Meet Courtney Yalen

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Courtney Yalen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Courtney, so happy to have you on the platform with us today and excited to chat about your lessons and insights. Our ability to make good decisions can massively impact our lives, careers and relationships and so it would be very helpful to hear about how you built your decision-making skills.

I think my decision making skills and ability come from experience and the realization that most things can be changed, re-done, undone, etc. And if not, I can’t blame anyone but myself, so becoming comfortable with that fact is game changing. I’m an experiential learner so I don’t typically make the same mistake twice because I never forget how ‘wrong’ decisions make me feel and the effort it takes to amend them. I can often be quite impatient when it comes to making a decision as well, and know that time is typically of the essence, so I tend to be a bit “if there’s a problem, I’ll deal with it later” and step on my own foot there. Take painting a room, for example. If you don’t like the color you choose, you can just paint over it. No problem and never time wasted as long as you’re listening to a podcast or some new music or audiobook!

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I mainly make polymer clay earrings that are big, lightweight & loud! I also paint murals on the inside & outside of homes (and hopefully someday a business or 10!), do custom painting on clothing like ski onesies or denim jackets/pants, and have fun experimenting with new ways to express myself creatively. I dropped out of art school after 2 years to focus on humanities and comparative religions, and the last decade has been a journey of finding balance between those sides of myself. I have definitely shifted from trying to change the world and burning myself out, to trying every day to make my neighborhood, larger community, or one person I meet at the grocery store’s day better. I’m easy to find in a crowd but hard to pin down. I often delete Instagram from my phone for my mental health, so if you want to get in touch, please email me or fill out the custom form on my website! I will still keep my instagram updated with events.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I think my sociability, boldness, and non-competitiveness have helped me on my creative/artistic journey specifically. We’re all learning from each other and have so many different failures, success stories, wisdom, losses and gains to share with each other. I’ll never gate keep and I’ll always lift up artists around me, whether that’s sharing an instagram post or buying one of their products. Taking things personally is hardly useful in my mind, but I hope people remember me for our conversations and connection just as much as my art.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

Patience <3

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ozibudesigns.com
• Instagram: @ozibu_designs

Image Credits

myself :~)