Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Suzi Balamaci. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Suzi with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
I don’t remember not having job in my teenage years. I started working when I was in 8th grade with a local in-home business as an artist personalizing items, later on that led to another job at an actual brick and mortar gift shop doing the same thing, but on a bit of a larger scale. The thing that was rewarding about this job at an early age was the satisfaction of finishing something in a relatively short period of time and seeing the joy customers got out of the the pieces I would create. I have to give my mom credit on this because this is not something a kid like me would have sought out on my own. My mom knew how much I loved to draw and she also generally knew me better than I knew myself at that time. I think through a friend of a friend she found this outlet for me to make money doing something that I enjoyed. I wanted to make money and knew my mom was not going to be my ATM.
This theme carried on throughout high-school and college. I worked in ice cream shops, toy stores, clothing stores, framing shops, restaurants, cocktail lounges, night clubs and sports bars, but I was always working partly because I wanted to but also because I had to if I wanted to stay in college. It was very clear to me I needed to be contributing financially to my education and day-to-day life. I will say upon looking back, college was one of, if not, the most stressful time in my life, but also a time where I really learned what the daily grind was all about. Getting my first job after college, and only having to work and not juggle school and a job, felt like a relief to me.
After college I started working at a small publishing company and had the most fantastic boss ever. I absolutely just lucked out with someone who put real time into teaching me what it takes to work smarter not harder, the amount of side-by-side time he gave me in that job alone I have carried with me to all my jobs and what it means to be a professional and an answer seeker. From there I moved onto advertising agencies, and well lets just say to those who have worked in those environments before – THAT IS A GRIND, talk about putting on a suit of armor every day and going into work. It definitely built resilience and self-confidence within me.
I can’t dismiss having parents who worked hard for what they had had a massive impact on me. I haven’t given this a lot of thought before this interview, but upon looking back, I realize all of these experiences together have contributed who I am today and what it means to be reliable and hard-working when you need to be.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I think I was always meant to be an artist. I graduated from a college with a BA in studio art that wasn’t prepared to send out it’s art majors into the world for real art jobs. I never learned the business of art. So, the next best thing I could think of was to work in the advertising/publishing industry. I looked for jobs within that profile, and so began my journey down that career path. When I left that industry and ventured out on my own I had a semi-successful pet portrait business for a short period of time, but then enter, three children and juggling life and working for my husband’s business and getting that off the ground – art was put on the back burner. As my children have become more independent I decided it was time to explore my art again and I enrolled in a three-year master artist program. It really ignited my passion again to draw and paint from learning so much in this program. Its nice knowing that even with pursuing my art a little bit later in life, I have zero regrets about the past.
As an oil painter I am currently exploring the energy of a scene and capturing these moments in my painting. I will be branching out into some other areas with my work and I am currently working on some ideas right now. I have lots of them so it is hard to harness them all and know where to begin sometimes, I am working on that part too.
I have sold my work, won prizes, had my work in publications, multiple art shows but there is nothing that really compares to the comfort and solitude of being in a space and painting something that is meaningful to me. It’s always lovely to be recognized or feel like you are being validated as an artist, but the real joy I get out of this journey is the doing and the making.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
My father-in-law had a great saying, do what you love and the money will come or it won’t come and it won’t matter because you are left doing what you love (which will make you happy and then you will have all the money you need). I realize this can feel like an unrealistic platitude, but find something you love to do that makes you happy. Your mental health is far more important than your perceived successes or how much money you make.
Be a good listener. Listen twice as much as you talk, I think it helps in all areas of life.
Get involved in a community that supports you. It’s important to make sure that the people you have valued relationships with are supportive of your endeavors, and you of theirs. If you can’t find a community to get involved with create your own. Find other people who love to do what you do and lift them up, it feels good. If they are having the same struggles as you it can feel comforting in knowing you’re not alone.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
It is hard being my own boss, I like having an actual boss! I work better and more efficiently with deadlines and a bit of weight hanging over me. That can’t always hold true for my area of work so I am concentrating on finding ways of consistently getting into my studio. I am really trying to change my approach and adding blocked time to my calendar to hold myself accountable for those hours each day and looking at them as a work day seems to be working so far. Who knows, maybe I have created something as my own boss that is working.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.suzibalamaciart.com
- Instagram: @suzibalamaciart
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/suzibalamaciart
