We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Haley Guilfoile a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Haley, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
It’s definitely been a journey! I’m well aware that I’m a little bit of an odd one. I don’t think I felt very “accepted” growing up, and certainly never felt comfortable or beautiful in my own skin. The first time I really remember thinking “wow- I can be myself here!” was in San Francisco after starting art school there.
I think being surrounded by a more diverse bunch of weird art kids made me realize I wasn’t so alone.
A lot of that confidence blossomed when I realized I was one of the only students that already had a client base – the fact that I had a ton of experience selling my artwork at a younger age was something that I didn’t realize was abnormal. All of a sudden, colleagues and classmates were asking MY advice, and really wanted to hear what I had to say. That was a big paradigm shift for me.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m a muralist (residential & commercial, indoor & outdoor), and a fine artist. My bold, colorful work lives all over the world now, with murals spread across the US.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1. WORK ETHIC / DISCIPLINE
I know some folks are more naturally gifted/more creative than others, but nothing replaces hard work and practice. If you want to improve your craft, you need to dedicate time to it, full stop.
2. CLASSICAL APPROACH
Rarely do I draw with charcoal or pastels now, and I almost never get to draw live models these days, but my background and classical training drawing traditionally made me a much stronger and well rounded artist. I’m sure it’s not the only way to learn, but I think it made me a lot more skilled.
3. REVERSE ENGINEERING YOUR GOALS
Your goals should help dictate “next steps” as you pursue your craft. If your goal is to have customers all over the world, your approach needs to reflect that! You need to make an effort to advertise and appeal outside of your country of dwelling to make that happen. It’s easy to get caught up in the here and now- but keeping your eyes on that “end goal” is crucial to spending your limited time and energy in the RIGHT places to get to where you want to be.
Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
I love working with clients who understand that trusting the expert gets the best results. When I go to get a tattoo, I trust the artist to BE THE ARTIST- I know if I let them do their job they’ll do the best work they can do.
Give me some design constraints & requests to work with, then let me be the artist- and I promise the results will be better than one could have imagined.
I have lots of clients who want to have a heavy hand in the design, and I can work with that too- but the results speak for themselves when I have room to provide a fresh, new point of view of my own too.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lovenotestudios.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovenotestudios
Image Credits
The first image was shot by Alicia Claytor
The rest were shot by myself
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
