🎙️ What 50 Artists Taught Me About Business, Creativity & Leadership

By Sai Teja Ramesh
📌 The true lessons I learned from hosting a global IGTV interview series through Art Experimenter

When the World Was Silent, I Hit “Go Live”

In 2020, when COVID paused the planet… I did something unusual.

I went live on Instagram — again and again — and interviewed 50+ artists across the world through my platform Art Experimenter.

No script. No sponsorship. No audience expectations.
Just real conversations with painters, illustrators, teachers, tattoo artists, digital creators, and storytellers from every corner of the world.

Why?

Because I needed life to flow again — through art, expression, and shared human experience.

🎨 Art Experimenter: A Space Born From Creative Survival

Most people know me as the founder of Thibstas Media.

But at my core, I’m an artist and a teacher.

During the pandemic, instead of retreating, I activated my deepest creative instinct.
I created Art Experimenter — not as a product or brand, but as a movement to remind people that creativity is a survival tool.

And those interviews? They weren’t marketing.

They were medicine — for me, for the guests, and for thousands who watched.

💡 7 Business & Leadership Lessons I Learned From Artists

These aren’t abstract ideas.
They’re real, hard-earned truths that I now use as a founder, strategist, and system builder.

🧱 1. Create Without Waiting for Permission

Every artist I interviewed had one thing in common:
They started creating before they were ready.

They didn’t wait for the perfect canvas, fancy gear, or algorithm-proof content plan.
They just started — with scraps, with fear, with heart.

And that’s what I teach founders now:

Clarity doesn’t come before creation. It comes through it.

🧘 2. Consistency Is the New Talent

One of the best artists I spoke to wasn’t viral or famous — but she showed up every single day, no matter what.

And that stuck with me:

The artists who grew weren’t the most gifted.
They were the most disciplined.

Just like in business — consistency is what compounds. Not genius.

🎭 3. Your Energy Becomes the Experience

Some artists said, “I can feel when I’m painting in fear vs painting in flow.”
Their audience feels it too.

As a founder, I’ve learned the same:

• Your landing pages carry your energy.
• Your team inherits your emotional bandwidth.
• Your brand feels like you, even if you try to hide behind logos.

You can’t fake calm. You can only build it into the system.

🌍 4. Creativity Is a Global Language. Leadership Should Be Too.

I spoke with creators from Kenya, London, Hyderabad, and Brazil — and not all of them spoke fluent English.
Yet we understood each other perfectly — because art connects what words can’t.

That reminded me:

Business that scales across borders needs to speak the language of humans, not just metrics.

⛓️ 5. Constraints Create Innovation

One artist told me she developed her signature minimal style because she couldn’t afford paint.

That blew my mind.

We think constraints kill creativity.
Artists know constraints create it.

As a founder, I now ask myself:

• What would I build if I only had 1 team member?
• How would I deliver if I had 0 ads budget?
• What’s my simplest version of success?

That’s the Art Experimenter mindset.

🔁 6. Repetition Isn’t Boring — It’s Refinement

One tattoo artist told me:

“I’ve drawn the same flower 100 times. But every time, it teaches me something new.”

That changed the way I see content, offers, even client work.

Now I don’t chase novelty.
I chase depth.
I refine my story, my system, my message.

📖 7. Your Story Is More Powerful Than Your Skill

Many of the artists who stood out weren’t the “best” technically.

But they had stories.
Stories of pain, courage, isolation, culture, identity — shared through their work.

As a founder, this changed everything for me.

Your client doesn’t care about your skillset.
They care about your perspective.

And when you share your story with honesty?
People don’t just follow. They trust.

📌 What I Did With These Lessons

• I redesigned Thibstas Media to lead with empathy, not ego
• I productized creativity into content systems for clients
• I created educational experiences inside Art Experimenter — games, content, workshops
• I stopped hiding my identity as an artist — and started leading with it

Today, whether I’m designing a pitch deck, writing a funnel, or creating a founder offer —
I bring the lens of a storyteller who sees systems as art.

🧭 Final Thought: Artists Are Entrepreneurs. Founders Must Be Artists Too.

If you’re a business builder reading this:

Your creativity is not a soft skill. It’s your survival toolkit.
Your story is not a distraction. It’s your brand fuel.
Your soul is not a liability. It’s your longest asset.

Don’t let numbers blind your instinct.
Don’t let tactics bury your truth.
Don’t let growth silence your art.

Because what the world needs isn’t more perfect founders.
It needs more true creators — building with both fire and feeling.

With soul, structure, and a sketchbook that never closes,
– Sai Teja Ramesh
Founder, Thibstas Group | Creator, Art Experimenter