I’m thrilled to have Mayi Carles of Mayi Carles, Heartmade and Life is Messy Bootcamp with us today. Mayi describes herself as A Tiny Artist with a T-Rex Heart and when you see her artwork and watch her videos you’ll know why.

Her blog is chock full of great online business advice, like last week’s “How to Get an 80% Open Rate on Your Newsletter” video and freebies to get you organized.

Her Life is Messy Planners and Bootcamp (bootcamp-style training and beautiful, function planners) are a digital product success story, with more than 5,000 copies sold.

Here’s Mayi…

Tell us about your business. What does Heartmade do and who do you love to serve?

I’m in the business of empowering creative business hearts to break down their barriers to success + turn their passions to profit + make a real difference in the world.

Heartmade is a creative space to spill open your gifts + hopes + fears + epiphanies + worries + questions + more.

Visitors are bound to leave feeling lighter + empowered + most certainly loved.

Your wedding video is great. The day looks like a fairy tale + awesome dance party. How did your creativity show up in planning your day?

I could have never pull that day off alone. My wedding day was the product of a collaborative effort. You can say it was a project made with love by a team of super passionate artists, including yours truly. Even my mom, who is a lawyer had participation. She literally sewed all the party props for the celebration. Isn’t she darling?

To say the least, I feel so honored to have teamed up with the handmade community to craft the wedding of my dreams.

I heard that you used some of your honeymoon money to attend RHH Live, so I know your husband is 100 percent on board with the work you do at Heartmade. How has married life impacted your work?

Oh my! Yes. It was a disaster. What happened was that David + I had saved enough money to go to NY together, but on the morning of our flight, we (and by “we” I really mean “I”) accidentally messed up our departure time + missed our flight. Since we had purchased the tickets with miles, by missing the plane we also lost our entire round trip ticket. Bohoo! With 1 month away from our wedding, I knew it would be irresponsible to repurchase 2 entire airfare tickets from Panama to NY, but my man insisted.

I’m glad that at the end of my weeping tantrum I agreed to use up some of our honeymoon savings to go to RHH LIVE because the trip paid for itself 10 times over.

My husband is my rock. My confidant. The love of my live. The moving force behind everything I do. With him by my side, I feel I can do anything.

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You’ve been creating, drawing, painting since a very young age and have degrees in art, at any point did you feel resistance to making art your business?

Never growing up. I have extremely supportive parents, the kind that bought me lots of crayons + let me paint outside the lines + played music around the house + allowed me to dress up (even if it wasn’t Halloween) + applauded my world domination aspirations + hugged me constantly + signed me up for dance classes + much + much more.

There’s no doubt in my mind, that my parents protection + unconditional love is the #1 reason I’m still here today + I’ve been able to push pass all my adulthood noise + self-inflicted resistance.

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You’ve sold more than 5,000 copies of your first product (Life is Messy). Tell us a little bit about that experience. When did you start to see the full potential of blogging and connecting online?

I still pinch myself when I see the numbers. I think the fact that it was my first digital products + I had no expectations of grandeur helped tremendously. This first offering helped me understand my client – what they really needed from me, not what they say they wanted. It helped me gain capital so I could build over a year time the BEST organizational solution out there. It helped me tighten my niche + refine my mojo. It helped me understand that my success is directly linked to my clients success. And the best part it all is that I get to do it all over again every year, because Life is Messy is a yearly organizational program, so I’m constantly evolving + innovating + pushing by boundaries + that keeps me busy.

I like busy.

You are clearly having fun in your business and being 100% Mayi. What advice do you have for women entrepreneurs who are hesitant to just be themselves?

My advice? My advice is that you don’t need my advice. To find your voice you have to ignore everybody. Take “What will they think?” out of your vocabulary.

You can’t discover yourself if you’re trapped in a compulsion to conform + be liked by everybody.

When I first started video blogging, people thought I was nuts. Some even assumed I was doing heavy drugs. Believe me, it hurt. But at the end of my crying tantrums I always go back to the same question, “What price I’m I willing to pay to not be myself?”. Honestly, it scares me even more to abandon Mayi than to learn to deal with vicious rumors + stiff opposition. Wouldn’t you agree?

Videos are one of the cornerstones of your content. What advice do you have for other women entrepreneurs who are just starting to shoot their own videos?

Oh yes. My Friday Video Time episodes have changed everything for me. Video has allowed me to get more personal + connect on a much deeper level with my readers, with the aid of course of my goofy party props + funky dance moves + insanely practical ninja tricks. I really can’t take all the credit.

For anyone tip toed their way into video blogging, I recommend to leave all inhibitions out the door. Making videos should be fun, both to make + to watch. No one’s going to sit down to watch a boring clip, no matter how amazeballs the content is. So my number uno advice is to turn up the entertainment notch to mega high.

I also suggest to go check out my free Vlogging 101 Video Series at www.heartmadeblog.com.

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You also coach other artistic entrepreneurs. How does it feel to encourage other artist see their full value in the world? How do you feel when you see the progress your one-on-one coaching clients are having with their creative businesses?

It’s better than all the cupcakes in the galaxy. My clients are truly the Energizer batteries to my bunny. Without them, this would just be a lonely “Mayi Carles Show” + that ain’t very fun.

Like Pinky needs Brain, I too need the artist’s who’s lives I’m privileges to touch. I think it all boils down to belonging + knowing that our paths crossed for a reason larger than ourselves.

For me, it makes me feel useful, like I matter, like I have a unique contribution that no one else can give. And I think that’s a pretty good reason to keep at it with all my heart 🙂

Who are some of your favorite artists.

Sweat Bestiary
Merriweather Council
The Angry Weather
Jackie Rueda

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What’s next for you and your business?

I like to keep things a secret until they’re 100% official, so for now I’ll just say: I’m translating my Life is Messy Bootcamp to Spanish (los quiero mis queridisimos lectores hispanos) + building a very special project with my partner in crime April Bowles, for online superstars. Enough said 🙂

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Mayi Carles is a tiny Panamanian artist with a T-Rex heart. She loves party props + wearing her paint stained Eeyore pajamas + if left unsupervised, she could eat an entire batch of Red Velvet cupcakes. Oh + she’s an organizational master, helping more than 5 thousand messy entrepreneurs get more done in record time over at Life is Messy Bootcamp. You can find her at Mayi Carles, Heartmade, as well as on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

If you love this interview with Mayi, share it, like it, pass it on! And leave Mayi a comment below!