Before we dive into something new, I wanted to make sure you saw this NYC Gathering Luma calendar with cool gatherings that you may want to go to!
…. alright, let’s dive in!
Are you impressed and inspired by community builders? I know I am!
This year in particular, I have gotten to know a bunch of community builders through C3 and more. And I want to learn even more from them, and hopefully share some learnings for you!
So I am excited to share this Community Breakdown interview with Meagan Mahaffy, Founder of art gurl. Here we go with Meagan!
1. Tell me about art gurl… how did you get started? And what do you mostly do now?
art gurl is just 2 years old (a toddler) so in a lot of ways we are still getting started!!!! :) we’re a creative community where low stakes arts & crafts are your tool for deeper connections. My goal with art gurl is to bring art into the wellness conversation- your creativity is a direct line to your intuition, and when you strengthen it as a muscle, it gets easier to use it as a really rich tool for self discovery. art gurl is here to give you the space to do that and the community to hold you as you do.
we have an online portal with hundreds of supportive besties across 30 countries where we post our doodles everyday, and we host IRL workshops and meet ups mostly in nyc (and now london!!!).
2. Back to your origin story, how did you attract your early customers? Or host your first event?
in 2022 I was burnt out and miserable, 10 years into a career I had once dreamed of, and I had no idea how to change course. When I finally left my job, I didn’t quite know what was going to happen, but I knew I wanted to build a creative wellness business of some kind. Adding art and creativity back into my self care routines is what had been helping me redevelop trust in myself more than any other tool alone (and believe me I have tried them all) and I wanted to share it with people!
while I was dreaming that up, I started an anonymous newsletter called “art gurl”, partially as an outlet to talk about the intersection of my two favorite topics (art and spirituality), partially as a sort of playful creative act in itself.
I kind of thought of the newsletter as a placeholder, something playful and fun to do while I built something more “serious”. Luckily that never happened, because of a serendipitous lunch with an old friend who offered me the back room of his restaurant for an art gurl event. So I made an event flyer for “coloring club: a low stakes creative meet up designed to get you into flow state and out of your own way”. It was amazing!!! art gurl events are really different now, but that first one was really special. I boosted the post on social media and tons of my friends came out to support. We made self portrait collages!!!
3. When did you realize that art gurl, the community and the community business could become a thing?
when I first started hosting events, it was with the intention of testing some of the research and downloads about creativity as a wellness tool that I was /am really obsessed with- I originally thought I’d grow by leading corporate workshops about the science of creativity that featured art making to cope with burn out or maybe something more academic.
but then I hosted my first few events and it was SO COOL seeing people who’d never met before get really deep with each other in such a lovely and authentic way by sharing what they were making. I still have some community members who came to the very first event and that inspires me so much!!!
I started hearing stories of people who’d made good friends at art gurl events, people started to recognize each other when they returned to events, and it was all just so juicy. It didn’t take long for me to realize the community was the actual heart and magic of what we’re building.
4. What have you figured out along the way in building art gurl as a community business?
NOTHINGGGG can ever grow alone- even though I am technically a one woman show at the moment, art gurl is only growing because of the amazing community of supporters around me. Once I 1- started surrounding myself with other leaders in similar spaces, and 2- stopped thinking that receiving help was a sign of weakness, everything got so much less lonely and scary. (it's still sometimes lonely and scary and that’s okay.) I am so lucky to have met some of the best people in the entire world because of art gurl, and without them I’d still be in my bedroom drawing sketches about “my dream business” in my journal and wondering why no one was asking me about it.
5. It seems like you have been experiencing rapid growth in 2024. Were there any inflection moments or things you did differently this year, or something that really helped?
Here’s something I would tell 2022 me (who would be so stoked about where art gurl is right now!!!): you have to start in order to grow. No creative innovation has ever happened inside just one person’s brain: its through experimentation and collaboration that we have things like electricity- something that was once just an idea in one person’s head!
The same thing is true in life, if you want to be somewhere you haven’t been before you’re gonna have to do stuff you haven’t done before, and part of that is taking action on some of the ideas brewing around in your head. They’ll never get to grow if they aren’t birthed!!!
6. Are there any new events or initiatives that you were really excited about that you want to share?
we are launching an EXTREMELY EXCITING new program next week (!!) that will go deeper than I ever have into the transformative power of intuitive art making. if you’re in the mood to uplevel, you are going to love it!!!! (subscribe to the art gurl newsletter and you’ll be the first to know the details!!)
7. Thank you for doing this. Where can people find you and learn more about your work and community?
Follow along on ig if you like content about bad art, and join our online community for free prompts that will help you get into the habit of making art part of your routines!!!! Don’t underestimate the power of a 5 minute a day doodling habit :)
Do you like this format? I hope so! Who is a community builder that you really want to learn from? Reply back and let me know!
🎧 Portfolio Career Podcast Episodes
#337: When Someone Bets On You Early
You always remember the people that bet on you early, right? Recently, a few friends shared stories about this. We talked about 1) the impact a person had on us, 2) what they may have saw in us, and 3) who we have become since, etc
Today is a good day to thank someone who bet on you early! Or take a bet on someone else! You can listen to the episode here and below!
#336: Dating, Relating, and What People Are Looking For
This was a really fun dating curious Podcast Mixer. People talked on the podcast about their dating lives and interests. It was fascinating and something unique, which is something that I enjoy experiencing and creating!
You can listen to the episode here and below!
Alright, that’s it for now….
But before I go, what are you up to now? Reply back and let me know!
I just updated my Now page, if you want to learn more what I am up to!
-David Nebinski who wants you to know about cool NYC Gatherings
PS: this is art gurl’s IG if you aren’t already following!