The And She Looked Up Podcast

Hosted by Melissa Hartfiel

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Episodes

183

Latest episode

Feb 2025

Language

EN-CA

About the show

Every other week The And She Looked Up Podcast sits down with inspiring Canadian women who create for a living. We talk about their creative journeys and their best business tips, as well as the creative and business mindset issues all creative entrepreneurs struggle with. This podcast is for Canadian artists, makers and creators who want to find a way to make a living doing what they love. Your host, Melissa Hartfiel, left a 20 year career in corporate retail and has been happily self-employed as a working creative since 2010. She's a graphic designer, illustrator, writer, community co-founder and has owned and operated a multi-six figure a year creative content business. She resides just outside of Vancouver, BC.

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60 recent

February 17, 2025Episode 18256 min

EP182: Building a Resilient Creative Business Through Trade Wars and Chaos

Recording this week's episode felt like a moving target! I recorded it on Feb 8th and the news moves so fast that it was hard to keep up. I'm sure you'll notice a few things in here that have since changed. Having said that, this week's episode was born out of the launch of a trade war Canadians didn't ask for. The threats of tariffs and, frankly, annexation, have made this a very scary time for all Canadians. But with things in so much flux I decided to make this a more general episode. I share some strategies creative entrepreneurs in the arts can employ to build resilience against global chaos as well as helping you have a clearer understanding of how any kind of tariff can impact your business. We'll go over the three keys you need to focus on in the back end of your business as well as the importance of adapting your marketing tactics and creating greater financial stability for yourself.This is a great episode for creatives who...⭐️ need to understand the potential impact of tariffs on their creative businesses ⭐️ need to review their pricing strategies for long term sustainability during a trade war⭐️ are looking for ways to stabilize their expenses and cost of materials⭐️ want to lean into values based marketing (and being Canadian) during this time⭐️ need to think about diversifying revenue and trying to ensure as much financial stability as possibleOTHER HELPFUL EPISODES: EP154: Makers, Artists & Creatives: Here's How to Find Your CustomersEP110: Navigating Economic Uncertainty While Running a Creative BusinessEP098: Aligning Your Values with Your BusinessEP082: Budget & Hybring Pricing Models for CreativesEP081: Premium Pricing Models for Your Creative BusinessYou can find Melissa at finelimedesigns.com, finelimeillustrations.com or on Instagram @finelimedesigns.You can connect with the podcast on:Instagram at @andshelookedup Facebook YouTube Tik Tok at @AndSheLookedUpFor a list of all available episodes, please visit:And She Looked Up Creative Hour PodcastEach week The And She Looked Up Podcast sits down with inspiring Canadian women who create for a living. We talk about their creative journeys and their best business tips, as well as the creative and business mindset issues all creative entrepreneurs struggle with. This podcast is for Canadian artists, makers and creators who want to find a way to make a living doing what they love. Your host, Melissa Hartfiel (@finelimedesigns), left a 20 year career in corporate retail and has been happily self-employed as a working creative since 2010. She's a graphic designer, writer and illustrator as well as the co-founder of a multi-six figure a year business in the digital content space. She resides just outside of Vancouver, BC.

January 27, 2025Episode 1811 hr 6 min

EP181: Creative Canadian: Author Susan Wadds Builds Safe Creative Communities

Winner of the 2024 Canadian Book Club Awards for fiction, Susan Wadds, author of "What the Living Do", shares her inspiring journey from aspiring poet to published novelist. But we also discuss the power of community and connection in the creative process. Susan fosters safe communities for other creatives through her workshops and retreats while also creating additional revenue streams for herself and she shares with us just how she does that!This is a great episode for creatives who...⭐️ want to learn more about the value of creating safe spaces for other creatives in their niche ⭐️ want some insights on community-building among creatives ⭐️ are curious about the Amherst Writers and Artists method⭐️ are looking for practical advice for aspiring writers to pursue their passion⭐️ are curious about Susan and her novel "What the Living Do" This episode is brought to you by our Premium Subscriber Community on Patreon and BuzzsproutMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: find Susan at writeyourwayin.ca, or on Instagram @deepamwadds, Facebook, YouTube, or SubstackWhat the Living Do on Indigo Amherst Writers and ArtistsCanadian Book Club AwardsYou can find Melissa at finelimedesigns.com, finelimeillustrations.com or on Instagram @finelimedesigns.You can connect with the podcast on:Instagram at @andshelookedup Facebook YouTube Tik Tok at @AndSheLookedUpFor a list of all available episodes, please visit:And She Looked Up Creative Hour PodcastEach week The And She Looked Up Podcast sits down with inspiring Canadian women who create for a living. We talk about their creative journeys and their best business tips, as well as the creative and business mindset issues all creative entrepreneurs struggle with. This podcast is for Canadian artists, makers and creators who want to find a way to make a living doing what they love. Your host, Melissa Hartfiel (@finelimedesigns), left a 20 year career in corporate retail and has been happily self-employed as a working creative since 2010. She's a graphic designer, writer and illustrator as well as the co-founder of a multi-six figure a year business in the digital content space. She resides just outside of Vancouver, BC.

December 30, 2024Episode 1801 hr 6 min

EP180: Looking Back at 2024 and Ahead to 2025 in Our Creative Businesses

As we close out 2024, Heather and Melissa reflect on the ups and downs of the past year and look ahead to what's coming in 2025. This episode highlights the core theme of finding joy amid challenges as we close out one year and being another.Here's a quick recap of what we get into!• Recap of 2024 and its unexpected challenges • Importance of joy in art and creativity • Personal growth through grief and creativity • Strategies for nurturing community and connection • Setting intentions for a vibrant 2025 • Encouragement to embrace personal projects and small victoriesThis episode is brought to you by our Premium Subscriber Community on Patreon and Buzzsprout.You can find Melissa at finelimedesigns.com, finelimeillustrations.com or on Instagram @finelimedesigns.You can find Heather at heatherlynnetravis.com or on Instagram @heathertravis.You can connect with the podcast on:Instagram at @andshelookedup Facebook YouTube Tik Tok at @AndSheLookedUpFor a list of all available episodes, please visit:And She Looked Up Creative Hour PodcastEach week The And She Looked Up Podcast sits down with inspiring Canadian women who create for a living. We talk about their creative journeys and their best business tips, as well as the creative and business mindset issues all creative entrepreneurs struggle with. This podcast is for Canadian artists, makers and creators who want to find a way to make a living doing what they love. Your host, Melissa Hartfiel (@finelimedesigns), left a 20 year career in corporate retail and has been happily self-employed as a working creative since 2010. She's a graphic designer, writer and illustrator as well as the co-founder of a multi-six figure a year business in the digital content space. She resides just outside of Vancouver, BC.

December 16, 2024Episode 17956 min

EP179 Creative Canadian Women: Kim Fahner - Poet, Author and Community Builder

Award winning poet and writer Kim Fahner joins the show this week to share her creative journey and discuss the importance of forming a community of our peers. Forging nurturing and supportive connections with other creatives in a country as vast, and empty, as Canada can feel like a huge challenge - particularly for those in smaller or rural communities. We also discuss the copyright implications of AI for creators and why it's so important to support Canadian creatives and the businesses that support them more than ever.Kim is the author of multiple poetry books as well as her debut novel, The Donoghue Girl, released earlier this year. She is also the first vice-chair of The Writer's Union of Canada, a teacher and an editor for Consilience, an online journal that explores the spaces where the sciences and arts meet. This is a great episode for creatives who...⭐️ are looking to forge new connections with their peers⭐️ are considering mentoring or being mentored in the new year⭐️ have thought about publishing poetry or are curious about the small press community in Canada⭐️ are concerned about the copyright implications of AI and how it might impact our creativityThis episode is brought to you by our Premium Subscriber Community on Patreon and BuzzsproutMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: find Kim at kimfahner.com or on Instagram at @kimfahner or on X at @modernirishThe Donoghue GirlConsilience JournalThe Writer's Union of CanadaLatitude 46 PublishingTurnstone PressYou can find Melissa at finelimedesigns.com, finelimeillustrations.com or on Instagram @finelimedesigns.You can connect with the podcast on:Instagram at @andshelookedup Facebook YouTube Tik Tok at @AndSheLookedUpFor a list of all available episodes, please visit:And She Looked Up Creative Hour PodcastEach week The And She Looked Up Podcast sits down with inspiring Canadian women who create for a living. We talk about their creative journeys and their best business tips, as well as the creative and business mindset issues all creative entrepreneurs struggle with. This podcast is for Canadian artists, makers and creators who want to find a way to make a living doing what they love. Your host, Melissa Hartfiel (@finelimedesigns), left a 20 year career in corporate retail and has been happily self-employed as a working creative since 2010. She's a graphic designer, writer and illustrator as well as the co-founder of a multi-six figure a year business in the digital content space. She resides just outside of Vancouver, BC.

November 26, 2024Episode 17839 min

To Discount or Not to Discount in Your Creative Business?

With Black Friday coming up quickly and market season in full swing, should you discount your creative work? There's a time and a place for discounts. This week we go over the pros and cons of offering or granting discounts and why it is SO crucial to price your work properly in order to have more marketing flexibility in your businessThis is a great episode for creatives who...⭐️ don't know how to respond when a customer or potential customer asks for a discount⭐️ aren't sure if discounting devalues their work⭐️ don't feel they have the room in their pricing to offer discounts⭐️ aren't sure how much it costs them to secure a new customer⭐️ are looking for ways to foster loyalty among their customer baseThis episode is brought to you by our Premium Subscriber Community on Patreon and BuzzsproutMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: EP172: How to Increase Your Average Order Value and Books Revenue in Your Creative BusinessYou can find Melissa at finelimedesigns.com, finelimeillustrations.com or on Instagram @finelimedesigns.Support the showYou can connect with the podcast on:Instagram at @andshelookedup Facebook YouTube Tik Tok at @AndSheLookedUpFor a list of all available episodes, please visit:And She Looked Up Creative Hour PodcastEach week The And She Looked Up Podcast sits down with inspiring Canadian women who create for a living. We talk about their creative journeys and their best business tips, as well as the creative and business mindset issues all creative entrepreneurs struggle with. This podcast is for Canadian artists, makers and creators who want to find a way to make a living doing what they love. Your host, Melissa Hartfiel (@finelimedesigns), left a 20 year career in corporate retail and has been happily self-employed as a working creative since 2010. She's a graphic designer, writer and illustrator as well as the co-founder of a multi-six figure a year business in the digital content space. She resides just outside of Vancouver, BC.

November 11, 2024Episode 17749 min

EP177: Beka Shane Denter Explores Canadian Creativity in Bloom Across Canada

If you need a good dose of hope and inspiration this week, then Episode 177 is for you. Canadian writer and author Beka Shane Denter joins the show to talk about her latest book, Bloom Across Canada - an inspirational collection of conversations with 50 diverse women and non-binary creatives entrepreneurs from all across Canada. Beka shares how a pandemic, her nomadic life and a career as a features and content writer helped inform her decision to embark on bringing the "Bloom" series to life and, how this book in particular, is a love letter to Canada.This is a great episode for creatives who...⭐️ need a little boost of encouragement to take on those big, dream projects⭐️ want to be a more effective storyteller in their work⭐️ need some real talk and encouragement about not taking no for an answer⭐️ are searching for community for themselves and for their work⭐️ need a good dose of hope right nowThis episode is brought to you by our Premium Subscriber Community on Patreon and BuzzsproutMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: bekashanedenter.comBloom Across Canada - where to buyHeritage House Publishing@beka_shane_denter on InstagramFind Beka on LinkedIn You can find Melissa at finelimedesigns.com, finelimeillustrations.com or on Instagram @finelimedesigns.You can connect with the podcast on:Instagram at @andshelookedup Facebook YouTube Tik Tok at @AndSheLookedUpFor a list of all available episodes, please visit:And She Looked Up Creative Hour PodcastEach week The And She Looked Up Podcast sits down with inspiring Canadian women who create for a living. We talk about their creative journeys and their best business tips, as well as the creative and business mindset issues all creative entrepreneurs struggle with. This podcast is for Canadian artists, makers and creators who want to find a way to make a living doing what they love. Your host, Melissa Hartfiel (@finelimedesigns), left a 20 year career in corporate retail and has been happily self-employed as a working creative since 2010. She's a graphic designer, writer and illustrator as well as the co-founder of a multi-six figure a year business in the digital content space. She resides just outside of Vancouver, BC.

October 28, 2024Episode 17659 min

EP176: The Power of Rituals in our Creative Practices

In this week's regular season episode, Melissa and Heather explore the transformative power of intentional rituals in our creative practices. Rituals are different from habits. And, there's real science behind them and how they affect our brains. They can help shape our creative mindset, help us achieve a state of flow, quite our inner critic and much more! Do you have a particular ritual or rituals you perform in your creative practice? Share it with us on our Instagram account or our YouTube channel!This is a great episode for creatives who... ⭐️ struggle with settling into creative work ⭐️ need help with focus in their creative practice ⭐️ find it challenging to quiet their inner voice and criticThis episode is brought to you by our Premium Subscriber Community on Patreon and BuzzsproutFor a summary of this episode and all the links mentioned please visit:Episode169: Creating and Recreating Our Own Creative Process You can find Melissa at finelimedesigns.com, finelimeillustrations.com or on Instagram @finelimedesigns.You can find Heather at heatherlynnetravis.com or on Instagram @heathertravis.You can connect with the podcast on:Instagram at @andshelookedup Facebook YouTube Tik Tok at @AndSheLookedUpFor a list of all available episodes, please visit:And She Looked Up Creative Hour PodcastEach week The And She Looked Up Podcast sits down with inspiring Canadian women who create for a living. We talk about their creative journeys and their best business tips, as well as the creative and business mindset issues all creative entrepreneurs struggle with. This podcast is for Canadian artists, makers and creators who want to find a way to make a living doing what they love. Your host, Melissa Hartfiel (@finelimedesigns), left a 20 year career in corporate retail and has been happily self-employed as a working creative since 2010. She's a graphic designer, writer and illustrator as well as the co-founder of a multi-six figure a year business in the digital content space. She resides just outside of Vancouver, BC.

October 10, 2024Episode 17515 min

Prep for the Holidays EP13: Payment Processor Freak Outs at Markets (and how to avoid them!)

For Week 13 of Prep for the Holidays we're talking about how to accept payments at your holiday events, markets and pop-ups. You're going to need a payment processor! And if you've already got one, you've probably had at least one freakout moment with your payment processor hardware or software. So, let's talk about what you'll need and a quick checklist of what double (triple, quadruple) check before each market so you can avoid those panic inducing moments of wonky tech and instead, focus on market customers!This episode is brought to you by our Premium Subscriber Community on Patreon and BuzzsproutYou can find Melissa at finelimedesigns.com, finelimeillustrations.com or on Instagram @finelimedesigns.You can connect with the podcast on:Instagram at @andshelookedup Facebook YouTube Tik Tok at @AndSheLookedUpFor a list of all available episodes, please visit:And She Looked Up Creative Hour PodcastEach week The And She Looked Up Podcast sits down with inspiring Canadian women who create for a living. We talk about their creative journeys and their best business tips, as well as the creative and business mindset issues all creative entrepreneurs struggle with. This podcast is for Canadian artists, makers and creators who want to find a way to make a living doing what they love. Your host, Melissa Hartfiel (@finelimedesigns), left a 20 year career in corporate retail and has been happily self-employed as a working creative since 2010. She's a graphic designer, writer and illustrator as well as the co-founder of a multi-six figure a year business in the digital content space. She resides just outside of Vancouver, BC.

October 7, 2024Episode 17454 min

EP174: Making a Pivot and Fashioning a Collaboration with Rebecca Rowe: Creative Canadian Women

In this week's regular season episode, classically trained fashion designer Rebecca Rowe joins the show to talk about how she pivoted her business (and how a disaster pushed her to embrace that pivot full force!) from a designer to a stylist who helps other women find confidence in their wardrobe. And then, she took on what, at first glance, appeared to be a surprising collaboration to expand her business even further. Take a listen and it will all make sense! Rebecca shares her top tips for connecting and collaborating with other businesses and for having a successful business pivot. This is a great episode for creatives who... ⭐️ are looking to collaborate but don't know where to start - or who to collaborate with ⭐️ need a little help thinking outside of the box when it comes to collaborations ⭐️ would like to pivot their business but are afraid of starting fresh or upsetting existing clients or customers This episode is brought to you by our Premium Subscriber Community on Patreon and BuzzsproutMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Rebecca on Instagram rebeccarowe.ca Rebecca on LinkedIn Finding Your Fit with Rebecca & Jenn EP 48: How to Make $100 in Your Creative Business TodayYou can find Melissa at finelimedesigns.com, finelimeillustrations.com or on Instagram @finelimedesigns.You can connect with the podcast on:Instagram at @andshelookedup Facebook YouTube Tik Tok at @AndSheLookedUpFor a list of all available episodes, please visit:And She Looked Up Creative Hour PodcastEach week The And She Looked Up Podcast sits down with inspiring Canadian women who create for a living. We talk about their creative journeys and their best business tips, as well as the creative and business mindset issues all creative entrepreneurs struggle with. This podcast is for Canadian artists, makers and creators who want to find a way to make a living doing what they love. Your host, Melissa Hartfiel (@finelimedesigns), left a 20 year career in corporate retail and has been happily self-employed as a working creative since 2010. She's a graphic designer, writer and illustrator as well as the co-founder of a multi-six figure a year business in the digital content space. She resides just outside of Vancouver, BC.

September 26, 2024Episode 17314 min

Prep For the Holidays EP 12: Prep Your Online Shops for the Holiday Rush

It's Week 12 of the Prep for the Holidays minisode series and it's time for us to prep all our online shop for the holiday rush. Whether you sell on Etsy, eBay, your own website or any other online platform, there a few things you'll want to make sure are in tip top shape before shoppers land!We're going to talk about photography - especially for key products - SEO, titles and descriptions, telling the story of your business and products, emphasizing the "handmade" aspect of your business, shipping info and most importantly, double checking and testing to make sure users have a pleasant, frustration-free shopping experience!This episode is brought to you by our Premium Subscriber Community on Patreon and BuzzsproutYou can find Melissa at finelimedesigns.com, finelimeillustrations.com or on Instagram @finelimedesigns.You can connect with the podcast on:Instagram at @andshelookedup Facebook YouTube Tik Tok at @AndSheLookedUpFor a list of all available episodes, please visit:And She Looked Up Creative Hour PodcastEach week The And She Looked Up Podcast sits down with inspiring Canadian women who create for a living. We talk about their creative journeys and their best business tips, as well as the creative and business mindset issues all creative entrepreneurs struggle with. This podcast is for Canadian artists, makers and creators who want to find a way to make a living doing what they love. Your host, Melissa Hartfiel (@finelimedesigns), left a 20 year career in corporate retail and has been happily self-employed as a working creative since 2010. She's a graphic designer, writer and illustrator as well as the co-founder of a multi-six figure a year business in the digital content space. She resides just outside of Vancouver, BC.