Meet Your Host
Amber Reusch
Amber is both a CPA and an artist, bringing a unique blend of financial expertise and creative insight to her work. With over a decade of experience in accounting, business ownership, and CFO advisory, she helps entrepreneurs and creatives manage their finances with clarity and confidence. As a business owner herself, including co-founding Holistic Hemp Company in 2016, she understands firsthand the details and decisions that come with building and sustaining a business.
As an artist who has exhibited in galleries, museum retail shops, and national art shows, Amber deeply understands the financial challenges and opportunities artists face. Her combined experience as a CPA and creative allows her to help artists turn their passion into a sustainable business, offering practical guidance that supports both their creative work and long-term financial success.
Meet Your Speakers
Mary Edwards
How Art Careers Happen Now
Mary I. Edwards is a professional coach who works exclusively with artists and arts organizations. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and trained through the College of Executive Coaching. Based in Northern California, she works with artists across the U.S. and Europe.
With nearly two decades of experience and a background as an Executive Director in corporate and nonprofit arts organizations, she helps artists at all career stages reach their goals. She also teaches workshops, writes the blog Left Brain Skills for Right-Brained People, contributes to art magazines, and is completing her book How Art Careers Happen Now.
Georgina Morrison,
The Creative’s Toolkit
The Four Types of Clients (The four income relationships behind sustainable work)
Georgina Morrison and Haavard Christie (pronounced ‘haw-vard’) are the husband–wife co-founders behind The Creative’s Toolkit — an education platform built for courageous creatives. Together, they help multi-creatives build modern, profitable careers on their own terms, with adaptable frameworks, profitable skills, and real-world systems.
Their mission is to dismantle the starving-artist stigma and replace it with something truer: creative people are powerful, professional, and wildly capable of building sustainable businesses with integrity. Through courses, tools, workshops and community, they guide creatives from hobby to hired — and from burnt out, to sustainably aligned.
Shannon Borg
All the Hats: How to Think About the 4 Parts of Your Creative Business
Shannon Borg is an artist and certified life coach who helps artists master their business and transform their mindset so they can confidently share their gifts with the world. Her podcast, The Metaphor Mindset Podcast, offers practical advice for creative entrepreneurs, along with new ways to think about the artful life. She has a PhD in creative writing, and is completing an MFA in painting at Southern Illinois University. She lives in Friday Harbor, Washington.
Danison Fronda-Tietz is the heart behind Bowtie & Brush, a Portland-based Live Wedding & Event Artistic business. Blending his love of art and business to create stunning watercolor guest portraits and personalized details for unforgettable weddings and events. With a background in accounting and a passion for learning, Danison is all about encouraging fellow business owners, sharing what’s worked for him, and celebrating their wins. Whether he’s painting live at an event or helping others level up their biz, his goal is to make every interaction matter. At Bowtie & Brush, it’s more than art—it’s about connection, creativity, and helping others shine.
Beyond Booked: Building a Sustainable and Profitable Art Business in Weddings and Events
Danison Fronda-Tietz
Kathryn Ikle
Explore and Be Yourself
Kathryn Iklé (E-clay) is a Dallas, TX leader, consultant, mentor, speaker, creative, and versatile artist. She is also the co-host of The Well with Kat and Drew: The Source of Something Greater, a weekly podcast exploring identity, growth, faith, relationships, and the courage to live without filters.
Drawing on 20+ years of experience in UX, art, design, research, digital, marketing, agile, AI, product, innovation, and technology, Kathryn has established a well-known reputation as a leader in the UX, technology, and creative industries. She currently serves as the Display Artist at Anthropologie (North Park) and Head of UX & Marketing for Third Entity, business consulting and services.
Kathryn holds a degree in Marketing & Art from University of Memphis, certifications in Museum Studies and Civic Engagement from Harvard University, and a certification in Accessibility and Inclusive Design from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Jan Riggins
From Corporate to Full-Time Artist
I am an artist based in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I hold a Clarinet Performance degree from the University of Oklahoma, and while my early creative life centered on performance, my focus gradually shifted to the visual arts later in life.
After spending 25 years working in a corporate office role, I reached a point where I wanted to pursue something more creative. I was drawn to work that combined problem solving, spatial thinking, and visual impact. I began experimenting with highly detailed watercolor paintings, with a strong interest in realism and precision. In 2016, I discovered chalk art, which opened the door to working at a much larger scale and directly within public spaces.
By 2020 and into 2021, after practicing weekly in my neighborhood, I began focusing on 3D anamorphic chalk art. I taught myself the principles of forced perspective and illusion and ultimately built a career around this specialized form of visual art. In addition to 3D street art, I also specialize in murals, with a strong focus on trompe l’oeil and anamorphic techniques. I enjoy exploring texture, surface, transparency, and depth, using visual illusion to transform flat walls and pavement into unexpected experiences.
Ginger Walker
Pricing, Confidence, and Knowing Your Value
Hi! I’m Ginger Walker, a Dallas native, but proudly call Fort Worth home.
After graduating from Highland Park High School in Dallas, I went on to Baylor, where I studied Art. Currently, I reside in Fort Worth with my husband, Rob, and our two kids, Tatum and Wade.
I absolutely love color with a particular penchant for pink! Color is my Love Language, my therapy, and refuge. My abstract paintings are inspired by nature, travel, music, and emotion. I would love to paint something for you!
Located in Fort Worth, you can view art in person at my studio/gallery by appointment only, and at the House of Neville Gallery. In Dallas, you will find Ginger Ray Walker Art at AF Home in the Dallas Design District and Casa Costa.