Today we’d like to introduce you to Hailey Nolin.
Hailey, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I grew up on a peninsula, which can be defined as a piece of land almost surrounded by water or projecting out into a body of water. I was never more than one block away from both the beach and the Intracoastal river waterway. And to this day, I still live on that same exact peninsula on the river, which is one block away from the ocean, about a 5- to 7-minute walk. I always knew that my career would somehow involve the beach that I had grown to love, but I had no idea that I would be lucky enough to paint versions of it. My first job was as a food runner at a beach resort where I would serve tourists who were on the pool deck or lounging in chairs on the beach sand. My next job was at our local Ormond Beach Surf Shop, Maui Nix, where I ended up working for about three years because I loved it so much. It was across the street from the ocean, and we would do free surfing lessons on Saturday mornings. It was truly a dream. Once I got a little older, I was still working at the surf shop and got promoted to manager. I realized I should probably go to college, so I took four online classes in marketing and got a simple marketing certificate. I really wanted to move forward and get my AA, but I also really wanted to learn from the real world. So, I struggled with the thought of maybe going to school full-time or pursuing a full-time office job in the marketing realm (which would sadly deviate from my amazing surf shop gig).
While I was trying to figure out what to do, I was approached by someone who worked at a corporation called Costa Sunglasses and was asked if I wanted to be an intern in their marketing department. They were a wonderful company who was ocean-minded and sought to make the best eye-wear for people who live their lives on the water. After some thought, I took the internship, which paid the same as my surf shop job. If the internship ended and nothing became of it, the shop said I could come back and work for them. Win-win, right?! After interning for nine months, Costa Sunglasses liked me so much that they created a real position for me that held LOTS of responsibility. Wow, this was the greatest news ever. I had a real FULL-TIME corporate job!!! My title was “Retail Marketing Coordinator.” So, I worked there for four years, and the company grew so quickly. As it was coming up on my fourth year, I started to notice that I wanted something different. I didn’t like waking up at 5:30 am every single day and rushing around the house to get ready, take care of the dogs, and be a spaz just trying to get out the door to go sit at my corporate office desk and stare at long emails and try to put out fires all day long and work under impossible deadlines. It had gotten to the point where I would dread waking up because I didn’t want to go. I kept thinking, “so this is it… this is all there is to careers?”.
As I passed the four-year mark working there, I realized that I had really learned so many valuable things from the job that I was blessed with but that it was time to say goodbye. As soon as I was planning on putting in my two weeks with absolutely no backup plan, some changes started happening to the Costa business. Long story short, they had to lay people off. I crossed my fingers that I was one of the people they would lay off. I know it sounds funny that I was literally begging not to have the job anymore, but I was literally at my breaking point. Guess what? I GOT LAID OFF! Best day of my life. Now, on the side of the full-time corporate job, I had been creating artwork for my own pleasure because it brought me pure happiness. I had a tiny little Instagram that I would just post my art pictures to. After being laid off, I decided that I wanted to paint full-time and make that my business. So, I got my business license and made everything official! I painted more and more of my ocean scenes until I was able to have some items in galleries and on my website. And behold, that’s what I do now! I am so lucky that I get to wake up and go straight into my art studio to create whatever I feel like. So, as I said, I knew my career would revolve around the ocean. I just had no idea that I would be lucky enough to get to PAINT it all while looking at it from my windows.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I was laid off from my corporate job in February of 2020. That was just the start of COVID, so I didn’t realize how hard it would be to attempt to find another job. I applied for about 50+ jobs and didn’t get a call back from any of them. So that’s when I realized that I should just go for my art business 100%. I felt like it was a sign for me to give it a shot. And throughout the past couple of years, there have been months where I have sold many paintings, and there have also been times when I didn’t sell anything at all. I’ve learned to just go with the ebb and flow of it and trust that things will work out. So far, they definitely have. 🙂
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an abstract artist particularly focused on fluid mediums. I use resin, liquid acrylics, inks, and water to create ocean-inspired artwork and builds. Recently I have been creating many river tables and other large-scale home decors, so I definitely have a lot of experience in the woodworking/builder realm now too. I’m known for teaching people how to create the same things that I make, so I do a lot of workshops, FaceTime classes, and downloadable instructions for people to purchase so that they can try out my art style for themselves!
My Instagram has blown up with a following of people who truly want to learn everything that I do, so I’m dedicated to helping them succeed in creating their own art. I am most proud of rising from what could have possibly been a devastating event (getting laid off). I was able to turn a negative into a positive, and that is something that I continuously do every single day. What sets me apart from other artists is that I am a teaching artist. I do not have a teaching degree, but I willingly bring all of my social media followers through every single one of my projects. I show them all of my fails (which happen a lot), and then I show them what I do differently to fix them. This has been so amazing for me to learn how to open up about the true nature of running a maker business. I also host a podcast called Hey it’s Hay which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. I just recently hit 1,500 downloads which is huge for me considering I started it as a hobby! Along with the podcast, I also co-host a YouTube Live show every Tuesday night called The Maker Meetup, where I and three other makers teach others how to build their maker business and have fun and build community while doing so.
How do you define success?
I define success as happiness. It doesn’t matter where you are in life or how you compare to others. If you’re happy, that is all that matters. To me, I’ve been just as happy when I haven’t made any money from my business as when I have made an income, so that isn’t a factor for me.
Pricing:
- Custom paintings start at a minimum of $100
- I do 1-on-1 teaching sessions for $60/hour. Can be online or in person.
Contact Info:
- Email: artisthaileynolin@gmail.com
- Website: haileynolin.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artisthaileynolin/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artisthaileynolin/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6R__s4q2QF1UC1xFy6ZNqA
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@artisthaileynolin?lang=en
