Laura and Nikki chat with Mary Beth Shaw, a fabulous artist, product creator, educator and author who Nikki met over a decade ago. Mary Beth has been a full time artist for 20 years; she's participated in indoor and outdoor art fairs, juried competitions and gallery shows. She's the founder of StencilGirl where she produces and sells stencils of her own designs and those of many other artists. She's also the author of Flavor for Mixed Media and StencilGirl, two books that she wrote, and is a columnist for Somerset Studios Magazine. She teaches workshops and many mixed media techniques and finds pleasure helping her students find their own voice. We know you'll love her great advice for getting started and adapting your business as it grows and opportunities come your way! TOPICS DISCUSSED Mary Beth's Startist story Moving from San Francisco to St. Louis and starting her art career with outdoor fairs and mixed media collages How Nikki met Mary Beth through the encaustic world How Mary Beth started making and selling her own stencils How she grew her stencil empire from six designs to thousands and how she became "StencilGirl" (picture her with her StencilGirl superhero cape!) How she began working with other artists to create their own stencil designs and how you can apply! Dealing with quick business growth and expanding her family team How Mary Beth started (reluctantly!) writing books How COVID impacted her business Growing her online/social media presence, especially through YouTube and live streaming StencilGirl’s creative team and Mary Beth’s “genius assistant” Her product release schedule and the creation of her monthly stencil membership The importance of growing your community Mary Beth’s advice for our listeners who are just getting started Mary Beth’s Multimedia Art Journal Workshop in Italy Read the transcript and find links to all mentioned resources in the STARTIST SOCIETY SHOW NOTES: startistsociety.com/stencilgirl JOIN THE STARTIST SOCIETY FB GROUP: facebook.com/groups/startistsociety/ FOLLOW STARTIST SOCIETY ON INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/startistsociety/ LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR? BUY US A COFFEE BOURBON: buymeacoffee.com/startistsociety/