Life Update!

As I turn 37 I am excited to share a life and business update!

We moved to Austin last year and it’s been an adjustment to be back in civilization. When I built my workshop at our old cabin property I had achieved my life dream of having a giant art studio, a separate office building, and an amazing tiny house in nature. Then Ksenia and I heard the whisper from God to move to Austin. I didn’t like the whisper, but I know from experience that listening to my whispers and honoring my wife’s whispers is the most holy and Godly thing we can do.

This undeniable call for the next adventure told us that our isolated cabin life was not our destiny. It’s about the journey and even though the destination is a sweet fruit, it is only ripe for a period of time, and there is always a new exciting journey that’s next for us. Especially when we have no idea about what lies ahead or why we are called to go there.

We are having a Scorpio baby boy in early November! Ksenia Avdulova Brief and I are really excited to add another family member (we also got a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Shaq last summer!).

I have a handful of art pieces I have been working on simultaneously in my small garage workshop, and this past weekend I got the message that the baby isn’t going to tolerate a disorganized studio.

The message was clear: build a small origami table for folding paper. I love building over-engineered tables for my different creative uses and this is the 6th table I have built in the last 2 years. The following day I built heavy-duty storage to clear all the space from the still half-unpacked-ness of the workshop. Currently I’m 95% complete and working on a sacred dining room table from a beautiful Texas pecan slab.

I’ve learned that I can’t go about “trying to finish” art… the works call me into completion and my job is to create the space for being the channel, especially when it seems completely illogical to me.

Life is richer when I turn the brain off and listen to the heart. One project, one action at a time.

In the past year I’ve also expanded my artistic skills in another realm. I saw that I was a business artist all along and it was just a context shift I noticed. The same way that I see a vision of the art that I will one day hold in my hands, I see the same for businesses.

I sold my marketing agency and started a brand new business called?Spider ERC?(www.spiderERC.com ) that helps small businesses get the Employee Retention Tax Credit. What an amazing experience this has been to help all sorts of organizations and to essentially professionally tell people they got 5-7 figures from the government. It is LIFE-changing for people and our mission is to help EVERYONE get this money.

Ten years ago, when I got my first job to pay rent and buy fancier art supplies, I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would own a “financial services company.”

But I’ve learned that when something becomes “Art” to me it clicks as interesting and important and then mastery with the most voracious appetite becomes inevitable. I was given the vision to build SpiderERC last year and the satisfaction and fun of this endeavor is unparalleled. It is amazing how it weaves into the web of my life working with family, friends, business contacts from the last decade, and my new community in Austin.

I invite anybody even the slightest bit curious about ERC to reach out, especially if you think you don’t qualify (you almost definitely do if you paid W-2 employees in 2020/2021). We just released a?WEB8 Podcast?with?Ksenia Brief?and Michelle Sinnette of?Legacy Cacao, you can listen to it here:

236. Why Spirituality, Taxes & Finances Are The Same Thing | Being A Business Artist | Facing Money Fears | ERC As An Opportunity for Source To Deliver Money

If you are wondering how spirituality and creativity fit in with business then I know you’ll love it. Looking forward to sharing more art this year!?