Meet Lisa Broadbent

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lisa Broadbent. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with lisa below.

Hi Lisa, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

My work ethic stems from both my mother and father. They instilled in me from a young age to always do the right thing by everyone, work diligently, look before you leap, be patient, don’t ever be scared to take risks to build a business and above all else, enjoy the process – oh and always smile LOL…. My parents always worked very hard and as a kid, I was always involved with the family business, so that’s where it all started.

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?

I’m originally from Perth, Western Australia (and yes I still have the accent). I’ve been in the USA for 24 years. One would think after 24 years, I would have lost the accent by now, but no. You can take the girl out of Australia, but you can’t take Australia out of the girl!

Back in Australia I had my own business – wholesaling American and Australian fashion brands in my early 20’s. My Mum and Dad had a wholesale business in flowers and fruit and veg so I was lured into the wholesale world at young age – I just wanted it to be fashion instead when I grew up.

I was also surrounded by music and art. My Dad and his brothers all had incredible singing voices and my grandmother was a music teacher. So, my sisters and I were all taught the piano from a very young age. Dad also used to have a band and he played the guitar and sang, gigging around Perth (he had the voice of an angel). So growing up, I had both the business and creative balance which I’m so thankful for.

Fast forward to my early 20’s and my wholesale fashion business that I started to build when I was 18, had finally started to kick into high gear when I landed Footlocker as an account. One day at meeting with Footlocker I was asked by the then CEO if I would ever consider working for them. Not in Australia, but at their European head office in Amsterdam. Of course I was humbled to be asked, but I had my own business. Fast forward 3 months later and I sold my half of the business to my business partner, packed up my life and moved to Amsterdam to embark on what has now been 26 years of corporate retail.

I first picked up a paint brush (for real) in my early 20’s. I remember one day starting to think about painting and drawing until I became overwhelmed with the sensation and one Saturday morning, driving to an art shop, buying a canvas, sketch book, charcoal pencils and paints; coming home and actually doing it…. I didn’t know what I was doing, all I knew was that I HAD TO PAINT. I always wondered if it was my Aunty Molly (the landscape artist) who was pushing me to do this. I started to sketch every day, things like my bedroom, trees, mountains, landscapes (like my Aunty Molly used to) until I started to develop my own form which was more along the lines of “whimsical”. I was watching a ‘Ren & Stimpy’ show late one night and came up with a character in my head and I just had to paint him….. I stayed up all night painting this picture in my head. I still have that painting today.

During my time in Europe, I painted A LOT! Living and working in Amsterdam and traveling Europe for work also, experiencing the old world architecture and each of the cities I was lucky enough to visit, sparked my creativity big time. Some of my friends asked me to paint these large canvases for them and I was happy to do it. They are all spread out around Europe.

When I arrived in the USA via Amsterdam with Footlocker, I continued to paint on the side and started to get a few commissions which was awesome. However, with my new workload being in the USA, I ended up putting down the brushes for a number years, but I always sketched.

I was transferred to Toronto in the early 2000’s and it was there that I did night classes at OCAD for charcoal and 3D drawing…. I really loved it and it opened my eyes even further to other artworks, mediums and a bunch of really talented people that I was surround with….. I felt so lucky to have learned from a lot from them and still have those friends today.

Fast forward many years later, I honed my own skills in art, by watching, reading, working and having the absolute pleasure of being surrounded with incredibly talented people.

Today, I have my own consulting business and I started flywallart.com only a few years ago. I left the whimsical medium behind and embarked on Fluid Art, as I found this medium to be beyond beautiful and specifically the science behind it. I started to ramp up my social media and before long I had my first commission which was so exciting, as it happened so fast….. I went from my garage to my now lovely studio at SEAS Art Studio’s in Sarasota, where I’m once again, surrounded by talented artists who are also in the building; once again forging wonderful long term friendships and learning so much from everyone else. I am so lucky and humbled!!!

Fly on the Wall Art was aptly named, because of my time in my garage in Florida where I would be epoxying my artwork and somehow, the few flies that would sit on the wall and watch, always manage to kamikaze their way into the epoxy when I wasn’t looking…. Death by epoxy!!!

Lastly, I was recently picked up by Chasen Galleries in downtown Sarasota. They currently have 6 of my works with more coming down the pipeline. I also run fluid art beginner classes out of my studio every month. You can sign up anytime on my website www.flywallart.com to receive class schedules.

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

My 3 qualities/skills –
1. Tenacity
2. Business minded
3. Being able to sell yourself

ADVICE:
Don’t give up. EVER. Just because someone says ‘no’ to you, it’s only a “no” for today. Don’t take it personally, learn to pivot and keep moving forward. You can always revisit as timing is everything. Plus, there’s always something better around the next corner if you are willing to look hard enough.

Be organized, don’t be late for appointments and if you are, text or call to say your going to be late. Always get back to people and create an open line of communication.

Cross your T’s and dot your I’s in business.

Leave your ego at the door – be willing to listen and learn ALWAYS, even if you don’t agree. There’s always juicy little nuggets in the detail, when you are open to listening.

Do everything with a smile!!!

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

My biggest growth and improvement has been three fold –
1. Saying goodbye to corporate retail and starting my consulting business
2. Ramping up my art business
3. Being represented by Chasen Galleries in Sarasota.
I’m continually learning and having fun doing it all!!!

Contact Info:

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