The Side-by-Side Secret: When my son was a teenager, I learned that the best conversations happened while we were driving. By looking at a shared point of focus instead of each other, the walls came down. Art provides that same "shared horizon." It allows us to explore deep topics and reframe overwhelm without the pressure of a direct confrontation.

I’ve learned almost everything in my life through trial and error. I call it the "Ryan Rumba" method: hit a wall, then turn. After 22 years of innovating my own income, from building a six-figure Etsy business to navigating 14 years in the fine art world, I’ve returned to my roots as a business advisor. I am here to work with honest people who know that vulnerability and real-world experience create the deepest connections.

The $45 Shadowbox Lesson: When I started, I was putting my art in IKEA frames and underpricing my talent. It took a city commission and luxury art shows to teach me that I was sitting on something valuable. I was slow to recognize my own worth, and now I help others find the brilliance in their work that they are too close to see.

For 22 years, I refined my pitch live at art shows, in booths, and in thousands of emails to commission clients.

One thing I learned: less is more.