Design and Shine Rachelle Holowko

As 2023 comes to a close, I reflect back on the huge changes that I made in my business this year in this final podcast episode before I take an extended summer break at the beach with my family and new puppy.
I share my process of looking back to assess my goals, how I question my progress, and why I believe it's so important to take time to do this reflection work when you run a creative business.
A few questions that I ask myself that may be as important to you as they are to me are:
Did I create more space in my life for practicing my art? Did I streamline and simplify my business to remove overcomplicated processes? Does my business align with my creative and lifestyle goals? How did this year's goals compare to the previous year's goals? Did I create less or more hustle in my life this past year? What will next year's goals be and how will I go about achieving them? Listen to this episode of the Design & Shine podcast to hear my personal answers to these questions and more!
And I'd love to hear how you went with your 2023 goals too!
Did you achieve your goals? Why or why not?
What are your 2024 goals? 
Come let me know on my Facebook or Instagram accounts where I'll be checking in over the holidays before Season 3 of the podcast begins next year! 
Until then, have a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year! 

When I left full-time employment as a surface pattern designer, I could not understand why I found it so incredibly difficult to design with the same confidence and ease as I did for my clients...

Despite years of design experience and confidence working to a design brief, when I decided to work for myself I immediately fell into a ''surviving creative'' mentality, and everything began to feel so. much. harder!

It took a massive shift in how I thought about myself and my ability to design before I was able to grow a successful surface pattern design business. ⚡️

But once I did the deeper work of changing my ''surviving identity'' beliefs, I was able to quickly grow my business to my first $100k and have not looked back since! 💃


So in this week's episode of the Design & Shine podcast, I share my story of how I overcame my lack of confidence and fears about my design abilities to finally get momentum in my creative business.

It's an important step that I believe every creative person needs to make to shift out of a ''surviving identity'' into a ''thriving identity.''

I hope you enjoy it!

Recently, my family and I invited a new member into the family - a PUPPY!!!

​​His name is Juno.

And while it's been a LOT of fun these last few weeks getting to know him, it hasn't been as much fun training him not to wee in the house! 😅

But it has been interesting to watch him learn.

It's made me reflect on​​ how - with anything new we learn - our brains need to be 'trained' just like my Juno's. 

I know mine did when I first started my creative business years ago...

I had to 'train' my brain to overcome my self-doubt about whether or not I could reach success as a surface pattern designer and artist.

That self-doubt, self-sabotage, and lack of confidence come from hidden, subconscious beliefs that we're often not even aware of until we do the deeper work of looking for them and examining them. ​

These are our limiting beliefs, and if you've ever felt stuck, frustrated with your lack of progress, or filled with doubt that you could ever make it as a creative (which ALL of us have, of course!) then you know exactly what it feels like to have them! ​​​​

So in this week's episode of the Design & Shine podcast, I explore what limiting beliefs are and how they might be holding you back from the creative success you desire - and how to get started overcoming them!🎤🎧

While our creativity is a beautiful expression of our own personal unique gifts and ideas, it can also carry with it a lot of things that can end up hindering our progress...

Things like criticism, self-doubt, and perfectionism.

So in this week's Design & Shine podcast episode, I explore why it's important to cultivate and nurture self-compassion.

I share my thoughts on:
What having self-compassion as a creative means  Why it can help us progress in our creative practice How not having it can hurt us and keep us stuck What having self-compassion requires and how to nurture it! So listen to this episode and start nurturing your self-compassion so that you can continue to grow and thrive as an artist today!  🎤🎧

If you love what you're creating but you're facing a lot of failures, rejections, resistance, and you're hearing ''no thank-you'' so often, you may start to wonder how you're going to keep going...
How are you going to stay persistent if you're constantly facing obstacles?
This is what I want to explore with you in this episode:
The power of staying persistent and how you can learn some practical strategies that will help you keep at it!
I'll share tips on:
How to maintain a positive mindset about failure and rejection  How to turn a ''no'' into an opportunity to improve and grow When to seek feedback or help from others How to stay committed to your goal yet also stay adaptable to change How to keep moving forward when you're feeling defeated! So listen to this episode to get your mind back on track if you've been feeling like giving up on your art recently!

I believe many creatives underestimate how helpful gratitude can be toward helping them reach success...
It's a simple mindset shift that can make a BIG difference - if you know how to use it in how you approach your creative work.
I share several ways you can start practicing gratitude in your creative business in this week's Design & Shine podcast episode, including:
How to use gratitude to increase your daily inspiration, creative ideas, and new possibilities Ways that gratitude can help you overcome setbacks and failures in your business Why gratitude can help you grow into a thriving, successful creative artist with an authentic voice and style How it can also help you better connect with your audience and respond to their interest and feedback in a way that helps you, rather than letting it get you down!  Listen to this episode and start practicing more gratitude in your creative business today!