We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Caroline Kane and Alli VanKleeck a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alli and Caroline, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
We have had waves of imposter syndrome as artists, but we think that’s a very normal part of being artists. In the first few years of muraling, we sometimes struggled with the fact that other muralists in our area didn’t have our same style, but then we realized that was a good thing. To be unique sometimes feels like you’re doing things wrong, but it can often mean you are filling a niche or challenging what’s normal/popular. We’ve found a lot of success in being different.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
We are a female mural team based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. We take a design-minded approach to muraling and immersive art installation. One thing we’re most proud of about our company is our GiveBack program. We not only take on one emerging artist per year to teach them the in’s and out’s of starting a creative company, we also offer discounted rates to two non-profits a year to help keep mural art accessible to our community.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Confidence was important when it came to setting pricing, communicating with clients, networking with potential clients, and setting boundaries around work and compensation expectations. As an artist especially, it’s important to think, talk, and act like a confident business person. Many people don’t know the value of art or design work, and that’s not their fault, but as the artist we have a responsibility to make realistic and reasonable expectations clear.
Adaptability/Resourcefulness would be our second choice. Owning your own business means you are the one paving the way. And often times if you’re stuck on a project, you’re the one who has to get you out of the problem. We aren’t afraid to ask questions or research solutions. We also find that in our specific line of work, we run into a lot of unique or unexpected issues. We’ve had to rely on our ability to pivot and problem solve a million times.
Consistency/Resilience would be our final pick. Nothing good succeeds without effort. You could be a genius at your field and not get recognized for a long time, but if you quit you’ll never be discovered. Consistency not only helps you maintain your job, it helps build trust with your clients and that will go a long way.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
We love the book Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Here are some quotes that impacted us.
“You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems”
“The amount of time you’ve spent performing a habit is not as important as the number of times you have performed the habit”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.smockandroll.com
- Instagram: @smockandroll
- Other: TikTok: @SmockandRoll
Image Credits
Pic Credit: Smock and Roll, Andy Bourne
