Nurturing a Vibrant Art Membership with Margarete Miller
[00:00:00] Made Remarkable Intro: Welcome back.
And thanks for tuning into the made remarkable podcast, hosted by Kellee Wynne. In today's episode, Kellee is talking with the talented Margarete Miller to discuss her journey as a collage artist and entrepreneur, and how she has created a thriving community surrounding her membership and her art.
Margarete shares her passion for vintage paper and how it has influenced her creative journey. She reveals how she started a Facebook group, built a community of over 7,000 members. And opens up about her transition to digital products and her exciting new membership, dedicated to collage art enthusiasts.
Margarete shares her experience and her love for the community of The Remarkable League. And how she has inspired not only by the group, but by Kellee. To bring her business and new directions that she never would have thought possible before.
Check out the show notes And transcripts for more information about Margarete. Exclusive promotional offers and any special links mentioned during the episode. Kellee loves connecting with listeners.
So don't be shy. Reach out on social media and together let's build a community that celebrates the remarkable. If you want to be notified every time a new episode hits the airwaves, just hit that subscribe button on your favorite podcast platform. Thanks for joining today. And always remember that you are Made Remarkable destined to achieve the unimaginable. Now let's get to the good part. Introducing Kellee Wynne and Margarete Miller
[00:01:18] Kellee Wynne: Well, hello. Hello. I'm Kelly Wynn, artist, author, mentor, fiercely independent mother and wife, and the founder of a multiple six figure creative business. And I love my life, but I've been where you're at. I was slogging away at this art business thing for more than a decade. Once I finally connected with my true calling, unlock the magic of marketing and built a system that could scale, while I realize I can make an impact and make a substantial income, I'm finally running a business that I love and it makes all the.
Difference in the world. My biggest dream is to help you do the same. Let this podcast be the catalyst to your biggest success. You already have it in you because you are made remarkable.
I have not had a podcast interview since this summer, so it's really fun to have you on right now. And I have to say right off the bat, I got to meet you in person in the spring. And then again, just about 2 weeks ago when we were doing our big Annapolis, mastermind meeting.
[00:02:27] Margarete Miller: That's right. So it was. So fun. Both events were so fun.
[00:02:32] Kellee Wynne: Yes. Great. I came to California. You came to Maryland and we're getting to know each other better. And also the fact that you've been in my circle now for a while with the remarkable league, but I'm having you on today because I. Invited you into my year long program deck of dreams to showcase your collage skills and your love of ephemera, which reminded me how much I love it myself.
And I thought it would be really good for everyone in my podcast land to hear from you.
[00:03:04] Margarete Miller: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for having me today.
[00:03:07] Kellee Wynne: Thank you. So, tell me, what propelled you in the direction you're at, and specifically the type of art that you make.
[00:03:16] Margarete Miller: So, I do collage art with vintage papers. Papers... Papers only, I would say, it's not that I didn't want to do mixed media. I started to do mixed media, but. I just felt not so confident, not so comfortable with it, and I really thought, oh, I want to devote, you know, more specific energy just to papers because there's so many different kinds of papers, different textures, different styles.
So let's just lean into the paper element part of it. Um, and so that's where it all began. It was just love of paper. Love of paper.
[00:03:57] Kellee Wynne: I have a love of paper, too. I have this dream of being able to travel the world and discover papers around the world. It's just, it's really, paper, vintage, new, Japanese paper.
There's this shop in Toronto, I guess, that has a big Japanese paper store. I'm like, oh my gosh, that would be so amazing. Italian paper, Nepal paper, but the vintage stuff. It is unbelievable to me and even the chance to like collect it and feel it and read it and touch it. It's like sometimes the vintage papers are ads or magazines, but sometimes it's handwritten letters, you know?
[00:04:37] Margarete Miller: Yeah. Yeah. There's so much character, depending on where you go. And the other great thing about it is if you travel. It's flat and it's it's easy to put in your suitcase. It's lightweight. Um, yeah, sometimes you want to try and keep them straight so they don't get crinkled. But you know, folding is usually okay.
So it's for the most part, art with paper is kind of, it's easy, I would say. and then I don't need a lot of supplies otherwise. Glue stick or types of glues and substrate, something to glue it on to, and maybe I use sometimes a little bit of rubber stamping or other embellishments like postage stamps.
But, there's not too many other art supplies, which is kind of a good thing, I think, for me.
[00:05:23] Kellee Wynne: Maybe. Maybe. Isn't half the fun buying the stuff, but then where does the paper end? Like there's just so much. I think I've had a love for it since, I mean, like I did the whole scrapbooking thing as everyone on the podcast has heard me say, like there was that phase.
So I'm always. It's like drawn to it. Nothing like the smell of a paper store.
[00:05:46] Margarete Miller: Right. So, so then I kind of niche down to vintage papers. So it's papers in general, but then, my audience grew because it was more of an interest using. Vintage elements and vintage papers and that's how I started with a Facebook group and I think 2017, it was called vintage blue books and pages.
And my whole goal was to encourage people to post pictures of collages that they made with vintage papers with vintage elements. And. I started from zero, and just encouraged people and how it grew was I started thinking, how can I get people to post I want to see what people are making, what can I do to get people to post?
So then I came up with the idea of creating assignments. So in intervals. I would give people a task to go find certain objects or certain paper pieces with things in them, something that has a round element, something that has the color blue in it, something that's got a piece of plant in it or flower, right?
So you go find these pieces and then create a collage and post. So people were posting more and more and that's what I. Selfishly had wanted all along was I just want to see people posting things so that it will give me ideas of how I can continue to be creative as well.
[00:07:27] Kellee Wynne: I love it. It's it's in some ways, I think back to 2017 and that's when I was giving people color assignments.
Yeah, and it is something that's really fun when building your community, building the audience is to give them a reason to engage rather than just share your work, which people are hesitant to share their work. Right? Right. So creating community really means that you're going to lead them to. The next step, right?
So in your case, it was giving them like these fun, random assignments. It's almost like a treasure hunt, right?
[00:08:03] Margarete Miller: Yeah, it is. It is. And they are fun. That's the whole point, right? You want to be able to enjoy the art that you're doing. And for a lot of people, they want to use the stuff they have.
Right. And so that's, you know, you have a couple of days and you're looking around your house and, oh yeah, I can use this and I can use that. And also encouraging people to get stuff from their, from their mail, you know, junk mail and, you know, stuff that comes in their mailbox every day. See what other things you could find in there.
So yes, it became fun. And then like a, like a treasure hunt, like
[00:08:36] Kellee Wynne: you say. Exactly. So, you know, were you always entrepreneurial minded? Was this something that just came as a byproduct of your creativity, or was it something that you felt? Like you wanted to do all along.
[00:08:52] Margarete Miller: No, total, total byproduct. When the Facebook grew to over 7, 000 people, that's when I started to think, you know, I could be onto something here.
And then plus I had such an inventory of past assignments. I thought, gosh, you know, maybe I could make some kind of workbook with it. anD plus I have, my background is, technical writing and graphic design. So I already knew how to self publish and I knew how to do layout and, you know, all those things you do to, create a book.
So I. Started to design and did the whole formatting and created a planner, a 52 week planner that has all of these assignments. And it's also a glue book so that you can have the assignment on one side and on the alternate side. That's where you can be putting in your collage.
[00:09:50] Kellee Wynne: So a glue book means it's more interactive.
[00:09:53] Margarete Miller: Yeah, yeah, and it has assignments there. Okay.
[00:09:57] Kellee Wynne: So you had a history already with, design and writing and publishing. So it seems like it would make sense that you'd like, bring it full circle and be like, okay, now this is the space I'm in. Let's see how I can use the skills. I already have and create something out of it.
How many books were you publishing?
[00:10:18] Margarete Miller: So I started with those planners, and then I had three volumes of those, and then I also did a few books that had examples of collage art, and I featured one book with another artist to, to show her art, so about five or six titles.
[00:10:39] Kellee Wynne: Okay. I'm kind of curious about the self publishing game, though.
From what I understand, you didn't just self publish it as in print on demand on Amazon or another site. You literally had them printed, shipped to your house, and then you mailed them out?
[00:10:56] Margarete Miller: Yes, and I did both. I had a printer in Utah who also had a warehouse,
and a lot of books, Stayed there, but then I, it became expensive to because they charge rent for the books and it was just kind of like, you know what, those are my books.
I want them to be where I am. So then I found a local printer and. It was more expensive, but it was local. And I have a lot more control because I could actually go there, touch the papers. Yes. I want, this is the cover, this gloss, you know, all that. So then I have a stack of books, Christmas books and things like that.
Also from my local printer here, where I am.
[00:11:45] Kellee Wynne: What are your thoughts now though, on the whole publishing? Because when we met in the spring, you were like, okay, I want to get out from under the physical. Items because it's a lot of work. Yeah. I mean, it's exciting because it's a beautiful product, but it's a lot of work and there's a little more risk to it because you're investing in something that you don't make money on until it sells.
[00:12:09] Margarete Miller: Yeah, exactly. I love books and I love printing and I love the whole process of putting them together. So I'm hoping that I can continue in some way with the publishing process, but. Yeah. Most people don't understand how expensive it is to print and paper is expensive, right? And color printing all the way, you know, bleed edge where it's, you know, goes off the page is very expensive.
sO if I have a full art book workbook, All color pages inside. That's like a 30 book and people, people don't want to pay that. They really don't want to pay that. And then it's heavy. So you have to ship it and, and there's weights that you have to pay for. So, again, it just became.
It just became more obvious to make a digital product.
And if you want it printed, you go get it printed. Right.
[00:13:08] Kellee Wynne: Exactly. I mean, I still think like 30 sounds like a bargain because where's your profit margin in that, right? There is no profit margin. There isn't. So you were kind of working your butt off for nothing. Yes. Except for the beautiful results that the book would make.
Whoever's listening to this that's a publisher needs to contact Margarete because she's got all the ideas, all the experience, she can put it all together in a beautiful book, but let someone else do it because that's the difference. It's like, I mean, well, it's still probably 30 for a regular publisher to do it, but they can lower that margin because they're doing it on a mass scale.
Right. That's right. That's right. I mean, we're still comparing what a small business woman is making versus what we can get on Amazon. And I think that's unfair because the unrealistic expectations on artists to produce at the level of instantaneous turnaround. Like, I'm scared to sell my work because people are going to want it like in three days and I'm like, I don't, I can't, like, it takes me a couple of weeks to organize it all and get it all shipped out because it's just me, you know?
And so I imagine the logistics with books or other products that you're sending out, I mean, unless you're like full time warehouse, that would be a lot to take on. Well, obviously it's a lot because you've transitioned now.
[00:14:37] Margarete Miller: Exactly. It was just time to move on and I don't regret doing any of the books in the publishing.
I learned so much. And as I said, I still love the process and I love just the whole, the whole part, the whole part of putting a book together. But yeah, it is time to move on to something else.
[00:14:56] Kellee Wynne: And you have, and I love the idea how you've decided to reinvent this Assignments and the vintage and even the printables, into something that becomes a digital magazine.
So tell us about your new venture.
[00:15:13] Margarete Miller: So my new venture is to put my energy into a membership and the purpose of that is I want to create great content. I want to create stuff that people are excited about. And as you said, I, one part of it is the magazine that is devoted to collage art with vintage papers that has loads of beautiful pictures and inspiration and ideas and projects.
So that's a big part of it. And if I am able to devote my time to a purpose. Why shouldn't it be for those people who really want to engage and who want to do this? So that's kind of the reasoning of, of why I wanted to go into a membership.
[00:16:00] Kellee Wynne: Yeah, so what I love about your membership, because we all think now probably in the art world, a membership means I'm going to get all these videos on demand, right?
New video lessons, but you're actually creating community and digital products, but not necessarily new lessons because the creativity and the design of the work is coming from your members. Where you're still in that mode of, I am guiding you to the assignment.
[00:16:30] Margarete Miller: Yes, yes. lot of people who are in the membership, well, I don't want to say that they all have experience because there are some people who are completely new to collage and just jumping in and they're like, yeah, give me, give me assignments.
I'm just going to see what I can do. But a lot of people have already a little bit of experience with collage. And so. They are looking to be motivated. Number 1 and 2 to have those projects. So 1 of the things that 1 of the parts of the membership is that for 2 weeks of the month, I open up an exchange sign up.
So you can sign up and you will get a partner and we all have the same project for the month and. We work on whatever it is. So last month it was postcards in a fall theme. And so we all created postcards and then you exchange with your partner, if you want to, you can sign up or not. So having that also, that, that little impetus of I'm going to create something, I'm going to send it out and I'm going to get something in return from another partner.
That's a lot of fun for a lot of people.
[00:17:39] Kellee Wynne: I think that's really clever. It's a community that keeps You creating, hold you accountable to the thing that you already know you want to do without having to pile on a whole lot of new lessons necessarily. It's really just, it's just, you know, we already know we want to do this thing.
So you, you're like part of a community that's got built in cheerleaders.
[00:18:04] Margarete Miller: Yeah, so I'm not necessarily teaching anything new. I'm saying here's the project and we do have a monthly beat so you can come on and say, Hey, you know, this is not working for me, or I don't have an idea, or, can you provide a little more guidance?
Sure. That's totally, totally fine. Totally doable. So there is that if you need it, but, we just mostly get together and have fun and work together and again, with that community part, like, Oh, show me what you're doing. What are you working on? What did you find so far?
[00:18:37] Kellee Wynne: Oh, I love it. And the digital magazine, which is part of the membership. So instead of publishing, now you have this gorgeous magazine that, that can be enjoyed without having to worry about the whole printing process.
[00:18:50] Margarete Miller: Yes. Yes. And I do feature, there's like a, a small feature every month of a member and shows their art and what they do and in how it all fits in with the vintage theme, because. Lots of people love to use vintage ephemera in their art. So it's vintage and collage and tons of pictures, as I said, it needs to be inspirational.
[00:19:13] Kellee Wynne: Yes. So what drove you to hold space for this community and to see it thriving?
Because I know you started in 2017, you started building this community. That meant that you were holding space without charging anything for how many years is that? Nearly six years? Yeah. Yeah. So what was it that, I mean, was it about? The opportunity for you to create a community that you always wanted.
I'm putting ideas into your mind, but like that's a long time to host community without asking for you know, a fee.
[00:19:52] Margarete Miller: Well, I just felt that. Art changed my life so much because I discovered it late, you know, also already in my 40s. And, it just helped me mentally so, so much. And I really want people to be able to find that space. in their life for art and to let it lead you to a place where you have this contentment inside of you. So I really, really want that for people. And so I think that's what Why I wanted to keep it going because I, I started to see that people were really enjoying it and they were looking forward to it and, and they got themselves on a routine and they were creating more and I was like, yeah, that's the way it's supposed to be.
That's exactly the way it's supposed to be. And so that motivated that motivated me, you know, going
[00:20:49] Kellee Wynne: to create that little like carve out your own little niche in the world. Yeah. All right. Well, I want to switch over to one of the biggest platforms that's helped grow your business. I want to talk a little bit about YouTube and how that's made a difference for you.
[00:21:09] Margarete Miller: Yes. It has made a difference. I would say mostly it's made a difference to me. Um, I love YouTube. I really do. Even though I feel like, I'm still struggling to figure out where exactly is my niche in my audience because the audiences are different in every single platform, right? Every, every single social media.
But I love the whole process of creating and coming up with an idea and then recording and editing. It's time consuming. It really is time consuming, but I just enjoy it a lot. And it makes me happy, right? It fulfills me. So that's the biggest thing about is just realizing, gosh, I really like this. I like it more than.
If I was creating an online course, for example, so I really want to lean in more to YouTube rather than than online courses,
[00:22:05] Kellee Wynne: I would like to lean into YouTube more, which is why I love, the remarkable league speaking of community, that's been the biggest thing to for me, leading guiding coaching is watching the, the. Collective genius of the whole group and everyone who has YouTube experience is really supporting those who are growing their YouTube now. I mean, I've said it on the podcast. If I had put in the effort in 2014, I got on Instagram, I think it was 2014 almost a decade. Now, if I put that same effort into YouTube, I definitely would have grown my business so much better.
I don't regret the time I've spent on Instagram, but the longevity of what YouTube can create and the depth of what YouTube can create. Right connection that you can create there. It's not just a quick flick through, you know, like I've created some real great relationships with Instagram. No doubt.
I've built my whole business off of it. Yeah. I think people are missing the opportunity and it's still not too late because we're watching some of the members in the remarkable league, just starting their YouTube journey and growing it this year. Yes. Really, really fast too.
[00:23:24] Margarete Miller: Yes. Yes. As you said in, in the remarkable leak, there's so many great brains in there and so many people with a lot of experience in all different kinds of fields.
So it's been really awesome to see each other. Work with each other and pass on, that information and that advice and it's been just amazing.
[00:23:48] Kellee Wynne: Yeah, I love that, but I love that you're really a good cheerleader also for our community because you're like asking us, let's get together.
Let's talk about this. Let's make some plans. And you have so much good advice because your experience with YouTube is a lot deeper than my knowledge with YouTube. That's for sure. My job leading the Remarkable League isn't to teach technical stuff. It's strategy. There's no doubt about that.
Mine is strategy, but that's why I love when you come together in community, whether it's my community or, the community you've... Brought together, you usually have people who are so generous with their thoughts, with their mind, the way that they want to help each other. And we have that. And I'm sure that's also the same thing for you.
Why do you keep moving forward with community is because you see the, I think for me, it's when I get to see the goodness of the. World that we live in when you see these people come together and support each other. And I, I honestly, I'm putting this out here and please universe. Don't try and test me on this, but I have never in all the years of running a community ever had a problem with my community.
I don't put down hard rules, like. Some of those communities, you go and you can't share links and you can't post this and no, and they delete people and they tell them what they can and can't talk about. And in my communities, I just, it's your space as much as it is mine. So as long as it's in a sense of generosity and supportiveness, then I mean, like, I just haven't had any jerks in my communities.
I've just had a lot of love and support. So it's nice to see that. Isn't it?
[00:25:33] Margarete Miller: I agree. I agree. And I think if people see that your intention, you know, what you want to do and what you hope to accomplish, they will just kind of gravitate to that and, and, and also mimic that as well. And I've had some really nice, really awesome people in my community who have, volunteered their time and say, yes, I want to do stuff in the newsletter or, or, you know, in the magazine, , I want to contribute and I would love to write an article and it's just so heartwarming and so nice to see that that people want to be part of something more than just their own sphere and, and kind of pass that on to others and share.
That experience and knowledge and joy that they get from creating.
[00:26:18] Kellee Wynne: Yes, I, I think it's amazing because I think some of my best friends now are people that I've met because of the kinds of communities we've created. Yeah. Right. I mean, I can only think of a few that I've met offline that have become friends versus how many I have now from the online world.
So those days where you're like, Oh my gosh, it's taking me forever. Like day in and day out 2017, you were probably the same as me. How do I keep delivering? How do I keep showing up? How do I keep making this offer that makes, keeps people active and creative? It does pay off in the long run. Yeah, you know, not just not just financial, like the financial gain is really important because we can't keep building community for free.
Those of us who are in this position to lead, we become full time artists, I mean, like, it, it costs money. It takes so much time. So it's great when it translates into a real world business. Yeah. But the process, it takes time. I mean, you know, you really had to spend a long time nurturing and loving the people who are there for them to say, yes, I want more of that.
And it's worth it to pay for for the time to be in this. Community,
[00:27:35] Margarete Miller: right? Right. And with my membership, it's, it's only 12 a month. And so yeah, people are making a commitment, to join and be part of the membership, but the commitment also to, for me is that I'm going to be creating content and, focusing on this membership, and with the money that comes in, I'm able to do that. Right. So that helps support me so that I can go and go ahead and do that but the price point had to be right for me as well. If if I went in and it was like, 20 or 25 for a membership, I think that the pressure would have been.
A lot higher and I would feel overwhelmed with really trying to, to satisfy everyone for that amount. And maybe I will get there someday when I have really lots more things to add to my membership. But, but I, for me, I need to be comfortable with what I was charging in the membership.
So I didn't feel overwhelmed with what I needed to create.
[00:28:37] Kellee Wynne: Right. Well, price is a strategy. I mean, we've talked about that before, but pricing is a strategy because the value that you create and the price need to match. And in your case, you didn't want to teach courses or tutorials.
You wanted it to be about the community, about the product. The digital prints, the art exchange and hosting this beautiful, blissful exchange of energy and the group rather than, always creating new lessons. Yes, yes, exactly. So, yeah, I can understand where you're coming from with that.
So what has changed for you as you've started to build your own business, because you've already said in this conversation, like, you're more of an accidental creative business owner than intentional, like, I know from the time I was In elementary school, I was trying to create businesses. So this was my natural path.
I was a kid with the lemonade and I didn't make the stand on the corner. I took it to the park where the kids, the adults were all playing and hot and sweaty and thirsty. Right? So to me, it was like, I wanted to be. In the marketing and the advertising, I just found it fascinating.
And maybe it's a psychology. Maybe it's the connecting of people. Maybe it's also because my dad and my mom were both entrepreneurs. Or are, I should say, I don't know, they're in retirement now, but right. Somewhere along the line, I was going to eventually get here just took a long time, a long time as my husband so kindly said, he said, you know, you were always destined to get there.
It's nice that the technology finally caught up with your dreams. Yeah. And I was like, okay, yeah. So as we talk about YouTube and Instagram and community and everything, it was because of these things that. Help me figure out and put the pieces together. No doubt. But in your case, you were just going along your happy merry way as a creative, I don't know at what point did you, transition from the typical corporate nine to five to full time art, but here you are.
Yeah. And now you have a creative business.
[00:30:43] Margarete Miller: That's right. So I've been keeping it up because I kind of feel like I have this responsibility now. You know, I came up with some techniques to get people creative. People seem to enjoy them. And. Now, I want to continue to help people find that joy and I want to help them move those roadblocks away that stop them from creating, you know, maybe people don't have enough time or they don't have inspiration, so that's what I do in some of my YouTube videos is talk about those things. So it's not just on YouTube. I'm showing technique after technique after technique. No, I want to go a little bit deeper into the, the part of how do you incorporate it into your life? Right. So that's kind of the direction that I'm going with, with YouTube.
And so I kind of feel like I have this responsibility to just keep on being an example first of all, and then talking about it and encouraging people to talk about it. What is it? What's holding you back? Why aren't you creating as much as you want to? And then what can be, what can we do about it?
Right? And so those are the types of things that I want to continue to explore myself and to talk about and to share with others.
[00:32:06] Kellee Wynne: I understand what you mean by like, it's almost a responsibility. I think that's maybe part of my philosophy too, is once you realize that you have a gift that you can share, it's almost a shame to keep it hidden, you know?
So once you start on that path and you're seeing other people's light light up, it's like there's something really beautiful about that. And so there's a need for me, especially to just. Keep going, because I know that it's going to make a difference and I know you're doing the same thing. How has it made a difference for you though, as an artist, as a woman, as a mom, as a creative, like here you are running a business.
How has it made a difference for you? Not just how great it is to be able to support other people, but
[00:32:54] Margarete Miller: yeah, it's. First of all, I didn't, I mean, I guess no one really does is that you don't really know what you have inside of you until you start trying and you put yourself out there. So I've learned a lot about myself in that respect.
Um, I've. So many things about running a business that is like an incredible amount of information, everything from email marketing and how to do a lot of all these tech things and how to make systems work with other systems and how to reach other people through, drip content and just.
Everything, everything, because as the entrepreneur, you are the owner and you have to do all your business things yourself until you start to hire out, of course, but it's important to have that knowledge for yourself. And so that has been massive, just a massive amount of, of information and learning.
So. I have a lot of new skills that I didn't even know that I needed before. So that's been really cool to have that knowledge.
[00:34:02] Kellee Wynne: I, one time in my notebook started writing all the different things that I've had to learn since I've started this journey. Everything from the minute of different types of, Platforms, different, like you said, email marketing, social media, copywriting, design work, all these different platforms, all these things that I've had to put together, all these things, learning even like how to do Facebook ads and stuff like that.
And I might not have mastered all of them, but I've had to learn them so that at least when I hire someone else, I know if they're doing it right. Yes. Right. So I want to be at least involved enough to know what's What's good, what's acceptable and, and what needs improvement. Yep. And it's like that list was pages and pages long, pages long.
[00:34:49] Margarete Miller: Exactly.
[00:34:50] Kellee Wynne: I have a pretty amazing resume now, if I actually wanted to go out and get a. Real. And I'm doing this thing in air quotes, a real job. Believe me, it's a real job. I'm working more than 40 hours a week.
[00:35:02] Margarete Miller: And it doesn't stop because there's a new app. There's a new platform. There's chat GPT. There's like all these things that constantly are coming down the line that, you know, we need to pick up on.
[00:35:14] Kellee Wynne: Yeah. You have to stay on top of the latest trends and knowledge so that you can continue to. Have your business grow and move with the times. Like we can't stay stuck in the way that like, for those who are still like hacking it together with an old WordPress site, like, there's like Kajabi and Teachable and Simplero and, and Thinkific.
It's like so much easier now. Make it easier on your customers to take the chance to upgrade your platform and upgrade the way you're doing things.
[00:35:43] Margarete Miller: Yes, yes. And listen to others, you know, and that's the great thing about having the community, the Remarkable League, is you think you have the answer, or you think you're on the right path, but when you start to listen to others and hear, Oh, you know what, I missed that, or maybe I didn't think about doing that.
And so that's important too.
[00:36:07] Kellee Wynne: Yeah, staying up on the pulse of what's the latest, which just, I mean, that's one of those things where other people, other artists, they want to stay up on the latest with art, and I'm the one who's still watching all the business videos. I can't help it. I love it.
As I say, I eat it for breakfast, but I do love art and I do love, I will say that I'm very much drawn to like your primary source of vintage papers, vintage ephemeras. Like yeah, that's definitely my jam too. Although I put all the other layers with it, but, um,
[00:36:41] Margarete Miller: I know, and it's so different. So I watched how you did, you know, in that video of your grid.
That you were doing with the vintage papers and then you mixed in the colors with that. And wow, that was, I mean, to me, that's extraordinary because I'm not coming with any paint or color background. And then to see you do that, it was just like, boom, that's amazing.
[00:37:02] Kellee Wynne: It's just something that I'm like starting to peek into this year.
Like, how do you take the old and the new and then just like obscure the whole thing? Yes. I don't know who knows where that's gonna go, but I make art for fun now. Not to make money off the art. I make money off of the business. Right. Which is kind of revolutionary to me. To go full circle to art is my hobby.
I mean, I will sell my art from time to time, but most of the time when I'm making now it's just. For the fun of making exploring, and I haven't been in this place for a really long time and I still don't like have a great drive to be doing it daily, but at least once a week, at least spending some time making art
[00:37:48] Margarete Miller: will continue to show us really fabulous.
[00:37:51] Kellee Wynne: Thank you, but your lesson in Deck of Dreams inspired me to get out the vintage stuff and work with it. And so I came up with, like, kind of a. Twist on it for, for a lesson and it was a lot of fun and Deck of Dreams has been a lot of fun. I will say that I don't know. I was thinking last year at this time when I was like, I know I'm going to put together this program in a short amount of time.
And that's me, the impulse side of me. And even though the whole course turned out really great and we've had guest artists through the year. So it's not just me, right. I, I am like, I have to pull myself back now. I'm like being really good the whole rest of this year. I've been like, no new things.
Just finish what you started. Yeah. Finish what you started. Finish what you started. Yep. Yep. So that's been, that's been the case this whole time. You're in a new crossroads now of maybe letting go of the physical product and you're building up the community. When we just had our training in Annapolis, when we gathered together as a mastermind in person, so we could give real hugs and our whole thing was about profit planning for the future, looking at the 10 year at the three year.
And then of course, getting into the weeds of the one year in our future. But how do you see the future of your business and where you want to go.
[00:39:17] Margarete Miller: Right now, I've put in a lot of energy to the membership because I just launched it. It's new. A lot of work had to go in to get it off the ground and plus it's the end of the year right now.
And it's been a lot and stressful. I should I would say.
So looking forward, I want to get a lot of these processes down so that it's. Running more smoothly and less energy on the things that don't matter so much so that I can, you know, have more energy for the things that do matter, like the content in the magazine and the projects that we're going to be working on like that.
And I also want to have energy to, to put into YouTube because that takes a lot if I want to put out a video a week, for example. A lot needs to happen in order for that to consistently happen. So I just want to get to a place where I am comfortable with the amount of work that I have and not overdo.
I also have a family. I have kids. I have a life outside of this, and I don't want to be so focused on work that it takes over everything else. So for me, my goals are to Take it down a notch. Believe it or not, from where I am right now. It's really hard right now. But it's going to get better because as I said, I just, just launched and so it's gonna, it's going to calm down in the new year for sure.
[00:40:49] Kellee Wynne: I find to, of course, when we're in the phase of building something new, it's going to take a lot more work and energy. Then once it's established, because once it's established, the whole goal is to create systems that are repeatable that you just work like clockwork. You have someone else to help you with the community or the answering emails or whatever.
And, when I'm in launch period, it goes like this when I'm in the rest, like, this is the rhythm and it's only when you can get to that point of the rhythm. That it actually becomes a lot easier and you can grow because like you said, what are the most important things for you to do, create something stellar for your community and engage with them and be present with them and not, you know, having to worry about tech problems or something malfunctioning like that kind of stuff gets in the way of being able to be fully present and just enjoying the Yeah.
Space and then creating the content that drives people to your business, which in your case, your primary content machine is YouTube. So having the time to do that is important, but it's only with. The rhythm, the routines, the repeats, and not creating something new every three months, like this person does right here, that you get to the point where there's space to breathe, that you can take good vacations, you can, you know, get out into the world and spend time with your family and not do what I did this weekend, which was work the whole weekend, but my goal is, I have, I'm trying to wrap up some projects that I've been procrastinating for the last two years.
So my goal is to have it all done this year so that next year is a fresh start with rhythm, routine, and systems.
[00:42:33] Margarete Miller: Yeah. I love that rhythm routine and systems sounds good to me.
[00:42:39] Kellee Wynne: Yeah, that's how we do it. And that was one of the things that was like a big hot aha for everyone in our mastermind meetup was.
When we're planning three years, it's not like what wild ideas do you have for the next three years? How do you just do what you're doing now and put it on repeat? So it grows. Yes. Right. Without adding new things all the time. Sure. There might be like, okay, in the next three years, I would also like to, be on certain podcasts or maybe get published in a magazine or even publish a book.
You might have some little bit wild dreams, but it's not like every year I'm going to reinvent the wheel. Like Kelly keeps doing every single year, I really, honestly, I teach you guys from experience and this year's gotten easier and next year will be a lot easier because I'm finally learning my own lesson.
But we all looked at three years and said, what can I do on repeat? Where it's the same thing every year, only better.
[00:43:37] Margarete Miller: That's right. And you're just honing your craft, honing your message, figuring out how to, to reach the right people because not everybody is your audience. Right. And we also have to internalize that and be mindful of that as well.
Yeah, just sharpening our skills, sharpening our message and, working hard to get it out there.
[00:44:00] Kellee Wynne: Yeah, well can you imagine if you were trying to appeal to everyone and collage those paint and those who did fussy cuts and those, you know, like, there's so many different types of collage. And the fact that you found your niche, you can speak to your niche.
People know exactly what they're coming into, you know, you found your people. And now you just refine, like you said, It's refining the process over time and just making what you have better. I've listened to a lot of great wisdom lately that reminds me, we only need one really good product to make it to a million dollars, only one, you don't need 20 and the whole idea of like six or seven different streams of income, it's actually.
Like hogwash without using all the square words because I do really like it is it is and the truth of the matter is, is that every time you have something new, you're dividing your attention. So, if you just pick that 1 thing and go all in and make it the very best you can, that's what you do, and so that's it. It's like, you've got the membership. It was a lot of work to get it going, but I can see that it's just going to get easier as you keep it on. You know, just sustained the way it is and grow.
[00:45:09] Margarete Miller: Yeah. I think that it's, it's necessary to look at the signs. To see how something is going, because I know I did books for, for some years and, you start to, to notice things about people complaining about the price or dealing with the warehouse in another state and, you know, there starts to kind of be the writing on the wall in some instances.
And so it's important to figure out what those signs are and to. Listen to them and to, to see if there's a better way that you can pivot. So I think that I didn't stop being creative in that respect, but I, I just changed the method of how I'm reaching people. So there's been a little bit of a change for me, but I think that it's a healthy change and I'm not going to be doing a membership forever.
Right. And so. We'll see how it goes, and I will be also looking for signs, and I will be looking for feedback, and I will be looking to see if and when I need to pivot again, to keep on shaping what is the best way for me to get my message out there and for people to, you know, to get the most out of, out of what I create.
[00:46:24] Kellee Wynne: Oh, very good point. And I think a pivot is very different than just adding more things to your plate. Yes. It's definitely important. I know when it was time for me to say I'm done with the membership and that was more on me and not really the success of the membership. But you definitely have to pay attention to the signs, but there is definitely a difference between adding too much to your plate and trying to do all the things, the courses, the membership, the books, the whatever, versus sticking with something until, you know, that the times of change, and you need to shift again, and that's really good.
And I'm glad so glad that you listened. To not just the signs, but listen to your heart and realize that you were ready for something else. And I know it's been a lot of work, but it's amazing what you've created. And I know your community loves you for it. And I know it's going to just continue to grow, especially get yourself back on there on YouTube.
I love your YouTube videos. You really do elevate it to the next level.
[00:47:26] Margarete Miller: Thank you so kind of you to say
[00:47:29] Kellee Wynne: no problem. Okay. So I want to just ask 2 questions before we wrap up 1. What have you learned the most or the biggest aha you've gotten from working with me and my community and the Remarkable League?
[00:47:41] Margarete Miller: What has been the biggest thing? Hmm I guess the biggest
thing is that everything is doable. There have been so many times when I was on my own, so many doubts because you're just kind of locked inside your head. You don't have anybody to talk to. You don't have people to bounce ideas off of. You're just doing all this and you're just guessing and throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks.
And when I joined your group and started. In these sessions, and speaking with you and listening to you, I started to see that so many things were possible. And it was honestly just a matter of picking and choosing. It wasn't what I'm capable or what I'm not capable of. It's what I can do if I want to do it.
And just having that little bit of guidance, it was just tremendous to kind of. Make me relax and just be like, Oh, okay. Yes, I am on the right path. And seeing you work with others and also seeing that happen to them. That was really, really cool, to just see that and be a part of it.
And so that's probably the best thing I would say, being a part of the remarkable league.
[00:48:59] Kellee Wynne: Thank you so much. I love that when, yeah, all of it's possible. Sometimes it's overwhelming when, you know, you have so many choices, but then when I agree to, I get locked in my head and everything's bouncing around.
And then when you have a coach or community that you can start feeling like, oh, wait, this is so normal. Yeah, here are the pathways and I just need to pick one. Yes. The support behind me to keep going. Yes. And I love seeing the huge strides in such a short time inside our group. I love it. Love it. Love it more than anything else that I've ever done for a career. And I've done a lot of different things from scrubbing toilets to being in the army, to scrapbooking and of course, plenty of homemaking and I just love being able to see you guys, you know, like your dreams are being fulfilled.
[00:49:56] Margarete Miller: It's inspirational, but it's also fascinating, just to be standing from the outside watching and watching you interact with the other members and them going through their problems and you helping them kind of.
See a little bit clearer, you know, some goals and things that's just fascinating. And so it's, it's great. I love it.
[00:50:18] Kellee Wynne: Kind of like you keeping your members on track so that they continue with their creativity. It's the same kind of, for me, I'm guiding people to stay on track with their goals and not give up.
And I love, I just love it. Anyhow, you and I are both community creators and it's kind of. Fun how, how that, that all transpires. Anyhow, my, I always love to end with the one big question, which is what is your big audacious dream?
[00:50:45] Margarete Miller: My big audacious dream is to tear down the house that I live in and rebuild it from scratch.
We have a, we live in on a very nice property. In Silicon Valley, but the house is, old and it's a lot of work. So, my dream is to just tear it down and, and rebuild.
[00:51:06] Kellee Wynne: I love it. I want to see that happen for you.
[00:51:12] Margarete Miller: Me too.
[00:51:13] Kellee Wynne: Yes. Awesome. That's a great big audacious dream. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast, for being part of my community, and even for contributing to Deck of Dreams, Margarete Miller it has been so fun to talk to you today.
[00:51:28] Margarete Miller: Thank you. Thank you so much for the opportunity and not just the opportunity for deck of dreams, but for being in your remarkable league and being in your sphere, because you have so, so
much warmth and love for what you do. And we can all see that and experience it.
And it's just been. Extraordinary.
[00:51:51] Kellee Wynne: Thank you so much. All right. I'm going to go now before I start crying. Bye.
[00:51:57] Margarete Miller: Bye.
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