Meet Nicole Franco

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nicole Franco a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole , appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

I like to keep my creativity alive through a variety of ways. I find that movement, time in nature and time spent with my children all help to keep me inspired.

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?

Right now I am working on balancing a few things! I am a full time mom of two funny, sweet, wild and active kids. I am training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at The Jiu Jitsu Company in Philadelphia where I also help teach the kids classes, and I am working on my art and illustration.
The Jiu Jitsu Company, which is owned by Angie and Josh Vogel, fosters an amazing Jiu Jitsu culture. Angie and Josh have been so supportive of this creative journey.
Recently a wonderful project has come together with fellow youth coach, Ashley Hansler, Angie Vogel and a few other teammates at The Jiu Jitsu Company! Ashley, created a game called, Kidz Jitzee. It’s an interactive board game for kids teaching the fundamentals of Jiu Jitsu. I created the characters, art and design for the game. This has been a really fun and special project because it came together through our great community. It’s the first game of its kind. We are excited to finally be able to introduce it to other youth coaches, parents and students!
Aside from my personal art practice, I am also working on a mini brand of my own called Gym Cat Jiu Jitsu. So far it’s just at the beginning phases, a few designs and products including tshirts, stickers, art prints and even some socks!
This has been really nice because it’s combined my art and Jiu Jitsu practices. Bringing the two together has been really inspiring and fun!

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

The three things that have been most helpful for my own specific journey would be learning a new skill, making time to take care of myself and doing research.
There are so many new classes that are easily available online, and some are even free. After taking a lot of time off to raise my young children I took a few classes specific to illustration to get back in the swing of things. I just loved it! I also needed a major upgrade in technology, so I purchased an iPad and got started right away on a procreate course. Having young children, I had been finding it very hard to get my traditional art materials out regularly. The iPad and procreate made it easy to work even if I only had a few minutes. This was awesome!
Making time for myself a priority has been very helpful. Whether it’s to be active or to have some quiet time or a few hours to focus on art, the time to recharge makes all the difference.
Lastly, doing some research on what other kind of art and products are on the market is very informative. It’s good to know what’s out there and also what’s not out in the world yet. See what you like and what excites you, and how can you make something in your own unique way. I want to create art and fun things that I personally love. Things that are exciting, joyful and positive.

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

My biggest area of growth over the past 12 months has been committing to a regular art practice. Drawing in my sketchbook everyday helps to get ideas flowing, my drawing improves and I can experiment with my style. Setting aside the time to do this and the time to create a finished piece or product has been extremely helpful in reaching my goals.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @gymcat_bjj
• Other: Personal art @risingsundae

  Kidz Jitzee and Gym Cat products can be found at www.jiujitsumerch.com