April Sproule on Building a Heart-Led Teaching Business That Works for Your Life

Lyric Kinard (00:03.342) Hello and welcome back to Creatives on Camera. We are here today with April Spruill, who I am so happy to introduce you to. She's just a regular old everyday person, one of our colleagues, another textile artist who teaches. And we're going to chat a little bit about her journey into this business, how it fits into her lives. all the parts that she's willing to share. So April, welcome. Why don't you introduce yourself? Tell us a little bit about you. April Sproule (00:35.502) Hello everyone, I'm April Sproul and I live in Northern California and I call myself a mixed media textile artist. I made art quilts for years and then during COVID I kind of transitioned into doing the mixed media textile art only and it's been a wonderful change. So that just means that I work with paper and fabric and combine them together and I do primarily hand stitching. And so it's been a wonderful journey. I met Lyric in 2021, or actually, I guess, yeah, 2021, or actually 2020 when I joined the Global Code Connection. And so it's been a great connection and a great resource for me. And so we'll talk about that a little bit later. But I am passionate about teaching and sharing what I know with other people. A long time ago, I heard that you can create techniques or skills or whatever it is, but it doesn't really become of any value until you share it with other people. Lyric Kinard (01:45.018) I love that. I love that idea and that heart and that generosity, right? We can be artists and bring beautiful things into the world. And that is enough, my friends. That is good and wonderful and makes the world a better place. But then those of us who share what we do, who teach other people how to bring their own creative voice out into the open, it's April Sproule (02:04.846) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (02:13.782) It's this beautiful blossoming, know, the ripples in the pond that go out and bring that much more beauty and joy into the world. April, did you, how long have you been a teacher? April Sproule (02:27.086) I probably started teaching, I started quilting in the 90s, early 90s. I'd been sewing with my grandmothers all my life and quilting and making clothing and all of that. But I started making art quilts and things in 1991 and just kind of progressed from there. And I started teaching probably in the late 90s, different garment making classes, things like that. And then progressed into the quilt making and I had a long arm quilting business for over 20 years. And so I quilted over 3000 quilts in that time. So I taught a lot of machine quilting on domestic machines because not everyone wants to haul around a long arm machine or find a place to put it in their house. Lyric Kinard (03:16.61) Right, that's a lot of thread, that's a lot of stitching. Where did you mostly teach during those times? April Sproule (03:18.786) Yeah. April Sproule (03:23.582) places like for different guilds within California. I've never really wanted, well, I've never wanted to travel and teach because I take a lot of stuff with me. have a lot of samples and different things that I pack to take along. And, I just, I just couldn't envision doing that. And I also did a lot of hand painting on textiles. So I developed a line of, Lyric Kinard (03:38.478) You April Sproule (03:53.806) stencils just for painting on fabric. And so I taught that for many years too. And so I had a product line and I did vending at a lot of large quilt shows and things like that. Lyric Kinard (04:05.334) Right, but mostly within your own geographical area and in person. April Sproule (04:10.846) in San Francisco, yeah, down into the San Francisco area, which is about five, six hours away. then, yeah, so basically places that I could drive to. Lyric Kinard (04:22.658) Right, not really interested in hauling two, mine are always 49.9 pound bags, plus the carry on, the AV and shipping boxes ahead and all of that. Just, I can't imagine why. I still love flying, but anytime I get a chance to fly without teaching and without hauling the whole world with me, it's a lot more fun. April Sproule (04:29.189) huh, I know. April Sproule (04:46.264) Well, yes, and when I did vending at shows, I would take my husband's truck with a canopy on the back, twin cab in the front, and I would have it packed so full that you couldn't fit a pencil in that truck anywhere. And I did it all by myself, you know, for probably 15, 20 years. And with COVID, it was a blessing. I just stopped. Lyric Kinard (04:52.398) Mm. Lyric Kinard (05:07.822) Take a break. Take a break. When did you first start teaching online? April Sproule (05:09.25) Yeah. Yep. April Sproule (05:13.934) Well, actually, I started taking classes in video production at our local college in 2005 and learned a tremendous deal, but it was much more complex. So it was quite intimidating and we didn't have the cell phones back there. You know, we had huge big cameras and did a lot of formal interviews and that sort of thing. It was very, very involved. So it was not something that was Lyric Kinard (05:21.783) interesting. Lyric Kinard (05:28.398) Mm-hmm. April Sproule (05:44.095) easy for me to get into, you know. And so as, but it was something I always wanted to do, was to be able to teach online. And so I did a few small videos filming with my regular DSLR camera for my classes and for promotional purposes, but it didn't quite gel for me. It wasn't very professional and I didn't have the equipment I needed. Lyric Kinard (06:07.182) Mm-hmm. April Sproule (06:13.036) Mostly my computer, you know, that was a big hang up. And so as things progressed and we all experienced the beginning of COVID, that's when I started teaching online and delving into that. And that's when I discovered you. Lyric Kinard (06:27.565) Right. Lyric Kinard (06:30.924) And did you start with live Zoom or pre-recorded on demand or did they build at the same time? April Sproule (06:38.772) No, I'm still only doing live on Zoom. so that and that going through your course, you know, I signed up for the Global Quilt Connection first. I did a couple of sampler platters. I started building up my email list and that helped a lot. That was one of the most beneficial things, you know, was doing the sampler platters as far as getting people engaged and finding more people. And so I kind of went from there. Lyric Kinard (06:42.999) Excellent. Lyric Kinard (07:05.326) Right. April Sproule (07:08.724) into doing my first class in 2022, I think it was. And I taught Japanese Borough stitching. So that's a hand stitching. I did it in two, three hour sessions. And I hired an assistant that I found on the Global Quilt Connection to help me through that first class. And it was a really good thing because it was in two sessions and I did the Zoom. Lyric Kinard (07:27.883) next. April Sproule (07:37.741) selection where you create, you use the same, yeah, but it didn't work. And so half, three of us, I think, were in one session where I was, and the rest were off somewhere in the ethernet. I mean, they were just, and so the assistant managed to contact every single person and get them back, and we were all together. But it took like 40 minutes. Lyric Kinard (07:42.936) Same you Earl. Lyric Kinard (07:54.649) no. Lyric Kinard (08:03.03) Yeah, you know, it's when back in the back in the early days when we were all new to zoom, there was so much to learn and so many things to figure out. Let's let me tell our listeners global connections started because of COVID. And basically any quilt teachers who are willing to try out this new zoom thing, whether we do how to do it or not, we April Sproule (08:11.508) I know. Lyric Kinard (08:29.486) put them in front of as many guild leaders. We would hold live meet the teachers Zoom events where the quilt teachers would say, hey, this is what I teach. And the guild leaders would get all their contact information. And that's what happened. That's what grew out of COVID is this listing service and the ability for groups, quilt guilds to. bring in people they never would have been able to from all across the world, as long as we all got up and running on Zoom. And, you know, we're still patient with each other, but boy, if we could look back and see how bad we were at the beginning of this, right? And then the sampler platter you mentioned, those are still going on. They are a live event where... April Sproule (09:07.446) I know. I know. Lyric Kinard (09:20.856) The quilters instead of just the guilds come and the teachers actually get to demonstrate what they teach instead of just say, hey, hire me. This is a list of the things we give each teacher a 15 minute time slot and they do their thing. And the quilters are entertained. We have a whole bunch of teachers on live. And we also work really hard to pitch the teachers and tell them, you know, Hey, go tell your guild representative that you really want to. bring this person in. So I am so thrilled to hear that that got lots of gigs for you. April Sproule (09:50.978) So I'll yeah. And a lot of what kind of brought me on board with that was the quality of the instructors that were selected, you know, and it kind of upped the ante for everyone, you know, because you didn't want to be the one that looked worse than everyone else. And I have seen that happen before, not with Global Quilt Connection, but I have seen that happen before, you know, where someone's out riding their tractor in the winery and it's just kind of funny. Lyric Kinard (10:12.919) It's. Lyric Kinard (10:21.644) Mm-hmm Yeah, you know, we, I am a huge fan of diving in over your head, no matter what it is, because, you you, you get desperate and you learn how to swim. But being around people who know the thing better than you being in that community is a lifting kind of thing. It's a place where you can't help but learn, right? April Sproule (10:45.642) absolutely. And sometimes I would get stuck on some little aspect, some little technical issue, and I would just go to Global Quilt Connection and post it on the Facebook page, and I would get, you know, usually 10 answers or so. I mean, it was great. It was really, really helpful to have that support. Lyric Kinard (11:08.544) It is, the community is everything, right? And out of that, the Facebook community is still there and you can still join Global Quilt Connection, but out of that grew the realization that there was a giant hole that needed to be filled. And that's why I started the Academy for Virtual Teaching with all these amazing colleagues who are excellent. excellent teachers who have something beautiful to share, but boy did we need a lot of tech help. So because, and again, I'm not an expert, but I'm willing to learn and I love the tech and I've done it enough that I'm like one step ahead of a lot of people. And that's all a teacher needs to be, right? One step ahead and willing to share. April Sproule (11:59.263) Absolutely. Absolutely. And a lot of times we would have events and I knew that you had just put something together, but boy did you ever pull it off. Lyric Kinard (12:09.774) If people could only see behind the scenes. April Sproule (12:11.79) I just wondered how in the world does she do that? I would have pulled all my hair out by now. Lyric Kinard (12:18.19) Well, there were a number of times you can see all this gray. You know, I can't blame it all on that. I have five kids, so the gray is right. April Sproule (12:25.528) But the Academy for Virtual Teaching came along at just the right time for me because I wanted to be more involved. I wanted to be able to teach professionally, online, but I didn't have the confidence. It really boiled down to that. Even though I knew, I don't know if you would say a lot, I knew some things, but putting it all together and having the confidence to actually move forward with it was pretty daunting. And so. Lyric Kinard (12:51.842) What were some of the major inhibitions or things that you were afraid of at the time? April Sproule (12:58.158) being on camera and that's still, you you just have to get over that. You have to get over it, you know? I mean, you really, because no one likes the way they look on camera or I haven't met very many people that do. And I look at myself from like two years ago and I was like, why did I think I look so bad? I looked really good then. Look at me now. But it's just the thing. Lyric Kinard (13:09.016) You're singing my song. April Sproule (13:26.102) and you can't stand listening to yourself, honestly, just get over it, then don't watch yourself. Or just do a mini little critique, know, was the lighting correct or was this all right? You know, those sort of things. And the most important thing you can do is just learn to find that comfort zone online, you know, when you're in front of a camera. And I'm still working on that for Zoom. You know, I'm kind of fudging my way, not on Zoom, but on Instagram and doing the live videos. So I am just edging into that. I think, and just in the equipment, the equipment part of the Academy was huge. You know, having those choices, knowing what you really need, and what you really need is not as much as you think at all. You know, it really isn't. And so... You can start with the bare basics. And I have to say, I haven't upgraded my equipment all that much. Some areas I do need to upgrade, like my lighting. But there was so much information to draw from, you know, and that was really, really helpful. So I could go and I had the pros and cons of the different equipment. And that was just huge. It really was. Lyric Kinard (14:44.728) Right. It's really interesting. There have been a number of people who've come through the virtual teaching masterclass that's offered at the Academy from the film industry. And you took film classes and me as the director of the Academy in that course, I'm intimidated when people come through knowing all this stuff. But it is a completely different thing to be in a April Sproule (14:55.948) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (15:14.542) professional film studio with giant cameras and fixed lighting and know sets and different kinds of microphones than it is to wing it and do it on your own as an independent teacher in whatever space you have which is 99 % of the time definitely not a professional film studio. April Sproule (15:36.003) Right, right. Yeah, and you know, it's just when you pare it down to what you actually need, it's not really that much. You know, and so it should be pretty simple for people to get up and running, look professional, and be comfortable with what they have. You know? Lyric Kinard (15:48.46) Right? Lyric Kinard (15:57.984) Right. It's amazing how good that little computer we carry around in our pocket. The camera lenses, the camera lens on my three year old phone are better than my DSLR from 10 years ago. And we don't need as much. So that's one thing that the Academy focuses on is not overdoing it. Right. April Sproule (16:23.694) Absolutely, because then the cost becomes prohibitive and then you have another excuse to put it off, you know, and not move forward. you know, even if you come up with your plan, you figure out what you need. I was really fortunate because with COVID, I got a $5,000 grant from the California government that I didn't even apply for. I know. Maybe I did apply for it, but it was one of those things where, oh, I'll just send this in. Lyric Kinard (16:30.718) Right? April Sproule (16:53.358) I had no idea. So I was able to buy a laptop, which I didn't have a laptop. I just had a big desktop. I bought a webcam. What else? I think I already had a, I had an old phone, but I upgraded that. And yeah, and upgraded my desktop computer for video editing. And that was huge. So, and people don't realize, but one of the, one of the Lyric Kinard (16:53.581) Yeah. Lyric Kinard (17:08.664) Something to hold your phone? Lyric Kinard (17:16.78) Hmm, yeah. April Sproule (17:22.548) Most important things for editing is a good graphics card. So even beyond the program that you're using, you need to have a good graphics card for video editing. That is really helpful. Lyric Kinard (17:35.608) Right. Did something just move with your mic? April Sproule (17:40.288) No. Are you not hearing me? Lyric Kinard (17:41.728) Okay. Yeah. Well, no, it just the last half of the sentence got really muted. I can hear you just fine now. April Sproule (17:48.814) All right. Lyric Kinard (17:52.878) talk a little... Okay, there we are. That's good again. I have good editors. April Sproule (17:52.887) It might have been me just moving around. All right, good. So, and the editing, you know, as far as there are so many different programs out there, I subscribe to the Adobe, the whole Adobe platform because I've used it over the years for my teaching, my business, you know, all sorts of things. So I'm pretty tied in to Adobe. And you can get a student discount even when you're old. Lyric Kinard (18:20.652) No. April Sproule (18:22.126) I had a student discount for six years and they're like, well, think, you know, and it was $15 a month. Yeah, so. Lyric Kinard (18:28.462) Maybe you need to be a grown up now. Yeah. Well, I always encourage people use what you have and what you already know. It's not necessary to subscribe to the Adobe suite, but if you've already got it and you're using it, by far, it is so much more efficient to jump in with something you already have and already at least partly know, instead of starting fresh wherever it is. April Sproule (18:36.322) Yeah. April Sproule (18:41.73) No. April Sproule (18:53.571) Right. And that's really important is to find a program, a platform that you're comfortable with for your editing and everything and stick with that. Don't keep jumping around because every time I start jumping around, whether it's editing quick videos for social media or whatever it is, I regret it because then you're going down a whole new rabbit hole. So just keep it simple. Keep your editing simple. Lyric Kinard (19:05.229) Mm-hmm. April Sproule (19:23.866) and learn the basics, learn what you really need to do. And YouTube is great because you can find a lot of information on there as far as the editing and everything. And one thing I do is I keep... Lyric Kinard (19:32.226) Yep. Yeah, you can. April Sproule (19:38.966) these cards, index cards, and I have a stack of them on my desk. So when I encounter an issue that takes me some time to figure out, I write it down, I put the date on it, I write down the problem at the top and what I did to rectify that problem. Yeah, and then. Lyric Kinard (19:55.342) Brilliant. Because you know next week you'll go back and you have no idea how to fix it again. April Sproule (19:59.927) Or six months, I might have the same issues. was like, didn't that happen before? And I'll write down, if I found the solution on YouTube, then I'll write down the name of the person or the video that I watched. And that has saved me a lot of time. Lyric Kinard (20:13.272) Right. You were in the Academy Masterclass way back at the very beginning. So it's been a number of years, right? So now we have, you were one of our beta people, one of our very special, amazing beta people when we were still figuring it all out. It's been updated over and over and now we have a huge number of different editing tutorials. April Sproule (20:22.668) Mm-hmm. Who's a founding member? April Sproule (20:28.725) Yeah. Lyric Kinard (20:42.786) different sections for different main programs that people use. But throughout all of them, the efficiency of only doing what you need. April Sproule (20:52.718) Absolutely. So yeah, I use Premiere Pro, which is huge when I first, and it has changed tremendously since 2005. It's become much, much simpler and very user friendly compared to what it was. You don't have to be a professional to do it. And I use probably one one hundredth of what that program is actually capable of, but it does what it does so well. You know, and that's what you want. And you just go through your steps, you know, you import your video, blah, blah, blah, and just write those steps down in the beginning and stick to that little list, that little menu that you have and keep it super simple. People don't want to see things spinning around on the screen or, you know, and a lot of people don't like that because it makes them dizzy. You know? Yeah. Lyric Kinard (21:26.466) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (21:34.882) Yeah. Lyric Kinard (21:46.37) Right? So find a workflow, the process, find the things, the minimum things you need to do when you're editing and just stick with them. It's the same when I'm editing a video, it's like chop, chop, end, end, look at the sound gap, squish them in, put this, I use the same transition for everything, pull it, you know, I've got my file folders where I know where everything is, editing goes. April Sproule (21:58.828) Absolutely. April Sproule (22:10.083) Yep. Lyric Kinard (22:15.96) phenomenally faster now than it ever has, mostly because I know the process, but also because we don't need all the fancy. When people come to us as creative makers to learn something, that's what they need. That's what they want. April Sproule (22:18.552) Mm-hmm. April Sproule (22:27.853) You don't. April Sproule (22:35.63) Yeah, and you can set up a list of other things, know, other special techniques or whatever that you would like to learn and just do one a month or whatever, you know, when you have nothing better to do. Whatever that is. But not when you're under duress to get something published right away. And I even use Premiere Pro for my Instagram videos. Lyric Kinard (22:46.857) Mm-hmm. When? April, tell me honestly when, is the last time you had nothing to do in your business? Right. Lyric Kinard (23:04.492) Yeah, whatever's easiest. Yeah, whatever's easiest. So that's the video creation. us what your equipment setup is. You said it's still very simple. April Sproule (23:05.046) because it's so simple, yeah. Yes. April Sproule (23:20.418) Yes. And so I have, I never thought this would be an issue, but I have windows around three sides of my studio. So I had a studio built behind my house and I'm up on the second floor and I have lots of lighting, but the sun shifts. And so being in front of the window did not help because it would change every 15 minutes. And I never knew what time of the day I'd be recording. Lyric Kinard (23:27.854) Mm-hmm. April Sproule (23:47.917) So that was an issue. So now I moved everything over to the middle of the room, less subject to that changing light. And I have too many windows to cover. So that's not a solution. But I just, use my laptop. I have a bigger monitor, a second monitor that I set up. And that way I can see everyone large. I have a couple of ring lights that I use. Lyric Kinard (23:52.258) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (24:12.952) Mm-hmm. April Sproule (24:17.87) and I use a webcam, a Logitech webcam and a GoPro wireless mic. Lyric Kinard (24:22.306) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (24:27.776) What holds do you use an overhead camera? April Sproule (24:30.926) no, for zoom I use, well, I have a, I have a, what brand is it? I Pivo 4k document camera for my overhead camera. so. Lyric Kinard (24:43.438) Okay, so you don't need to have a phone in a holder because you have a document camera. April Sproule (24:49.44) And I don't use a phone because I don't want that. I don't want that extra thing to do it. And try different apps and one would work for a while. And then it would kind of peter out, you know, wouldn't work. I'd have issues. Excuse me with the document camera. It's high resolution. It's big enough for what I need. You know, like high above, high above my work surface enough. Lyric Kinard (25:14.595) Mm-hmm. Yeah, you do handwork and smaller things so you don't need a super wide shot. April Sproule (25:22.602) And I do a combination of pre-recorded videos. And those are the things that are more time consuming, where I don't have to want to repeat it or recreate it for every single time I teach that class. So I just, have them all numbered and lined up. You know, some are stock videos. If it's how to do a certain stitch or a certain technique, I can use that same one in six different classes. You know, and so I keep track of those. Lyric Kinard (25:33.923) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (25:46.179) Right? April Sproule (25:49.492) And then I ender-sperse it with live demonstrations. Yeah, and that works really well. Lyric Kinard (25:57.304) Right, on live zoom, I use pre-recorded tutorials all the time. One, if it's noisy, two, if it's messy, and three, like you said, if it's just time consuming, if you have to make a new thing for that demo every time you teach it, it's so much easier to pop up a video and you can edit it so it's like stable and still and super close up. April Sproule (26:06.953) Mm-hmm, yeah, exactly. April Sproule (26:15.874) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (26:27.306) And people, a lot of new teachers who don't know if they want to teach on Zoom are worried about this. They're like, I like the interaction, but why wouldn't they just buy an on-demand class with a video? Why would they, if I'm just going to show them videos that they would see anyway online, what's the point? Tell us, tell us what you do. April Sproule (26:48.226) you mix it up because you want that personal connection with your students. And I keep at this point, I'm changing things. You know, within the next year, this will all look totally different. But right now, my happy spot is 16 students because I have plenty of time to spend with them. And I have it worked out financially, so that works really well for me. I make twice as much as I do teaching in person, and I don't have to go anywhere except 10 steps outside my back door. And that just, that works really well for me, you know? And I just, and you have, you can answer people's questions. And then they feel they have that connection with you. And I think that's really important. Lyric Kinard (27:20.76) There you go. Lyric Kinard (27:39.892) It is very different teaching in person when you're in the classroom and at a glance, you can see what students are doing. Then when you're on a zoom call and you see their face or sometimes only their forehead, you know, their lighting isn't good. You can't see over their shoulder what they're working on. So it's a very, very different skill to teach via zoom, which can be learned. So tell us how you effectively April Sproule (28:08.206) So. Lyric Kinard (28:09.228) make that connection and see what your students are doing. April Sproule (28:10.894) do So what I do is I just have them photograph it with their phone their work and email it to me and I tell them you know stop and let me know you just sent that to me because I'm not going to be checking my email to see if any you know anything came in let me know and I'll take a look at it and so I do that and another thing I do is I One thing well one thing I start with is I start with a short video about the class on my website so they know what to expect. And then once they sign up, I create a pre-workshop prep video because it's unbelievable. People can read the same list and have a totally different conception of what they need to do before class. You know, some people are halfway through the class by the time they actually come. and other people are totally confused and it's unclear. But when they're looking at it and it's like five minutes long and people have gotten so much feedback from people on that. They feel like they're prepared. They know they have what they need. If they can do something in advance that's gonna save two hours of class time, then they've done it. And that is really, really helpful. But I think just being available to people is wonderful. Lyric Kinard (29:15.992) night. April Sproule (29:33.142) You know, afterwards, if somebody wants to, have a class, a Zoom meeting once a month. If they have more questions, they can join us there. It's free. So they can get more feedback on their piece. And so those are some of the things I do. Lyric Kinard (29:33.208) Right? Lyric Kinard (29:41.996) So nice. Lyric Kinard (29:49.698) Very nice, and it's kind of brilliant, right? When you are signing up for an in-person class, you'll see the advertisement, you'll see the supply list. But what you've done is give them a glimpse of the real thing with video ahead of time. I know some teachers who have an advanced, quick Q &A meeting, but making a video... that is this is how I want you to prepare for it is even more efficient. April Sproule (30:16.462) Oh, yeah. Absolutely. And then they can go back and watch it again. And I let them know. You can contact me if you have any questions or if you need clarification about something. But yeah, because some people that have taken classes with me before, I send out the documents, like the student handouts, two weeks before I'll send that out. So they'll be reading through it and be halfway through the class. Well, they're going to be really bored sitting in class. So I make it clear, this is all you need to have done. And don't worry about anything else until we're all there together. Lyric Kinard (30:57.998) All right, so what I've found teaching on Zoom is the teacher is responsible for much more communication before the class, during the class, and after the class, right? To make sure their students get a full experience. The thing where, like I'll do the same thing. I'll teach my people how to clear space around their project, hold their phone level with it so I don't get wonky keystone shots. April Sproule (31:09.453) Right. Lyric Kinard (31:28.266) and email it to me. And then another huge advantage, I do design classes where in person, it takes a full hour to go around. We have a walkabout and we talk through each person's project and the design decisions that they work through. But on Zoom, when they send me a photo, everybody keeps working, but I share screen and we talk through the design decisions where everybody gets to look over the shoulder. April Sproule (31:56.939) Mm-hmm. And that's really important, yeah, to be able to do that. That's a great, great idea. Lyric Kinard (31:57.452) And we save a whole hour at the end of the class. It is. Lyric Kinard (32:06.284) Right? Because you learn as much from the other students and what they're learning as you do just this one way back and forth between the student and the teacher. Tell me about what teaching online has opened up for you in the rest of your life. April Sproule (32:13.027) Mm-hmm. April Sproule (32:18.36) Mm-hmm. April Sproule (32:28.402) my gosh. I would say I really love collaborating with other businesses. So I've taught for, let's see, had it written down here somewhere, Skillshare. done two classes on Skillshare. And every time I get like led into that back door of the company to see how it all works and what the requirements are, I have learned so much. I've worked Lyric Kinard (32:50.008) Mm-hmm. April Sproule (32:57.774) for worked with texelartists.org in the UK. And I just signed another contract with them. The first project I designed for them, the first class went really, really well. It was very difficult, but it went, it all turned out beautifully. And it did exactly what I set out to do. And that was the important thing. And so, and then let's see. Craft Napa, I've taught at Craft Napa for four years now. One year was in, first year was in person and then I did the last three years online. And so I learned a lot from that and that really opened up. And then of course the class in the UK opened me up to a worldwide audience, which I really, really love. Lyric Kinard (33:28.014) their online version of April Sproule (33:50.415) And so now I have students, you know, not that many, but from around the world. And I love working with people from other cultures and seeing their point of view and, know, what they do. To me, that's invaluable. I just, I really enjoy that a lot. Now I have a best friend in Israel who started out as one of my students and now we'll do private Zoom, you know, meetings to catch up with one another. Lyric Kinard (34:11.576) Fantastic. April Sproule (34:19.896) She calls me her sister from another country. Lyric Kinard (34:23.63) It is such a beautiful thing to have this global network. There are art and textile and craft traditions all around the world that are all different but also have so much in common. And creatives can make that connection no matter where we are in the form that our creativity takes. April Sproule (34:46.87) Right. And another big thing that the virtual teaching allows you to do is to create a business that's about you and your goals and custom tailor that to your needs. know, whether you have young children at home and you can only teach when they're at school or you have very limited time or you have maybe an elder person that you're taking care of, you know, it still is possible. And you can custom tailor it to how much time you want to devote to your business. And I really like that a lot. So that's been incredible. Lyric Kinard (35:28.512) It is a huge thing to be able to find something that fits into whatever limitations we feel that we have around us. There are not only caretaking, but health issues or whatever else we want to think of, know, hearing or vision issues. You can still make it work here with this. I think it's such miraculous technology. April Sproule (35:33.07) to whatever limitations we. April Sproule (35:44.334) Mm-hmm. April Sproule (35:57.93) I know. Lyric Kinard (35:58.466) that we're able to reach each other, right? April Sproule (36:01.312) I know, I know, it's amazing. And it doesn't have to be that complicated. It really doesn't. It's very, very doable. And you can overcomplicate it, but it's just not necessary. And you can have, to me, being able to do what I love and have a positive impact on others is the best possible thing. Lyric Kinard (36:26.283) It fills the soul, doesn't it? April Sproule (36:27.596) Yeah, and it's you're supporting them. It's not about me. It's about me sharing what I've learned through a whole lot of research and trial and error and making a lot of mistakes, you know, and that's how I learn. But then to be able to go and share that, share what I've learned that works with other people and encourage them to find their own voice. They can copy what I do in the beginning, but it's about them finding you know, that voice, that type of creativity that really makes them happy and makes them glow. That's what it's about. Lyric Kinard (37:06.072) Yeah, belongs to them. There's something, there's something amazing about helping somebody pull their creativity out. let's talk a little bit about community and about not doing this on our own, because it is very much we're alone in our studio with a computer and we're making videos on our own and it can feel isolating. which is why we build communities like the Global Quilt Connection or the Academy for Virtual Teaching or why we teach in groups like at places like Skillshare or CraftNapa, right? April Sproule (37:46.615) in conferences online. Right. So actually, you know, I want to mention this because you and I haven't talked about it before, but one of the best things that I got from the Academy for Virtual Teaching was when you set up the groups, the mentor groups. And so I'm in the green group. We never changed our name. I think he just gave us colors. We're like, okay, well, let's just stick with that. Lyric Kinard (38:03.278) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (38:11.458) Yeah. Made it easy to find your space in the private membership platform and click. April Sproule (38:17.268) Yeah. Yeah. And so there are five of us. We've been meeting for three years. And it has been, we meet once a month, and usually on like the first Tuesday of each month, and everybody else is, we're spread around the country. It's North Dakota, Illinois, North Carolina, Connecticut, and California. And they teach a lot of different things, but primarily quilting. Lyric Kinard (38:24.014) Mmm. Lyric Kinard (38:33.934) Mm-hmm. April Sproule (38:47.286) or coping related, but it's all textile arts. And I've learned so much from all of them, you know, and we start out our meetings with each person shares at Thorne and a Rose, and we've helped one another solve problems. You know, we've been, we've given one another all kinds of support. And I just, always value that a lot. I really look forward to meeting with them. They're all super smart, talented, interesting women. Lyric Kinard (38:58.69) Hmm. April Sproule (39:17.11) And I love that. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't think any one of us has really conveyed that to you. And so I really wanted to thank you for that. Lyric Kinard (39:17.288) My smile is gonna split my face in half. Lyric Kinard (39:29.486) That's one of the things that is so important. know, so many, everybody out there listening to this, you're all perfectly capable right now of creating a course, of doing it online. Why haven't you already done it? Right? You're capable. Why haven't you already done it? Sometimes it is so much better to do it with people egging you on, with people encouraging you, with people supporting you, with that mind that's bigger than our own, where you know you can go and say, I don't know what to do about this thing. And somebody else somewhere has already experienced it. And if nobody has, we figure it out together, right? April Sproule (40:16.564) Absolutely, yeah. And so the Global Quilt Connection has been great for that and the Academy as well. And I've just, I've learned so much from people. You know, it's been really valuable to me, really wonderful. Lyric Kinard (40:34.006) It does my heart so much good to hear that. You because that's one of the founding principles, the foundation of the Academy for Virtual Teaching is that it's supportive and it's safe and it's non-competitive. There's none of this, you can't promote yourself. Well, we want you to, so we can help promote you, right? We want to everybody and lift everybody and to hear that. April Sproule (40:47.67) Absolutely. April Sproule (40:52.888) yourself to what we want you to so we can help. Lyric Kinard (41:03.106) that's been successful for you. I mean, we've worked really hard there to keep it that way. And we believe so much that that's one of the core benefits of everything. April Sproule (41:14.646) And I think that sharing of information and like you mentioned, it's never felt competitive to me. Like people wouldn't share information because, you might get that student or that job or whatever. You know, it's never been that, never. Lyric Kinard (41:33.09) Right. We lift each other and help each other because truly when you support each other as creatives and especially as business people, we all build. It's been really interesting to be look and have my toe in different industries, but mostly in the soft crafts industry, And the fine arts and to see places where it's competitive, but Mostly it's somebody can be doing almost exactly what I'm doing. And instead of us looking at each other cross-eyed and fear, we come from a place of abundance and like, hey, how can we collaborate? How can we work together? And you double your audience. You lift it's, yeah. I could ramble on for hours and hours about the power of collaboration and community, just like you said. April Sproule (42:27.854) And I think it's just so important. I think that's a big part of your success. Even if I never taught another class, I would be very happy with all the people that I've met, the remarkable people I've met, and the people I've been able to collaborate with, and lifting people up. It's a great thing to experience. Lyric Kinard (42:35.662) Hmm. Lyric Kinard (42:55.318) a good place to be. It's a good place to be. April, this has been wonderful and it is so good to get the chance. I know you're around in the Academy, but the chance to talk to you one on one again, it's been a while and it's so much fun. April Sproule (42:56.738) Yes. April Sproule (43:08.8) I know it's been quite a while. I'm so glad that we could connect this way and I look forward to other experiences in the future. Lyric Kinard (43:19.284) It's going to be so much fun. Let's wrap up with a fun answer, whatever way you want to. What is the last thing you made? April Sproule (43:31.342) Now let me see. Looking around here, the last thing I made. Lyric Kinard (43:38.144) Last thing I made was a popover puff. It was delicious with lots of jelly on top. Absolutely. We'll describe it and then we'll also let people see it. April Sproule (43:41.794) Well... April Sproule (43:46.232) Can I grab it? Okay, it's right here on the wall behind me. I was trying to figure out where it was. April Sproule (44:03.086) So I'm calling this series, these are 9 by 18 pieces. And so these are actually water color pieces on heavy watercolor paper. Lyric Kinard (44:09.697) Okay. Lyric Kinard (44:13.93) So those of you who are listening, this is a beautiful artwork. It looks very kind of Asian oriented. It's got a beautiful branch collaged on top of different fabrics on the background with hand stitching, with ink work. So lovely. April Sproule (44:33.848) So these are hand-painted paper, Japanese rice paper. And here. And linen and hand-dyed silk. Lyric Kinard (44:36.173) Hmm. Lyric Kinard (44:44.942) A mix of fabric and paper. It's beautiful. So the last thing you made is a beautiful mixed media piece of artwork. April Sproule (44:47.147) And these. April Sproule (44:51.534) Yes, yes, here's the back. Lyric Kinard (44:55.031) and the back is beautiful, April Sproule (44:56.674) People always want to see the backs. So I am constantly creating new work. I always have in-between class samples and other things. I'm working on a big exhibit now. But I always have what I call in-betweens. So I always have something sitting there to work on. And that keeps me happy. Lyric Kinard (44:58.902) Yeah, people in the text a hoard. Lyric Kinard (45:11.489) Nice. Lyric Kinard (45:14.926) Perfect. Well, April, it has been beautiful to catch up with you. Thank you so much for the time that you've shared with us. April Sproule (45:24.318) thank you for inviting me. Lyric Kinard (45:26.638) All right, take care, my friend. April Sproule (45:28.128) Alright, goodbye.