studio. But now you’re working with brands on murals and businesses. Tell me, tell me things.

Alli

27:40
All the things. Tell me all the secrets. Well, there’s a lot to murals. And yeah, so do you want to know like, how?

Nikki

27:49
Yes, all of it. All of it.

Alli

27:52
So murals can be a little bit intimidating. And I get asked like, oh my gosh, how do you start like literally just say like, just start, like you have a wall next to you. Paint it. Don’t like it, paint over it. It’s just paint. So it can be your wall. It can be a friend’s wall, it can be a literally like, go to Home Depot, go get a piece of plywood, paint that. Like that’s considered a mural? Or at least I like to think that it’s considered a mural.

Nikki

27:53
Yeah, absolutely.

Alli

27:58
So just paint it. It’s gonna be easier to paint like murals for other people, the more you practice and so like, especially like scale is really intimidating to people of like, okay, how do I get this idea on this piece of paper, or on this iPad. I always use an iPad, it’s see me so much time and it’s so much easier to transfer that.

Laura

28:43
Okay, so I want to know how you get it transferred.

Nikki

28:46
Tell us how you do that.

Alli

28:47
Yeah, so there’s multiple ways I use an iPad. I recommend it, if you don’t have an iPad and you’re an artist, go get an iPad. Like even if you like you’re just like absolutely like you love canvases and you love the art materials. You love the feel of it. I was totally that girl until I got an iPad. And then I was like okay.

Nikki

29:07
And there’s no reason you can’t do both.

Alli

29:08
There’s no reason, but it just saves you so much time and you’re able to scale and you’re able to do so much more with your artwork once you go digital and time is money and that saves you so much time. So get an iPad

Nikki

29:22
Okay, so you have so you have your little design on your iPad, because it’s only so big.

Laura

29:27
And what app are you using?

Alli

29:28
I’m using the Procreate app.

Nikki

29:30
Yeah, that’s what we use too. So how do you get it on a big wall?

Alli

29:34
so I will mock it up like, so I’ll take a photo of the wall, I will design it on like a second layer of overlap photo so then I can send it to the client and say this is exactly how it’s going to look pretty much exactly how it’s gonna look. And okay, we love that, so maybe like we want a bigger, we want smaller, want it to left, to the right… it’s easy to like move around. So then I go to the wall if it is going to be an exterior wall Oh, I go to the wall at night and I project it up.

Nikki

30:03
How do you do that? What do you use?

Alli

30:05
Yeah, with a projector. So I started off with a literally one of those old school overhead projectors. I bought it off like $10 off of Craigslist. I was like… because I was the only thing when you said projector, that’s what I thought. I’m like, Okay, I need this. I went to FedEx got one of those like Kinko clear sheets or whatever they call them.

Nikki

30:28
Transparencies.

Alli

30:29
Yes. And I did like two murals with that. And I think I like smashed it up and put it in the dumpster because it was horrible. But then I went to Amazon and bought like $100 projector and it saved my life. So find a projector, it doesn’t have to be something crazy. I have $100 projectors, $50 projectors, $1,000 projectors, they all work the same, essentially.

Nikki

30:54
Yeah, and you do it directly from the iPad, projecting it?

Alli

30:58
Sometimes I do, sometimes it’s really finicky of like the iPad shifting angles. So I will then transfer it to my computer, put it into, either I can just do it off of my computer, or I’ll put it into like Illustrator or some like editing app to where I can like, blow it up easier, make it full screen. So you want to try to get as much of that image onto the computer screen as possible, because then that’s what is projected on to the projector. So then project it up, trace it out, then the next day I go and I just paint it. So it’s really awesome. But…

Laura

31:36
Just like that, and then it’s done.

Alli

31:37
Just like that, then it’s done.

Nikki

31:40
No big deal. Build some scaffolding.

Alli

31:45
There’s some times where you can project, either I don’t have time in my schedule to go out the next like the night before and then go out the next day. Or it is in a place where I can’t find a plug like it’s like in the middle of a park and there’s no electricity wherever I… you can like rent a generator, but that sometimes it’s just like really big hassle. So you can make a grid, old school grid way. So it’s essentially like you take your photo, you make an on a smaller sheet, grid it out, do some math, then you grid it out on the wall, and you follow the squares. There’s a new school way. It’s kind of like an old school slash new school way. Old school is like the graffiti artists have been doing this for years. Because obviously they can’t go out with a projector and project up their graffiti. So what they do is it’s called a doodle method to where you doodle these random shapes, like hearts letters, squiggles, all these scribbles, take a photo of that, and then use your iPad, put your image on top of that doodle. And then you just kind of look at that doodle of like okay, the eye is next to this K and you trace it out that way.

Nikki

33:09
Huh, interesting.

Alli

33:10
Yeah, it really is. It works. I’ve haven’t done it yet. It’s on my to do list to do like, I really want to experiment with that. But it’s when I see YouTube videos of it, it blows my mind.

Nikki

33:26
Interesting. We’re gonna have to find some YouTube videos of that. Because I’m I’m having a hard time picturing it.

Alli

33:31
Just type in doodle grid method and it pops up.

Nikki

33:36
Cool.

Laura

33:37
Okay, so we know that you need to have a projector if you’re interested in doing murals.

Alli

33:41
You don’t need to, it’s just a lot easier. It’s a lot easier to like, get the scale correct. So you can either project it, or grid it or just freehand it. But yeah,

Laura

33:52
What is the difference? Like how many of your murals are outdoor ones versus indoor ones?

Alli

33:57
Oh gosh, that’s a good question. Um, lately they, a lot of them have been indoors. I think a lot of people have been inside in these cooped up walls and like, hmm, I need a mural. So a lot of them have been indoors lately, but it’s a very good mixture.

Laura

34:16
And what supplies do you need that are different for doing something indoors versus outdoors,

Alli

34:20
Literally, really nothing. Because I’ll use the same like paint for, I’ll just get a gallon of exterior paint and use it interior. Like that’s not a problem at all. So it’s just I wouldn’t recommend interior paint on an exterior wall mural. But last year, there was like this really big paint shortage so they didn’t have like the sample paints and that freaked me out a little bit, but a lot of my murals, I just get those sample paints from Home Depot. They’re like in these like teeny tiny, cute little, I don’t know, they’re not even like I don’t even like know what ounces they are but they can get me through a whole mural so, yeah.

Nikki

34:58
Well, let’s talk a bit more are about materials because I know, you know in getting ready for this interview, we did a little deep dive into your stuff and I saw you have an Amazon shop with some of your favorite mural supplies. And I saw, I have a special interest in this because I’ve used some of these materials that you have in your shop on on a car that I drew on. So I’ve seen that you have Sharpie oil based paint pens, and then you also have Posca acrylic paint markers. So like, when do you use oil versus acrylic?

Laura

34:58
Oh, wow.

Alli

35:38
It really just depends on the wall. Like when we start painting, like I always test my markers out because it really is like it’s either like, okay, the texture of the wall, like is this gonna eat up the paint pin, the paint that is underneath that wall, if it’s like an oil based paint that was already painted, or if it’s an eggshell, if it’s a matte, they all react differently to the paint that you put on top of that. So it’s really just like testing out like, I wish I had like a graph of like, okay, use this pen for this wall. It really like every single wall is completely different. And like when I think I know a wall, and when I think I know it like sometimes it like surprises me and it does really weird things. And so then halfway through the mural, I’m like, Okay, I need to switch up my materials type of thing. So.

Nikki

36:32
So you just test each one out and see what works best.

Laura

36:35
Well, as a rule, you can put oil on top of acrylic, but not acrylic on top of oil. Right?

Alli

36:41
Yeah.

Laura

36:42
Yeah.

Nikki

36:42
And then you do a combination of painting and drawing?

Alli

36:46
You mean like paint? Yeah, like with the paint pins and with the paint? Yeah, most of my murals are a mixture just depending on because your paint pens only go to a certain thickness, or they only go to a certain thinness. And so it really is just depending on again, scale of like, okay, and I’ll test it like, I’ll do a mark and then I’ll step back and I’m like okay, do I like this scale of this line weight? No, let me try this marker. Like, no, I don’t like that. So then I’m like, Okay, I’m just going to use a brush, because I know I can do that.

Laura

37:21
So when you’re transferring something over from your, your projector, are you using those paint pens to basically outline the work?

Alli

37:31
No, sometimes I have done that. And then I realized that I’m losing so much content that I’m like, okay, I can do a mural really quick if I do it that way. We kind of need a little bit of a scale and a little bit like most of the times that is considered like freehand drawing because you don’t see your lines when you’re in front of the projector because then you block the light. So it’s really like, like, I can do it. But if I have an assistant with me, they can’t do it. Because then they’re like, looking and doing like all these poses trying to get see the line, but you really can’t see the line. So if like, I’m really tight on schedule, I’m like the I need to really knock this mural out. I will do it that way when I’ll do it by myself. But then I’m like, Okay, I did that. But no one wants to see my image on Instagram projected up there. And then like my shadow, and I’m playing shadow puppet. So I for the sake of Instagram, I don’t do that anymore. So it’s just better Instagram content that I can get without the projector, if that makes sense.

Nikki

38:40
So let’s, um, let’s talk about how you get all of these mural jobs. Are you seeking them out? Or are people just coming to you? And how has that really changed as your career has developed?

Alli

38:53
I need to like knock on wood because I have only, every single mural except maybe one, um, I have been approached by which is again, thinking lucky stars. All just very grateful for that.

Nikki

39:13
That’s amazing.

Alli

39:14
The one I can yeah, there’s only been one that I was like, Hey, would love to paint a mural on and surprisingly, they said yes. Which a lot of times you, that’s very also very rare. Like it’s one of those like ask 100 times to get one yes back. So, yeah, it’s a lot of just word of mouth. And so I always want to be top of mind of other people to where like, Okay, if someone just mentions the word mural, I want them to think of me. So, that is done by constantly showing that I’m painting murals, constantly talking about painting murals, but also like, the kind of secret sauce to stay on top of mine is connecting with those people out outside of art, like, they can’t always connect with you of being an artist or painting. But if just someone that isn’t an artist can connect with you of like, Oh, you like Chick fil A? I like Chick fil A. Oh, you have a cat, I have a cat. So then they’re able to remember you a lot easier when they’re able to connect with you on a personal level. So that’s kind of like the secret sauce of staying top of mind with with those people.

Laura

40:31
I’m curious, because I also come from a finance background in my career.

Alli

40:35
I’m jealous.

Laura

40:36
So I’m always kind of curious how people price their work, or how they get paid for doing murals, like in this case, is it, is it like a cost per square foot or some other method? And then I assume that as you, you do more of them and have more experience, you can increase your price over time. But do you have any suggestions for people who are just getting started with how they would price their mural work?

Alli

41:04
Yeah, don’t do it for free.

Nikki

41:08
Always good advice.

Alli

41:09
Yes, don’t do it, because it’s just so, it’s so hard. Like I can see like doing it for free for maybe like your very first one and be like, Hey, can I, if you’re like wanting to do this for a friend be like, Hey, I’m experimenting. But I’ve learned the hard way of doing anything for free, just by seeing the but in the end. So just don’t just stay away from it, don’t do it. Even if like you can trade something like a dinner or just something to where there’s like some type of transaction, it helps so much. So don’t do it for free. It’s definitely based off of square footage. Don’t ever, ever, ever price artwork or mural work that is large and substantial by the hour. Because your goal is to get quicker. But you also want to raise your prices. So just like never make sense of like, okay, I want to be faster at my job. But I also want to make more so like, that’s never gonna work out.

Nikki

42:17
Yeah, it’s the same. I do web design. And it’s the same thing. I never want to charge by the hour, because then you’re punished for getting more efficient. So absolutely, yes. So but do you ever do like a flat project rate? Like look at a wall and go, Okay, this is going to be…

Alli

42:34
Sometimes like if it’s multiple walls, or if I know that it’s going to be like a repeating customer. Like sometimes I’m like, okay, like, for example, if it’s a like a franchise, and they have multiple different opportunities for a while, I’ll be like, I can give you like five walls for this price. And then they have a certain amount of time to kind of cash in those those walls. It really depends on the client, who they are, if they’re nice to me. If I think that I can have like a long relationship with them, then I kind of like budge on the price just because I know like, if they see that I care, then they’re also going to care. And then again, think of me for for different opportunities. So it really depends. If I know that, like if I’m kind of vetting out this client, they’re already asking like 10 million questions. And I’m like, Okay, this, this is probably going to be a little bit of a needier client than I kind of add 500 bucks or something, just to like cover my time, I’m going to do that. So it really just depends on the client, the walls, the opportunities, like there’s been multiple times where I’m like, Okay, this is a really great opportunity, or like, this is really going to be great for my portfolio. So I, so for example, I just did a mural that was on like plates. And it turned out amazing.

Nikki

44:04
Oh my gosh, I just saw that.

Alli

44:05
Yes, I’m really obsessed with it.

Nikki

44:07
The combination of plates and the wall behind it.

Alli

44:10
Well, for your sake, we hope they’re not listening. But for our sake, we hope they are. Yes. So I painted that. So that was for a showroom of an apartment complex. So I painted like the main bedroom. And then they had this plate install. I’m like, Oh my gosh, can I paint on those plates? And they’re like, Yeah, so I essentially did that mural for free. Because I knew that one it wouldn’t take me that long to do and two that it was something that I kind of really wanted to do. So knowing that like I was like, okay, knowing that I wanted to paint those plates, and I was already painting the other mural, I just tacked on my mural supplies and then gas to that original mural price. And I was like, okay, I can do these plates and this mural for this price. And they’re like, Yeah, great. I on the back end added it to that, the client didn’t really well now, I guess now they know if they listen to this. They’re good. They’re good people. Yeah, they’re good people they wouldn’t mind. But essentially, it’s just like I just tacked on the cost of my materials at the upfront, and they’re great for it. So do that multiple times. Like if I see like, Okay, if I can tack on something and like, have it combined to where it’s either a really great opportunity, it’s a really great location, things like that, then I kind of budge the budget.

Nikki

45:36
Cool. Well, let’s just go back a little bit and talk about… So our listeners are mostly people who are just trying to really get started. So what advice do you have for people who are just getting started on how to how to even start pricing their work?

Alli

45:53
Yeah. So trying to talk with the people, because again, like everything’s gonna be different, where you are located. So like, I essentially am in Dallas, so I’m able to price city prices, essentially. But then like,

Nikki

46:09
Right, whereas I live in a small town in western Kentucky and it’s not Dallas rates?

Alli

46:15
Yes, yes, yes. So definitely do your research, kind of look on, Etsy is a little hard, because you have a mixture of like hobbyists on there, then also professionals. But I, that’s how I started when I was doing pricing is that I started to look at other people’s pricing. Okay, they’re kind of like in this ballpark, because you never want to undercut the market so much. One, that just doesn’t make you look like you are not professional. Like, there’s another word for it. But like, you want to come off as like you know what you’re doing. So there’s that and then you also don’t like want to overprice the market, but you also like, you can sometimes take in a talent, but also like, it’s really hard because I know some people are like, Oh my gosh, Alli K’s charging $35 a square foot for mural, there’s no way I can do that. Don’t cut it to like 14… be like okay, I’m gonna charge 30 or 25. Like still stay in that like close range, but know, like, Okay, I’m gonna have three murals under my belt. Okay, now I got experience. Now I can start charging more.

Nikki

47:28
So, right, gotta start somewhere.

Alli

47:31
You got to start somewhere, but you just got to start. That’s the thing, you just gotta start.

Nikki

47:34
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And that’s our main message here.

Laura

47:38
It is, it is our main message. And I’m curious, when you have an agreement with these clients, do you actually have a written contract with them?

Alli

47:46
Oh, yes. Oh, my gosh, 10,000%. That is with like, anyone like, I wouldn’t, in any of my mentor sessions, or any of like my fellow colleagues, or people that want to get into this, like, you have to have a contract on anything that you do, especially anything that you do custom. And you have to, things that like I like to put in my contracts are like the timelines that you are going to start, when they’re gonna see designs, just so that they kind of know ahead of time, so they’re not emailing you like when am I going to see this? When is this gonna happen? Another huge, big one is revisions. Before I had a contract, I think I was just burnt out by revisions, because they just kept coming and coming and I’m just like, oh, this is horrible. You just spend all this time on revisions. So it’s like, I never do more than two revisions. It’s in the contract. If they want more, they gotta paid for it. And then I always do a 50% deposit no matter what. And the design work, like physical design work, me putting any idea or pen to paper, that 50% deposit has to be paid before that is done.

Nikki

48:57
Absolutely, no spec work.

Alli

48:59
No spec work, if they want spec work, they gotta pay for it. And it’s 50%. And they don’t realize, like that’s 50% of the work! Like me designing, coming up with ideas like that’s 50%.

Nikki

49:12
That’s the hard part.

Alli

49:13
Yeah, that almost takes longer to do versus me just actually going and painting it.

Laura

49:19
So that’s about revisions that are probably during the initial mural process. But do they ever come like especially if it’s like an outdoors one or something. Over time, do they have you come like, fix something? Like maybe maybe somebody tags the wall or maybe something happens? Like, or the sunlight has caused a problem or something? Do they ask you to come back and like fix it?

Alli

49:44
Luckily, it’s never happened yet, but it is in my contract. I thought you were about to say like, do they ever like tell you to change something while you’re painting? That’s happened before. So that is now in my contract of like, okay, you can’t, once I’m painting like, this is it, the design is approved. So that’s also in my contract. But then I also have like a service fee to where I don’t know if I would actually really, depends on the client again, but I’ve come out and like, there has been some murals that have been tagged. And so like, if it’s a quick fix, I’ll just do it. But if it’s like something to where, like, I have to, like, redo the entire thing, then I’m like, I have to charge you. And that’s when I do charge by the hour. Or I say like, it’s a minimum of, I don’t know, $50 or whatnot. So, there’s some works where I do charge by the hour, on some cases, and that’s like, things like that, where I’m like, Okay, how long, I don’t know how long it’s gonna take me.

Nikki

50:47
That makes sense.

Alli

50:48
And you have like, you kind of want to have like, in your head. And that’s another thing of like, if you’re really starting out, and you just have no idea and you’ve been researching, and you just cannot come up with a number like, Okay, think of a number in your head of like, what your hourly rate needs to be or what you want it to be, and then kind of guesstimate how long that’s going to take you and then go from there. And that’s a good kind of, and then like, once you do it, then you realize, okay, I thought it was gonna take me five hours, but it really took me six hours. And then just kind of figured out that. Yeah, so there’s kind of like figuring out that and so like, that’s how also how I kind of started not on murals, murals have always been by the square foot, I got that advice from a muralist that I looked up to, and that’s what they were doing. So I’ve never changed from that. But little like custom things that come in my inbox that I know that are just like I don’t do every day. I’m like, Okay, how many hours is going to be okay, it’s so much it’s going to be or what is also really saved me is having project minimums. And so I don’t do anything that is like if it’s, it’s like project minimum for if it’s for like a canvas or for a custom print or whatever. It’s this set. And so I’m like, here’s my project minimum, you can take it or leave it type of thing. So that’s also gotten kind of gotten me out of random little things that I’m like, Ooh, I don’t really have time for this type of thing.

Nikki

52:12
That’s really smart. Yeah, yeah, that can eat up a lot of time. For sure. So yeah, that’s great advice, too.

Laura

52:19
So what’s the biggest issue you ever come across when you are painting a mural?

Alli

52:23
There is always, I say this every time like, there’s always going to be problem solving. Like I just go into this mural knowing that any mural, knowing that there’s going to be some type of problem that I’m gonna have to solve. It can either be like, I don’t have enough extension cords, or the weather, it starts raining, or it gets too cold. Like, I had a mural just last week where my paint was just like cracking. I’m like, what is happening? I’ve never had this experience before. And it was because the paint got too cold. Like it typically, like a paint will crack if it’s dusty, like on the wall is dusty, and it’ll crack and I’m like, Yeah, and like, I knew that wasn’t the case, because this was in an orthodontist, like the wall was in an orthodontist office, and that place was just spectacular. Like I could lick the floor.

Nikki

53:19
Oh, it was yeah, it was inside and it was cracking. Oh, I thought you meant outside.

Alli

53:26
No, that’s whay I was like, wow, I was like, What the heck is going on? And it was just, it took me a while to figure out like what I needed to do and we figured it out and it all worked out and I fixed the cracking issue but it was just I just sat there I’m like what is happening like because I’m in Texas, so I don’t really experience all this stuff. But it had to have been just like either bad paint or it was too cold. It was just very particular, so

Nikki

53:56
Had you stored the paint in your car?

Alli

53:59
So I’m in between like homes right now. So a lot of like my mural paint is in a storage unit and it’s outside like it’s one of those like drive up ones because I refuse to like go through an elevator and down the hall and just to get my mural supplies so.

Nikki

54:17
I bet that’s why.

Alli

54:18
It definitely was why, yeah, but

Nikki

54:21
So there’s there’s always something that comes up and there’s always

Alli

54:25
Oh there’s always something, there’s either like my lift is too doesn’t go all the way to the ceiling so I have to get another lift or I don’t have…so like my supplies and my yeah, I have to have a whole storage unit for just supplies because I will problem solve and like okay, well I need to get another ladder or I need to get another scaffolding or I need to get more extension cords so it just like keeps piling and piling and my kit is massive now just because I don’t leave the house without all of these things because I’ve learnt my lesson in the past.

Laura

54:59
And from do you do these frequently, it totally makes sense to purchase them versus rent them, you know, right.

Alli

55:05
Oh, yeah, definitely. And I did at the beginning, I rented like scaffolding. I don’t have a scissor lift. That would be epic if I did, but I rent those. Can you imagine that would be so cool.

Nikki

55:17
Where would you store that?

Alli

55:18
But yeah, I’ve rent… I know, I know. It would just have like another storage unit and then have to get like its own trailer or something like can you imagine, like a black branded…

Nikki

55:29
With white flowers all over it? That would be awesome.

Alli

55:33
Yeah, yeah. Don’t tempt me…

Nikki

55:35
If somebody wants to sponsor that for Alli, make sure it comes with storage

Alli

55:42
Definitely! But I mean, yeah, so over the years and many murals, it’s been like, I’ve needed like, I’ll rent it. But then I would like need another one. Or the one that I rented, like, wasn’t enough, where I was just like, spending too much on the rentals. And by the time you rent it five times, like you could have bought it and been a lot cheaper. So, it was just more beneficial for me to buy them. Yeah, two scaffoldings, probably like seven different ladders depending on like, what I’m doing. Height, location, things like that. So I just kind of like every before every mural, I just like go into my storage unit and just kind of like shop and like, okay, I need this, I need that, I need this…

Nikki

56:29
If the mural business ever gets really slow, you can start renting out equipment.

Alli

56:33
Yes, I’d have to have a big hefty contract for that. But yes.

Laura

56:42
Okay, so you have these murals. You do collaborations with licensing deals and courses and mentoring. But how do you keep track of all of these different projects? Do you have a project management software or a spreadsheet? Like, what do you use?

Alli

56:56
Yeah, I don’t. I don’t manage it. Like when people say like, Oh, what do you do? It’s like, sometimes the worst question because I’m like, well, just really depends on the day, like, I do so much. And I always like see things on social media, like, oh, find your niche, like, make sure like you niche down and I used to be a really big, like pro niche. And I think I am in some sense of like, I have a particular style, and a brand and I really try to stick within that. But then like, trying to spread that across as many platforms as possible, I think is really beneficial. Like that’s how we can have those like passive incomes and things like that, that we talked about earlier.

Nikki

57:44
But really, how do you how do you manage? How do you keep track of everything and deadlines and what needs to be done when.

Alli

57:52
A lot of tabs are open on my computer.

Nikki

57:57
And in your brain?

Alli

58:00
A lot of different Excel sheets. So I have like a mural Excel sheet. And then like, I do like tattoo design. So I’ll do like, I have a tattoo Excel sheet, and like a branding Excel sheet. And then licensing I just kind of like those just kind of come and go. I use Honeybooks, which probably saves my life more than like, it’s like a second assistant for me. So it’s, I have saved so much money as well. Like before I was using Honeybooks, like I was just using an Excel sheet and then just like my emails, but then I would always forget to like follow up or I would always forget those people that were inquiring so like with Honeybooks or system like that, it helps so much to be like, oh, I need a follow up or oh, this person hasn’t paid me yet. And it’s just like really streamlined of like, I can send the contract, I can send the invoice. I can see where it’s at in the status of what do I need to do and then I can archive it and all that stuff and it’s really great.

Nikki

59:03
So you use Honeybooks to to keep track of like all your interactions with customers. And you use spreadsheets to manage the individual projects.

Alli

59:13
Yes. And then I use like an old school planner for calendar. I did use that until COVID and then like COVID happened, 2020 happened and then like my planner just like it was a mess. It was like having to like scribble everything and then by the time I’m like wasting a whole square of just all the things I have to scribble and reschedule so I started like just this year using like some like just I just put it in my notes. It’s so unprofessional, but it’s working for me right now. But I definitely need to find like a different system. I think I have a little like PTSD of like an old school planner but I do really really love like notes crossing it off, seeing it all on paper. I’m typically an old school type of gal on that. But

Laura

1:00:06
Well, I love to scratch things off to do lists too, but they usually just end up moving to the next day.

Nikki

1:00:15
Yeah, changing the date, all the time.

Alli

1:00:18
Guilty. Cut. Paste. Yep. Yeah. Yeah.

Nikki

1:00:24
Doesn’t Honeybook have that feature of tracking projects?

Alli

1:00:28
I bet. Honeybooks is so great of all the things that they like, the tools and the flows, I definitely use it maybe like 10% of what they offer. But I mean, it’s just so like, the context and the community like, yeah, if anyone’s listening, and they’re not on Honeybooks, I highly recommend it.

Nikki

1:00:51
Awesome. Yeah, I’ve heard good things about it.

Alli

1:00:54
Definitely really great things, an app. Yeah, I don’t even use the app, like I probably really should get really, dive deeper into it.

Nikki

1:01:00
All right. So let’s move on and talk a little bit more about some of the other offerings you have. We could talk murals, and I could actually, we could talk project management for hours, too. But, but let’s talk about all the other things that you do and what you’re interested in the most these days, because I know you have mentoring, private art lessons, you have the Domestika course, talk about some of the other things that you do and

Laura

1:01:27
And Alli, I know that you’re really passionate about helping other creative. So I know you’ve created a lot of offerings that can be useful in a lot of different areas. So I’m interested to hear about that.

Alli

1:01:39
Once I figured out like, that was my passion. And someone asked me, because sometimes it’s hard to like find your passion and your purpose. And it’s daunting to kind of think about it. But I had a mentor in the past, she said like, what are you doing that makes you the happiest? Or like ask a friend like, what am I doing that you see me at my happiest, and it always comes back of like teaching others or inspiring others. So it really is like a tug on my heartstrings every time I can do that, every time I can I typically try to like, answer as many questions when I’m painting murals and whatnot. So I love the mentor sessions. I’m a horrible salesperson, like I hate being salesy. Especially on social media, so I tried to like the mentor sessions that I get are very organic, and they come to me. They’re sometimes and like people ask me too many questions, I’m like, Hey, like, I have a mentor session, like, let’s do that. Like it’d be so beneficial and kind of do it at that route versus like, hey, you need me, I can be your mentor. Like, it’s just like, makes me weird inside. I also have that Domestika course, which is also great for people that can just do it at their own time. It kind of goes a little bit, I don’t go in depth of what I typically do in a mentor session, but it hits a lot of the things, common questions.

Laura

1:03:07
Yeah. So what is the theme? Like? What is your Domestika course actually about?

Alli

1:03:11
It is mainly about like being top of mind and finding your kind of voice in this big sea of entrepreneurship and creating a pitch deck and ways to network, things like that.

Laura

1:03:27
So strengthening your brand, basically?

Alli

1:03:29
Basically, yeah.

Nikki

1:03:30
Awesome. And we’ll link to that in the show notes.

Laura

1:03:34
Yeah, for sure. And so when you you talk about a mentoring session, what does a mentoring session look like with you?

Alli

1:03:41
Yeah, typically, they’re an hour, two hours, I like to kind of split my two hours into two one hour. So like, we’ll do an hour, kind of have some like things that they want to work on and then follow up for an hour as what most people like to set that up. But it’s so custom to what their specific needs are. So I asked them, like write down 10 questions, because you’ll get to the session, and you’ll kind of blank and be like, Oh my gosh, what do I ask you? They’ll send me like minimum 10 questions. And we always venture out of the conversation. Just just going all over the place. It really is, like I have had mentor sessions to where I’ve literally helped them set up their website or their like drop shipping or doing anything from marketing to social media to how to edit photos on apps, to finding clients, project ideas. A lot of, I really like the ones where like I can then connect them to another person that I know or help them find other projects like those are really great. So it really is so customizable to that person.

Nikki

1:04:54
Perfect and do you do a lot of those? Do you have like set times that you work on those are just pretty sporadic?

Alli

1:05:01
Pretty sporadic, I probably have like, two or three a month.

Nikki

1:05:05
Nice.

Laura

1:05:06
And if somebody wants to do one of those with you, does it have to be in person? Or can they do it like via Skype?

Alli

1:05:12
No, they’re typically all, Yeah, they’re typically all through Skype. If it’s in person, I lead typically, I’ve learned my lesson, and I’ll stay there. And we’ll chat for like four hours. And I’m like, there was my day. So yeah, I stopped doing in person ones for that reason. They’re fun, I love them. But I just get too excited. And like, I could literally talk to y’all all day long.

Nikki

1:05:37
We understand. Yeah, we could do this for hours, we can have like eight episodes. And then you you also have a course with your dad.

Alli

1:05:48
I do. Yeah.

Nikki

1:05:49
Called Mentor Makers. Tell us more about that one.

Alli

1:05:52
That was a fun project. So I have a podcast with my dad that we record every Saturday morning, we just talked about life. And we really talk about like how being a mentor or having a mentor is super important. Like my life completely changed when I had one of those in my life. So it really is trying to and that’s also daunting of like, okay, where do I find a mentor? Or like, if you want to mentor someone, like, how does that conversation look like? Like you get to this coffee shop, you’re like, Okay, well, how’s it going? It really breaks down like best practices of finding a mentor or being a mentee, and then just breaking down conversations that you can have with that mentor/mentee scenario. So it’s attacking it from both sides. It’s about how to how to find a mentor, work with one, and how to be one. Yes.

Nikki

1:06:50
Okay. That’s very cool.

Alli

1:06:52
Yeah. Because you can look at it like, if you’re wanting to be a mentor, you can buy this and then use the content for your mentee. Or if you’re a mentee, then you can kind of it’s kind of more for mentees that have a more proactive state in the relationship. They can come to their mentor and be like, Hey, these are the kind of questions that you want to ask type of thing.

Nikki

1:07:17
Awesome.

Laura

1:07:18
So what is one piece of advice that you could give, Alli to artists and illustrators who are just getting started?

Alli

1:07:25
Oh, just do it. Just do it just start. There’s never a right time. Never a right time. I think I probably waited way too long to do a lot of the projects that I wanted to on my to do list and my goal list, thinking that like, oh, well, next month, I’ll have this or I’ll be, it can be anything, you’d be like, oh, I need to research this a little bit more. Or let me look at this a little bit more. Or I need to practice this a little bit more, ya know, just do it. Just do it.

Nikki

1:08:02
Yeah, there’s always going to be something you can come up with that to procrastinate. So just just start is great advice.

Alli

1:08:11
Just start is really great. And just like be open to like knowing that you’re going to evolve. Like I started off with canvases and glitter and watercolor and painting on wood and globes. Like, my business looks nothing like that. Now, like I don’t do any of that now. So just start. Know that you’re probably not going to be doing what you’re doing right now in two years. If you are it’s probably going to look 10 times better. But doing it, starting it, doing it every day. All these people are like, Oh my gosh, this looks so easy. Like you make it look so easy. I’m like, Well, I do it every day. So that’s why Yeah.

Nikki

1:08:52
So Alli, where can our listeners find you online? Where can they find more about you?

Alli

1:08:57
Super easy. It’s just Alli K Design on all platforms. Pinterest, Instagram, Tik Tok. My website is www.allikdesign.com. Just make it really easy.

Nikki

1:09:10
It’s a l l i

Alli

1:09:11
k design.

Laura

1:09:14
Ally. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today. We’ve been super curious about murals forever. And I’ve admired your designs for a really long time. I’m your fellow Dallasite and it’s so great to be able to see you and speak with you. And we know that our listeners are really going to get a ton of value from this conversation.

Alli

1:09:35
It was an honor speaking with y’all. I was seriously like I said like I literally could talk to y’all forever. So it’s been so much fun.

Nikki

1:09:43
Awesome. Thank you again. And to learn more about Alli and read today Startist Society show notes go to startistsociety.com/allik.

Laura

1:09:54
If you’ve enjoyed today’s episode, we’d love for you to leave us a five star rating and review. Reviews help us reach more Startists like you and keep us inspired to create new episodes. Thanks for listening and we’ll see you next week.