The Mastery Program
The Mastery program was the best decision I’ve made for my career. I was a fine art major years ago, but I didn’t know how to do the business part of being an artist. I floated for over a decade, dreaming of being a full time professional artist. I was trying to figure it all out by watching YouTube videos, lost, but determined to make it happen. That is when I found the Mastery Program. I watched the free content for several months, and I decided to just go for it. The info on YouTube was so good, I figured that it had to be worth it behind the paywall.
I paid in full (a very wise decision) in May of 2024. That was two years ago… So why did it take me so long to finish? Well I was cruising along, ahead of schedule. I was having so much fun learning the lessons and seeing how quickly my skills were evolving. I very much enjoyed the weekly coaching sessions. I valued the feedback, and it helped me look at my work from a collector’s point of view. But that summer I really hadn’t been feeling well. I was very fatigued, and thought maybe I was working too hard. But then I started having some more alarming symptoms, and on September 18th, 2024 at the age of 39 I was diagnosed with stage 3c colon cancer.
Cancer took over my life. In three words, “You have cancer,” my entire reality shifted into fighting for my life. I had never been so afraid. My whole being got put into a spotlight, of the person that I once was, and the woman and mother I had become. I was very proud of many things I had done in my life. I had already been through so many trials and tribulations that had shaped me into a person that carried no shame. But I did have one single regret in my life. I hadn’t made enough art. My entire mission since childhood has been about creating. It’s not that I hadn’t made tons of pieces over the years, but I just wasn’t done yet. I felt like with the Mastery Program I was just finding my voice. So I fought like hell to save my life.
I took a break in October-December of 2024, because I had two major surgeries, and spent weeks being transported from one hospital to another. I had some amazing close calls. I went into my second surgery thinking I would wake up with an ostomy, only to find out that an angel of a surgeon left a restaurant in the middle of eating his birthday dinner with his family to perform a new technique that made it possible that I did not need such an invasive medical device.
I began Chemotherapy a week before Christmas, and it was around that time I picked up where I left off in the Mastery Program. I was moving very slowly, and doing what I could at my own pace. I no longer attended the live group calls, because I was very medicated and sickly looking. I didn’t have it in me to talk to other people. I reserved all of my energy for my healing, my partner, and my two sons.
But I kept going. I didn’t give up. Not with chemo or art.
On June 23rd, 2025, two days before my 40th birthday I finished my 17th and last round of chemo. I decided to have a party… (a few weeks after my birthday, because oofda). I hadn’t worked since my diagnosis, and I decided instead of having a fund raiser to help with my finances, I would have a big 40th birthday party, invite everyone I know, and have my art for sale. I was not finished yet with the Mastery Program, but I had made my way through most of part 3. I had a lot of work piled up! The party was a success, and one of the best days of my life. People came to celebrate my life, my 40 years so far, and my second chance at more years ahead of me. I sold so much work, and I made $2400! It gave me a few more months to continue my healing and art journey.
I finished all of the lessons at the end of 2025, and I began building my website. Around the same time Operation Metro Surge hit the twin cities. It was very tense as the metro area filled with federal agents and clashed with protestors. I felt helpless. All I knew to do was to make art. I made a series called Operation Metro Surge, and put my work out there with the other artists in my area. Suddenly I was making new connections with local artists and organizations that I didn’t know were out there. And since the beginning of 2026 I have managed to get myself in three gallery shows (one being a solo show), represented on ARTSY, and I’ve made new friends in my local art community. My health is better than it’s been in many years, and I am at the beginning of creating my dream career.
I worked very hard to get here. And I could not have done it without the support of so many beautiful people. I think about the Milan artist coaches, the doctors and nurses, charity foundations, my friends and family (especially my partner, my mother, and my son’s Oma) who all grew this light inside of my heart. Every day I wake up in gratitude, and I’m excited to live the life I’ve been gifted.
This is my Milan Mastery Graduation statement, but I am also sharing this publicly. I want to encourage anyone to go after their dreams with wild abandon, and ask for help along the way. I couldn’t have done this alone.
