You are a creator. You create paintings, sculptures, music, or performance pieces. You’ve spent years and years honing your craft and had the courage to bring it into the world. You want to make an impact, but you also need to have a sustainable income so you can continue to do what you love. To both ends, this means increasing your audience to increase your sales. To do so requires a focus on your audience’s individual buying style. This workshop will provide you with unique insights into the best ways for you to identify your selling style, and how to maximize your strengths and neutralize the challenges in selling. By sharing with you a five-point strategy for improving sales within each of the four primary buying styles, this workshop will help you create a unique and effective action plan to grow your creative business, and make that impact you so want to achieve.

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Danny Pippin is a Nashville-based Business Consultant, Strategist & Coach helping entrepreneurs, business leaders and organizations clarify their purpose, vision and goals, increase sales and profitability, and build high performing teams. 

Over the past 20 years, Danny has networked, recruited, interviewed, hired, trained, and developed over 70 leadership and sales teams across the country between his Telecom & Corporate Retail career. He’s led highly profitable multimillion dollar businesses and has consulted with over 50 global brands such as Google, Pepsi, Home Depot, Salesforce, Shell, ESPN Radio, and GE.

He’s an Executive Programs Trainer & Certified Behavioral Specialist for the world’s most extensive training and development organization, Maxwell Leadership, and has been trained and mentored by the #1 Leadership Expert John C. Maxwell and his world-class faculty. He is certified to facilitate, speak, coach, and train on The Maxwell Methods of:

• Coaching
• DISC Behavioral Analysis
• Leadership
• Speaking
• Selling

Danny is the COO of Couture Technologies, a deep technology company, empowering apparel brands to seamlessly integrate virtual try on technology to reduce returns, increase conversion, improve sustainability, and elevate online shopping experiences. 

Danny believes in giving back to the Nashville Community and serves as:

• TEDx Nashville – Vice Chair & Lead Speaker Coach
• Nashville Chamber of Commerce – Business Studio Speaker & Small Business Committee Member
• Nashville Arts & Business Council – Periscope Teacher
• Nashville Entrepreneur Center – Advisor, Mentor & InFlight Teacher
• MTSHRM – Mentor & Leadership Development Program Teacher

Through joyful and embodied improv exercises, participants will awaken their capacities for deep listening and discover the confidence that comes from existing in the present moment. Improv isn’t about telling jokes or being funny (though the laughter is inevitable!) – it is about connecting with others, remaining present in the process, and responsive engagements. An improv teaching artist will lead participants in improv theater exercises, while providing space and opportunity to reflect on the experience throughout.

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Anne Veal (she/they) is a creator, educator and performer who specializes in improvised and ensemble-devised theatre, as well as an intuitive storyteller and healer. She teaches and performs with Third Coast Comedy Club, is a teaching artist with local nonprofit Unscripted, and develops bespoke corporate workshops in improv for leadership and organizational adaptability. 

Before moving to Nashville, Anne taught improv in NYC, helped run a start-up theatre, and developed a training program that gave over 300 performers access to stage time and curated feedback to develop as artists. She has performed across the country and internationally, leading ensembles to develop literary adaptations, immersive theatre, and dozens of improvised shows. 

Whether working in the performance or healing realm, her work is rooted in connection, compassion, and communication. They are a proud student of the Compassion Institute and this grand human experiment.

Explore NFTs, Metaverse, Web 3.0, Crypto, DAOs, join this practical discussion on what these concepts are and how an artist can use them in their art business. This will feature a series of fireside chats with diverse creatives who are currently leveraging these technologies to advance their business and promote artist solidarity. This series of Fireside Chats will be a live podcast recording moderated by Kamilah Sanders, creative industry business consultant; marketing strategist; and host of Crypto for Creatives; Digital Assets and Metaverse; and Fashion Futurist Podcast. Attendees will work through a worksheet that will help them brainstorm how they can use these technologies in their own art business.

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Kamilah Sanders is founder and CEO of Greater Than Equal whose focus is to disrupt creative industries using a systems change approach that includes marketing strategy and leadership development consulting; using Web3 technologies for global collective impact; advancing entrepreneurship and tech in emerging markets; and creating a paradigm shift among citizens through visual and audio storytelling. 

As a Web3 Marketing & Leadership Strategist, Kamilah Sanders serves creative social impact founders turning their visions to reality and helping them maximize their impact on the world. Kamilah is also co-host on Crypto for Creatives Podcast; Digital Assets and Metaverse Podcast; The Sustainable Fashion Podcast; Fashion Reimagined Clubhouse and regularly speaks on Web3, Sustainable Fashion, Art, and Equity. https://greaterthanequal.com/  http://kamilahsanders.com/  

Keith Josiah is a 25-year-old painter, musician, and poet from Memphis TN. “My art is my own self-expression. I use art as a way to personify figurative language and concepts and depict the conversations that I have with myself. I use shapes and colors to reflect the different perceptions, thoughts, feelings, emotions, and opinions that I have and how they look within my own imagination.” 

Recently Keith’s art has been centered around the topic of love and the many sides and dimensions of what it means to love and be loved. https://secondkingscollectors.com/ 

Roy “Futureman” Wooten: Best known for his role in Grammy Award winning and grassroots group Béla Fleck and The Flecktones, Roy “Futureman” Wooten continues to defy the norms of music, not just being on the cutting edge, but creating it. His never-ending curiosity and art and science approach to music theory caused him to create new instruments like the Drumitar (often played with The Flecktones), or his most recent creation the “RoyEl” a Pianoesq instrument based on the periodic table of elements and the golden ratio.

As a longtime artist advocate, Wooten continues to research and vocalize his views on artistic freedom and importance of intellectual property ownership. He believes NFT and Blockchain technology can play a pivotal role in helping musicians not only maintain ownership of their masters, but empower and partner with their communities to make a difference. He admits that it is still early, but if he wasn’t the world might not call him “FutureMan”

Check him live in concert, on a panel discussion or giving a keynote speech as a speaker and advisor with NFT Nashville, a growing community empowering artists, entrepreneurs and creatives to have access to education and to trusted people paving the way in blockchain and NFT technology.

What if arts administration was inherently an extension of the creative space? The creative process is iterative and so are the processes to build, implement, and sustain thriving creative ecosystems. Utilizing artistic and administrative processes from dance, music, visual arts, theater, and arts education, panelists will examine “best practices” through the lens of experimentation, curiosity, and creativity. Whether you are an artist, administrator, or arts/nonprofit leader, join the conversation on reimagining divisions of labor, getting curious on how these spaces intersect, and de-siloing artists and arts administrators to create a more collaborative arts community.

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Jonathan Harwell-Dye: Working at the intersection of art and business, Jonathan Harwell-Dye is passionate about supporting artists and arts organizations, building equitable communities, and living a creative life. Trained as a scientific illustrator, he’s found purpose for nearly two decades as an arts administrator, communications professional, graphic artist and editor. 

Jonathan aligns his passion and purpose as director of programs for the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville overseeing the overall strategy and day-to-day management of key programs that provide resources, opportunities, and education for Nashville’s thriving creative sector.

Kenny Dozier is the Founder and Artistic Director of Kennie Playhouse Theatre (KPT) . He is also the Producer at Nashville Shakespeare Festival. He is a Producer, Director, and Actor. In other words, Kenny is busy!

Kenny recently, Summer of 2022, conducted a successful “Kidz Kravings” Youth Acting Camp.The camp focuses on FITNESS-NUTRITION-ACTING. Kenny as Artistic Director of Kennie Playhouse Theater is happy to announce our 2022-2023

Season theme “Ladies and Laughter”. KPT will be producing the hilarious comedy “The Dance on Widow’s Row” by Samm Art Williams. As part of the Juneteenth Celebration for 2023 KPT will also produce “Front Porch Society” by Melda Beaty. Both plays will be Directed by Kenny. Look for a few more theatrical surprises too.

This upcoming season 2022-2023 you can catch Kenny in Nashville Children’s Theater production of “The Diary of Anne Frank”. You can also see him in Nashville Repertory production of “August Wilson’s Fences.” We welcome your support as we seek to impact the Nashville community with the medium of theater. To Learn more about KPT or Kenny, show your support by visiting their website www.kennieplayhousetheatre.com.

Jazzmin Mitchell, Masters of Science in Social Work (MSSW) Candidate, is an artist who merges her Social Work background with her musical abilities to inspire healing and transformation in her audiences. Mitchell has 12 years of experience in vocal performance. Her 6 years of nonprofit experience has led her to become the Co-Founder and Assistant Director of Free Fyre, an arts organization fiscally sponsored by the ABC of Greater Nashville.

Jazzmin sings at her place of worship, Bethel Community Church, and has performed at conferences and showcases in Nashville, Memphis, Chicago, and New York. As a Council on Social Work Education Minority Fellow, Jazzmin’s research is to merge the arts & spirituality to create organizational interventions for non-arts spaces to impact all levels of the organizational structure, including clients served.

Michelle Sipes is a choreographer-dancer, educator, and arts administrator with interests in cross-disciplinary collaborations, intimate storytelling, and curating conversational spaces. Michelle has an MFA in Dance from the Ohio State University and a BFA in Dance from Belhaven University. Michelle performed and toured with Inlet Dance Theatre (Cleveland, OH) as a Company Member for five seasons where she taught and choreographed for Inlet’s many education programs including residency programs, masterclasses, festivals, and conferences across the country.

Along her artistic practice, Michelle has worked as a Program Director for the Tennessee Arts Commission helping to fund and manage arts education initiatives in Tennessee. Before her work at TAC, she worked as a Development Associate for the Wexner Center for the Arts and served as an artist-in-residence at the Wexner Center for two of their Learning and Public Practice programs. Additionally, Michelle taught a variety of movement practice and arts management courses for OSU’s Department of Dance and published works in Risk is a Relative Term, a collaborative anthology between the Performing Arts department at the Wexner Center and OSU. Michelle believes in the transformative power of the arts and is committed to aiding artists and nonprofits as a consultant, fundraiser, and educator.

mikewindy is an artist and arts educator living in Inglewood. He is the interim board chair for Number Inc. and the editor of the Young Art Writers project for Number Inc. that collaborates annually with TSU and the Educators Cooperative to host the TSU Arts Writing Symposium. mikewindy was recently named a Crayola Creativity Ambassador, one of 75 nationwide and the only CCA for the state of TN. He just completed the Smithsonian Museum of American Art Teacher Institute on-site in Washington DC and also sits on SAAM’S REACH advisory committee and will co-present with that committee at the National Alliance of Rural Schools.

mikewindy was named the TN Art Education Association 2022 Mid-TN Art Educator of the year. He is a cohort 3 member of the Educators Cooperative and also sits on EDCO’s advisory committee. mikewindy is the organizer and co-host of the Educators Cooperative monthly Culture Corner zoom conversation with Black artists connecting their art practice to the classrooms of teachers in Nashville and throughout TN. He runs the LOLA Gallery in his garage that hosts occasional exhibitions of artists from Nashville and throughout the US. mikewindy is an art teacher at McGavock High School where he serves 180 artists weekly and for the past 3 years was the Kids on Stage Art Director for Mount Pleasant Schools in Maury County, TN. 

Every art project—an album, an installation of paintings, a dance, a piece of sculpture, a mural, a film, a book, the fruit of the jeweler’s craft—deserves recognition in the world at large. Perhaps the most important tool to achieve that recognition is the media bio. A smartly crafted bio that explains a creative work with clarity, depth and concision sets the tone for how press, radio, TV and online media present your work to the world. It summarizes what makes your work distinctive and important—ideally with just a quick glance by an editor/content provider, while also making your deeper story available, to convey the distinctive creative character of yourself and your work. This session is structured to instruct artists on how to author their own project bios by crafting introductions that summarize all the essentials and to explain the key takeaways that media readers need to ensure that conversations about works remain rooted in the artist’s viewpoint.

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Ted Drozdowski is an award-winning Nashville-based guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and producer, as well as a music journalist, historian and film consultant. He is the leader of the cosmic roots music band Coyote Motel and has toured internationally for decades, with stops at Bonnaroo, Cognac Blues Passions and other prestigious festivals. Acclaimed documentary film-maker Robert Mugge focused his lens on Ted and his earlier band Scissormen for the 2012 movie Big Shoes, which premiered at the Denver Film Festival. Ted has also been featured in the pages of Guitar Player magazine.

Ted also has experience as an artist manager and record label operator, and has run the consulting firm Locomotive Artist Services, providing a variety of grassroots promotional services for musicians. He has also presented workshops on bootstraps music business and roots music history in a wide variety of venues, from artist seminars to the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Massachusetts, and Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. He was a ground-floor consultant for the prestigious television series Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues, and has interviewed and written about many, many legendary figures in American music. Ted is also senior editor at Premier Guitar magazine. He is married to Laurie Hoffma, and they are devoted to their senior dog, Dolly.

As Steven Pressfield wrote, “Turning pro is a mindset.” By turning pro when it comes to your finances, you will continue to have a sustainable creative career for the rest of your life. Come ready to get your business to the next level and see your finances in a whole new light. This workshop will be an engaging and participatory session where you will learn a variety of tips to manage your creative business from a profit and loss perspective. We will unpack any limiting beliefs about finances, cover a few financial statements to be familiar with, and look at various accounting software to help you with your business. From this workshop, you will walk away with a financial roadmap of what to do to get started in the right direction, tips for managing your creative business with confidence and financial wisdom, and feel more prepared and less stressed when it comes to tax time.

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Stephie Gee: In addition to being a music educator and social entrepreneur, Stephie Gee is a drummer and percussionist, currently performing with local Nashville artists. She is also a licensed CPA in the state of Tennessee, with over 10 years in accounting and auditing. When she’s not performing or teaching, she aims to serve the Nashville creative community through educating freelancers and creative entrepreneurs on how to get comfortable with their finances and take their businesses to the next level.

Stephie’s experience in the Nashville community has included serving the financial needs of local businesses, social enterprises, non-profits, and startups such as Social Enterprise Alliance, Everly, Ordinary Hero, and ABLE.

“Inspiration does exist, but it must find you working.” Pablo Picasso

As creatives, we may be tempted to wait for that perfect moment to create, but studies show that quantity really leads to quality, even in art. But how do we motivate ourselves to take that moment daily? The panelists will share how they started small to build something much bigger than when they first started, whether it’s a business or a gallery show. When we choose to share our work in progress, we get better on the journey, and also end up finding our cheerleaders and clients.

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Ayumi Fukuda Bennett is an information illustrator who draws on her experience as a business journalist to turn wisdom into art, often in real time. She incorporates the visual language in amplifying the insights of a variety of partners and their settings, from small business webinars, public company leadership meetings, a non-profit’s social media campaigns, and more. Ayumi’s work has been seen in places like Sprinkles, the Tennessee Department of Health, VetsWhoCode, Education Week, Cubic Corporation, The New Humanitarian, PolicyLink, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Born in Japan and raised in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Ayumi lives in Nashville, Tenn., with her husband and their three-year-old son. She is a 2020 cohort member of ABC Nashville’s Periscope artist entrepreneur training program.

Amanda Mazzo: As Creative Director & COO of Mazzo Media, a creative studio owned & operated with her husband, Amanda Mazzo works with people, brands, and organizations to help tell their stories through videography, photography, graphic design, and social content.

Amanda is active in the Nashville community as an alumnus of the Young Leaders Council and Leadership Nashville. She has been honored as Nashville’s Top 30 Under 30 and is a recipient of a Nashville Emerging Leader Award in Arts, Entertainment & Music Business. She currently serves as a Purpose Mentor for Belmont University, Board Member of the W.O. Smith Community Music School, and volunteers with community art initiatives.

Yurina Yoshikawa holds an M.F.A. from Columbia University and teaches fiction and non-fiction writing at The Porch Writers’ Collective. Her work has appeared in NPR, Lit Hub, The Japan Times, The New Inquiry, Hyphen Magazine, and elsewhere. She was the winner of the 2020 Tennessee True Stories Contest and a 2021 recipient of the Tennessee Arts Commission. She has lived in Tokyo, Palo Alto, and New York before settling down in Nashville, Tennessee, where she lives with her husband and two sons.

What is the difference between Brand Identity and Brand Strategy and why is it important? This presentation helps entrepreneurs on every level understand the basics of what should be included in your Brand Identity and why it matters. This session will help business leaders understand what to ask for when working with a designer and how to navigate deciding what type of brand identity they want for their business.

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Patty McAvoy: Even as a little girl, I always had a vivid imagination. Creating elaborate stories, singing made-up songs under the bed into my walk-man and playing characters on the stage. That love for the dramatic is what I chased from my sleepy hometown of Newark, Ohio to the bright lights of New York City where I attended the Manhattan School of Music for undergrad, majoring in Opera. In an effort to support my vocal career (dresses are expensive!) I started working in the food and beverage industry. It was here I had a chance to discover my love for design. 

Luckily I was introduced to Adobe products in high school on the yearbook team, and that experience paid off 6 years later when the restaurant I was working for promoted me to handle their branding and design in-house. I had an opportunity to work directly with the CEO and Chef to build 9 high-end brands that opened around the world. For 7 years, I honed my skills working for restaurants, musicians, and small businesses, constantly teaching myself newtechniques.

In 2016, I made the leap to start my own business and I am the proud owner of my own design studio, Patty McAvoy Designs. Since starting my business 6 years ago, I’ve had the privilege of working with over 180 entrepreneurs and businesses including Sesame Street, celebrity food host Padma Lakshmi, Kiehls, Audemars Piguet, L’Oreal, and Nashville based author, speaker, and DEI coach Brittany N. Cole, just to name a few. Patty McAvoy Designs is a full-service branding and design agency providing clients with custom, top-quality creative services. I focus on brand development, graphic design and creative strategies for the modern creative entrepreneur who wants a crafted experience and authentic design aesthetic. I am dedicated to elevating brands through strategic thinking and compelling design. I work one-on-one with my client’s to quickly and intuitively capture a brand’s personality with flawless design and powerful content.