We had the good fortune of connecting with Toadstool Studios Hannah Williams, Ania Wilton, Dejah Lee, Cassie Lee, Sarah LeMasters and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Toadstool Studios, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Aside from wanting the freedom to work for ourselves, my collective partners and I were looking to have more control over the ethics of our work. Artists, creatives, and designers often work behind the scenes and often for companies where they don’t have much say in the production process. By building our own enterprise we hope to not only profit from our own work, but ensure that our business practices are up to our standards.

What’s one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?

Fake it ‘til you make it. Imposter syndrome, especially when starting an independent creative enterprise, is very real. There is a tremendous amount of self-doubt to contend with in both the artistic and business sides of the venture. However, “Fake it ‘til you make it” implies that there isn’t any real talent or work behind what you’re doing. I prefer “Be it ‘til you see it.” which has a more encouraging tone.

Risk taking: how do you think about risk, what role has taking risks played in your life/career?

There are inherent risks when building anything new. It is important to have a self-reflective risk assessment process to help you filter out true business-related risk from personal anxieties and preferences. Does this decision really imply danger to my company or am I feeling social pressure around trying something new? Is this project ego driven or does it really have the potential to succeed? I strongly believe that research is an invaluable tool and we are so lucky to live in a time where so much information is available. Trust the math, make the best decision you can at the time, periodically revisit your course, and make changes as needed.

What habits do you feel helped you succeed?

Build your community! Even if all of the work is solo, more perspective on a project is always beneficial. Cooperating with others will allow you to build at a larger scale and keep the project grounded in reality.

What is the most important factor behind your success / the success of your brand?

Continually re-centering our art and creative freedom. While all of us would love to be able to support ourselves, financial success is not our primary goal.

What’s the most important lesson your business/career has taught you?

Trust yourself and trust the process. Work through the ugly stages. Failure is not an admonishment but an asset.

Work life balance: how has your balance changed over time? How do you think about the balance?

I used to think about balance as a noun: a kind of mystical goal that would be achieved if only I could find the right combination of work, motherhood, art-making, exercise, food, fun etc etc. The correct formula was infuriatingly elusive. Now I try to think about balance as a verb: an active process of surfing between commitments and responsibilities. Lean too hard one way and the pendulum will be forced to swing just as far in the opposite direction. If you focus on smaller movements/changes it takes far less energy to maintain the system.

How did you come up with the idea for your business?

This collective comes from the desire to pursue our own work while pooling resources for the more boring administrative tasks. The idea was to evenly distribute the needs of the business so that we would not be swamped trying to market ourselves individually.

Why did you pursue an artistic or creative career?

I think most artists would agree that this is not a choice but more of a calling. The ideas, concepts, feelings, and emotions we are trying to communicate are not readily translated into strictly functional language. There is information begging to be released into the world and for some reason (known or unknown) an Artist is unconsciously tasked with relaying it. Perhaps the maker has a very clear idea “why” they are making something. Perhaps they will discover this “why” over the course of their career. Perhaps they themselves will never solve the “why” but their work has been realized and added to the collective human consciousness for others to benefit from. I figure the more time I give myself to work, the more I can add to the mystery.

What are you inspired by?

Oh boy. Apologies but this one will read like a crazy laundry list of seemingly disparate subjects. Some of our inspirations include: magical realism, unknown reactions, challenging perceptions, the power of imagination, malleable reality, expanding collective consciousness, community growth and change, evolution of humanity in physical and virtual spaces, mushroom spore communication, bee-hive dynamics, back-lit leaves, orbits, oral histories, folklore and fairy tales, improvisation, surreal immersive experiences, and the good ol’ blank sheet of paper. As a group our individual inspirations often compound when we share them with each other. Some ideas are more fully formed to begin with while others evolve and grow as they get bounced around.

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.
The artist collective model has allowed us to take on bigger projects than we ever could have as individuals. In our first season of operation we have lifted ourselves off of the basement floor and into a legal business, a website, several social media accounts, 7 local art market appearances, 3 commissions, 4 local installation pieces, and an immersive experience room for a local fundraising gala. We did this without compromising our individual aesthetics and without having to commit to simple product production. Our model is fluid enough to react to incoming opportunities as well as foster the growth of our own ideas. There is so much more to come and we are excited to see where the future will take us!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There are so many amazing things to do here! First stop would definitely be to the local art supply store to pick up a new sketchbook to record all of our adventures. A day in Boulder would include a hike in Chautauqua and brunch at the Dushanbe Teahouse. Next we would drop into the Climbing Collective in Longmont for some bouldering, pick up apple cider donuts from Ya Ya Farm and Orchard, and grab tacos from Jefe’s. Denver highlights would be a visit to Meow Wolf, live figure drawing at the Art Student’s League, a stroll through the Botanic Gardens, and a evening show at The Mission Ballroom. We would wrap up the trip in Broomfield with some plein-air painting at the Brunner Farmhouse.

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?
Our shoutout goes to creators working in all mediums, doing their best to follow invisible, intangible dreams.

Website: https://toadstoolcolorado.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toadstool.colorado/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toadstoolcolorado/

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@toadstoolcolorado

Image Credits
Hannah Williams, Ania Wilton, Cassie Lee, Dejah Lee, Sarah LeMasters

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutColorado is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.