Meet Catherine March | Artist, Author, Illustrator, Book designer.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Catherine March and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Catherine, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?
One of the most overlooked components of a successful business is developing and executing good habits. Many people have great ideas, excellent skills, and a creative business plan. In the beginning, we are excited to start a business, implement our ideas, and begin to make our dreams a reality. However, getting started is the easy part. How we react to the hard times and obstacles that will inevitably come our way is what separates the successful from the simply hopeful. And the mechanics of success are habits.
For me, my morning ritual is what keeps me on track and moving forward through adversity and up and over the mountainous roadblocks along the way. Every morning, I get up around 6 AM, make coffee, and sit on my back porch. with my dog on my lap, I take time just to meditate and be present. Listening to the squirrels chatter as they play in the trees, the smell of the flowers and leaves, and watching the occasional fox run along the fence between my backyard and the lake behind my house centers me. After my coffee, I get in some movement. In the summer, this consists of watering and weeding my garden, in the winter it’s usually yoga. Afterward, I take out my journal and write what I call my “Morning Musings”. This is just stream-of-consciousness writing, things I want to accomplish, reflections on what happened, deciphering a dream. Then, I write my affirmations, (words written in the present tense that reinforce my goals), I also write 5 things for which I am grateful. Maintaining this ritual is the single best thing I do that sets me up for success.
My next habit is to open my laptop and get ready to work by 9 AM. I write out my goals (To Do List) for the day, then I read my e-mails. As I complete a task on my list, I mark it off with a bright pink highlighter. Seeing lots of pink on the page is very satisfying and keeps me motivated. Note: I even put little things on my list such as Call my daughter, Do the dishes, and Take the dog for a walk. This gives me more pink and also schedules things I need to to do, but aren’t related to work. One more thing I try to do is to do the task on the list that I dread doing the most, first. This has been dubbed “Eating the Frog” I confess, there are days I do all the easy stuff first, but I recognize when I do this so avoidance doesn’t progress past one or two days.
Another good habit I do is to watch something every day that teaches me a new skill, motivates me, gives me fresh insight into my business, or educates me in some way. I also read every night, usually something in the personal development realm but even fiction reading primes our minds for success. Then, I go to bed around 10 PM. Keeping a regular schedule is key.
Habits are the framework that keeps us on track and moving forward. When an action becomes ingrained in us, we just do it. And, contrary to popular movies, success doesn’t happen overnight, it is created in small consistent actions that we take every day.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My mother was a celebrated and successful portrait artist. She was my first art teacher and I was privileged to watch her focus, struggle, and eventually succeed in a career she truly loved. This taught me the virtues of tenacity and perseverance. I attended the American Academy of Art in Chicago and left with an associate’s degree in Advertising Design. After art school, for the next decade, I worked as a graphic designer in Chicago and Los Angeles. Since I went to school before computers were a thing, once they entered my industry, I had a decision to make, stay and learn the new ways or leave and begin a sales career. I chose the latter and spent the next 30 years selling various products, eventually growing a successful insurance agency.
Insurance was lucrative and allowed me to raise my 3 kids as a single mother who received zero help from my ex-spouse. But creatively, I was dead inside. To keep my creative sanity, I made a few paintings, was an artist at the annual Denver Chalk Art Festival, and always enjoyed creating marketing material for my agency. In December of 2021, the Marshall Fire happened destroying over 1000 homes, several of them belonging to my policy holders and friends. While I was proud that our insureds had much better coverage than the majority of their neighbors, I had finally had enough. I was nearing completion of my book “The Vegan Artist, Plant-based Is Easy” and I was ready to publish it. In April 2022, I sold my half of the business to my partner, left the insurance world in the dust, and embarked, circled back, to an art and writing career. My brand “The Vegan Artist” was ready for prime time.
As I mentioned, I raised 3 kids alone, started an insurance agency in the midst of the biggest economic turndown since the Great Depression, and succeeded at several sales jobs, but writing, illustrating, designing, and publishing a book is the hardest thing I have ever done. First, I had to write it. Since I was running an insurance agency, my writing happened in the evenings and in spurts. Editing it was my next challenge. I am grateful to my friend Michele who ruthlessly cut entire passages and suggested new ones, getting my book ready for the next stage. My previous graphic design experience was pre-computers, so the next step was to learn how to be a designer again. I created illustrations, designed the book, wrote and tested all the recipes, and even took all the photographs. From beginning to end, the book took 6 years to complete and I published my first edition in April of 2022.
As any publisher can tell you, getting the book done is only half the battle. now, the marketing began. I quickly realized getting a self-published book into bookstores was no easy feat and getting it printed was going to be very expensive. Since I am the author, illustrator, photographer, and designer and my only expenses were sweat equity, I took the plunge and printed 1000 copies which were delivered to my garage on 2 pallets. So far, I have sold my books at fairs, bookstore signings, and on my website after a good podcast appearance. In addition to my books (since my cookbook, I have also written and produced 2 children’s books and a food journal) I also sell my artwork and greeting cards. This is an evolving business and with every event, I learn more about what sells and how better to market myself. I recently added an Etsy store where I sell uniquely beautiful mugs and ornaments. My Etsy store is titled: “Beautiful Brews”
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?
Living in Colorado is living in a vacation spot. Depending upon the time of year, there is always something fun to do here. A trip to Summit County to hike in the summer or ski or snowshoe in the winter with a stop at Indian Hot Springs in Idaho Springs on the way home is a must. Due to traffic on I-70, this is a midweek activity of course. A trip to the Denver Art Museum is one of my favorite activities. I love to act as a tour guide through this beautifully curated museum. Then we’ll head to Boulder for lunch and a stroll on the Pearl Street Mall. The next day, we are headed to Cherry Creek Rez to play on our paddle boards and listen to live music. The Front Range is home to so many wonderful festivals, outdoor concerts, museums, sporting events, hiking trails, and reservoirs, we could find a fun activity for every day of the week for an entire year.
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?
Before I decided to write a beginning vegan cookbook, I first had to learn about the Whole Food Plant-based lifestyle and adopt it. Many physicians, books, and documentaries taught me that this way of eating was best for me, the planet and of course the animals. Realizing all the questions I had and the amount of research I put into learning about nutrition and cooking techniques led me to create a book that covers all of the basics.
Website: https://theveganartist.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theveganartistplantbasediseasy/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theveganartist/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theveganartistplantbasediseasy/