Meet Amy Hager | Artist, Dietitian & YouTuber

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amy Hager and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amy, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
My driving factor in becoming self employed was the need for improved work life balance. I grew weary of trading my time for a paycheck, especially when my time was not being utilized efficiently. However, as I became my own boss, and eventually developed multiple businesses I once again noticed a shift in work life balance. I could easily take on too much and this time it felt justified since it was all in the name of productivity. However, after 10 years of self employment, I’ve become more attuned to cycles of intense work balanced with down time. I’m not as easily swept up in over achieving and have pared down my tasks substantially..

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My development as an artist is about 10 years in the making but has taken an interesting turn in the last 2 years. When I first became self employed, I had time to take up new hobbies, one of which was beekeeping. I became fascinated with beeswax abs honey comb and started to make lip balms and lotions, and eventually began making jewelry by copper plating honeycombs. I participated in art markets selling copper jewelry for 7 years. I learned a lot about the inside and outs of art shows and vendor markets over this time. But just a couple of years ago I went into a completely different creative direction. I delved into the world of mixed media art, specifically collage using dried botanicals and encaustic medium (made from beeswax and tree resin). I started to slowly introduce my artwork into my vendor markets and it immediately well received. It started outselling my jewelry and I made the decision to go “all in” with changing my creative business over to encaustic botanical collage. I feel like my design style is an authentic extension of my life as a beekeeper and resident of the Colorado high country, utilizing dried flower specimens from our homestead. The canvas I use for my work is upcycled wood from our home build.. I decided to tie in the brand from our YouTube channel “Colorado Mountain Living “ as people have been following our story of moving to the Colorado Mountains to build our life and home here. Even though the channel focuses on home building, the over arching story is that my husband and I intentionally decided to craft a lifestyle that reflects our values and gifts, and for me that includes working as an artist . I still do nutrition counseling as a dietitian in my own telehealth practice, but it’s very part time, so that I can spend more of my time and energy in creative pursuits that are more fun, and truthfully more lucrative.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live very rurally in Gilpin county so I don’t get out much, other than attending a variety of art shows around the state. Some of the most fun places I’ve enjoyed visiting were Ridgway-Ouray area. The Western slope is so much less crowded and has a ton of quality restaurants that you can just walk right I to without reservations and enjoy a farm to table meal in minutes.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout absolutely has to go to my husband who has always encouraged me to pursue my interests and dreams without any type of criticism or worry. He’s been a key player in getting our YouTube channel going, has sent me referrals for my nutrition counseling business and built custom displays for my art business.

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Youtube: https://youtube.com/@coloradomountainliving?si=4z8WfGQYEM3Tlx9B