On Wednesday, February 4th, Professional Development Program leader Maxine Lapiduss visited the Creative Capital office from Los Angeles to lead her first, evening-length “Authentic Branding” workshop. The session, typically offered as a webinar or a day long session, was PDP’s first three-hour version. Artist participant Gwyneth Leech reacted to the evening’s activity: “A high-energy, information-packed presentation that left the group breathless and ready to do hard work on their own. Empowering! And kickass!”

Maxine’s approach to “branding” is all about story, and understanding your essence as an artist and human being. She stressed to the workshop’s participants that “If you understand what people are thinking of you…you have a weapon. You can choose to go with the flow or to disarm someone.” Read on for more tips and reactions from the workshop, and be sure to register for Maxine’s March 2nd “Authentic Branding” webinar!

According to Maxine, the thing that makes you special might be the thing you’re afraid to capitalize on. In other words: “Good things happen when you’re strange.”

 “What draws you in about a story are the characters,” Maxine relayed to the group. As readers or viewers, our emotional connection to characters helps us remember them. “If you can make us remember your story,” she told the artists, “usually it’s from an emotion.”

To Maxine, reinventing yourself as an artist isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Instead, she suggests: “Invent yourself once, and then explain it.” If you keep changing who you are, she says, “I’ll never find you. Give me something to remember!”

Ultimately, if you know why you’re making what you’re making and your intention is clear, connecting with others becomes much easier. One artist participant left us with this: “It’s hard to express how helpful this was. I feel it gave me a way to express the truth of who I am.”

Want more from Maxine on Authentic Branding? Register for her March 2nd webinar!