Today, I had a blast from the past on the show – my friend and long-time karaoke bud, Sonya Paz. This woman is a freakin’ powerhouse, juggling more businesses than I can count on one hand. She's a professional artist, gallery owner, podcaster, and even has a candied jalapeño business. I swear, if there's a way to turn creativity into cash, Sonya's found it. All my multi-talented, multi-passionate creative folks... this one's for you.
Can't-Miss Moments:
- Mic drop: what do you say when someone has the audacity to crap all over your dreams? Sonya's got a few ideas (use thiswith the naysayers in your life)...
- Surprise podcast benefits: Sonya and I break down the unexpected side of starting your own show (this is why I say sharing stories is more than just a business bandwagon move)...
- Detour down memory lane: I share one of my favorite karaoke moments from back in the day. You'll never guess which song she's a total PRO at singing...
- The mind-blowing story behind Sonya's latest podcast, "Investigated," and why it's more than "just another true crime series"...
- Why you shouldn't be afraid to reach out to people you admire – Sonya and I both have some strong feelings on this one!
Sonya's bio:
Artist Sonya Paz has created wild new direction in the Pop Art… movement through her exuberant use of color and playful forms. Sonya’s paintings and vivid images are a reflection of her true native California roots and her passion and love for life.
Her art has been exhibited at a number of venues; these include wine labels for elSol Vineyards, Effusion Gallery, PoP Gallery at the Walt Disney Resort, Pop Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, HoyPoloi Gallery in Chicago, HayStack Gallery in Cannon Beach, as well as the Chicago O'Hare and San Jose International Airports. You may also see her work amongst several restaurants, wineries, museum shops and wineries around the country.
In 2015 Sonya started VinoPaint.com, a social painting company where she teaches people in large groups to paint and create.
Sonya has established a solid private and corporate clientele. Her works of art have been acquired by many collectors throughout the United States and can be found in collections worldwide. She owns her own art studio which is accessible by appointment in California.
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a few years into freelancing toCEOs helming nine figure
companies.
If you've ever worried thateveryone else just seems to get
it and you're missing somethingor messing things up, this show
(00:24):
is for you.
I'm your host, angie Coley, andlet's get to it and welcome
back to Permission to Kick AssToday.
I am very excited.
It's a special treat for me.
I would love to introduceeverybody to my friend, sonia
Paz Say hi, hey everybody.
Sonya Paz (00:43):
How are you?
Angie, thank you so much forhaving me.
Angie Colee (00:51):
So exciting, Great
to see you again.
Truly my pleasure.
So the reason that I was sayingthis is a special treat is
Sonia has one of my all-timefavorite happy memories in my
head.
We go way back to my earlyentrepreneurship days in Silicon
Valley, back when I was firstfinding my footing as a
copywriter.
I got involved in some localbusiness networking groups,
Unsurprising to anybody.
One of them was called SassyNetworking and we discovered a
(01:13):
lovely local karaoke night whereSonia and I became fast friends
and she totally won me overwith her and her grown son's
rendition of Lose it by Eminem.
Oh yeah.
Sonya Paz (01:23):
My boyfriend.
Angie Colee (01:24):
My boyfriend Eminem
son's rendition of Lose it by
Eminem.
Oh yeah, my boyfriend, myboyfriend Eminem.
Yeah, oh my gosh, so much funin those days.
So anyway, like that's, that'smy big overarching rant for this
.
I was so pleased when youreached out and said that you
wanted to be on the show.
So, yeah, take it away.
Tell us what you do.
Sonya Paz (01:38):
Oh my God, what don't
I do?
Yeah, well, thanks again.
Yeah, no karaoke, good times,miss you.
I haven't been there in a whileand so, yeah, we should meet up
just for that.
So so I I'm a professionalartist.
I always say I sling paint fora living.
I paint paintings.
I used to have a gallery indowntown Campbell and Santana
(01:58):
row and around the San Jose Bayarea.
I created my own product line.
I have another podcast calledRockstore Mentor, where I have
helped artists be fearless ingetting their art out there.
I oh my God, I have a jalapenobusiness.
I have a art teaching businesscalled Vino Paint, where I teach
(02:19):
people how to paint in groupsof you know wineries and
restaurants.
And I also have recentlylaunched another podcast called
Investigated, where I have toldthe story of my childhood friend
, her mother and her sister, whowere murdered at the hands of
the father.
The story had always been piecedtogether in my mind a certain
way, and I realized last yearafter doing a TikTok for eight
(02:42):
minutes, that I ended up withover 55,000 views on that.
People want to hear the story.
So in talking to my niece shesaid Sonia, don't be an episode,
don't tell the story.
An episode in somebody else'spodcast, do your own.
And I went in, peddled to themetal, got my investigator
co-host friend Marekk, and wetold the story in first season
(03:05):
14 episodes on the Pearsonfamily murders and it felt
cathartic and it just has liftedoff a lot of grief and a lot of
it's added to a lot of healingand it spoke to a lot of people.
Angie Colee (03:16):
So that's, I think,
one of the most surprising
benefits and takeaways that I'vehad from podcasting like and
especially this kind ofdiscussion format where anything
is really on the table.
It's like we have a lot of roomto just like plop stuff out
there, expose it to the light ofday and fresh air and then just
(03:38):
let that shit heal, andhopefully that's helping other
people just as much as it'shelping me to be able to talk
about this stuff with all mybusiness buddies Right, the
people that are listeninghopefully get that healing time
into.
That was.
That was not what I set out todo with the podcast was heal a
bunch of shit, but there we go.
Sonya Paz (03:57):
It's yeah, you know,
and with the podcasting, you
know just the spoken voice whenpeople start just kind of
talking about that podcasting.
You know just the spoken voicewhen people start just kind of
talking about that.
And it does wrap around intothe whole business realm because
I think a lot of theseexperiences and journeys and
adventures are, you know, Ialways say life is business as
(04:17):
usual, because everything I doand much like yourself, you know
, everything you do is kind ofit's business related and so you
know, if it's storytelling orteaching somebody who's never
painted how to paint before, canreally help bring out inner
things.
And I'm, I learned a lot ofthese stories after people have
(04:38):
told me.
You know, I one woman whostarted attending my vino paint
event said I.
One woman who started attendingmy venopain event said I was in
a bad accident three years agoand I lost a lot of use of my
left hand and coming here hasforced me and has really helped
me therapeutically and I'm notan art therapist but you know
has helped her to really feelgood about creating, because a
(05:01):
lot of folks find it dauntingand scary.
Really feel good about creating, because a lot of folks find it
daunting and scary and I breakit down to where it's fun and
energetic.
And you know, just to get youknow, and I did it just for fun,
I didn't realize it was goingto actually speak to people.
So that's the winning part ofthis whole thing too.
Angie Colee (05:21):
Oh yeah, and I find
that funny too because, like
you brought up kind of one sideof the dichotomy of artists and
business, one being that a lotof people who aren't or don't
think of themselves as creative,right, they're probably
creative, but they just they'vegot a mental dividing line
between what creativity is andhow they are creative.
They think of it as scary and Ican't do that and people are
(05:41):
going to judge me.
And then the flip side of thatcoin to me is also interesting,
because there's so much of outthere, the noise around, you
can't really make a business outof art, you can't be a creative
in business, and I know thatpeople aren't out there like
shouting that from the rooftops,but it's definitely a very
palpable undercurrent when youare a creative business person
(06:04):
and you make stuff out of yourhead and your imagination.
Sonya Paz (06:08):
Well, that's why I
love the name of your podcast
Permission to Kick Ass.
Because when people say to mewell, well, for instance, you
know, when I was working atAdobe, I was.
I started there in 96.
I was a QA engineer onPhotoshop 4 back in the day, and
then then I ended up with justa few different positions over
(06:29):
there and then they haddisbanded my group because we
were in IS in 2002.
And they had come around, youknow, telling everyone, you know
the group is disbanding andthey were offering layoffs or
whatever.
And there was this one womanthat came.
I still see her face.
She had, she worked just in theother building at a different
(06:51):
group.
But she came by and said oh, mygosh, I'm so sorry, this is
terrible.
And I was painting part-time,selling art on eBay successfully
from 90, roughly like nine, mid99 through, well, probably till
2005.
But this time, in 2002, shesaid my gosh, what are you going
(07:14):
to do?
And I said well, I've beenpainting part-time, I'm just
going to go and do art.
And she looked at me, angie,and she said oh, that's such a
lovely dream, dear, but really,what are you going to do?
And I thought for a second yeah, well, that's what I'm going to
do.
You got to jump in feet first.
I do not ask permission to dothings.
(07:37):
I did that when I was younger.
I would get the oh, that's socute.
This is such a you know what abeautiful dream or what a cute
little vision you have.
But my thought is no, I'm goingto kick ass, I'm going to do it
and I'm doing it on my terms.
I don't ask permission to doanything in my business.
In fact, people have told meover and over well, you might
(07:59):
want to.
You know, do a dry run or do astudy group.
Do a dry run or do a studygroup.
There's I don't do.
I don't do focus groups forpeople that don't know me or
don't know my product wellenough to tell me if I should or
should not do something.
I figure they're my lessons tolearn.
I'm going to go do it and I'mgoing to kick ass in the process
(08:20):
.
Angie Colee (08:20):
So Right, it's like
they don't even know you.
All right.
So like to add further clarityto the karaoke thing that I
mentioned.
At the beginning I said thatSonia and her son did lose it by
Eminem, and what I meant bythat is Sonia did all of the
rapping.
Sonia was Eminem and her sonliterally came on stage and went
ah, that's it, that's it.
(08:42):
So, like anybody that has everseen Sonia own Eminem on stage,
who thinks that you need to do afocus group to figure out what
you want to do next?
Oh my gosh, I know, so funny.
That's the impetus behind theshow, too, because, like I'm,
I've been working on unpackingthis for probably the last 10
years, this cultural pressure ofneeding permission, and I still
(09:05):
find myself doing this.
I was at a mastermind inFebruary, a few months ago, and
was talking about some sort ofstrategy or another I can't even
remember, and I was like Iuttered the words can I even do
that?
And people said, uh, hello,permission, lady.
Can you even do that?
So like, like, it's sopervasive and it keeps us
(09:25):
playing so small and I freakinghate it.
You don't need permission.
There's nobody out thereholding a black mark over your
record telling you who can andcan't be in business.
Sonya Paz (09:35):
Just do shit, see how
it works right, right, I mean,
and that goes for many aspectsof not only business.
But you know, just in life andyou know, I surround myself
around now.
Surround myself around positive, energized, encouraging people
(09:57):
Can't hate sorry naysayers andDebbie Downers.
You know.
Good luck to you.
I wish you the best, but I'mnot going to be.
I'm not.
That's not.
That's not the avenue I tend.
I want to drive down or so.
Angie Colee (10:12):
I agree.
Well, and you create yourreality, and I don't think that
we talk about that enough, right?
I've I've tried to show it toother people and I can tell that
it's just, it's it's a mindsetissue, it's an information
processing issue.
The people that get it aregoing to get it right, but
there's no one truth, there's noone reality, and to me that's
such an empowering thoughtbecause then that means I have
(10:34):
power over what this realitylooks like.
Can I control reality for 8billion people?
No, but like I can controlreality for Angie, and Angie's
reality doesn't look likedesperation and everything is
falling apart and it's like it'sall crumbling down around us.
That's not what my realitylooks like.
My reality looks like fun androck and roll and karaoke nights
(10:54):
and good time with friends andtraveling food.
That's the reality I've createdfor myself, and I drastically
prefer that to doom and gloom.
Sonya Paz (11:01):
Oh, yeah, yeah and
yeah, and I always, whenever I
meet someone like that, my, mybrain, I think, works a little
bit different than most people.
It works in.
I have visual slideshows in mymind.
So if I talk to somebody and Isee that they're just like I go
(11:22):
to that SNL episode that youknow, rachel, rachel Dredge,
that she's, she, you know, it'slike that is what the slide is
going on in my head and I almostcan't even focus because of all
of the, all of the thingsflying around in my brain and
then I just think, yeah, and I,you know, and I just will wish
(11:45):
them well and you know, justkeep moving.
But but the lady, the lady thatcame to my office so fast
forward to like a year later,cause that was in April 2002, my
office so fast forward to likea year later, because that was
in April 2002, I hit the roadsheavy.
I started doing all of the artand wine festivals and hustling
my art and excuse me and gettingit out there.
(12:06):
So the following year there wasa event called Tapestry and
Talent that was in downtown SanJose.
It's no longer they're nolonger doing that now, but but
at the time it was like one ofthe largest art and wine.
And I'm not just talking likecrafty shows, we're talking like
curated artwork.
You know, it's not like here'sa booth of fine art and then the
(12:28):
person next to me is makingfinger puppets from, you know,
recycled paper bags or anything.
Not that that's bad, you know,but we're.
It's a.
It was a curated art show thatwas.
You know, spoke volumes andpeople would drive from all over
, not only to be a participantbut to to attend.
So she had come into the boothand she's like, oh, she looks up
(12:51):
.
She's like, oh Sonia, oh my God, oh my, here you are.
I said, oh hi.
She's like, oh Sunny, oh my God, oh my, here you are.
I said, oh hi, how are you?
And she's like well, what?
She looks at me and she goeswhat are you doing now?
And I'm very sarcastic and Ihad to reel it in.
I just said, well, you'restanding right in it.
And I had my 10 by 10 boothwith all lots of art, you know,
(13:12):
print bins, prints, you know,and this was before we started
doing a lot of the products,like the watches and the pillows
and all that stuff.
But she was sort of like youcould see the wheels moving
behind her eyes like, wow, well,wait a minute, oh, this is oh.
So you actually is this what youdo for a living?
You're standing in it and youknow the art, business, people,
(13:37):
and this is way before Instagramand way you know, way before
all of us were, you know, onFacebook and doing that whole
social media stuff.
Social media at the time or itwas basically person to person.
You know an email.
That was kind of all the realtools we had back in 2002, 2003.
And it's a hustle.
(13:58):
It's a hustle, but I wouldnever, I would not have turned
that in, I wouldn't have turnedaway from that for a heartbeat.
It's.
It's who I am.
I'm ADD, I'm hyper, I'mcreative.
I managed to work on threehours of sleep.
Angie Colee (14:17):
I you know, I
turned into a nasty person on
three hours of sleep, like youdon't happy, go lucky.
Angie has plenty of naps andplenty of rest at night.
Uh, and this is deliberate.
Y'all don't see the no sleepAngie, that Angie cancels
podcast recording day and saysI'm sorry, I can't bring it
today.
Yeah Well, you said somethinginteresting about her working,
(14:41):
her walking into the booth, andthat ties in so perfectly to the
created reality thing thatwe're talking about, because I'm
not talking about magic,imagination, shit, I'm talking
about real neuroscience, right,and talk about the cognitive
dissonance that has to happenwhen you walk into it and you
see it and you still can'tbelieve that that is something
(15:01):
that's happening, despite theevidence in front of your face.
This is what it means to havelike a closed mind and set
perspectives on what is andisn't possible.
Like it's funny to me because Isee that happen all the time.
This is such a random example,but it's coming up, so we're
going to run with it.
When I walk Stella, my blackcat, on a leash and we're at
(15:21):
like a rest stop or something onour travels, I can't tell you
how many people come up and sayis that a cat?
No, it's a dragon?
Do you literally not believethe data in front of you?
Do you think we're in thematrix and I'm like pulling a
trick on you?
This, it's a cat.
You can believe your eyes, youcan look at the evidence right
(15:43):
in front of you and see what'sworking.
That's man, I wish.
I just kind of wish I could goback in time to that lady and be
like you can believe theevidence right in front of you.
Sonya Paz (15:52):
Yeah, yeah, I mean,
and you know, I, of course me,
I'm, I'm, you know, like, like,like in Glenn Gary, glenn Ross
ABC always be closing, I.
I spun it and just said well,you know, here we are and you
know everything's for sale andyou know it's always great to
come out to the events andsupport local art.
And she didn't buy anything but.
But you know, I mean but youknow what that's, that's, that's
(16:14):
how to get people out of thebooth, I guess, if you don't
want them there, no, that'sterrible to say.
No, but it's, it's always.
You know, I've got 10 foot by10 foot space of prime real
estate for these three days overLabor Day weekend.
You're in my you know your,your unbelief, you know thought
process you're, you're kind of,you're crowding my space, lose
(16:35):
it.
Angie Colee (16:35):
Get out of here.
Well, it's so funny.
I love your artwork.
I used to live with a housemateshout out to Betty, if she's
listening to this who collectedyour artwork.
It's so bright and colorful andmodern and it's fascinating.
Did you hear the phone?
A little bit, but he can editthat out.
Sonya Paz (16:55):
Oh, sorry, I didn't
want this one.
Angie Colee (16:56):
you should probably
clap wait, we can hold on.
Well, I'll explain it realquick, and then we can clap back
um.
Sonya Paz (17:01):
So we're recording.
Sorry for that?
Angie Colee (17:03):
no, you're fine.
We're recording in two tracks,so like if I'm talking and
something happens in your backend, he can pull that out
without affecting the audio.
So there you go.
All right, we'll clap back inwait, I didn't, I didn't know.
Sonya Paz (17:13):
Zoom did that, sorry.
Okay, what was I talking about?
About people coming in hercoming into the booth.
Angie Colee (17:22):
Oh, betty, and the
artwork right.
So here we go.
Hi, james, thank you,appreciate you.
Yeah, shout out to Betty ifyou're listening to the show.
So your artwork is so colorfuland modern.
Listening to the show, so yourartwork is so like colorful and
modern and it kind of reminds meof like Picasso in a way,
because there's like some funand funky shapes and
(17:42):
interpretation.
It's unlike anything else thatI've seen, and I know that
you've probably had some peoplegive like well-meaning feedback
on what is or isn't good artwork.
Can you speak to that a littlebit more?
Sonya Paz (17:54):
good artwork.
Can you speak to that a littlebit more?
Oh my God, I should write awhole.
We should do a podcast based onthings that artists hear in the
workplace.
So I mean, I okay.
So I would love to embrace andhug everybody who has been
supportive and has always comein, either to the booth where I
(18:15):
was doing that I was with theartist guild of San Francisco.
I had my own art galleryselling my own stuff and to the
gazillion billion people whowould come in and just go.
Oh my God, this makes me sohappy.
You know, that's, that's thetakeaway, because my art is
bright and colorful and it isvery cubist inspired, which is
(18:36):
Picasso style.
It's.
Uh, people ask me, what style isthis?
I created my own style as faras I am concerned.
I had people say, wow, you know, like educators, like in high
school or whatever, if themasters did this, the masters
did that.
You can't do this, can't dothat.
And I was that annoying kid.
You know the back ways of myhand?
Well, how can't do this, can'tdo that.
(18:56):
And I was that annoying kid.
You know the back raising myhand?
Well, how do you know?
The masters didn't do that.
I mean, does anyone write aboutthat?
Is there anything documented?
There's always the be quiet,sonia, nobody's listening to you
, no one cares.
Yeah, so I would always sayit's a.
My style is a mix of cubism andAmerican pop art and I fuse them
(19:18):
together.
So I call it cubistic infusedpop.
And you know, I did everythingthose art teachers told me never
to do.
Go figure, maybe it's my age,maybe it was the schools I went
to, I don't know.
But I mean, that's what?
(19:38):
When I started teaching art, Iwanted to teach it in a really
encouraging way, because noteverybody sees everything the
same way.
And just because I'm teachingyou how to paint a flower this
way doesn't mean if you, if youbeat your own drummer or you
want to go rogue, oh my god, aslong as you're here and you got
the paintbrush in your hand,have fun.
But the, the, there are the.
You know the people that haveno filters who will walk in and
will look around.
(19:59):
And my gallery was 2,300 squarefoot.
This was in downtown Campbell.
It was a huge space with 20high foot ceilings.
I mean, it was big and I'llgive you a link at the end.
Anyone that goes on onto myFacebook page can see the whole.
Back then, that was 12 yearsago, but people would walk in
(20:22):
and look around and at this bigspace and say, okay, what so?
What's this?
I have a thicker skin.
I people, because I'm five foot, you know I'm not a big person,
you know, not people alwaysautomatically think that I'm
really, really frail and I'm.
My thing is, bring it on,boyfriend, come on, let's have a
(20:43):
chit chat and I'll, I'm thefirst one to come up and go.
Oh hi, welcome to gallery.
If you have any questions, feelquestions, feel free to ask.
You know, and I wouldn't say myname at first, but and my name
was like all over the place,because we had branded products
and packaging and everything.
So they said, well, I don't getit.
Is this some sort of a gimmick?
(21:04):
Like, well, I don't know whatthat mean, what do you mean?
And I'd still be smiling, andnot not in a condescending way,
just out of curiosity, because,like, well, I want to know what
do you mean.
What is that?
What do you mean?
A gimmick?
Well, like, is this some pop-upstore or is this?
I mean, what is this?
Are these?
Is this art?
Like, yeah, this art Do youlike?
What kind of art do you like?
(21:24):
What kind of artwork do yougravitate toward?
And I would just start doingthese little qualifying
questions just to see what it is, and then I would do the
ultimate little subtle um, Idon't want to say kind of gotcha
, but I would just do the subtle.
Well, I'm Sonia, I'm the artist.
If you have any look around, ifyou have any questions, I'm
(21:46):
happy to answer.
Or the most more subtle one waswell, when I create the
paintings, this is what inspiredme here and this is what
inspired me there.
And then it would be like deadin a track oh, you're the artist
.
I'm like, yeah, I'm Sonia, youknow, welcome to the gallery.
And have a look around.
And I mean, I don't have timeto be.
(22:09):
I I know artists that would justliterally would bury their face
in hands and run off crying andor would get very defensive
about well, yeah, how dare youtalk that way about my creations
?
My thing is, you're in here andyou're asking questions, so I'm
happy to answer the questions.
I'm not going to be dissing allover you.
Be dissing all over you.
(22:33):
I mean, if you, you know, andI've never had anyone basically
come in and say something awful,like holy shit, what the F is
this crap?
I mean, I mean, it's just beenmore curious type of things.
No one, you know, knock on wood, knock on wood.
No one has ever been that awful.
But you know, I just wouldanswer it with grace and and I
(22:54):
don't want people, I want peopleto feel like that was cool.
That was really cool.
I went in and kind of dissed allover this person's art and they
were nice to me.
Well, shit, you know, and I'vehad people buy from me after
that, maybe not a you know$2,000 painting, but you know,
this one guy I'm thinking inparticular was sort of like oh,
(23:15):
we got to chit chat and 15, 20minutes later he goes oh my God,
I have to buy something fromyou.
And he bought like $12 worth ofmagnets or whatever.
But the fact was that if youapproach it in that same
negative space, it's not goingto end pretty.
You're going to, you're notgoing to feel good about
yourself.
They might talk some smackabout you or whatever.
(23:37):
I, my thing is, you know,educate people and and, yeah,
you know, turn into a customer.
It was $12 or no, it was, yeah,$12 that I I didn't have.
So you know, but but, peoplelike to meet in.
The artist thing is people liketo meet the artists.
I'm a fan of art.
I love my husband.
(23:59):
I collect a lot of art in ourhome.
It's all over the house of andit's very eclectic.
The things I mean from strange,macabre and bizarre to you know
big, colorful, bright pieces,you know from all over the world
.
I mean I'm not a name brandcollector.
(24:20):
I mean there's a couple ofcollectors who are really well
known, like Mark Ryden and, ohmy gosh, sonia Paz.
Oh my gosh, mark Ryden and IvanEarl, and I mean my mind's going
to a blank right now butthere's so much artwork that we
(24:42):
collect that is just it'seclectic and people who come
over are really amazed by itbecause of the way it's
presented and that when we'reanywhere in the house we
appreciate it, we enjoy it andthere's a story, not only to the
artwork itself, but there's astory on why we collected it or
(25:02):
what you know gravitated towardpurchasing a piece.
Oh, I love that.
Angie Colee (25:11):
When I work with
people, there are a lot of
people you know, and if this isyou listening again, I hold you
in my heart with no judgment,because I know deeply how this
feels, for now is not forever.
If you are making a choice toexplore something, if an idea
sounds interesting and you wantto try it, but you're a little
overwhelmed, just try it.
There is nothing in there thatis obligating you to stay, and
(25:33):
this is what I think was reallyinteresting about your decision
to walk away from the gallery,too is like you didn't look at
other people's expectations likeobligations, how you quote
unquote should be doing things.
You just went all right, thatchapter is closed.
You know I'm going to processthat.
I'm not going to pretend likethere's no feelings.
(25:53):
Walking away from somethinglike that when it's been such a
huge part of your life, butgetting curious about that.
That chapter's over.
What can I do next?
What else am I going to do?
It all ties together sobeautifully.
You're not obligated to doanything and for now it's not
forever, right.
Sonya Paz (26:09):
This is my circus.
I'm running it how I feel safe.
Angie Colee (26:14):
Sonya, the
ringmaster, give me the whip.
Sonya Paz (26:19):
Yeah, there's,
there's.
I mean, I and I know a lot ofartists and when I moved, when I
started my business inexpanding the gallery into
downtown Campbell, I I mean itwas a lot of personalities and
there was about nine otherartists.
So it was really great.
We all worked together to comeup with these third Friday art
walks and these all thesedifferent types of fun artful
(26:43):
things to do and as people, yeah, I ended up being the last man
standing.
I was the last gallery there by20, uh, 2012, but I was shifting
and changing within that too,and some of the other places
there were just sort of like, ohwell, we, you know, I, I would
(27:05):
never do that.
Or I, you know, I can't do thatmy, my collectors, if I was to
have a sale like that, my, allmy other collectors would be
just devastated.
I'm like, well, then you'remissing out because you never.
Your collectors would begrateful, you know.
So there's the mindset, and Idon't think that's just art
related, it's with anything.
And and you know well, I can'tdo that because that's well,
(27:28):
because that's you thinking, ormaybe overthinking, or maybe
it's egos, I don't know, I'm not.
Angie Colee (27:35):
I'm not that Ego
fear, like I saw, and a shout
out to a man named Alan Slotanik, who's very, very smart.
He posted this prompt the otherday that, like, set me off on a
rant.
I actually wound up posting therant, but it was like who would
I be if I wasn't?
Like, set me off on a rant.
I actually wound up posting therant, but it was like who would
I be if I wasn't right andinsert, afraid of what people
(27:55):
think of me, if I wasn't likewhatever that blank is and then
actually sit and think about itand I think that was one,
because I still struggle withthis.
Who would I be if I wasn'tafraid of what other people
thought of me?
Who would I be if I wasn'tafraid of what other people
thought of me?
Right, and I wouldn't tie myworth to any one decision and I
(28:18):
would give myself freedom toexperiment.
And I wouldn't tie my worth topeople and the people that I
help, in particular, to theamount of money that's in the
bank or the amount of money thatI'm generating, because
businesses have up periods andlean periods, like that's just
the nature of this.
Are you in it for the work thatyou're trying to do?
Are you in it for the dollarsin the bank and the reputation.
I'm in it for the work that Ido and the impact that I hope to
(28:41):
make for the longterm.
Sonya Paz (28:42):
So Right, and the
people that you're helping.
Yes, I mean you're helping somany people I mean with the work
that you do and with thepodcast is people are listening
and they're listening becausethey want to learn something.
They want to meet andunderstand the people, like
Mikey, behind the paintings, orthe people behind the logo, or
(29:03):
the people behind the writing orwhatever talent, and those are
actual voices.
We're not scripted here.
You didn't tell me hey, sonia,say this.
This is the message you have togive.
These are true messages.
You know, raw feedback and it'sI don't even say it's feedback,
it's experience.
(29:23):
And when I make the carnivalreference, it's sometimes.
I used to always say, okay,we're on this wild ride, get a
seat and get your seatbelt on,because it's wild and that
because and I do believe ittakes well, I was in retail, so
with the gallery, it's retail.
That's an animal, that's ananimal animal to wrangle.
(29:44):
But I've done it all with thewhole art business, from being a
manufacturer to an artist, todesigning the packaging, to
taking the.
You know, my husband, mark,when we were doing the watches,
says, okay, I need the watchface that we're working on is
going to be this specific size,so I need you to create a piece
(30:06):
that's just for this.
And sometimes I would say no, Idon't like that, or I don't
feel that this is.
I need one with your cubicfaces, I need one with a mod
floral, I need one with a bottleof wine.
And then we would have to, Iwould draw them out and if I
just didn't feel that it was theright vibe, I would just say I
(30:28):
would say no, that's not goingto work.
But it was a collaborativeeffort, but with everything
that's just involved in it, somany moving parts.
It's, like I said, my carnival,my journey.
And to the lady, to the naysayerunbeliever, unbelieve,
(30:54):
unbeliever the person who didn'tbelieve in me or thought that
working in corporate was theonly thing to do it's you know,
you're missing out.
You're missing out on so much,you know.
And and it's it's you know,like I said, you got to ride the
wave and be fearless.
You know what I mean.
You kind of got to look at whathave you got to lose, you know.
I mean are you talking billionsof dollars?
(31:14):
Are you talking millions ofdollars?
Are you talking $10?
You know, a lot of the stuff isjust your time, okay.
So if you try to create thiswork plan and it's time that I
mean okay, so you're looking fora job?
Work on this thing on the side?
Update your LinkedIn, create,start following people that you
want to be associated with,start listening to podcasts that
(31:37):
you want to be inspired by.
Angie Colee (31:39):
You know and and
reach out and have conversations
with those people, like, don'thope, don't sit back in the
shadows and hope that theynotice you Because, just like
you, they're distracted withtheir own lives and everything
that they've got going on Likenobody's going out of their way
to go.
Like, who can I pay attentionto?
Right, there are somealtruistic people out there,
right, but that's the exception,not the rule.
(31:59):
Generally speaking, everybody'spreoccupied with their own shit
.
They don't notice you unlessyou make yourself be noticed.
And I've had people reach outand send me such wonderful
messages about the show and theguest and I respond to every
single one of them and tell themoh my gosh, thank you.
Because that just.
I'm going to go on a slightrant here too.
(32:20):
But, like creativity, it'screativity is so important.
It's inspiring.
You mentioned it earlier with,like all the artwork in your
house that inspires thesestories in these conversations.
What is that human connection?
In a nutshell, we relatethrough stories, we relate
through beautiful things andcreating a show like this,
(32:40):
creating artwork I don't tell meif you feel the same, but
sometimes it feels like shoutinginto the void, like I'm just
creating stuff and throwing itout there and I have no idea how
it's resonating with people.
So when somebody takes time outof their busy day, that is not
lost on me.
I see that as like the highestsign of respect.
If you took two minutes towrite in or to come up to the
(33:01):
artist and say, oh my gosh, Ireally love this painting, would
it ask questions and getcurious about that?
Oh my God, you're making such adifference just by giving a
shit and reaching out andtelling people that you give a
shit.
It's so important.
Talk to people.
It doesn't have to be like webecame instant soulmates and we
went really deep.
Just reach out and tell peoplethat you appreciate what they're
(33:22):
doing.
It makes a difference.
Sonya Paz (33:24):
Oh, right, right, you
know, and get conversations
started, because I mean peoplecoming into the gallery and
walking in and go, how much is apiece like that?
Well, I'm not going to go and Imean it's the prices right
there.
But you know, my thing is oh,this is a great piece, what
about?
It speaks to you.
So that's getting aconversation started.
(33:46):
It doesn't take much, it's justyou know, and you're getting to
know someone.
You know, do you collect a lotof art presently?
You're asking questions.
They're not threateningquestions, they're questions.
(34:07):
So you can kind of get to knowwhat is your, you know what's
your mind, what their mindset is, and that that goes with
anything.
If someone says, you know, hey,angie, I need, I need this work
done, I need this writing donefor this project, blah, blah,
blah.
You know how much are you goingto charge me?
Well, of course you're going toask what's the project, what's
the scope?
You know all the qualifyingquestions.
But and I think that just goeson in life just, you know,
getting to know new people andthings like that and and
(34:30):
building, relationships.
Angie Colee (34:34):
So, because I have
had people ask me like how much
do you charge for X?
And I go, okay, cool, well, Ineed to get a little bit more
information before I can giveyou something that's accurate,
right?
Otherwise everything I throwout is going to be just a wild
extreme ballpark from one end tothe other.
That's not going to make anysense or be helpful at all for
planning.
So I have a few questions andI've had some people like push
(34:57):
back and be like ugh, I don'twant to answer questions, blah,
blah, blah.
And I tell them, like, with allthe love in my heart, how much
is a house?
I need some information, right,just a little bit.
So, otherwise, a house could beI don't know the $1 that you
pay in Italy for the houses thatare falling apart, or the one
(35:18):
Euro, or it could be 2 millionin the Bay for a shack that's
falling apart.
Right, I need some information.
And so, getting curious insteadof being like, well, this is a
jackass, it just doesn't get it.
Of course they don't get it,that's why they're hiring you.
Sonya Paz (35:30):
Get curious instead
of judgy, right, and it helps
you weed out the type it's atire kickers too.
Yeah, that's true.
Angie Colee (35:37):
Yeah, because if
they don't actually if they
don't actually have anythingplanned and they haven't thought
about it yet, then like, okay,well, you're probably not ready
for this if you can't answerthese basic questions about
whatever your project is.
But yeah, oh goodness, I wantto go on that rant for like two
more hours, but instead I'mgoing to say so, you've been a
fantastic guest.
Thank you so much for reachingout and asking to come on the
(35:59):
show.
I'm so happy to reconnect.
Sonya Paz (36:05):
Tell us more about
your business all of your
businesses and where we can findyou.
Well, and I'll I'll send you.
I'll send you all the links inthe show notes, but uh in in
short is um.
So soniapazcom is where y'allcan see my artwork.
I have a very comprehensivewebsite.
It has original work, jewelryand um products, products that
we create, and we do a lot ofthose creations in my uh studio
(36:26):
here in the central valley incalifornia.
And then, if you're interestedin learning how to paint or
create, I have venopaintcom,which is we do virtual events as
well as um live in-personevents, which I'm doing more
virtual events now.
I also have Sonya Paz Creative,which is courses that you can
do on your own time you don'thave to be in the class or
(36:49):
whatever and that you supplyyour own supplies.
I have Sonya's Sweet and Spicy,which is my jalapeno business,
which I started when I moved tothe Central Valley almost eight
years, or about eight years ago,and learned how to make, how to
do canning and came up withthis really fabulous recipe.
So that's that.
And then Rockstar Mentor is mypodcast, which I started in 2016
(37:14):
, but I have 130 episodes, but Ihaven't recorded anything new
in a couple of years because wehad a lot of family stuff going
on.
But last but not least is mypodcast called Investigated,
about my childhood friend whowas killed with her mom and
sister, and it is just when youthought the murders were the
only thing talk about.
(37:36):
Get your seatbelt on.
It's a wild ride.
I cover everything to do withthis case because it's personal
to me, because it was my friendthat was killed, murdered, and I
interview the prosecutor thattried this case back in 1978,
the law enforcement on the frontend of the case, the back end
(37:56):
of the case.
I talked with the main witnesswho helped the guy clean out the
house after he killed thefamily, and I mean it's, it's an
incredible story.
I'm really, really proud of itand so, yeah, awesome.
So, if anyone likes true crime,it, it's really really awesome.
(38:18):
So yeah, yeah, so yeah, justone, just one, just one.
I didn't think I had any moretime for anything, but this was
a labor of love, and it'scertainly a story that needed to
be told on behalf of thevictims, because they never got
to have their say.
Angie Colee (38:32):
Exactly exactly.
It's important work to sharethese stories and that's human
connection right so powerful.
I'm going to make sure thatthere are clickable links in the
show notes.
Thank you so much again.
We're going to have to do thisagain.
Sonya Paz (38:45):
Oh my God, Angie,
thank you so much for having me.
I'm so glad I reached out.
I thought, gosh, am I worthy tobe on the podcast?
Angie Colee (38:51):
Absolutely.
Sonya Paz (38:53):
I went to the
manifesto I'm like oh,
girlfriend, I can do this, I can.
This is great.
I really enjoyed it.
Of course, always to love tohear you and always lovely to
see you, so thanks again.
Angie Colee (39:07):
That's all for now.
If you want to keep thatkick-ass energy high, please
take a minute to share thisepisode with someone that might
need a high-octane dose of youcan do it.
Don't forget to rate, reviewand subscribe to the Permission
to Kick-Ass podcast on ApplePodcasts, spotify and wherever
you stream your podcasts.
I'm your host, angie Coley, andI'm here rooting for you.
Thanks for listening and let'sgo kick some ass.