We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Land & She (Emily Kelley) a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Land & She (Emily Kelley), 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?
Those are two things that take time to develop. Ever since a young age, I found solace and peace through art, especially when I needed to escape from the pressures of social situations, and even the scary everyday life of high school. Overtime, I realized that my love of art was my strength, and that strength brought me confidence in myself. Self-esteem has taken longer to develop. It is a learned behavior of finding your worthiness in this world and holding onto that. Each of us have something important to bring to this world. No one will provide you confidence and self-esteem except for you. More than anything, it is about learning to trust yourself.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am an illustrator and designer, with a particular focus in artwork that is made with nature in mind. My hope for my work is to bring a sense of calm and peace to anyone that views it. I began my art career as predominately a printmaker, but my work has since expanded to digital works that I create on my iPad, which I can then translate into art prints, bandanas, mugs, t-shirts, tote bags, stickers, etc. I am most excited about my pieces that bring a conceptual idea to life, for example a drawing of an A-Frame cabin, with smoke from the chimney that becomes the feathers on the chest of a hawk, or a deer who has antlers with mushrooms sprouting from them. I am interested in combining ideas together to present my audience with though provoking artwork.
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?
The first piece of advice is read… a lot! Read about other artists and people that are successful, and take pieces of advice from those stories into the business or career that you are trying build. I would recommend watching videos by Brene Brown, and books by Lisa Congdon such as Find Your Artistic Voice. A book that I would recommend to individuals looking to start a business is called Company of One. The second piece of advice is stay off of social media as much as you can (except for times when you want to post). When I was first starting out it was much easier to access a social media presence and influence. Everyone had a seat at the table and now it feels like a sea of people all competing for the same thing, and an over-saturation of ideas and visuals at all times. It can be incredibly frustrating for people early in their journey to see a bunch of videos of folks who appear to be an overnight success. Anything worth doing takes time. Stay away from the noise, and sit in the quiet and focus on what you want to make or do, and I can guarantee you, it will be unique and different from anything that is out there. My third piece of advice is to stay patient. It is easy to want to think 5 years down the line, but it is impossible to know how things will grow and change. Focus on today, every hour, and make small steps that will lead to big things.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
“Let My People GO Surfing” by Yvon Chouinard was an important book for me to read early on. Yvon is best known as the founder of Patagonia, but he lead quite an exciting life, and he first started out his business by selling climbing gear out of the back of his car. He made running a business look fun and relaxed. I learned that it’s important to stay true to who you are at the core of whatever you are trying to begin, and if it grows it grows, but never lose sight of where you came from and your values.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.landandshe.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/landandshestudio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/landandshestudio
