Meet Violeta Barcenas

We were lucky to catch up with Violeta Barcenas recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Violeta, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
I got lucky. I’ve always had someone in my corner (my grandmother) who made sure that I saw things in perspective, looking at the positive side of things, even during some of life’s most pressing challenges. So my optimism comes from her and her lesson to work every day in choosing to see the glass half full. It is a choice after all.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am an artist with a compulsion to create. My main mediums are mixed media and digital illustration and I love to incorporate colorful elements. I create pieces inspired by positive and magical thinking, hoping to awaken a positive feeling in people – that’s what’s most exciting about my work, seeing people engage and make connections with the artwork I create. It feels like each piece fulfills its purpose, it brightens up someone’s wall as much as it can brighten someone’s day!

A big part of my brand and identity as a self-taught artist is that I am from Nicaragua, a colorful country in Central America. It’s also where, after a breast cancer diagnosis at 32, I launched my art career (I used to be a nonprofit communicator before this). The following years saw me living in different countries throughout Latin America (Bolivia, Honduras, Panama, and Mexico), so a lot of my art is about that: the spirit and color of our culture. But it’s also about learning, expanding my skills, experimenting with different techniques, and finding inspiration in the tiniest of corners.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I think that some of the qualities that were most impactful in this process were resiliency and discipline. I didn’t go to art school, or have any formal art training – let alone business training!! So having the discipline to say: okay, I’m going to sit down and figure this out and the resiliency to follow through even when I felt I should perhaps give up.

The other thing is vulnerability. As an artist, you are putting yourself out there with your work. It’s a reflection of who you are, what you think, and how you feel. So you feel a little expose. Some people will love it and others not so much. You need to be prepare for your fair share of rejection, and that is OK!

So my first advice is don’t take too long to launch/go for it, and don’t get too hung up overthinking. Your art or work will always be a work in progress, there is no perfect time to get started, so start with what you have and never stop learning. Failure is your friend, use the data-points from every learning experience to grow and improve. It’s all about hard work and updating your skillset.

We are lucky to have the internet today, where you can find tools, resources, really anything you want to learn will be out there and often time it will also be free!! The other thing (which was a big learning curve for me) is asking for help when you can’t figure something out. One person can’t do it all (I’ve tried!), so don’t be afraid to ask for help, build a community…. entrepreneurship can feel lonely at times.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
The challenge of a small entrepreneur is that more often than not, you do it all, so it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Learning to stop and rest has been the best lesson learned this past few years. As a one person-small business, living in a pandemic, is a new must. You do have to show up for yourself! Sometimes it means taking a break. If I’m not feeling my best, I can’t do my best.

Showing up for yourself looks different for everybody, for example my business is divided in two types of tasks – the business admin, and the creative side. Sometimes for me, a break means investing my time in the creative side, coming up with new ideas, painting a white canvas, re-connecting with what it is I love to do: paint.

But it also looks like: spending the afternoon watching my favorite show, going on walks, reading a book, playing with Gatita Flo, visiting my daughter, or a long call with long distance friends. Things that I know leave me feeling recharged and happy.

My advice is simple. Forget about what people say ‘self-care’ is, instead find the things that truly work for YOU. For example, my husband loves to cook when he’s overwhelmed, but if I had to cook, I’d feel waaaay more overwhelmed than how I felt before. So, that’s not for me. But maybe that’s it for you. Don’t get too hung up on what self-care should look like, find your own version, and let your strategies to manage stress or overwhelming feelings, shape up as you go.

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