Heidi’s Blog
Hi, welcome to my blog! I’m glad you’re here. Please check back often to stay up to date. 🙂
Who’s Cheering in Your Corner?
Back when we lived on a golf course, our house had the best seat in town for people watching. Every morning I'd grab my coffee, sit by the window, and watch grown men have every human emotion possible over one tiny white ball. Men kicking trees. Clubs flying through...
Every Shortcut I’ve Taken Put Me Right Back Where I Started
A sign on the highway It was the summer of 2018. Pixie and I were driving from Texas to South Florida with the back of the car packed to the roof with paint party supplies. That was the business model. Drive east, teach a paint party, drive further east, teach another...
The 10 Paint Party Mistakes AI Says Hosts Struggle With Most, And My Proven Way Around Every One
I was standing outside with my chickens going crazy around me when I asked an AI a question. What are the biggest struggles paint party hosts have? It gave me a long list. Some of it was spot on. Some of it made me laugh. So I let it interview me. It asked about each...
How to Build A Community Not Just An Audience
I was standing in a grocery line behind a guy who was going off on the cashier. The store didn't carry his beer in bottles. That was the whole crime. He was rude about it. She was clearly upset. She rushed him through and got him out of there as fast as she could....
I’m the Ringleader, and I Called the Wrong Shot
I was having dinner at the Gaylord Hotel in Grapevine when a woman walked past our table dressed as Britney Spears. Blonde. Crop top. Full early 2000s Britney. Then another one walked by. Then another. At some point you have to stop pretending you're not staring and...
5 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was Building This On The Side Of A Full Time Job
I taught a paint party in the middle of the day and then went to pick up my daughter from school. Pixie was in 3rd grade. I had been going nonstop, party after party, and I never unpacked the car. Not from that party. Not from the two before it. So I pull up to the...
8 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was Bankrupt
I went bankrupt before I was 30. Bobby and I got overextended. Then we lost our jobs. Then we lost everything else, which happens faster than you would think once the first domino goes. The car. The house. All of it. I was raised to believe that borrowing is fine as...
The Most Respectable Excuse There is
"I just need to get better at my craft first." Nobody argues with that sentence. Not your husband, your friends, and especially not the voice in your own head. It sounds like discipline. You make it sound humble, like you're taking your work seriously. So you sign up...
The 6 Item List That Totally Changed How I Define Success
It was winter and our washing machine was broken. This was not long after the water moccasin situation, which is its own story for another day. We were living in a trailer we had borrowed $6,000 to buy. It was far from perfect. The place had holes in it from mice. It...
Why The Messy Stuff Is Winning Right Now
The Night Only My Mom Was Watching I hit "go live" and the little number in the corner said 1. One viewer. It was my mom. That was the whole audience. My mother, sitting somewhere with her phone, being nice to me the way mothers are. I talked anyway. I talked about...
Making Decisions Faster Is The Key To A Growing Business
I was in the deep end of the pool at the YMCA. Swim aerobics. Me and my mother in law, twice a week, because her knees were giving her trouble and this was easy on them. I love water. I am a self proclaimed mermaid. So I was in. I was the youngest one in that class by...
The Painter Who Comes by Herself is Your Most Important Guest
Some of your guests will sign up with a group of friends. That's easy. They already have people. But some of your guests will sign up alone. She books a seat, then spends the day thinking about backing out, doesn't know anyone who will be there, she almost does not...
Answering the Most Asked Paint Party Questions According to Google
Six questions come up more than any others when people search for how to run a paint party. How much to charge. How long it lasts. What to bring. How to teach a mixed group. Where to host. Whether to let people eat and drink. If you have Googled even one of these,...
What If I’m Too Old to Be Starting Something New?
You have probably said it out loud at least once. Maybe you said it to a friend, or to your spouse, or just to yourself in the quiet of your car. The words go something like this: "I think I missed my window. I'm too old to be starting something brand new." That...
What Your First Year Really Looks Like (The Honest Money Version)
Let me guess how your week is going. You open your phone. You see another paint party host posting a photo of a packed room. The caption says something like "Best weekend ever, sold out again!" You see the smiling faces, the wine glasses, the finished paintings lined...
How to Build a Business That Waits for You
The Five Systems That Let You Run a Paint Party Business Without Starting From Scratch Every Single Time You know the feeling. You have a party booked, and instead of feeling excited, you feel a knot in your stomach. Where are your brushes? Did you ever reply to that...
5 Pieces of Advice I Wish I Could Erase From My Brain
There is no shortage of advice when you start a creative business. It comes from everywhere. Your family. Your friends. Random people online. Other hosts. Books, videos, podcasts, and that one lady in a Facebook group who answers every question like she wrote the...
Competing With Other Hosts Is a Waste of Time
Why the other paint party host down the road is not your competition (and what to focus on instead) Have you ever opened up Facebook, seen another paint party host with a packed event and a room full of happy people, and felt that little drop in your stomach? You know...
You’re Not Actually Ready to Quit
I Almost Quit Paint Parties A while back, I was done. Not tired done. Not "I need a weekend off" done. I mean I had job listings open on my laptop and I was reading through them, picturing myself going back to a regular paycheck. And not just any job. I was looking at...
You Don’t Have to Be the Best Artist to Sell Art
Here is Something Most People Will Not Admit. I am not the best artist in the room. I never have been, and I probably never will be. Despite that, I built a multimillion dollar art business. That statement surprises people, but it should not. The truth is, you do not...
What I Wish I Knew Before My First Paint Party
Why These Lessons Matter Most paint party teachers learn the hard way. They charge too little. Or they show up rushed and stressed. They think they need to paint like Bob Ross before they can charge real money. By the time they figure out what works, they've lost...