Let Go of Perfectionism and Heal Through Watercolor with Madhu Srinivasan

Lyric Kinard (00:01.71) Hello my friends, today's episode of Creatives on Camera is a little bit different than usual. My amazing guest is at the beginning of launching and figuring out how her offerings are going to look going forward. She's taught on Zoom for a couple of years, but she wants to create a community or courses and she's not sure which. So... Today, we kind of got into a little coaching, the kind of things I do with my colleagues in the virtual teaching business building program in the academy. We talk about what do you want your courses, your business to look like? We get into more of that teaching. So listen in. I hope you enjoy it. This is Lyric Kinnard. I'm with the Academy for Virtual Teaching and you are listening or watching Creatives on Camera, where we share with other artists and creatives the ways that you can share your creative gift online through teaching with a global audience to share that joy and creativity. So let's get right into it. ******* Lyric Kinard (00:18.69) Hello, my friend. It is so good to see you again. I am here with Madhu Srinivasan and we met at a business conference a few months ago and you are another artist. You're talking about starting online classes and I was so excited to bring you on and talk to our audience because I talked to a lot of experienced people, but seeing somebody how you're thinking about the beginning of this journey, I find fascinating. So tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do. Madhupriya Srinivasan (00:56.147) Hey Lyric, I'm so excited and happy to be here. Thank you so much for having me on this platform. So I'm a professional artist and art educator, and I work with different mediums, but as of now, my absolute favorite medium is watercolors. I come from an approach that you create your best art when you come from a play mindset. And when I say play, doesn't mean just creating abstracts and pouring things around. It could be representational. It could be a still life. It could be any medium. But my idea is, even when we're kids and we go out to play, We were just playing. We didn't worry about after the one hour of play what is going to be the end result. What is the prize that we're going to get. We were excited to be with our friends. We were so present. We just played. And that was the beauty and joy of it. That is what I feel we need to get into our art making and teaching because when you enjoy yourself, your creativity flows. And when you focus on the end result, it brings a kind of pressure. It stops you from trying out those playful, inspiring ideas. So that is what I focus my art and my teaching on, to let go of control, to let go of perfectionism. Lyric Kinard (02:11.617) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (02:18.734) Mm-hmm. Madhupriya Srinivasan (02:22.503) and to create for the sheer joy of creating. Just remind yourself why you started creating in the first place. Lyric Kinard (02:28.042) Right? I think we have the same teaching philosophy. When I'm not teaching, well, it's the same thing. When I'm teaching artists and people how to teach, or when I'm teaching people my art form, my answer to every question is try and see what's gonna happen. Let's find out, right? And I come from a quilting world where there actually are, you you have to do it right or the whole thing will turn out wrong ways to teach. You know, there has to be precision in order to get to this end result. You know, so I, which isn't for me because I'm the try it and see. So I teach abstract design and elements and principles of art and try it and see what happens, right? With a mentor that can guide you and support you. And especially when you're freaking out, can support you and encourage you. Madhupriya Srinivasan (03:21.522) Yeah. Lyric Kinard (03:24.052) in the trance. So what is your teaching experience before now? Madhupriya Srinivasan (03:30.057) was teaching for almost 15 to 20 years now, but in person. Online platform is something new for me. It's been two years since I started exploring. Lyric Kinard (03:34.68) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Madhupriya Srinivasan (03:43.963) I haven't launched anything so far. I've just been trying it out, trying to understand technology and get comfortable on video because I remember the first time I taught, I so, I get very passionate when I start teaching. I was so excited and passionate. I didn't realize my paper was not even in focus. Lyric Kinard (03:59.832) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (04:04.11) Hahaha! Madhupriya Srinivasan (04:06.113) I'm just like making my share of mistakes and seeing what happens and people have been very encouraging and very supportive. They would just unmute and say excuse me we cannot see your paper and it's okay. Lyric Kinard (04:18.958) You Madhupriya Srinivasan (04:19.859) So I realized that it's okay, everyone makes mistakes and people do understand that. And by the time I did my fifth or sixth online class, I was starting to get a hang of it. So now I think I'm finally ready to launch either a course or a membership and pretty excited about it. Lyric Kinard (04:38.264) So when you started teaching online a couple of years ago, these were live via Zoom. Madhupriya Srinivasan (04:44.947) Yes. Lyric Kinard (04:46.222) All right, and you just learned as you went. You just figured it out. What was your first setup for teaching? What tech did you use? Madhupriya Srinivasan (04:58.259) So I have the Logitech camera and I had my Zoom. That's about it. Lyric Kinard (05:01.55) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (05:05.696) All right. And the Logitech, was that an overhead camera or you're using watercolor, so your your medium needs to lie flat on a table. So you would need an overhead camera, right? Madhupriya Srinivasan (05:10.131) forehead. Madhupriya Srinivasan (05:18.931) Yes. So, and I don't really edit. I just send the videos. Lyric Kinard (05:24.203) Mm-hmm. course. Madhupriya Srinivasan (05:26.981) and I give them access to the replays. So, so far that's how I know there's a lot of scope for improvement to make it, to package it better and all that, but I learn as I do it. That was the biggest mindset shift I think in the past two years for me earlier. I'm a recovering perfectionist and control free who's working on it. So my neural path is a wire to that. So my idea was let me do all the research. Let me find out every bit about lighting, camera and mics and everything and when I'm done I'll launch my class or give it a try. Because my gosh I cannot go there without all this. What are people going to think about me? And that kept me stuck for years. And what shifted things was I started doing a lot of Instagram reels and people started loving them. And people started reaching out from different parts of the world saying, we would love to learn from you. And all this while I was just teaching in-person classes. And these people kept asking me, requesting, and I was like, I really want to help them. And that kind of pushed me out of my comfort zone that... Lyric Kinard (06:24.206) Mm-hmm. Madhupriya Srinivasan (06:41.499) If they're waiting for me, it's not fair on my part to be stuck in my limiting beliefs. Let me just give it a try. The worst that can happen is the Zoom might glitch. I might lose internet connection. I'll just schedule another class. It's OK. What's the big deal? So that's how things started. Lyric Kinard (07:02.35) So when you first started, it was live Zooms. I love that you, the recovering perfectionist thing. And you know, we can be that way in one area of our life and think we've let it go and gotten over it. And then it sneaks in elsewhere. Like you've learned to let it go as you create your art. And then you have to get over it all over again with trying out the tech. And You know, so here we are with a very simple setup. Logitech is an overhead camera, computer for Zoom. They're connected to each other. Something to hold the camera over your table as you work. That's really all you need to start with life. Now you've talked about and I'm ready to launch a class. Now you already have. You've got live Zoom courses going. What does the structure of what you want to do next, what are you imagining it to look like? Madhupriya Srinivasan (08:08.297) So I'm considering both membership and course because all my online students, they keep coming back for all the classes. And I always tell them that even when the classes are done, they can access me. If they have questions, I would love to help them in their journey because most of them are recovering perfectionists and I know what I go through. So I'm always ready to help them out. Lyric Kinard (08:32.47) All right. Madhupriya Srinivasan (08:36.965) Many of them have started expressing the desire for having a community where they support each other. And the business event we met last year, that also showed me the power of community. Because I learned a lot from our mentor, but I also learned a lot from the colleagues and everybody, all the panelists who were on the stage learned so much. Lyric Kinard (08:58.477) your colleagues. Madhupriya Srinivasan (09:05.589) And that made me think that a community is really needed. That's why I'm considering a membership where people have each other to support and just remind each other more than creating remind each other that, hey, it's okay to make mistakes. You're doing a great job. You're it's okay to be a kid and just try all those crazy ideas in your head. We need a support system for that because the outside world is always ready to remind you. that you need to be perfect, you need to be productive. Every time you put your time and efforts into something, something very productive and tangible has to come out of it. They don't stop reminding us of that. And creatives need a community where they're told something the exact opposite of that, that it's OK to let go, it's OK to rest, it's OK to slow down. That's where creativity flourishes. Lyric Kinard (09:58.67) All right, it's so interesting to think of it through this lens of how society is not right now built for creatives. And it's not because we want tangible productive results, right? And what so many people don't understand is that as a creative, that time that you're resting or that time that you're messing around not creating a painting or a product is like going to graduate school. It is the time where your brain is learning and developing and your soul is growing into the next level of creative that you want to be. Madhupriya Srinivasan (10:50.505) Absolutely. That's so profound what you just said because I learned the techniques of watercolours from an excellent teacher. But before that I struggled with watercolours for 20 years. I quit, I cried, I hated the medium. I said I'll never ever work with watercolours because I was a perfectionist and watercolours have a mind of their own and they were going all over the place and I hated them. But there was something so beautiful in the fluidity of the medium, I kept coming back, kept going. Finally, I found this phenomenal teacher who explained everything about supplies and the right techniques. In spite of that, I could not paint for another five years because I bought these phenomenal supplies from Arches and all that. And then I said, these are expensive. Lyric Kinard (11:22.318) Mm-hmm. Madhupriya Srinivasan (11:44.399) I will paint the day I'm inspired when I know I'll create a masterpiece. So I painted twice a year. And no wonder I didn't grow. I didn't learn anything. If I paint once in eight months, I'm not going to learn anything. And then I again blamed watercolors. I said, it's a very tough medium. You know, you just can't work with this. I never realized the fault was at my end. I was not allowing myself. That shift completely changed everything for me in my life. It was like exposure therapy with water. So I cried and crimped, but this time I didn't give up because I allowed myself to play. Then the crying stopped. The water came in, the curiosity came in. And the biggest change started happening during the COVID time. I would just tape down a piece of paper. Lyric Kinard (12:25.901) Hmm Madhupriya Srinivasan (12:35.123) pick whichever color I felt like, just wet the paper and started dropping in the colors. I just did that for almost two months, every single day. And what I realized is I like certain color combinations. I love when the colors bloom, it makes me feel happy. I started noticing what gives me joy. And then I put all those elements together and my unique style started emerging. Right after COVID, I had my first solo show. Lyric Kinard (13:01.038) Hmm? Madhupriya Srinivasan (13:04.721) and I sold most of my paintings but they all emerged from that play because that's what the magic is. Lyric Kinard (13:09.47) Exactly. That is so, so it. Right. And this is, this is actually the lecture about this is how my classes work. And these are the rules of my classes. Number one, you are not allowed to make a masterpiece. Nobody's allowed to make a masterpiece because as soon as you do, that means you can get it wrong. Right. And that's the end. Number two is if you hear that negative self-talk of I'm not good at this. She's so much better. I'm, you know, that negative self-talk, you are required to replace it with, give myself permission to play and time to learn. You know, because we don't. Society teaches that, Western society is so fixed mindset where if you are an artist, that means you're born with talent, right? And that's so not true. 99.9 % of us. Just do the work. You just do the work and the work is the play. Madhupriya Srinivasan (14:13.467) Exactly. Which is so tough to accept because the world thinks work should be something where you are really struggling and you hate it and you're... If you're enjoying it, it cannot be work. It has to be a hobby. So people keep asking me, but what do you actually do for work? They have stopped asking this in the past few years, but initial 15, 20 years, it was like, that's okay, but art is a hobby. Lyric Kinard (14:41.582) Yeah, no, there's, that's a beautiful, amazing thing about this technology we have that lets us reach people all over the world because it used to be gate-kept. If you wanted to be a professional fine artist and sell your work, you had to go through a gallery. You had to be accepted by somebody who is judging and saying this is good or not. And they only have a limited audience, right? But through this technology, not only with our own artwork, getting it out in front of people, but this is about reaching students. This is about sharing our courses and teaching this joy and creativity. We don't have to wait for somebody to hire us. We don't wait for somebody to discover us and decide that our style fits with whatever it is they want to teach, right? We can. reach our own students through this beautiful online world and its global access. Madhupriya Srinivasan (15:48.955) It is so powerful because most of the creators I meet, they keep saying, I wish I could just paint all the time. Why do I have to do social media? Why do I have to market my work? If I make good work, why can't it just sell by itself? And I tell them the same thing. This is the best time to be alive as an artist. We couldn't have asked for a better opportunity or a better platform like what we have right now. Like you said, the galleries controlled our lives. I remember, I think it was 15 years back, I was in Arizona. In Scottsdale, I went to this gallery and I said, how can I showcase my work here? And the answer was you have to be dead to showcase your art here. It was just point blank answer. And today, I keep telling my friends, we have so much, we can just create. Lyric Kinard (16:38.734) Of course you do. Madhupriya Srinivasan (16:46.979) and showcase it to the entire world and our target audience will come to us as long as our messaging is clear and we connect with them. And it's just so beautiful. So I keep telling them embrace technology. That's coming from somebody who always thought I'm the least tech savvy person in the whole universe. Lyric Kinard (16:55.598) Absolutely. Madhupriya Srinivasan (17:06.701) And I was like, why do I have to do social media? Why do I have to make reels? I was pushed into Instagram by my friends. But I realized that that's how I met my people and have been able to share joy with so many people. When I read the comments that watching your reels, when the colors are blooming and blending, it's just what I needed to see today. It calmed me down. It's a different kind of joy you get. See, everybody is not going to be able to buy your art or join your classes, but there is a... So much more joy you can add to people's lives, especially in today's world. But just sharing and showcasing your art. Lyric Kinard (17:42.528) Right? This is something people don't understand about marketing because we hear marketing for courses, for your work as an artist, and we think, pushy sales, right? But that's not what effective marketing is. That's, that is disgusting pushy sales. But what we're really doing is offering a gift to the people we want to reach. We're making We're offering them joy and peace and beauty and the opportunity to grow themselves as they take our courses, right? So if we don't put ourselves out there, we're denying them that gift, right? And if you truly believe that that's what you're doing, then it's not sales. It's like here, I know I can help you be happier. I know I can help you learn this medium. I know you can find peace and joy through this. So here's my gift. Madhupriya Srinivasan (18:49.405) That's so beautiful the way you put it there. That's exactly what artists and creatives are doing. Adding more joy, bringing more beauty and opportunities for growth. And artists need to start believing in themselves and go ahead and do it instead of thinking that if I post this again, I'm being salesy. You're trying to reach your people. You're denying them the joy and that opportunity by not showing up. That was something that really resonated with me because I have always been extremely camera shy, a very private person. I wouldn't even get photographed. And talking on camera was totally out of question. I would become very conscious. This is what resonated with me. I used to work with Jim Forten and he said, if you're not showing up, you're being selfish. You're just worried about yourself. Lyric Kinard (19:26.424) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (19:32.75) Hmm Madhupriya Srinivasan (19:44.585) You're not worrying about your people who are waiting there for you, who need you. And it could be 10 people, it could be 1,000 people, it doesn't matter. It could be way more or way less. Even if there's one person out there who needs to hear that message that you're sharing and it can make a difference in their lives, it's worth it. Even with my in-person classes, I think last year there was a time when only one person signed up and the studio manager called me and said, you know, it's four sessions and I know you drive and come so far. If you want, I can cancel the class and refund the money to her. I said, you know, if it's okay with the studio, I would like to go ahead because this person really wanted to learn and she came for a reason and I would like to give that joy to her. So we started the class, turns out that she is... A beautiful soul who's been waiting to learn watercolours for 30 years. A retired teacher. If you had this one-on-one conversation and a beautiful bond developed and it's just the most magical thing to see the joy on her face. Her face lights up like a four-year-old when she paints and sees the colours bloom. And now she's going through some physical therapy and healing at home. And she messages me and says, I'm so glad I got a chance to learn from you when I was able to drive. because now I can't, but now I can sit at home and paint and it heals me. This was such a profound thing for me to hear from her, which made me realize the power of art and how your teachings can make a difference in somebody's life. Lyric Kinard (21:07.288) Hmm. Lyric Kinard (21:20.83) It's so true. It's so true. And that's why we do it. So there were several things that I pulled out from the things you said. being so camera shy and then still making reels. First of all, you just have to do it. just you cannot possibly get better at anything without doing it. over and over and you have to be willing to be bad at it. Everybody's first hundred videos, no matter where they are, are going to be terrible, right? And then you get better. You actually get better a lot faster than that. But you you learn as you grow. My first videos on YouTube are kind of a nightmare to look at and I don't care. They're still up there. They're fine. Actually, people still watch them. One of my oldest first, which was before I like it wasn't because I was making a YouTube channel. It was something else. It's terrible lighting, but it teaches a thing that nobody else has a video about. And apparently, you know, several hundred people a day need to learn that thing. So they still watch it, even though it's a terrible video, because it's not about the quality of the video or the perfection of the person who's talking. It's about the thing they come to you for. They need something that you have to offer. So it doesn't matter how polished the container it is, it matters that you offer it. And the second thing was, it's one thing I tell my community in the Academy for Virtual Teaching all the time is get over yourself, because it's not about you on video. Every video you make, even if you're telling your life story, it's actually not about you at all. It's about your people. It's about your audience. If you're telling about your life journey, you're doing it because somebody out there needs to see themselves in that and learn from what you've experienced. Right? So it's an act of service. Madhupriya Srinivasan (23:35.657) Absolutely. Totally agree with you. Lyric Kinard (23:38.434) Yeah. So going forward, what, as you build new courses, when you say you're launching, so community and course, tell me a little bit about what you think that course will be structured like. What's the vehicle you were thinking of offering it in? I love that. Like last time we talked, you were thinking about, I, you know, I don't know how to niche down or structure or who exactly I want to serve, but I think you actually did. You actually did. You just needed to say it out loud and choose the one thing. So what do you think that looks like, your course that you're going to offer going forward? Madhupriya Srinivasan (24:22.633) So firstly about niching down, I have to say thank you to you because you just made me sit down and bombarded me with questions, why after why for every answer I was giving, which forced me to think and narrowed down the answer for me. So a big thank you to you for that. And about the vehicle and structure, I honestly have zero clue at this point. I'm planning to do is Lyric Kinard (24:25.678) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (24:47.476) Mm-hmm. Madhupriya Srinivasan (24:52.145) as soon as I recover fully, maybe by mid-Feb, I plan to have a free watercolor session. I still haven't decided if it's going to be a three-day session or a single one-hour webinar. I'm leaning more towards a three- to four-day session, where I get to meet people every day for half-hour and build those connections. And in those three days, I intend to add a lot of value. Lyric Kinard (24:59.534) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (25:13.514) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (25:19.31) Mm-hmm. Madhupriya Srinivasan (25:19.817) I want to talk about the mindset of play, about letting go of perfectionism and all that, and teach some techniques. So I want to make sure even if people just attend for those three days, they do take some information back and they're able to overcome their fear of watercolors and create for themselves. Lyric Kinard (25:26.926) Mm-hmm. Madhupriya Srinivasan (25:38.589) But if anyone attending wants to go further and wants to learn more about watercolors, I would like to just announce something like a trial package. I'm looking for 15 to 20 founding members where I'm going to do one class every month and have live Q &As over Zoom. And... Lyric Kinard (25:52.599) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (25:56.142) Mm-hmm. Madhupriya Srinivasan (26:05.001) Maybe email prompts every week to help them with the subject and all that. So this is going to be a trial for three months. These are my founding members and based on how the experience goes for those three months I'm going to decide am I going for a membership or a course? Lyric Kinard (26:07.438) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (26:13.131) Okay. Lyric Kinard (26:23.054) Mm-hmm. Madhupriya Srinivasan (26:23.977) I didn't have clarity and again it was putting me in that paralysis mode that I'm not able to decide this or that. Let's just ask the audience, let me work with them. Let's work together and see what works. And if they say after three months that hey, having this community really helped us, having a live Q &A every week helped us, then that is going to define the structure of my membership of course going forward. Lyric Kinard (26:50.666) this is perfect. We did a launch lab last October, I think it was, in the Academy where this was kind of it. You develop a beta test. You kind of structure, you have an idea of how you want to try it out going forward. You pull in test subjects, people who are willing to build the thing with you, people who are willing to give you feedback. Often, I mean, in that course, it was like if you want to do a live Zoom or if you are building an on-demand course. And you get for that one, we had paid students who registered before you build the thing. But the thing is they're building it and giving you feedback as you go. So you don't have a platform yet outside of Zoom. You don't know if you want to have a membership or a course. The course could be pre-filmed lessons, right? It could be an on-demand or drip demand, or both could go together, right? And part of the struggle for a lot of artists like you and I as we begin this part of our business is to look forward and say, what do people need and what kind of support structure tech will provide what we need as well, right? So there are all kinds of on-the-band course platforms, almost all have communities, and then there are platforms that just have community, but you can also start with just an email list and Zoom links, right? You can start without having to have Madhupriya Srinivasan (28:25.833) you Madhupriya Srinivasan (28:39.497) you Lyric Kinard (28:48.53) of full subscribed online course platforms. But then, you know, I invite you to, Madhu, to come to the Academy and because we have business resources like this, this is one of the things we do. Like if you want community to be the center of everything, there are platforms that host that and do beautiful, beautiful, amazing jobs with it, right? And then some of them also can have phenomenal courses right along with them. And then some of them, you can also build a website right there with it. And, you know, and they all have different strengths and weaknesses. And I've used a whole bunch of different platforms over the 20, 25 years longer than that, that I've been teaching online. Like it started out with dial-up modem, grainy pictures and email. and written lessons, right? So this test group will be phenomenal as you really get feedback from them, as you work from them to decide how you can best serve your people. And you also don't say, you're just going to tell me what to teach. You know what you need to teach. But hearing what their struggles are, watching as they go through, you I didn't realize last time I built a really huge course that it was the community that my people needed way more than the actual lessons. Because I'm working with quilters who want to be art quilters and they might be the only one anywhere that they can drive to. There's nobody else who's doing the same medium in the same way, right? the other quilters might look at their stuff with side eyes, like, what are you doing over there? So they needed community. So I built it on a community platform and centered around there. And also there was a course, right? So there's, and it also depends on your budget because there's, and where you want to go from there and what you're already starting with. So these are the kinds of things that we talk. Madhupriya Srinivasan (30:57.811) Beautiful. Madhupriya Srinivasan (31:02.601) Right. Lyric Kinard (31:11.274) about in the academy all the time. Because we have such a broad variety of people using so many different things. And on this podcast, especially, I'm learning all different kinds of things. Like when my recent guest, she built her whole community on Substack. I was like, I've wow, you know, and it's like both free and a paid level. And she offers live courses. She does lives with them. She does recordings. I was just, and I had never heard of anybody doing it in that platform. So there's a world, a world of opportunities out there, which is why those why questions that we talked about last time, you know, like, first of all, why do you want to have it online? Do you need the freedom where you pre-record and have it up and you don't have to be there live all the time? Or is the live part the most important part. All of these questions digging really deeply down into your desires as well as how to best serve your students is what leads you to those answers. And having a mentor, somebody along with you who actually knows the answers, makes that path so much easier and so much speedier. Madhupriya Srinivasan (32:31.625) Absolutely. That's wonderful. I didn't know the Academy does so many phenomenal things. Lyric Kinard (32:39.476) well, that's it. That's that's what we are. We started during Covid too, where, you know, all of our in-person, all my in-person colleagues, because I've been a traveling teacher. I've traveled all over the world to do what I do. And I love it so much. But it was cut off. Right. So we had to learn the tech, had to learn how to reach our people. And there were a bunch of us who just got together and said, we're going to try this out and it's going to be terrible. and we're gonna muddle through it. And then I realized that I have used the tech for filming for a lot longer than most of my colleagues. And I'm not necessarily an expert, but I can be two steps ahead. And this is another thing about being an artist who wants to teach is you don't. have to know everything. You don't have to be the world's greatest expert. There's always going to be somebody who knows more. And half the time they're in your class. But it's OK. Because what you're doing is trying it out and being willing to turn around and share with other people. Take the time out of what it is that you're doing to help other people along the path. That's all a teacher is. That's all a mentor is, right? And I actually love tech. And I love the software platforms. That doesn't mean they work well for me all the time. But I love messing around with it. I love playing with it. So let's go through some of those questions. If you imagined your business a year from now with the big easy button like magic, just no struggle, it's all perfect. Can you imagine a little bit about what that would look like? Madhupriya Srinivasan (34:42.073) This is one of my favorite and fun exercises because you can just go crazy here and it's so exciting. So in a year, I'm having a platform where there's a community and they have so many resources for thousands and thousands of people from all over the world. just come and learn at their own pace. Beautiful community of people who support each other. And every time somebody posts their art, everybody's appreciating them and encouraging, enjoying the glimmers and the playfulness of whatever everyone is doing. And I see people in my community feeling the joy and relief, the liberation of letting go of control, because it's a very healing process. Lyric Kinard (35:28.6) Mm-hmm. Madhupriya Srinivasan (35:32.201) It also, it's not just art, it spins over into your life eventually. And so when you let go of control through art, you create a more beautiful family where there's more love and less of control and that's what happened in my life. So I want to see that happening in the lives of all the other people. And I see myself hosting a retreat, person retreat and... Lyric Kinard (35:40.814) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (35:51.672) Great. Lyric Kinard (35:56.002) Hmm. Madhupriya Srinivasan (35:58.227) We are spending three to four days together creating watercolors, talking about slowing down the importance of rest and relaxation, and how healing and how rest is not a luxury, it's a necessity. How our body and brain needs it, how we show up as better people because of that. I want a community talking about this and supporting each other. Lyric Kinard (36:01.967) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (36:22.09) Okay, so you need a platform with a space where people can post and interact and see what other people post and interact. So a community space. like something, Facebook started out as something that was so beautiful for that. And I've seen many people use private Facebook groups very effectively. Problem is you don't own it and it could disappear in a moment and... you could not do a single thing about it, right? So one of my favorite platforms that behaves like it's structured like Facebook with a feed, you can have private groups, you can have lives, can post, it can also have courses in it. So like you can make a space with an on-demand course or a space where here's a different. private feed and discussion about a certain topic is Mighty Networks. And it's not one of the cheap ones, but it does community better than any I've seen. Just the structure and all of the ways that you can. Madhupriya Srinivasan (37:33.117) You like it better than Kajabi? Lyric Kinard (37:35.584) I do. I like it so much better than Kajabi for the community part because like we're in a group on Kajabi and the community group is on Facebook, right? You have to go to a different platform. This is all in one. It does not do email. You can send notifications out to everybody, but you can't format them or schedule them ahead or anything like that. You need a separate email provider. Madhupriya Srinivasan (37:36.668) Okay. Lyric Kinard (38:03.288) They're getting better at the landing page. You don't get lots of control. It was built originally just as a community space, and it's phenomenal for that. But there are all places like Circle does well. I use the Academy's private membership, and our paid courses, permanent courses, exist on MyD networks. But then we use... Madhupriya Srinivasan (38:13.769) Thank you so much. Lyric Kinard (38:31.171) the Zendler platform for public stuff, for the webinars, for the marketing funnels, for the email list, for the payment systems, for you can build an entire webpage and either drag and drop or, you know, Control Freak or actually just I like to play with it, right? So I've built every part of our website, customized it, so it's exactly how I like it, right? So there's a plethora of different platforms. And then some people like just a very simple, here's an online course, here it is, one landing page, here's what you pay, simple. So there's everything from the very basic scaffolding to these big complex. Madhupriya Srinivasan (39:15.997) just need to see what works best for you and your budget and everything. So initially, I was thinking about Facebook Community when I launched the first trial class. And then I really want to try it out. But thanks for suggesting Mighty Networks. I want to look into it. That's exciting. Lyric Kinard (39:18.466) Right? Yeah. Lyric Kinard (39:23.043) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (39:33.763) Yeah. Yeah, they're good. also, like, Substack is kind of the same. And Substack is also a community platform where you're not the only community on there. Like, they can actually show your work to other people in the platform. And it's free to start with. And when you charge, they take a commission, you know, so you don't have to subscribe to a big yearly rate. Madhupriya Srinivasan (39:50.467) Thanks. Lyric Kinard (40:01.775) So go back and listen to Kelly Falto, one of our, it's within the last five episodes of Creative Song Camera, she uses Substack and it was just fascinating and wonderful. And also I had to like go join her community because her art and the way she talks about things is so cool. I fall in love with every one of my guests and I want to do all your courses and I want to do all your things. Madhupriya Srinivasan (40:26.693) Yeah. Lyric Kinard (40:30.414) because they're so, you know, we're artists. We want to play with all the things, right? Madhupriya Srinivasan (40:30.793) That is so strange. Madhupriya Srinivasan (40:35.207) No, I think you're providing amazing resources to artists at all levels. this is really powerful. And I'm so glad you're doing this. Because I feel most of the creators already have what they need. The problem is the imposter syndrome and the fear of tech which is stopping them. So you're taking care of both. Lyric Kinard (40:57.613) Yeah, that's, that's again, that was the need I saw with my community that I thought I can do something about this. And just like when you teach your students, you talked about the woman, your one-on-one, how you did something so important for her life. Right. I I haven't actually touched my own art form. I haven't made a big art quilt to hang on the wall since pre-COVID. And it's a choice because I am getting so much joy out of serving my colleagues through the Academy to see somebody's business succeed and also to see the way that they reach so many more people. know, it's like I vicariously get to spread. the joy of creativity in an exponential way that I couldn't just teaching my own classes, right? So, you know, also when we asked why this, why this? Because why, because why? We all need to do that digging down into why we actually do this. know, if teaching the tech and building other people's businesses didn't provide me with so much satisfaction and joy, then I wouldn't do it anymore, right? So you have to know that you're really aligned with what it is that you want to do. And I love seeing that you have aligned yourself with the kind of artwork that you create and what you can share with your students. Madhupriya Srinivasan (42:42.493) Thanks a lot, Lurik. You know, like the sharing part that you're talking about, it's so profound because if somebody is doing something just for money and the joy is not there, they're not enjoying what they're doing, they're not passionate about what they're doing, they cannot sustain that business. Every day will feel like struggle. Lyric Kinard (43:23.31) Mm-hmm. Madhupriya Srinivasan (43:26.981) So you said you have not been able to create for yourself since pre-COVID time, but you still feel so much joy in empowering the other creatives, giving them the tools with which they can reach out to their target audience. And that genuinely makes you happy, much more happier. I mean, you would be happy creating your artwork, but this is making you so much more happier, which is very generous of you, very kind of you. But if that happiness was not there and you were doing it for making money, you would not have been able to sustain this. That's it. Lyric Kinard (44:02.103) No, you do have to, it does have to be balanced though, right? You can't give away everything. You know, some of us are extremely privileged and we could give away all of our time forever and still have a roof over our heads. But the universe needs that balance as well. Your students support you by paying for your classes, right? And you support them by giving them this joy. You know, so both can be true. Madhupriya Srinivasan (44:25.171) Yep. Lyric Kinard (44:31.842) But you're right, if you didn't have that joy, if that wasn't part of your core values to share this with other people, to build other people, it wouldn't work. Madhupriya Srinivasan (44:46.641) It has to be that right balance because money is energy and it's energy exchange. You're being generous in sharing your knowledge and empowering them and they are returning that generosity with the money exchange. And that's how the cycle goes on. It's beautiful. Lyric Kinard (45:02.392) Mm-hmm. Right. is. Madhu, this has been really enjoyable. of more of a coaching back and forth session and conversation than usual. And I've really enjoyed it. I hope it's been valuable to you as well. Before we go, let me ask you a fun question. What is the last thing that you made? Madhupriya Srinivasan (45:16.89) you Madhupriya Srinivasan (45:32.809) So I've just been scribbling because I've been sick for the past few days. yesterday, I was like, I really want to get back to my colors. And I want to feel relaxed and playful. Maybe that'll help pace in my healing. So I just took out my watercolors and read a piece of paper and just started dropping the colors. And that was the last thing I Yeah. Just wasting my time. Lyric Kinard (45:56.216) Just the scribble, just the scribble of color with watercolors. Madhupriya Srinivasan (46:01.585) and supplies. Lyric Kinard (46:02.638) Right. Madhu, where can people find you? Madhupriya Srinivasan (46:07.431) So I have a website, madhunz.nook.com, and I'm on Instagram and on Facebook. Lyric Kinard (46:09.902) Mm-hmm. Lyric Kinard (46:15.97) All right, we will put the links in the show notes. We will put them in the description on YouTube. Please go and look up, you know, and maybe join her beta membership as she launches it. We wish you all the success in the world. Madhupriya Srinivasan (46:33.235) Thank you so much, Lyric. This has been a fabulous experience. And I always learn so much from you whenever I talk to you. You have all these nuggets of wisdom to share, and you're so abundant in sharing. Appreciate it. And thank you so much for what you're doing for the artist community, for the creatives. You're making the world a better place. Lyric Kinard (46:55.346) As do you, it's been my pleasure to have you here and the opportunity to talk to you. I hope we can do it again at some point. All right, take care, friend. Madhupriya Srinivasan (47:03.048) would love to. Thank you so much, Lerick. Take care. Bye-bye.