00;00;10;10 - 00;00;33;26
Rob Lee
Welcome to the truth industry. I am your host, Rob Lee. And today, a pleasure. I have the pleasure of being in conversation with an award winning artist born in Russia, mostly known mostly for her original oil paintings of interiors. She is also the founder of Create. Exclamation point on that one magazine. And art queens. Please welcome Kat Popova to the podcast.
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Kat Popova
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
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Rob Lee
I am as well. I mean, it's like I'm speaking with like art royalty in some regards. It's crazy. It's like I didn't put on a tie or anything. I really do.
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Kat Popova
I think you.
00;00;46;23 - 00;00;47;29
Rob Lee
Have my dusty Carhartt.
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Kat Popova
Shirt on. It's so nice to be here. No, and I have. I am so excited about what you're doing. And I have so much respect for your project. And I'm very honored to be here.
00;00;56;09 - 00;01;16;28
Rob Lee
Thank you. Thank you. That's that is great. And so I want to open up with something that's either super stressful or super inviting for folks, you know, not to go too too deep into it because, you know, some people say, hey, I can give you all 40 years of my life, but if you will, could you share the your story with us, please?
00;01;16;29 - 00;01;41;09
Kat Popova
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, definitely. It could take hours. But to condense the story, I was born in Russia, like you said, and I have always been interested in art, something that I used to process my day as a kid. I would like journal after museum visit, and I always love to make things with my hands. And in 2000, when my mom and I moved to America and to a small town in the middle of nowhere, there's literally a baseball field and a gas station.
00;01;41;09 - 00;02;00;17
Kat Popova
That's all that was there. And it just kind of stayed with me because I didn't have any friends. I didn't have any really. And we didn't have money, so I didn't have any toys or anything. So I just made art and long story short, I pursued it thanks to my high school art teacher, Wendy Hall. She pushed me to keep going and.
00;02;00;17 - 00;02;21;11
Kat Popova
Yeah, and then the other part of the story is that, of course, as you know, being a creative is not this perfect fairy tale. There's a lot of bumps along the road, and the rest of the journey has been just figuring out what works, how can I support myself while also supporting my community and maintaining both my art practice and eventually building a business?
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Kat Popova
So yeah, that's like the past decade ish, the past 30, 35 years of insanity.
00;02;28;28 - 00;02;56;07
Rob Lee
Yeah, I'm coming up on like 14 years of podcasting and yeah, being able to connect in for a long time, not really identifying with the idea of artists or creative or anything in that sort of vein. But coming from that as a background and, you know, painting murals when I was a kid and you know, when you're younger, you have no sense of any of the Oh, this might suck or people might not like it, or I might not have money to pay for whatever.
00;02;56;18 - 00;03;06;07
Rob Lee
And now I'm kind of revisiting that with, I think, a sort of creative sensibility. Those bumps in the road don't feel as bad, but you still recognize them.
00;03;06;21 - 00;03;21;11
Kat Popova
Yeah, I think the biggest thing about the bumps is that the fear that we have around them when they're happening or when we're facing it and then realizing all the opportunities and options that we have. When we look back, we realize like, oh, there was a wave. You know, there obviously was a way we resolved it up until this point.
00;03;21;11 - 00;03;37;16
Rob Lee
So I love it. So you mentioned having like like a teacher back in the day that was very supportive and you pursuing an art. What sorts of influences do you have like who, the who and the what when it comes to the influences?
00;03;37;27 - 00;03;56;09
Kat Popova
Well, the first influence, I will say, has been an iconic sort of staple in my life. This woman who is my first art teacher in Russia, we went to Sunday art classes. And I just remember she had such a striking appearance. She had long black like pitch black raven hair. She always wore like purplish fuchsia lipstick and she always wore these beautiful scarves.
00;03;56;09 - 00;04;15;02
Kat Popova
And like, you couldn't miss her, you know, she had a presence, and she wasn't like this. She was very encouraging, but in a very kind of strict, you know, Russian way where she would push you and show you examples of different artists and techniques. And that was like the highlight of my week, you know, we all like revered her and feared her, but she was such an amazing woman.
00;04;15;02 - 00;04;32;29
Kat Popova
And when I moved, I didn't meet my other art teacher until high school. So there was kind of a gap between that like supportive figure. But Wendy Hall, she would she knew I didn't have a lot of resources. She would give me free paint, really sneak in teams of acrylic. She's retired now, so she's okay. She won't get in trouble.
00;04;33;20 - 00;04;49;28
Kat Popova
But she you know, she encouraged me. She submitted my work to contests, kind of like, you know, behind my back. And that was always so encouraging. And eventually I started to believe like, hey, maybe there's something there for me. So, yeah, right. Yeah. It's good to have that person that that, you know, roots for you and encourages you.
00;04;50;05 - 00;05;15;08
Rob Lee
Yeah, I was I was very close to going into comics, actually. As a result, I was one of those students I've mentioned on this podcast before, but one of those students who I would rush through my test to get that be so I can draw for the rest of class. And I used to draw like X-Men and things of that nature, and I was working on my own comic book and I was doing like all the things right, and it was like coloring, writing, all of the stuff.
00;05;15;14 - 00;05;30;07
Rob Lee
And I remember I had this, this drawing I was doing, and the teacher took it for me, threw it away, and I was like, Wow. So when I'm working on the comic and she walks by, I was like, Look, man, we might have to get into a fight. You know, taking my comic like this is a thing. And she looked at it and she's like, I want to see you after class.
00;05;30;07 - 00;05;51;18
Rob Lee
And I was like, Sure. And she was just like, obviously, you are interested in and you're talented in this area. And she was like, let me she laminated it for me and kept it from getting protected, if you will, which was a juxtaposition to what it was previously. And really, you know, telling the other teachers there and all like this guy has this kid rather, you know, has some talent.
00;05;51;18 - 00;06;10;14
Rob Lee
How can we move that along? And even the same thing in high school when I was writing and, you know, having upbringing. So those things are kind of baked into what we do, right? And I wrote this short story, short story about an experience I had living in the projects, and I experienced that I witnessed. And I was very young.
00;06;10;14 - 00;06;26;11
Rob Lee
I was like maybe five or six and it was like a very like unsavory sort of story. But I wrote it. She was like, Oh my God, this is great fiction. I was like, No, no, that's real. That happened now. So having like, you know, those teachers, those people are around you when you're young, they kind of give you that nudge.
00;06;26;25 - 00;06;29;14
Rob Lee
You know, that's something I think that's foundational.
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Kat Popova
Absolutely. And I love that your teacher kind of created this archival piece for you, like you said, the opposite of throwing it away or like punishing you for doing something that you love and just recognizing like that is I feel like to me, that's a good educator, someone who shows you how to treat your creative work and makes you appreciate it yourself.
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Kat Popova
So awesome.
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Rob Lee
I'm I'm a big fan of creating something and it not always being perfect to get it out there. And if you need to adapt it or if you need to redo it, it's like, oh, you know, like I'm working on a webcomic, right? And the art is fine. Like I'm writing it and I hired an artist. I'm like, I may redo it, same story, but with a different artist.
00;07;11;10 - 00;07;26;24
Rob Lee
And I still think both are valid, right? So when you encounter work that isn't perfect or, you know, from, from your eye and being in the industry, what are your feelings around like imperfect work and like the idea of perfection, chasing perfection.
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Kat Popova
That's like my favorite thing ever because I absolutely am not a perfectionist and that's my strength. The reason why I'm even here is because I'm able to produce things and let go. It is scary. I'm not going to lie. There is a lot of fear when you make something and you're like, okay, this could be better. In my mind, my vision is so much grander than what came out, but that's how my first business started.
00;07;46;20 - 00;08;05;17
Kat Popova
I made a magazine in like a draft board document, and then like, like you said, I went back and then I polished it and I learned some new skills, and then I was able to get a budget and hire a designer. So I think it's key to create that scrappy first draft and then work on it versus like thinking you're going to create your masterpiece and you know, and that's it.
00;08;05;26 - 00;08;30;16
Kat Popova
But I think everything we do is in a way a work in progress, right? So I always encourage that, you know, I'm a coach, so my clients, usually artists, they are so afraid of putting out that thing and I'm like, just you have to put it out. You're never going to move past this if you don't. And of course, when I look back on my own work, I see everything that can be better always, but at the same time, like it can't improve on it unless I kind of like establish a point, you know what I mean?
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Kat Popova
They're like little markers on a timeline almost. Yeah.
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Rob Lee
It's one of those things I'm looking at, and I'm. I'm eager, but also I'm like, I don't know, you know? So I want to go back and look at through the archive of what, almost 500 episodes at this point and see like which ones do I want to redo? Like which ones? I was like, that did not go well or I wasn't as good of an interviewer as I progressed in to now and really asking better, more informed questions.
00;09;00;05 - 00;09;21;23
Rob Lee
And hopefully this won't be an example. This is going to be just oh point, just oh boy. But yeah, I think that that's really important to to share it and really kind of think about like what one is doing. So in doing this and looking at it, it's like I'm, you know, when we're doing this, like, I don't I don't really like, like film the podcast.
00;09;21;23 - 00;09;38;05
Rob Lee
I don't really do some of that stuff because, you know, you want to show your process, you want to show what goes into it so people understand it. That's a contribution to the community. Yeah, but it is, you know, the song that this is how it's done, this is the behind the end product. But at the same time it's like, you know, this is collaborative.
00;09;38;05 - 00;09;42;03
Rob Lee
Anything can go in any direction. And I think sometimes people don't get that.
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Kat Popova
Yeah, absolutely. And one of my favorite things that Jerry Saltz, the art critic, said, he said, like, what is an artist favorite piece that they made the next one? And I think that's why we do what we do, because we're curious and it's almost about the chase of that like perfect episode or perfect book or perfect painting. And I think that's what makes us keep going back.
00;09;59;27 - 00;10;20;17
Kat Popova
And I also think it's really important. Like you said, I do have that urge to like rerecord everything or or like change everything. But when I look back on some of those older things, like you have to look at it from like a death sentence and see like, okay, I feel pride that I showed up and I did it even though I didn't feel ready or perfect and also neutrally without judging yourself notice, like, what can I improve next time?
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Kat Popova
And like being in that space in between, like, okay, you're awesome. Like good job for showing up, but then also like, how can we make this better next time?
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Rob Lee
This is informational and it's it's one of those kind of steps. It's not a stepping stone because that's usually used negatively, but it is something that from a foundational perspective that you're like, Oh, okay, this is what I did. Episode one This is what I'm doing. Episode 451 And being able to look at like comparatively like in an objective sort of way, like, okay, this is how I did.
00;10;50;14 - 00;11;08;16
Kat Popova
Yeah, I love that. And also just to kind of piggyback of that, Alicia, who you had on your podcast a few episodes ago, Alicia playing my partner her now, we wrote our first book. It was that scrappy first draft. It was 80 pages, and then we saw it. Something was in there. People were responding, people were excited. She's like, Okay, how can we just amplify it?
00;11;08;16 - 00;11;20;17
Kat Popova
Like, Let's just blow this up. And then we made it 300 pages. So that's kind of like the process for me personally. Like I always kind of test things out and throw them out there and then if they if something bites, I'm like, okay, now let's invest time, energy and resources into it.
00;11;20;26 - 00;11;31;21
Rob Lee
So, so with this, since we're kind of talking about it, tell us about founding and creating and create magazine art queens. Tell us about that. I have some bullet points in there, but I at least want to start off there.
00;11;31;29 - 00;11;50;24
Kat Popova
Yeah, it was all part of this process of throwing things out. I see mistakes, but the main foundation, why I started, I think, like so many of us, is like I was seeing a need in my community. I didn't have anywhere to submit my art when I first graduated, so I was like, okay, what can I do? I didn't have budget to open a gallery space.
00;11;50;24 - 00;12;06;21
Kat Popova
I mean, I was a freshly graduated art student, so I was like, Hey, what's the next thing? And I would go, I worked at the mall, I worked at Macy's, and every lunch break I'd go to Barnes and Noble, and I would always look at books and magazines and things. And that's I think that came to me. I'm like, I'm obsessed with print media.
00;12;07;16 - 00;12;25;28
Kat Popova
And clearly I had no background in it, but I just kind of Googled my way through it. And from there, you know, years of figuring out how to make that work, eventually we kind of found our flow and Elise has been a great part of that too. And then we decided we saw we saw so many artists, we wrote about 70 artists, and we saw ways we can help them.
00;12;26;03 - 00;12;42;21
Kat Popova
And we wrote a book. And then eventually I started coaching, you know, was like almost a decade. Like, I would say like seven years later I became a coach for creatives and that's how our queens was born. Specifically, no women identifying creatives, but I think it's all just been this process of like, how can I figure this out?
00;12;43;04 - 00;12;49;16
Kat Popova
Kind of documenting what works and then sharing it and empowering others with what I learned along the way.
00;12;49;26 - 00;12;59;08
Rob Lee
That's that's great. I worked on a manual in this whole podcast space, and I framed it in a way of like learn from my mistakes because I made them all.
00;12;59;09 - 00;13;04;10
Kat Popova
Yes, I love that. That's definitely that's. Yeah. Let me give you a shortcut. Don't do what I did.
00;13;04;22 - 00;13;08;26
Rob Lee
Yeah, you look at the gray hairs that I have though.
00;13;10;00 - 00;13;10;11
Kat Popova
Same.
00;13;11;23 - 00;13;40;26
Rob Lee
So until I had this this question, I was and this is this is one that you won't have because I like to send the questions over beforehand. Some people and some people don't. But I've been in this recently in my bag, as it were, on this book, Death of an Artist, and is talking about like how creatives, how artists navigate in a world where everyone's a creative and in not everyone is doing it for, you know, certain reasons and you're going against billionaires and huge budgets and you're just trying to figure it out.
00;13;41;15 - 00;14;00;21
Rob Lee
So I presume that isn't always easy. And, you know, big business getting in a way and expectations to be putting out content versus art and it kind of loses that sort of artisanal, you know, sort of flow with it. It's like this is timely, this is meaningful, this is impactful versus you need to do a painting today, make it happen.
00;14;01;23 - 00;14;07;01
Rob Lee
How how do you feel artists can succeed within that sort of climate? And I know it's a huge answer probably.
00;14;07;04 - 00;14;25;00
Kat Popova
Yeah, that's something I've been really thinking about and I got really fired up about that. Such a good question. Thank you so much for asking that. I think it's important for all of us to reflect and each person is going to have an individual decision about this. But for me, you know, as I was getting ready for my solo show, which is opening, you know, putting on this comes out probably close to when it comes out.
00;14;25;13 - 00;14;40;17
Kat Popova
And I had to you know, I usually I love social media. I think it's fun. I find it effortless for me personally, just because I don't think about it. I just record the little reel and it's not any pressure for me. But when I was making these paintings, I, I couldn't do it. I just I had to be in the flow.
00;14;40;28 - 00;15;00;28
Kat Popova
And I think that's the difference. It's like if you're just casually making stuff and you want to make a real or you just put a camera behind you and ignore it, adding, That's healthy because there's so much difference between creating content and and being in the flow and making your best work. You know, you don't want to be thinking about Instagram when you're thinking about like, you know, the idea behind your book or your show.
00;15;01;16 - 00;15;25;06
Kat Popova
So I think there should be a separation and one does not equal we all know there's creatives out there with huge followings that aren't necessarily like the most, you know, whatever. That's objective. Yeah. But there's also people who are so immensely talented and prolific and accomplished that don't even go on social media. So I think like in this world we really have to separate it that marketing strength has nothing to do with like your creative process, right?
00;15;25;26 - 00;15;43;01
Kat Popova
And yeah, it is tough. And I think like for me when I first graduated, I was so frustrated and I was like blaming the institutions that wouldn't hire me or the lack of opportunities. And then one day I just made a commitment to myself, like even if I even if it takes me until I'm 90, I'm just committed.
00;15;43;01 - 00;16;00;13
Kat Popova
I'm going to do everything I can to get like what I want from my work. Yeah. And it has shifted so much, but all these years later, now I'm seeing like the fruits of those seeds that are planted. So I think it's like two things separating like the social media, the marketing, the career stuff from the actual creative process.
00;16;00;13 - 00;16;15;27
Kat Popova
That's like the best tip for mental health because then you always have your art. It doesn't matter if Instagram shuts down and whatever. We see it all the time, right? This does not dictate the value of basically something that can't be quantified like our is invaluable.
00;16;15;27 - 00;16;34;25
Rob Lee
So thank you thank you so much for sharing that that actually you know even on a personal note, that makes me feel really good because, you know, like I said, a creative sensibility, artistic sensibility with what I'm doing. But, you know, as metrics is its numbers. It's like, how many downloads is this one get? It's like, what was the conversation impactful?
00;16;34;28 - 00;16;54;27
Rob Lee
Did I find like, is this quotient that might be maybe weird, but I think one of the things that we all look for in some regard is love. And I think that that's the thing that I'm kind of like looking at is more value. When people come up to me and say, you know, you rob, you do the thing say, Hey, man, I'm trying to finish this coffee, man.
00;16;54;29 - 00;17;02;26
Rob Lee
Yeah, that that feels good. Versus some anonymous downloads that, if we really look at it, can't really quantify some of that stuff. It's not.
00;17;02;26 - 00;17;22;22
Kat Popova
Real. Yeah, I totally I think about that too. And I had a moment a few years ago where I was like so close to quitting because, you know, I was talking with these experts in the magazine, something downloads, subscribers, followers, whatever. And I was like, I'm just not measuring up. Like, I'm doing everything I can with my budget, with my small team, and I just don't feel like I'm doing it.
00;17;22;22 - 00;17;36;21
Kat Popova
And my partner, my boyfriend who's been with me through this whole rollercoaster, he was like, well, what is your purpose? Like, what is the reason why you started it? And I'm like, to support artists. He's like, Have you supported at least one artist? And like, yeah, he's like, Then you're doing it like, it's not that number. It is.
00;17;36;21 - 00;17;54;09
Kat Popova
Like you said, it's the love. It's giving love to our community and also, you know, receiving it because like for you, maybe the person you interviewed is their first podcast and they feel so honored. And for us, like the first time someone got published, it's like the best feeling to hear that story and to see how you impact it and give confidence to someone else to keep going.
00;17;54;20 - 00;18;19;08
Rob Lee
100%. So a So this is one of the things I wanted to go into a little bit about your where you work or what have you. So let's talk about process in terms of like the stages, right? So when you're taking on like a new project, you're going to work on, let's say a new painting or have you where do you start with something that's in the middle and what is towards that kind of ending state?
00;18;19;08 - 00;18;23;03
Rob Lee
Because, you know, Painter's never quite done. Never. I've never really done I.
00;18;23;03 - 00;18;25;05
Kat Popova
Just had this happen one way. So I stop messing with it.
00;18;25;14 - 00;18;27;23
Rob Lee
I can do this one now. Put it down. Just put the bed.
00;18;28;01 - 00;18;59;27
Kat Popova
Exactly. Yeah, that's a good question. I think for me, I when I think about my process, it's always just like daydreaming. I have to give myself space to literally walk and think. I usually just go out to a park and just walk in and think and then the ideas come. And for this specific show that I was just finishing up, that's opening soon, it took me a few months to like get clear on the idea because I was painting a lot from my room and from my life, and I wanted to have something like a little more dreamy, a little bit more out there, luxurious, just to give myself that, like, aspirational feeling, because this
00;18;59;27 - 00;19;24;01
Kat Popova
is like a dream come true for me. So just gathering old images, I paint from, like, sketches and found images and images that I took. I have like a whole thing in my phone and computer and then just gathering, sketching, dreaming, looking at history, like looking, going to a museum even, or looking through different history. Our history books and then finally getting clear and deciding like how many pieces, sizes and all that.
00;19;24;01 - 00;19;35;10
Kat Popova
And then honestly, the middle is just the work, the messy, uncomfortable, stressful, scary stuff. And then at the end is usually it's the timeline. So the time ends and then you just have to let go.
00;19;35;21 - 00;19;36;20
Rob Lee
The imbroglio of the.
00;19;36;20 - 00;19;37;13
Kat Popova
Middle. Yeah.
00;19;39;04 - 00;19;56;15
Rob Lee
So you know, some of the words that I read and I think you touched on one of them a moment ago, ethereal, dreamlike and familiar with the respect to your paintings. So for you, what are some of the adjectives that come to mind for you? Like, what are three adjectives that come to mind for you that you're aiming for maybe in your work?
00;19;57;10 - 00;20;20;15
Kat Popova
I think for me, coziness, belonging. And I like I think dreaming is a big one because a lot of my work is about sort of imagining and dreaming and that's seeing it coming to my actual reality is like manifesting like art can be a part of like or manifesting process too, just like writing or journaling. So I think dreaming is a big one.
00;20;20;15 - 00;20;35;17
Kat Popova
A coziness, something that I've been like chasing after is that sense of belonging, being an immigrant, you know, not having my own room when I was growing up and all those things. Like that's why I think I'm so obsessed with rooms because like I'm just like, Oh, this girl has her own room. What's it's like the coolest thing.
00;20;35;17 - 00;20;40;27
Kat Popova
So I always had that fantasy of, like, space and belonging and, like, being really safe somewhere.
00;20;40;29 - 00;20;42;15
Rob Lee
Yeah, we're in our own space right now.
00;20;42;21 - 00;20;44;25
Kat Popova
So know this is awesome.
00;20;44;25 - 00;21;03;17
Rob Lee
Yeah, I had a, I had a thought walking. That's definitely something I've incorporated and just kind of when I get to a place, usually I'm go, go, go, good to call it you get to where you go on set up. And I was like, No, let me walk. So when I come up here to Philly, I take the train up, I walk from 30th to here and I go to this coffee shop.
00;21;03;17 - 00;21;07;13
Rob Lee
I'll have you grab a coffee and I have ridiculous coffee and some like cream donut this morning.
00;21;07;14 - 00;21;08;29
Kat Popova
So this is great.
00;21;09;10 - 00;21;44;04
Rob Lee
But, you know, kind of walking around and I had this sort of observation of, you know, I hear it at times, like, we're not sure where you're from. Like, I'm from from Baltimore and I'm a Baltimore guy, but I've had people say, you're not from there. It's like I am. I assure you I am. And it's kind of one of these things of, you know, taking taking like inventory and an advantage of being an outsider because it enables me to kind of slide and not any insidious way, but they enable me to kind of fit into a different spot, have conversations with people, and I maybe grow from that and have a different perspective, a
00;21;44;04 - 00;22;06;23
Rob Lee
new perspective on a location. So it's like this, this idea of I think it's I think it's an awesome clearance book. But he talks about this, this idea of when you encounter the master with a problem, they've seen it before, so they're not worried about it. They already got past that. But if you approach things as a novice, you're able to like approach you from different ways, different angles, maybe unused angles in the past.
00;22;07;06 - 00;22;24;08
Rob Lee
So using that sort of like idea, how do you approach things and keep it like fresh when you're encountering because you do coaching. So when you're encountering things, you're like, Oh, Rick did that. But it's like, how do you keep that perspective fresh and new to come into it with like a fresh set of eyes, despite it being something that you may have encountered before?
00;22;24;13 - 00;22;41;10
Kat Popova
Yeah, I love that metaphor of like, that's when I travel. That's one of my favorite things, just people watching with the coffee. It makes you feel like you belong there. I don't know, something magical and I love us in Atlanta. I think with coaching, it's yes, I've been there. I know I could tell someone what to do. And, you know, coaching is not about that at all.
00;22;41;10 - 00;23;07;13
Kat Popova
It's that giving the person the space to figure it out. But I think the biggest thing is what you said. It's that perspective shift. It's like having them see step out of their limiting box where they have blinders and they can only see the problem. But introducing them to different ways of thinking or examples of people who had similar problems, you know, not necessarily me being like, I did this, you should do this because that doesn't work for everyone, given all our cultural backgrounds and, you know, stories and things that we've gone through.
00;23;07;13 - 00;23;26;11
Kat Popova
So I think just giving people space and encouraging them to just see their own options, like because we all have, you know, 360 degrees around us, we just don't see it sometimes. And we need someone to just like remind us to look at it a different way. Yeah. And yeah, I think focusing on the problem, of course, that keeps us in the problem.
00;23;27;14 - 00;23;40;18
Rob Lee
So I see. Lee, it's almost this, this person I know who's behind it, right? But it's almost this push to have everything figured out, everything solved and like figure it out and like 25 figure it out like 20 and.
00;23;40;18 - 00;23;41;08
Kat Popova
Absolutely.
00;23;41;09 - 00;23;57;16
Rob Lee
At times my partner, she'll remind me and she's she's older than I am. So she has a different perspective. So that same thing, she's the one that really put that bug in my ear initially is like, you know, that issue that you're having right now. You had that issue before that. It was the worst thing ever. She's like, Yeah, past that one.
00;23;57;16 - 00;24;14;13
Rob Lee
So you're going to get past this one, okay? Oh, okay. That's a good perspective. And she'll remind me she's like, you know, Harrison Ford how great he is. And like, wasn't he like in his late thirties when he got on? She's like, I think you're doing fine. Yeah. And then that's one of those things. But there's so many so much noise out there.
00;24;14;23 - 00;24;32;22
Rob Lee
And I think for me in a lot of people, maybe it leads to a block. And I think you were touching on an earlier I didn't hit these metrics, I didn't hit these numbers and so on, and you almost want to leave it. And I run into that on occasion. And I always joke about podcasting being the most stable relationship I've ever been in.
00;24;32;22 - 00;24;50;14
Rob Lee
Longest relationship or most stable. So when you encounter some of those like kind of creative blocks, those those those bumps, like really, you know, and I think you touched on it, but what are some of those like things that you do to really get past it, to come back and say, let me reset. Like, if you know your day, it's going left.
00;24;51;03 - 00;24;56;21
Rob Lee
Like, do you just say, you know, take a shower, I'm going to reset. You got to have a different coffee. You know, whatever the thing is. How do you reset?
00;24;56;26 - 00;25;19;08
Kat Popova
Oh, my gosh. All it's every day to reset. Yeah, I love that perspective. Thank you so much for sharing. I think I just had one of those days this week, so I was facing my own little challenge recently and I'll share it. It's been that I've been running this business and I have a lot of flexibility and I've kind of figured out of flow, especially the past two years, being at home like I have all the time in the world to work on it.
00;25;19;08 - 00;25;38;24
Kat Popova
But this year I had this amazing opportunity. Alicia and I wrote our second book and I had my show actually like three shows this year. So I face this new challenge where I couldn't rely on the things that were bringing revenue because they required more of me where I had to be available for my creative projects. And I I've really had two problems solve.
00;25;38;24 - 00;26;07;07
Kat Popova
And there were a few times where I literally, like you said, I had to take a shower or go for a walk. And actually even this week, you know, I'm almost like the pinnacle is the climax of a movie. It's like what is happening? And, you know, I really lean it on my faith a lot, too. I woke up, I had like a weird email from someone who just set the mood, like, you know, then Instagram crashed, and I just saw these followers going down like literally like 3000 followers just falling off my couch.
00;26;07;07 - 00;26;18;07
Kat Popova
And I'm like, okay, God, like, what the hell is this? And then and then I was like, okay, so I have this issue that I need to resolve. I still need to figure this thing out in my business. You know, I was like, you know what? I'm like, I did everything I could. I know I did. I showed up.
00;26;18;19 - 00;26;32;07
Kat Popova
I'm doing what I'm supposed to do. These are dreams that came true. There's no way that they're given to me so that I can, you know, destroy my life for them. Like, that makes no sense. I don't believe that. So I took my dog to the park. I came back and I got like three clients signed on, and then Instagram was fixed.
00;26;32;07 - 00;26;55;07
Kat Popova
I was like, okay, listen, walk away, don't obsess, don't like keep chucking. Or I know for me the solution is not going to be me scrolling or refreshing my email. That's not where the solution is going to come from. I think the solution comes from us listening to our own inner wisdom. You know, if you're spiritual, connecting with God or universe, giving space and not being in it, like literally stepping away and seeing, like I said, all the opportunities.
00;26;55;07 - 00;27;09;04
Kat Popova
And then usually something happens. Where did you know? A lot of times that it feels miraculous. But the truth is, like I planted all those seeds months ago and they're just now coming forward. So for me, it's always a lesson. And stepping away and not obsessing.
00;27;09;18 - 00;27;31;25
Rob Lee
Yeah, I've had and thank you for for sharing that I've had similar things where, you know, it's, it's a lot of moving parts and you know, like I was telling someone the other day, I was like, I have pretty much an episode per day coming out for the rest of the year. That's awesome and thank you. And it was a few interviews I had to reschedule and I'm very communicative.
00;27;31;25 - 00;27;48;14
Rob Lee
Oh, like, hey, you know, looking forward to a blousy blah and there's a nice chunk of people would never just show up for the interview. So when I have like this space or something booked or what have you, you know, that's, you know, so I remember I got like a weird, like back to back to back nasty emails about me rescheduling.
00;27;48;14 - 00;27;48;29
Rob Lee
I was just like.
00;27;49;12 - 00;27;50;00
Kat Popova
Never came.
00;27;50;08 - 00;28;03;16
Rob Lee
It's like, yeah, it's like you never came or, you know, do you know how this works? And it kind of just puts this vibe out there. It's like, I'm doing this for this reason. And I was just like, and then I get a little petty, I must admit, I like being petty. It's okay.
00;28;03;16 - 00;28;06;05
Kat Popova
I think you have to let it out, or I'll just, like, build up.
00;28;06;14 - 00;28;14;14
Rob Lee
I'm like, Yo, bro, you got a thousand followers. I think it was. It was like, it's out there, so now I have to hold on to it anymore. Yeah.
00;28;14;24 - 00;28;31;05
Kat Popova
Just got to let it out. I feel you. I get petty too. So it's just important to like or like, have a person. Like, I always went to my partner. He like, I never let anyone see this part of me except for him. He sees the worst of me. But he also like, you know, we have a good relationship.
00;28;31;05 - 00;28;38;26
Rob Lee
So yeah, I show all the like it's just I feel like there is like a patriarchy podcast. Just me being petty. He's not seen.
00;28;39;15 - 00;28;42;10
Kat Popova
Like, maybe we should do an episode of just like, let ourselves be petty.
00;28;43;04 - 00;29;08;28
Rob Lee
Word. I mean, I have a lot of Capricorn pettiness, so I got, I got three more real questions and then we'll get to those rapid fire ones. And you remarked on it a little bit earlier of like what I kind of took from it of having like a limitation in what you're doing. And I think, you know, some of the best work we don't asked a question whether it's paint, whether it's painting, whether it's like music, whatever it might be.
00;29;09;07 - 00;29;18;09
Rob Lee
We don't ask the questions. Oh, wow. How did you put that in there all the time? We also asked, why did you leave that out? What parts did you leave out? So what sort of limitations do you put into your work?
00;29;18;28 - 00;29;41;22
Kat Popova
Hmm, that's a great question. I think for me, there's two limitations that always kind of been part of it is one like learning a new skill or solving a problem, especially with painting. Like if you just can't get your brain to your hands to connect. Weirdly enough, those are usually some of the most interesting parts. Like, I just couldn't figure it out, but now it looks weird, but it's kind of cool.
00;29;41;28 - 00;30;08;12
Kat Popova
So. Or being open to those limitations, like embracing them because I think that's what makes our work unique. Not being perfect to give everyone, you know, worked exactly the same way, life would be very boring. And then the other limitations are usually resources. So I am glue crazy. I will admit this not everyone has as much risk tolerance like I can if I really believe in something and I see it, I'm willing to like and best things I don't have into it and I don't suggest that to people.
00;30;08;12 - 00;30;24;00
Kat Popova
But it's been working for me in a way like you just have to really be in tune with your intuition. Sometimes things will work though, and I have to know that and I have to like not get too upset when it doesn't work out. But I think like skill, which is something we can always build and we can always grow.
00;30;24;00 - 00;30;35;28
Kat Popova
And I think when we get to those limitations, that's the only way to find out what we're missing so we can go back, improve, learn and, you know, get support with that and with resources. There's always a way is always a way.
00;30;36;12 - 00;30;53;24
Rob Lee
I had this like prevailing beliefs because I like to be the dude behind the scenes when I have a salary, I have a day job and all of that. And when there's an opportunity to get a couple of extra funds, I like to pick up a few artists. I know young artists, obviously, just like we should catch our breath and just slide something over.
00;30;53;24 - 00;31;04;25
Rob Lee
And you know, when it's one of those kind of like tougher months for me because it's like I'm arts adjacent, as it were, I'm like, Yeah, you know, sort it out. That's kind of what that believe is it's like It'll happen.
00;31;04;25 - 00;31;05;07
Kat Popova
Yeah, yeah.
00;31;05;18 - 00;31;13;06
Rob Lee
Totally make you make the art. You make the work with the resources that are available, whether it's the time, whether it's the financial resources, even the space, you figure it out.
00;31;13;07 - 00;31;28;09
Kat Popova
Yeah. I think one of the biggest things that helped me was when I finally let go of my ego of like when I first graduated, I had to paint on the floor. We had no room, I had no money. So like I would go, I waited, I how much time? And I would give my like salary in the morning after serving breakfast.
00;31;28;09 - 00;31;43;25
Kat Popova
And I would whatever was left after I'd pay my bills, I would like buy to paint or canvas. Like it was like literally one thing at a time. And now I can like buy in bulk, which is amazing. But at the time I was like, okay, can get my ego get. In a way, I'm still an artist, even if I'm like scrapping this one painting together very taught me a lot.
00;31;43;25 - 00;31;45;29
Kat Popova
It taught me how much you can really do with little.
00;31;45;29 - 00;31;49;06
Rob Lee
So yeah, it's like I got this agg money. I mean, get this real quick.
00;31;49;08 - 00;31;50;10
Kat Popova
This pancake money is.
00;31;51;25 - 00;32;05;20
Rob Lee
So red, that home place belonging and you touched on it earlier and identity or themes within your work. Looking back on some of your earlier work, what are some of the feelings that that come to you and what are some of the feelings that come to you with your more recent work?
00;32;05;28 - 00;32;21;09
Kat Popova
Yeah, I think that beginning I was kind of I was much more sad and I was also trying to find my place. So I didn't I was a little homeless in college, not like actually homeless, but I just didn't have an it couldn't afford student housing. So I skipped around and I lived in people's basements and spare rooms.
00;32;21;21 - 00;32;43;09
Kat Popova
So I was like really longing for a place like literally and physically, like needed space. So it makes sense why I started painting interiors, but actually at the beginning it was more like actual places from my old childhood in Russia. And these days I'm very comfortable. So thank God. Now I'm more like, you know, stretching myself and seeing like what's what's out there.
00;32;43;09 - 00;33;01;18
Kat Popova
What's possible with the new work is like definitely more aspirational and dreamy versus like reflecting back on like little cottages and tiny rooms, which both I find really beautiful. But I think it's like as I grow, maybe like the meaning expands a little bit and it's, it's a little happier now. So that's good. Yeah, that's good. Yeah.
00;33;02;15 - 00;33;22;03
Rob Lee
So the term home like what is it? I'm thinking really broad. Really. But what is home for you and how do you bring a home with you? Because I think like I'm up here doing a series of interviews about I'm very much a guy from Baltimore and I bring that with me and I want to bring that wherever I go.
00;33;22;11 - 00;33;35;07
Rob Lee
And that may mean it's not like I'm spraying and sprinkling okay or myself, but it is, you know, certain perspectives are characteristics, things of the sort. So for you, how do you like view the concept of home and how do you bring home with you?
00;33;35;10 - 00;33;54;07
Kat Popova
I love that. Yeah, I can feel that. I feel very comfortable with you. So you just need to you, I think. Yeah, like you said, it's what it's for me, it's like a routine, almost. Like I always get up, have my coffee, do like a little prayer meditation thing. So it's like, not change ing who you are and what you do and learning to adapt to wherever you are.
00;33;54;07 - 00;34;11;11
Kat Popova
Right? Like there's things like journaling that I can be done anywhere. You don't have to be anywhere specific, but just having that sense of belonging and not morphing so much the environment, obviously being respectful and adjusting, but like really being grounded in who you are and then it's funny talking about home now we're looking for for a house.
00;34;12;08 - 00;34;24;29
Kat Popova
So I'm like, what is home? But I feel at home all the time too. Like I can be anywhere. And I think it is that connection with self, connection with your spirituality and coffee, 100% coffee has to be a part of it.
00;34;25;19 - 00;34;31;05
Rob Lee
So this is the, the last question and this more shameless plugging. So what's next? What's next for you?
00;34;31;12 - 00;35;06;07
Kat Popova
Thank you. Thanks for the plug. So I have a solo show at Cool Gallery in Paris opening on November 17th through December 3rd. So this is definitely like one of my biggest dreams come true. A lot of our family and friends are flying over, so it's going to be like super epic and then Alicia and I, we wrote our book, which is coming out in May 2023, and this will help any creative business owner really just from beginning to scaling business to six figures to make it work, make it happen, learn from our mistakes, and also just get practical like apps and tools and strategies for launching things.
00;35;06;07 - 00;35;10;02
Kat Popova
So we're so excited. It's going to be awesome. Thank you. Thank you.
00;35;11;00 - 00;35;19;07
Rob Lee
So so with that, I think it's time for us to dove in to some rapid fire questions. They're they're they're fun. Don't overthink them. Don't overthink them. Don't overthink.
00;35;19;07 - 00;35;19;21
Kat Popova
It. I'm ready.
00;35;20;12 - 00;35;27;07
Rob Lee
All right. So I'm going to start off with this one. What do you enjoy most about your work?
00;35;28;04 - 00;35;30;26
Kat Popova
The freedom. I like the freedom. Yeah.
00;35;32;06 - 00;35;37;28
Rob Lee
Favorite place in Philadelphia to go grab a bite to eat. Oh, oh. I was going to ask you question.
00;35;38;21 - 00;35;56;01
Kat Popova
This is a hard one. Okay. I actually really love the Vietnamese district, like in Washington as far as like a very good Vietnamese place. And then trying to think of where do we go? Oh, my gosh, it's been forever since I've gone out. I have to come back to you. I like the dandelion. It's cute. Like I'm more of a vibe person.
00;35;56;01 - 00;35;57;22
Kat Popova
I like when there's, like, an atmosphere.
00;35;57;22 - 00;36;01;00
Rob Lee
So what do you take in your coffee?
00;36;01;21 - 00;36;11;02
Kat Popova
Cream weather? I don't care which kind it could be. Oat almond, a regular milk. But I like to froth it and I like to add cinnamon.
00;36;11;19 - 00;36;19;04
Rob Lee
So you see, there's a drink called the Rob Lee in Baltimore. It's it's basically an iced coffee that includes a bunch of cinnamon and some. Sir.
00;36;19;06 - 00;36;24;21
Kat Popova
Oh, my God. I have to try that. I love cinnamon in my coffee. I just literally carry it with me everywhere. And it wasn't.
00;36;24;24 - 00;36;27;13
Rob Lee
A thing on me.
00;36;27;13 - 00;36;27;21
Kat Popova
Hello.
00;36;27;29 - 00;36;35;12
Rob Lee
Are you more cautious when it comes to your art, when it comes to coaching, when it comes to being an entrepreneur? Are you more cautious or bold?
00;36;36;11 - 00;36;37;07
Kat Popova
I would say bold.
00;36;37;21 - 00;36;42;29
Rob Lee
Yeah, yeah, yeah. What do you do with good reviews? What do you do with bad reviews?
00;36;43;13 - 00;36;51;03
Kat Popova
Good reviews. I love to screenshot and save for a bad day. Better reviews like bless and delete.
00;36;51;03 - 00;37;06;17
Rob Lee
And lastly, and I think that you touched on it, but if you have a new if you have a different one than when it comes to mine, especially with, you know, have show coming up and new projects coming up on the way, do you have any creative rituals like those sort of like daily rituals and other book reference?
00;37;06;22 - 00;37;21;14
Kat Popova
Yeah, I think just drinking coffee, writing, honestly that just sitting like lighting a candle, having my coffee, journaling and just letting being, being. That's a perfect ritual for me. Very simple. Very, very cheap.
00;37;22;07 - 00;37;34;24
Rob Lee
Thank you. So that's kind of it for the questions. And I want to thank you for being on this podcast, and I want to invite you to tell the fine folks where to check you out and where to check out all the projects. The floor is yours.
00;37;34;25 - 00;37;52;19
Kat Popova
Thank you so much for having me. This is so much fun. So you can find me on Instagram, usually at Catarina as popular or magazine as Create magazine dot com. And you can see all the links to our podcast, our books, our magazines and social media is also great magazine. And if you're interested in the coaching of our queens, be our queens on Instagram.
00;37;52;19 - 00;37;54;08
Kat Popova
So thank you so much. Thank you.
00;37;54;17 - 00;38;10;29
Rob Lee
Well, there you have it, folks. I want to again thank Popova for coming on to the podcast. And I'm Rob Lee, saying that there's art culture in and around your neck of the woods is going to look for.
