Full Transcript – Volta Voloshin-Smith – Wild Business Growth Podcast #265

This is the full transcript for Episode #265 of the Wild Business Growth Podcast featuring Volta Voloshin-Smith – Watercolor Meditation, Founder of Color Snack. You can listen to the interview and learn more here. Please note: this transcript is not 100% accurate.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 0:00
I’m gonna sweat through my blazer which has totally happened. I don’t care, I’m gonna show up

Max Branstetter 0:22
Hi, so nice of you to join. Welcome back to the Wild Business Growth Podcast. This is your place to hear from a new entrepreneur every single Wednesday morning who’s turning Wild ideas into Wild growth. I’m your host, Max Branstetter, Founder and Podcast Producer at MaxPodcasting, and you can email me at to save time with your high-quality podcast. This is Episode 265. You never thought we’d get past 264, did you? And today’s guest is Volta Voloshin-Smith. Volta is the founder, Creative Director, artist, Illustrator, and educator to name a few at Color Snack. At color snack, she is on a mission to eliminate stress, burnout, all the things of the like, among companies and employees. And she does so through art. More specifically, her flagship workshop is Watercolor Meditation. Whew, very, very stress reducing even just hearing it. In this episode we talk what exactly Watercolor Meditation entails, what exactly Color Snack is and how Volta took it from lunch break to full-time business, her journey from Moldova to America and assimilating into the culture as a teenager of all times and everything from Wild Doodles to Wild Noodles. It is a Wild one, folks. And it is Volta. Enjoyyyyyy the showwwwww!

Aaaaaalrightyyyyy we are here with Volta Voloshin-Smith, who breaking news confirmed that it’s Voloshin like the ocean. Volta. Super, super excited to speak with you and learn the Color Snack story here today. Thank you so much for joining How you doing today.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 2:24
Thank you so much for having me, Max. I’m so excited to be here. Of

Max Branstetter 2:29
course, of course. And I like yourself, you know, having a long last name, it helps to have something that rhymes with it. And I got to start thinking of something that rhymes with Branstetter. I’ve never thought of that before. But volution like the ocean is amazing. That you know, you could write a poem book with that name, and on top of your other book and content out there. But anyway, we could talk names this whole time, but really excited to dive into the color snack story. And as kind of a precursor to that. I heard that your interest in art and color and creativity ties back in a way to even Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. Can you reveal the story behind that? Yeah,

Volta Voloshin-Smith 3:17
oh my gosh. So actually, my love for art comes from growing up in Moldova. It was like former Soviet Union country and all of a sudden, like all the TV channels were flooded with colorful cartoons. And of course, there was also like the commercials, you know, all of a sudden, they’re like products that you hadn’t even heard of. And I was just so instantly drawn to the colorful cartoons. And I would even, like especially Cartoon Network, I remember watching it and not even really understanding English because I wasn’t studying it at the time wasn’t learning it, but I just loved the colorful pictures and imagery and then a big part. So this wasn’t necessarily on Cartoon Network. But this is a show or like a piece of art that basically really stuck with me throughout the years and that’s the Japanese anime Sailor Moon and oh, yeah, it’s all done in watercolor. And for the longest time I didn’t really know the connection or I I didn’t really like realize it’s like, oh, that’s why I’m so drawn to the medium of watercolors as I grew up watching that show and it was just so colorful and so vibrant that I was just in love. I

Max Branstetter 4:39
distinctly remember Sailor Moon because all my folders and by no disguise, but no, I remember a lot of girls in my class in like fifth grade. I don’t know why that year sticks out. But it was around that time that you know, everybody brings their own folders and binders and stuff to school and there are a lot of girls that had like Salem We went on everything like so folders, binders backpacks like it was taken over. So there’s clearly something about that. That was it was like a movement and that style of animation, obviously, you know, has never been bigger even today. But that’s so clearly there was like that explosion of color and in art into your life. Thank you. So there’s kind of like a new inspiration and creativity there, which which foreshadows what you’re doing now with your career. But for somebody like me, and like, I assume you are many of us who aren’t too too familiar with Moldova. But you know, besides it being a country, and you know, maybe where it’s located in the world, can you shed some light on what your life was like there before coming to the US?

Volta Voloshin-Smith 5:45
Moldova is a wonderful country, the people are wonderful. But living there was really tough in terms of, especially after, like, the Soviet Union fell apart, there was a lot of corruption everywhere, it was just really hard to make a living and be honest about it. Like I just remember, in my childhood, it was my parents, like we’re working like several jobs trying to make ends meet. And it was, even though like they were working in were employed, there were months where they wouldn’t receive their salary, or like, they wouldn’t get paid just because it was like, there was no money too. So there’s that kind of like, gives an idea like a little bit of a glimpse. So it was really hard. Growing up there, even though you know, I have very fond memories of visiting my family and my grandmother in the countryside and all those things. My dad fought really hard to emigrate. He’s a math professor. And so basically, he was just trying all kinds of ways he would attend conferences in different countries, make connections with people and basically find any way that we could possibly move. You know, at the time, like when we immigrated with my, when I immigrated with my parents, I was 14. And as like a typical teenager, that was, that was so hard. I like just being a teenager in general was like, and then on top of that, coming to a whole new country. And at the time, I will say like, I did not realize, you know, how how important this was for me. So it was like really challenging to kind of assimilate and get used to it. But I will say that I am so like forever grateful to math and my dad because because of him and his achievements in the field, we were able to come to the United States and have such a much better life. Yeah,

Max Branstetter 7:46
appreciate you sharing that. It’s an amazing story. And I, as you, as you hinted that those early teenage years, and teenagers in general are such a pivotal in such a tough time for so many of us. And then from your standpoint, it’s oh, let’s, you know, move around the world and get thrown into this culture. It’s completely different. On top of that, what was the biggest challenge in those early days? What you know, when you first got to the US,

Volta Voloshin-Smith 8:19
it was just feeling so alone, I just felt completely like, I couldn’t really connect with anyone in school and, and then like, on top of that, we also moved three times to three different states. And so like, it felt like every year I had to, like start over with, you know, like being the new kid and also the new foreign kid and it was just kind of that was like a really challenging part of kind of just, you know, getting used to it.

Max Branstetter 8:54
Real quick, I know you’re in Texas now, but what other states have you lived in?

Volta Voloshin-Smith 8:58
Yeah. Illinois, Delaware, and Alabama.

Max Branstetter 9:02
Wow. Okay. Just so the traditional Illinois, Alabama, Delaware, Texas pipeline. Yeah, exactly. Throw in Moldova as well. But yeah. Let’s get to art and more specifically, color snack. So you mentioned you know, from an early age, shout out Sailor Moon, you had an interest in art, you had an interest in color. There’s something about that that really spoke to you and so many shout out my folders. But when did you start realizing that art or something involving art could actually become you know, a professional career for you?

Volta Voloshin-Smith 9:47
It was about five years ago. So before I started my business, I started with a blog and the blog was color snack. And the whole idea behind the name was that At the time, when I started, it was about seven years ago, I was working full time I was going to school full time pursuing a master’s degree because I thought that would just fix my unhappiness with my current job as one does. You know,

Max Branstetter 10:16
I think I think it’s very common for that.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 10:19
Yeah. So anyway, I was so busy, I had no life, no social life, because I was doing homework every day. And on the weekends. It was also like, a mother like, heavy thing happened during that time period. That was just a very challenging time for me. And I just stumbled upon watercolors by accident, because I didn’t go to art school, I went, I went to business school and study marketing. Because my parents, you know, being like immigrants, they always kind of nudged me to pursue a more secure path. So something that’s more, you know, and also, when I was growing up, or even going to college, I didn’t know I didn’t have anyone in my life as an example to be like, oh, like, you can make money with art. I just didn’t know any of that. But then eventually, you know, during that difficult time in my life, I came back to art by just picking up a set of watercolors and just playing around with it. And I realized that I, whenever I would engage even just a few minutes at a time, it made me feel so much better. And so I wanted to share that with everyone else. So that’s why I started color snag because it’s essentially I was I was creating five minute tutorials that were like a snack of colors. So like, I knew everyone, you know, we’re all busy, have busy lives. But if we just spend like a few minutes doing something creative, it can just help improve our mood so much. And so that was like, kind of at the heart of my business is that idea that creativity and creative activities are so, so good for our mental health and just our life in general.

Max Branstetter 12:00
That’s one of my favorite names I’ve ever heard. By the way color snack I like, who doesn’t like colors and who doesn’t like snacks? So I think it’s brilliant. It’s colorful, and it’s hunger reducing,

Volta Voloshin-Smith 12:15
and you know, actually like the the second meaning, like with time as I was, you know, kind of pursuing this creative career I was, I realized, Oh, you can, there’s like food illustrators out there. And that’s like, kind of the main theme of what I always paint is food. And so like, it kind of got a second meaning on top of it’s just like, it’s not just like tutorials for like creativity and all that, but also, the actual colorful snack, which is like what I love to paint and love to eat. It’s very on brand. Exactly.

Max Branstetter 12:48
It’s a double entendre. Maybe that’s why I like it so much as I like plays on words, and double entendres, things like that. And so it’s, it’s all there. At what point did you start to pitch companies are throwing your name out there as like, hey, this could this could be, you know, an awesome workshop or training for employees.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 13:08
It started to happen like a little bit before the pandemic began is I was doing a lot of I was participating in a lot of like public events in art markets and fairs. And all I was basically doing anything to just like, get my name out there and connect with people. Eventually, some people were like, oh, like, do you teach classes? And I remember, like, the first time someone approached me about that I was so apprehensive or like, kind of scared to say, yes. But I said yes. Anyway. And you know, even at the time, I was already like, I was creating tutorials. I was teaching classes on Skillshare. But I had never done it in person. And so that was like, a brand new challenge. But I was just so excited to try it. I, you know, said Yes, before I felt ready, and then loved the process so much. And then of course, like the pandemic happened, surprisingly, like I thought, oh, like, so much of my business will be lost. And in a way it was but in a way, it was like pivoted into a new direction. I just kind of started doing a lot of content online and showing up in on different platforms, and basically, you know, sharing what I loved and then people started reaching out to me and they’re like, Hey, I attended your free workshop, like, come do this for my company. It is max, it is so crazy to me, like I’m still I still pinch myself when I think about this, because prior to like doing my own business, I spent like seven years in the corporate and then in the agency world. And during my lunch breaks, I would bring my watercolor set, because I wanted to just like take a break from the computer and, you know, do a little bit of like creative self care. I noticed that eventually, like a lot of my co workers would join me in and so it’s so crazy that now I get to do this on like a professional level to basically serve these corporate clients that are open to like the idea of a watercolor workshop that helps you reduce stress and unwind and tap into that creativity.

Max Branstetter 15:19
That’s the dream. I mean to do some, like you just showed the example there yourself, like if, if you can find a career where, where people will pay you to do something that you already love. And in turn, you’re you’re solving problems or helping out others like, it obviously keeps you fulfilled as well. That’s a really, really good setup there. So So who knew during your lunch breaks, years ago that you were working on this future now present? Business? That I got chills, you got me pumped up? Thank you. Of course. Well, thank you. But you start Yeah. So people started saying, hey, like, You should do this. And you started doing this for companies? What kind of companies were you working with? At the start? Like, did you kind of have like a target? Audience, if you will, back then? Actually,

Volta Voloshin-Smith 16:11
yes, I just started out with not companies, but like, apartment complexes, I guess their companies too. I mean, some companies own them. Right. So yeah, residential buildings, residential, yes. residential buildings. Because they were always looking for, like fun things to do for residents. Yeah,

Max Branstetter 16:31
well, we live in an apartment complex here. And all that, yeah, they tried it like three or four times a month, they tried to do some sort of activity like this. Yeah, not as fun as yours. But

Volta Voloshin-Smith 16:44
by the way, I can fly out Wherever, wherever, so

Max Branstetter 16:46
perfectly, put no word Hoboken.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 16:49
But basically, like, I started out that way, and then, as far as like having a particular target of companies, it’s, I’ve worked with so many different ones, that I really kind of like attracted in a way by just meeting people that work there. And they liked what I was doing. And then they thought of me to, you know, to pitch for like team building, or like corporate wellness kind of initiative. So that’s kind of how it happened. And then, with the pandemic, specifically, I did a lot of free workshops with CreativeMornings, which is, I don’t know, if you’re familiar with this community there, it’s global, it’s such a wonderful place. And they often have an opportunity to teach anything that you like, any subject that you are passionate about. And so I would host a lot of these, specifically, like the watercolor meditation workshop, just because, you know, it was such a stressful time, and I wanted to kind of help people tap into calm with art. And so because I was doing a lot of those, a lot of the corporate people later that we’re attending them later kind of brought me in into their, their companies. So,

Max Branstetter 18:05
I mean, it goes back to networking, and just kind of, as you were saying, like putting yourself out there and just Yeah, to try to, you know, be seen the Help help out people as many ways as you can. And fast forward to today, and your clients that you’ve worked with include like, Home Depot, meta, you know, we could list on and on and on, but some of some of the biggest names out, you know, household names as far as giant companies and companies with the big impact. And you mentioned, what watercop would be nice if I could pronounce it. But you mentioned watercolor meditation, which I know is your flagship workshop, or program or however you prefer to say it. For those of us who aren’t familiar. Can you give a little sneak peek at what that actually means? If you’re if you’re, if you’re getting watercolor meditated? Absolutely,

Volta Voloshin-Smith 18:58
oh, I’ve never used it as a verb before. I’m excited. When one does get watercolor meditated,

Max Branstetter 19:09
you can cancel that anytime you want, if you don’t like.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 19:13
But yeah, go on. Yeah, so basically, the premise of my course water and workshop watercolor meditation is that it combines very simple breathing techniques with very simple brush marks. And the idea is that you not only get to really pause and be in the moment, but you also practice those intentional breaths. And a lot of the meditations that I share. These specifically focus on like making or encouraging the participant to exhale and have those longer exhale is because whenever we take our time with our exhales, we activate the calmness in our body so it not only like focus helps you but also like helps you focus on it. by, you know, you’re engaging with your hand and your arm. And so you’re painting and your brain has no other option, but to focus on what’s in front of you. So it becomes like a visual point of focus. So that, you know, if someone that is struggling with traditional meditation, they could still like, tap into the benefits of those meditative benefits without doing the traditional route, which, by the way, like I absolutely recommend, and I’ve been meditating myself for over 10 years. But it is such a hard habit to build, I will say, even to this day, I need like a guided audio meditation because I can’t just close my eyes and like, focus on my breath. It sounds so easy, but it’s so high

Max Branstetter 20:46
that you just close your eyes and you reach Nirvana.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 20:50
I wish.

Max Branstetter 20:53
So what was involved in creating this workshop? You know, if somebody’s going through, somebody’s getting watercolor meditated? You know, what did you do, I guess creatively to get to that point of like, Alright, here’s, here’s what it looks like for them. Like, here’s what they’re painting. Here’s how much time it takes, like, what more on the backend of that? I’m curious, really

Volta Voloshin-Smith 21:15
cool question. I don’t think anyone has ever asked me about that part of the course. So thank you.

Max Branstetter 21:20
Yeah, no problem. Thank you. Thank you. That’s, that’s my favorite thing to hear.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 21:24
Basically, like the the process of the workshop is I, I teach, where I started out with very simple watercolor techniques, just to get people like used to the medium and kind of get acquainted with it. And then I lead the participants through a series of watercolor meditations. And they typically can last for like, five to seven minutes. And depending on how much time we have together, like I, I can kind of like, adjust how many I share with people. And then the like, my favorite part too, is, I do teach this through watercolors, because it’s my favorite medium, and I find it so soothing. But all of these exercises that I share can be absolutely done with a pen and just paper. So you could still kind of, you know, if you like attend a workshop and you learn, it’s just like, I want to share the tool that you can use something like a visual expression, you can use your creative self-expression to bring a little bit that moment of calm into your life. And so the different meditations, they also vary like some do combine, like the breathing aspect, you know, you’re taking a deep breath in as you’re painting a circle. And then as you’re exhaling, you’re painting another circle. Others are a little bit more of like, you’re doing like a series of repetitive marks, which also, like whenever we’re engaging in that repetitive motion, our brains like drop into that kind of calmer state. And also like kind of like a primer for getting into flow, that magical space where we just like lose track of time and just feel so good. It’s like a brain massage.

Max Branstetter 23:12
Oh, I like brain massage. Like that. That’s yeah, that’s a keeper. In addition to like circle and trying out different strokes, shout out the show different strokes. What types of items or objects are your, I guess we could call them your students, or they maybe they’re your clients too, or your students slash clients actually painting.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 23:35
That is my favorite part about this concept is that we’re not painting any specific object. So they’re very much like abstract shapes, which I’ve found from like doing this for so many years now is that, especially for beginners or people that are maybe afraid to try art, they think, Oh, I’m not doing this, right. Like they’re very, like self critical, engaging in in or creating an art piece that doesn’t really represent anything kind of helps them loosen up a little bit. That’s why I like always try to make it very approachable and accessible so that even if you’ve never like picked up, you know, a waterbrush before or painted with watercolors, you can still enjoy the process and get like the benefit of it. And my favorite studies out there are you know, saying that engaging in a creative activity like helps reduce stress and the best part is that you don’t need any prior art experience to really enjoy that. So it just like opens up the doors for the possibility to like anyone if you have any kind of sort of interest or even if you think you don’t, but I encourage you to to give it a try because it can just be so transformative and so fun to Yes,

Max Branstetter 24:57
it’s so welcoming.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 24:59
Yeah

Max Branstetter 25:01
I can’t get past brain massage, that’s like, almost as good a term as Color Snack. But if you were to look back on this incredible journey you’ve been on over the past several years, if you had to pick one thing, like a tactic or a strategy that you’ve done, that has made this thing a success, what would it be? It’s

Volta Voloshin-Smith 25:25
to show up consistently, and show up when you are scared. When you feel anxious, show up, you know, I have never regretted not doing something outside of my comfort zone. But I’ve always regretted not like trying it out. So I would say just, it is definitely hard. And I’ll be like the first to say I like I have extreme like social anxiety. I like to have very uncomfortable, anxious feelings before I do something big, like teacher workshop do like painting events. But I just realized that like, that is just my brain trying to protect me. And like, I’m grateful for it. But I know that like I’m on a bigger mission. And like, I hope that with time, it’ll get easier. But even if it doesn’t, I just so believe in, in this idea that art can help us heal and feel better. And that I just like, whatever it is that I’m feeling the discomfort, the like feeling of, oh, they’re gonna judge me or I’m gonna look weird. I’m gonna say some funny or I’m gonna sweat through my blazer, which has totally happened. I don’t care, I’m going to show up.

Max Branstetter 26:48
I don’t care I’m going to show up. And blazers, sweat stains or not. That’s kind of been my motto for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter, as well. I make an appointment to show up every Thursday and hoping that you continue to join and grow this thing as well. The Podcasting to the Max newsletter is where podcasting meets entrepreneurship, and terrible puns and dead jokes and things that it might make you smile, or might make you like throw darts at a cut out of my head, one or the other, maybe both. But anyway, you can sign up at MaxPodcasting.com/Newsletter to get that short and sweet email from me every Thursday. Now, let’s get into where art meets mental health. So that segues perfectly to its segment is typically about inspiration and creativity. And I think with your business and what you do, I mean, it’s all inspiration and creativity. And more specifically, I want to dive a bit more into art and mental health. I mean, what you just said, perfectly described, so you know, the benefits of it. And how stressed reducing it can be and how anxiety reducing which anxiety, it’s like, I feel like it’s just around the world has never been at a higher level. And it’s so many of us feel it all the time. Especially sorry, by the way for like I think the fact that you’re waiting and like you’re probably stressed out for this interview, and then you’re like, Oh no, how’s it gonna go? And then you see me and I like, you hear the first dad joke and you’re like, wow, that’s this guy’s not gonna worry about.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 28:31
I love dad jokes. And I was a little nervous.

Max Branstetter 28:39
No, nothing to be nervous about but art and mental health. Can you speak to just from what you’ve seen about research and your own experience, kind of like the science of like, why art is such a great thing from a mental health standpoint.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 28:53
You know, disclaimer, I’m not, you know, neuroscientist, and I’m not also not an art therapist. But I do like, you know, I do have my own therapist, and I love to read books on neuroscience and how the brain works. And mostly like a lot of that does stem from my own, like lifelong struggle with anxiety. I think one of like, one of my favorite books that I’ve recently read is your brain on art. And that is like such a fascinating resource and also so validating to read for anyone who’s like in the creative space because they share so many different studies of how you know engaging in like, dance movements helps with your mental health also, like just the fact of your brain like when you have that like I mentioned, you know your the point of focus right in front of you, like your brain has its struggles to kind of do two things at the same time. Even though we all we’re all thinking like oh, multitasking is a real thing. Like it’s not so then the best part of like, using that idea of like, oh I you know If I’m stressed out, I have so many so much anxiety, I can’t like calm down. Well, whenever we are engaging in that creative, very mindless kind of or not mindless, but more so like mindful because you have been intentional, but it becomes mindless from the point of view of like, your thoughts are, are calming down. It’s, you know, like engaging in that creative process. Another cool thing too is you can take it and even like further further step is try to do like just some doodles with both engaging both of your hands, because like, typically, you’ll go for your dominant hand. If you’re starting to do some, like Wild Doodles with both of your hands, I guarantee your brain will just completely be like, I don’t even know where I’m at, like, what’s how you’ll be so engaged in the process. I will say like, whenever I share this example, in my workshops, I have a hard time teaching it because as I’m demonstrating, and I’m doing it, the part of your brain that like is responsible for speaking is kind of like gets gets a little shut down. So I’m telling you, it totally works. Like if you need just a quick moment of calm, like try to doodle something with both of your hands and engage your brain in that way. And you will see that it’ll kind of help you refocus. We recenter yourself.

Max Branstetter 31:28
Wild Doodles are our favorite type of doodles on the Wild Business Growth Podcast. So yeah, are you throwing that in there? But I just from you mentioning that about like the thought of doing something with both hands, doodling I think it’s something that both hands at the same time, if I could talk about like, my brain went crazy, just hearing that. And so that’s a great, great little tip, a great little will pick me up if you need it. Why is watercolor remain your favorite in this space?

Volta Voloshin-Smith 31:55
I love watercolors, because of how accessible they are. When I was like, in my busiest, most challenging years of my life, I just remember how I wanted to do something creative. And the idea of just like, oh, I have to set up a space and then like, put on a like, I don’t want to get stuff on the floor. Like you know, it just, I was so worried about the maintenance aspect of creating. And so when I picked up a small set of watercolors, I just I love that you can just open up and all the colors are there and you don’t have to spend time like worrying with tubes in it’s also like, very flexible in terms of like the watercolors. They go a long way and they don’t create a big mess. Even when like your palette dries, you can just add a little bit of water and the paints work again, which you can’t really do that with other mediums. So watercolor for the win.

Max Branstetter 32:58
Is that is that like your go to hashtag hashtag? Yeah. The alliteration now use jokes are flying around. Now that’s the ease and accessibility, there’s awesome. And simplicity. And it’s funny because with pencils or pen, it is super simple to in theory to pick it up and just doodle like that. But it’s also I don’t know what hand you are, but I’m a lefty. And so growing up, yeah. But lefties to like, you know, you know, just as well, that when you’re not painting and don’t have that brush to separate you, when you’re using pen or pencil, all that gets on the side of your hand. And it’s like all over or like when you’re writing papers at school, it’s the same sort of thing. So while it might seem simple, it might actually be messier than watercolor paint even.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 33:49
Absolutely, yeah.

Max Branstetter 33:53
Meditation is another piece that, you know, is intrinsically tied into all of this. And so you’ve meditated for the past decade. You mentioned it and I know you said it’s not easy, but what are a couple tips that you can share for anybody that’s wishing to get into the meditative space or state,

Volta Voloshin-Smith 34:13
I would definitely recommend to start super small. I remember when I was starting out I would literally just do two minutes and you may maybe it was like in the car before going into my like nine to five. For me it was about showing up for this practice because I kept hearing everyone say like, oh, this helps with your anxiety helps with your stress. And I’m like I have all of those like I need help. Literally like even if two minutes is too long, like start with 30 seconds. I think as long as you consistently showing up and the best way that you can and also don’t be like judgmental. If you miss up mess a few days or if you think that oh maybe I’m During this ride, there’s no right or wrong way to meditate. I prefer to do it laying down and a lot of people say that you should be sitting up because you’ll fall asleep and, and you know what? Maybe okay, maybe sometimes it did happen that I did take a little nap. And you know what? I’m better for it. Right?

Max Branstetter 35:18
I feel like because I’m a huge proponent of naps. I feel like if I got started getting serious about meditating, it’s gonna be really tough to differentiate between the nap and in meditative state.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 35:28
You know, it could be a nap nap notation? I don’t know. Yeah,

Max Branstetter 35:34
in Indianapolis.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 35:38
Another thing that I also wanted to share in terms of like building a meditation habit, or even like any habit in general, is, I encourage people to celebrate, like, not the streaks of like, oh, I showed up for like, a whole month, every day. But every single time that you’ve returned to the habit, so the number of streaks and I kind of like came to this realization by because I meditate with a meditation app that has guided meditations and on there. I do have the, you know, it shows me like how many hours I’ve meditated throughout my like, last 10 years and all this like all these stats, but like, the, the one that I’m most proud of is like the number of streaks because like, I have missed days, but I do keep coming back. And it’s like, that’s the desire to keep trying again and again, to build this habit is like what I think we should all focus on in terms of Yeah, like streaks are great. And like when you have great days and great weeks, and life is perfect. Like, of course you’re going to show up for your habit, but like life is life can get so crazy and, and wild. Sometimes.

Max Branstetter 36:51
Wild, there’s wild doodles flying everywhere. Exactly. No, I love that approach of focusing on how many times you return to it and kept that going kept the streaks going. What is the name of that meditation app by the way?

Volta Voloshin-Smith 37:05
It’s calm. Okay, yeah, I’ve heard of it. I’m like, such a huge fan of them. And there’s, there’s tons of other ones out there too. I don’t want to I don’t want to be like their you know, I’m not paid to say it. I just legit love this app.

Max Branstetter 37:25
So let’s legit wrap up with some rapid-fire q&a. You ready for it? Yeah. All right, let’s get Wild. Wild, we’ll get some wild doodles going yet again. What is the hardest food to paint with watercolor.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 37:44
I did like a pasta dish for a client one time. And it was just like, the reference photo was like really, really hard to work with. So I had to, like, use, I had to like look up the dish and see photos from other people. And then kind of like, you know, absorb that information. And then still, like, kind of make it look like the dish that they wanted. So I would say it was probably like, I don’t remember the exact name of that it was a pasta dish.

Max Branstetter 38:18
No, that that makes total sense. The wild noodles to go along with the wild deals, but no, no, I feel like noodles. They’re everywhere. It’s raining spaghetti and meatballs, but the noodles are now that just sounds hard to turn into art in any form. Because it’s like so many lines go in every which direction and and there’s so much depth in

Volta Voloshin-Smith 38:38
the shadows, too, because it’s like, you know, they’re overlaying on each other and you can just, they can just be flat noodles, you know, they’re gonna be I gotta have, you know, some substance to them. So it’s like the shape. Yeah, it was, it was wild. We

Max Branstetter 38:52
had a previous guests who I asked a similar question to about it was about photographing food and like, what food is the hardest to photograph? And her answer was actually salad because salad there’s so many shadows there. And so it’s the same idea. And it’s like when you’re trying to make something like perfect for you know, paintings or photograph the shadows that the more of shadows the the less marry I guess. Yes. All right. So as you can see rapidfire super quick. Now. What’s your favorite painting that you’ve ever done all time?

Volta Voloshin-Smith 39:24
And it actually is not of a food? Oh, no, you

Max Branstetter 39:27
can’t answer that. No, just guy.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 39:30
It’s a painting of my late cat sow. Oh, he passed away during the pandemic which was so devastating because it was very like an unexpected he had he had a terminal illness that we just didn’t know about as a rescue. We were not told anyway. I just remember like it was just so like heart wrenching to lose him. I just I typically never really paint cats. I never painted him. I don’t know why it just was not I will no just did not have that connection. And then like as a way to kind of heal myself a little bit from his passing is I painted one. Like it was a very small watercolor piece that I just remember like what when I once I finished it, I was like, I will never sell this like this is mine. And usually, usually like I’ll paint something I’m like, okay, yeah, done. Here you go, like put it on the site, let’s go. But this was just like, it was just such a deeply connected piece to me and like my experience with sharing my life with this like animal this creature that I just like, yeah, that would say that. It’s that one.

Max Branstetter 40:42
Yeah. And I thought you were gonna say like a banana. No, I’m just kidding. No, I appreciate you sharing that. And sorry for like, I’m the deck here for these questions, but starting up memories, but no, that’s that’s beautiful and like a beautiful way to memorialize them. Yeah. On a completely. I guess, any appropriate segue? That makes no sense. What is the worst that someone’s messed up the pronunciation of fellowship?

Volta Voloshin-Smith 41:14
Not there. Many people have messed up volution. What they have butchered a lot is my real first name, which so volta is my nickname. And I go by that because it’s just easier to spell and pronounce my like, legal first name is OSA. And it’s spelled O L E S, E, A. And so there’s the word Sea in it. And naturally, a lot of people thought it was pronounced all C or any variation of that. And so when I moved from Alabama to Texas, it was kind of like a fresh start. Like it was after college. It was like, I’m gonna be meeting a lot of people here like I’m over this. I’m just over it. And so I was like, I’m gonna go by my artist name Volta. And it was weird how like, I decided to go by that name, even though I was in the corporate world for a while, but then eventually I kind of like, still found my way into the art world. So that was like the beginning of it.

Max Branstetter 42:24
This makes perfect sense, though. Because your name has Sea in it. So you had the sea. And then you also have the ocean. Yes. All all comes together.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 42:35
And it’s all water. You know?

Max Branstetter 42:39
Wow, watercolor for the wind. Last one. What would you say is an activity or hobby, something that you are the best at besides watercolor meditation? I won’t let you answer those two. But what’s what’s another thing that if you have any time in your life, or you just have a knack for you’re really good at?

Volta Voloshin-Smith 43:02
I have a very strong gift game. So if people you know if I’m texting friends, and they’re saying something, then I am very good at responding with a clever gift that continues the conversation or enhances the conversation. You’re

Max Branstetter 43:19
You’re gifted at gifting? Yes. There’s a gift for that. Well. Oh, Olesea, how would I do? Was that accurate? Um, oh, it was close. Wait, what was what are they mess up?

Volta Voloshin-Smith 43:34
Oh, Alyssa. And like the the last part. Alexa, Alexa,

Max Branstetter 43:39
you got a better but anyway, I got it. So anyway, Volta. Thank you so much. Now this has been really, really cool. Just love what you’re all about. And it’s so cool how you’ve, you’ve turned this from something you kind of dreamt about and something you did at lunch breaks to a real full time business that’s helping somebody out there. So thanks again for coming on. Where is the best place if people want to connect with you get your book, listen to your podcast, like all these awesome things. Where’s the place to send them to? Max?

Volta Voloshin-Smith 44:08
Thank you. First of all, thank you so much for having me on the show. It’s such an honor to be here and just loved our conversation and the energy that you created in our space here even though it’s virtual, like I could just say thank you so much for doing that and having me and so sorry.

Max Branstetter 44:30
Let me just ruin it here at the end. No, you go ahead.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 44:35
People can connect with me on my website, which is ColorSnack.com. I also hang out on Instagram, which I have two accounts @ColorSnack and then @WatercolorMeditation, which is specific to that side of my business. And then I’m also very active on LinkedIn. I love love that platform so on there I’m Volta Voloshin-Smith.

Max Branstetter 44:56
Awesome. So now I’m just gonna I’m not gonna try to do your first name again. But last thing, Final Thoughts it could be a quote or just kind of like a final little message words to live by maybe upon whatever you want send us home here.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 45:11
I wish like I wish I could have thought of upon because I love puns. I literally like love them. But I can’t. So I’ll just I’ll just say this. My kind of my parting thought is to encourage whoever’s listening, to just keep showing up for your dream and do the uncomfortable step out of your comfort zone. Embrace that part of the process, even though it’s you know, just not fun sometimes. But it is so worth it. Because there’s just so much magic on the other side of what we are fearing and what we’re scared of doing. So just keep showing up.

Max Branstetter 45:51
In other words, do the puncomfortable.

Volta Voloshin-Smith 45:54
Yes, yes, perfect.

Max Branstetter 46:01
Punbelievable. Thank you so much, Volta, for sharing your incredible story that will pun-p you up the Color Snack story. And thank you, Wild Listeners, for tuning in to another episode. If you want to hear more Wild stories like this one, make sure to follow the Wild Business Growth Podcast on your favorite podcast app. I know that’s a lot of the word podcast. And, tell a friend about the podcast, especially a friend who may be interested in watercolor meditation. You can also find us on Goodpods, where there are good podcasts and good podcast people and podcast recommendations. And for any help with podcast production, you can learn more at MaxPodcasting.com and sign up for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter. That is at MaxPodcasting.com/Newsletter. Pun-til next time, let your business Pun Wild…Bring on the Bongos!!