Beyond the Canvas: Patricia Karen Gagic’s Path to Impactful Living | MDIDS2E34

Welcome, welcome, welcome, Yes, this is Paul Finck The Maverick Millionaire and yes, you are on the Mavericks Do It Different podcast where we think differently, be different, do different, to create a different world for you and for I and for all of our friends and family in our whole society. And today, I am so excited to have a special guest who is just world renowned one, I would say the most infamous artists that we've had to date, and just amazing in all aspects inside and out. She is and I want to get some of this just amazing. Canadians most exceptional communicator, award winning contemporary artist, author percussionist drummer, successful entrepreneur, founder of the karmic art experience. So we're going to talk about that wisdom of karma, and merging your realism and your soul with art. And we'll talk about that. Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada Hall of Fame in 2018. In 20, universal Women's Network Lifetime Achievement Award, speaking engagements in the Harvard Club of Boston, Carnegie Hall, and recipient of the 2019 s n be a gold medal of the carousel, the Louvre in Paris. She's got her artwork has been hanging in the Louvre. Gotta find out more about that. And she just got named Artist of the Year, with the ATI M. It's the art tour international magazine. And she's one of the top been named one of the top 60. Masters. Please welcome Patricia Karen Gagic. Did I pronounced that right? baggage. Yeah, gets I just had it and then I pronounced that wrong. I looked at the wording and not the Patricia Karen Gagic. Patricia, you and I have talked on and off now for the last I think it's been the last year has been or at least it seems that way. Just instant, heartfelt instant friends on a almost a cellular, a soul level, if you will, in a soul connection, just a beautiful soul. And that shows up in all your art. Welcome, welcome.

Thank you. Oh, my God, thank you. And you don't call we actually connected multiple years ago through Craig Dassault and Rockstar in Los Angeles and whatnot, but we never had the opportunity to really have a one on one conversation. And that happened, obviously, and of course, we learned so much more about, you know, our commonalities.

It's so amazing how you can, you know, walk by people and and have those those momentary connections. But it takes really pausing getting timeout, and really being with someone for a moment to build those lifelong connections, which I believe you and I have have already the beginning stages of and so great to have you here. Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here, too. Let's talk about so one of the things that we started engaging with almost immediately was this whole idea of the karmic art experience. And, and I don't know whether you are aware, I've talked about your karmic art experience now ongoing for months to a lot of different people that you don't even know. Tell us more about what that is.

Yes. So I have a long, interesting art world and business world life, which we can talk about in a bit, but I I, through the training of becoming, you know, a professional artist. And I also had this very sort of spiritual side, this idea of, you know, wellness, not so much art therapy, but in a way it is a kind of art therapy. And I went to the University of Toronto, I decided to take applied mindfulness and transformative mindfulness. And upon completion of these two three year programs, which did in the same three years, I felt like combining the art with mindfulness meditation was actually something that I would enjoy doing. But I also knew that it could bring positive results. So I created this this way of bringing people together and it really started to take off during COVID. So instead of people being able to get into the same room, I I would have them on Zoom calls everybody would by their canvas, or why and their paints and a brush, and then I would spend a good three hours walking them through the process of beginning to layer the canvas, but not just, you know, paint by numbers sort of situation, I would play music, I would then talk, we would do a meditation, I would take them to a place where if they were having some difficulties, and they and they wanted to really transform what was happening for them.

And it started to prove that people were really getting into it. And while people would always say, you know, I'm not an artist, I don't know what I'm doing. It's like, that's not what this is even about. This isn't to convert you into becoming an artist, this is for you to release in a new capacity outside of just writing a new way of sharing and going deep inside to solve problems or to encourage yourself. So I use sort of the framework of tabula rasa, you know, nothing. So when you're with me, the minute we start, basically, I am clearing your brain. And I'm saying, We're going to start really from this point. And that's where, you know, the conversation evolves. One, one group of people that I worked with were the Canadian, female Olympic hockey players. And this was just before they were actually going to play and we did a session. And it was remarkable, because I knew we had a, we had a goal, we want to be winners, we're also a team, which means we've got to interact with each other in a very unique way. But whatever things are holding you back, they can evolve. So I found that this was beneficial. And, yeah, I decided I would keep going, keep going at it. So I've done quite a few of them. And that's, that's this next step. I think, for me, Yan, it's such a powerful component, and it combines that the understanding of clearing of meditation of, of really getting in touch with what's going on and releasing it to to create a space and in this case, a piece of art, to hold it in, to release it into which is a creation in and of itself. But the whole process is is so powerful, and, and in the business world, which I play in a lot as well. And, and this combines that. And so many people lose touch with that fact that in releasing all this, they get clearer to be able to be more successful in everything else that they want. Yeah, so that combination, this heightened sense of awareness that is within us, I think, once it's released, you know, I have a very unique background. So when I, when I was 25 years old, I actually became one of the first female bank managers for the Bank of Montreal, in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Western provinces, and then came in, you know, transferred back into Toronto. So I I've held positions in my life that were with Max a ton of responsibility, and then decided I would get into my own company business. And I started a property management company. We built medical buildings, apartments, condos, you know, project management, a lot of things. So the stress of operating your own business, the stress around, you know, managing significant numbers of people, takes its toll. So for the entrepreneur, for the person who is looking to scale their business, they really, you know, have to become a jack of all trades wear many hats, and oftentimes, their own personal lives are filled with, you know, emotion or situations that they have to macro, manage and do it very carefully. So this, again, is one of the reasons why, you know, sitting behind the, you know, the lead position in business, I think it's healthy and having had this much experience, I'm a good person using that, you know, the old tool of wisdom and being able to create, you know, I also did something called inspired to be rewired. So, mastering the five read radical degrees of life risk, Route, remedy, realization and reality and I apply that to the business principle of success.

Expand on what you just said, the last part.

The So, one of the things that I liked, I thought about long and hard after going through so many different, you know, businesses and operating at different levels. I created mastering the five radical degrees of life, which are risk, root, remedy, realization and reality. And I talk about each of those in the karmic art experience. deep diving into each part. so that you, at the end of it, you've actually woven a path of, of disentangling yourself. And it and it applies on all levels, personal business, you know, every everything that we do the keys, I think, for most people, though, are spending quality time understanding that your business is an entity, but so are you. And you see success in this capacity that you know, I have the dream, I know that I'm going to have X number of square feet with X number of employees, here's my product, you know, my ROI is going to be

really this and you're you're crunching numbers, you're doing your quarterly forecasting your projections. But are you doing the same for yourself? You know, oftentimes, they're not and how many times polled have we, you know, had friends that have had a heart attack, you know, and gone through such significant health scares and crisis, because they're not sleeping. They're not managing their time, they're not looking at themselves as an actual key component of their business. And this was something I've suffered immense Lee in my past, you know, owning certain positions, and then you there's nowhere for nowhere else for it to go but internalized. And then you realize, like, Okay, I really didn't need that five day vacation, or I needed to take a break. I really, you know, didn't it, we get to the point, sometimes we don't think that we deserve it. And yet, you are the most important human being on this planet in your world. So I become very aware of how satisfying it is to convert, you know, that stress into something that is manageable. You're here. Yeah, yes.

So, so amazing how those two worlds combined and how you've been so, so deep into both sides of you know, if we want to break it down, right, right brain left brain mentality. And with that, you come with so much experience in understanding both sides and being able to meld them into what's effective. And I want to talk about some of your history, because you've had such a vast history, deep dive into corporate and, and taking care of it both in real estate and your property management business. And then also just having a tremendous success. And as an artist yourself,can you talk about some of some of that journey, and highlight some of the things that were important for you?

Yes, I just triggered something in my head that I think is really, really key. And I go back to the fact that being a female in the business world and go back multiple decades ago, there were a couple of years. Okay, thanks. Not that many women who were in significant senior positions and or board positions. And really, I think, you know, I'm talking about in the 70s, I really had to fight my way. And I, and what really made a difference was also I had a mentor, there was there was a gentleman, and he became very, very supportive to my journey. Not so much that I didn't believe I could do it, but he would help me manage the process. And, and that is a little bit different. It's like you have to create a system inside of you, that kind of snips away, the naysayers, it's snips away, but also, I had, I had to find the confidence that I, you know, I deserve to be there because I have the skill level for it. But also, I was a fighter, I knew I would be able to do this, but it was my own attitude and attitude is everything. And sometimes you do need to step away from the places where you could get entangled into, you know, judgments or blind nation and I, I chose to be smart and not get involved in that. And that was that was one thing that made a difference. The second for me was in my art world, and that was with my finding a mentor. And I was I think karma had a whole lot to do with that but I I was really really fortunate to meet dragon dressage week in Savile Leone in woven to France in 1999. In the top 10 percentile of artists of France in

in Provence and Do it again, it was the same thing. I didn't speak enough French for us to communicate, he didn't speak English. So I had to hire a tutor, I had to learn enough French that I could spend time with him. When he invited me to go the first time to spend one week with him. I was I was as terrified as I could ever ever be about anything. First of all, I really didn't have the, the knowledge, you know, I was just like, it was like, fly by night. I love what I do. And I was figuring it out myself. But this man is a trained, trained artist by one of the greatest artists, you know, in, in France, with the Matisse palette, and I had him in front of me, and I had to impress him, what I also had to learn was humility. And that I was not that person. That was him that I was going to learn. And basically, I learned how to listen. And I think that skill is is underrated. It is the greatest skill you can have. And also pay attention, but practice, practice, constant practice and then really fine tuning. You know what it is that you're going to accomplish and know your why. So the the system for me worked. And for all the people who, you know, look at me and say, you know, you are so split, you're so left side right side, I worked I had I worked worked worked worked worked, I just never gave up on, you know, loosey goosey.

A couple things I've got to highlight. One is, it sounded like did you say you had two different mentors, one in the business world, if you will, and one in the art world? Yes. So really key and a lot of people get into this space of they want to coach or mentor I of course am a coach as well. And, and they they say Oh, well, I already have a coach. And I'm like no, no, but that's a coach for your nutrition or your health or your business, not your personal and there's a whole lot of different coaching roles that someone can play for you. And pay attention to be aware of what you're bringing that coach into your world for and what the purpose is for that one, because it's not exclusive of other coaches. And so really important that you had to to drive home the two major successes that you wanted to achieve in your life, you brought a separate mentor for each.

I really super love that. And Paul, what I also understood was, I needed even more than that, because you're trained in your skill. So for the art, you know, Dragon is my mentor who literally shifted my entire planet in terms of you know, creating the artwork. And he also gave me a level of confidence by by eventually having an exhibition with me in France and then also calling me Maestro. Now one, that's one component, but the other sides of my life I studied under multiple other artists Tony Urquhart, great painters, 11 artists, I took, I took it upon myself to seek out the teachers of wisdom where I was not going to be defined by only one part. The other parts were important marketing, understanding social media, understanding what my own journey was going to incorporate. And that did require me to you know, I did the Jack Canfield. Course, I've studied Dr. Joe Dispenza. I went, you know, as I said, to the University of Toronto, and then we did many, many, many significant, you know, teachers, that all evolve you as a as a total human being, but to think that you're only going to get this one part isn't, it's not the way it works. So, you know, even going back to, you know, when I wrote my first book, I never anticipated I would write a book, I was writing poetry, but an actual book, and that came under the tutelage of of Craig Doswell you know, write write a book in 30 days, and then all the other speakers yourself included, who, you know, stood on the stage and, and had a system in place that, you know, at certain times in your life, you recognize, I do need that I'm going to lose if I if I don't, you know, move the needle forward. And

It's so interesting at that I've had just just like you, it's dozens of people now that have influenced my direction and coached me along the way and mentored me in multiple different aspects of my life. What It worked for me in and I would love to hear your reflection on this. Did you know before you engaged with a mentor? What impact not only what impact they were going to have, but In what aspect of your life they were going to have impact on? Because I found that there are certain people that I brought in for a certain reason that that ended up being a fraction of what I actually received from them unknowingly that that was going to happen.

Yeah, oh, well, I think first of all, being as young as I was going back to banking, I was a commercial account manager. Literally, when I was 23 years old, in the old banking system, where you actually had to take a financial statement, hardcopy actually know what it said, you had to be able to go through the statement and understand current assets and current liabilities and, and you know, cost of goods sold and digital done, like we had to strip it apart, do the analysis. And now it's all done by a computer, they just plug the numbers in, and it says, You're not approved, I had a million dollar credit limit. At one point in time when I was with the bank, the power of that judgment, really required me to know what I was doing. And I am again, going to say, the only way that that could happen is if I studied and if I learned and, you know, then I realized I needed more, I needed to take a credit three course I needed to take the Institute of Canadian Bankers at the university, I, you know, didn't have a degree to go into any of this. I came right out of high school. But I was so determined that I loved the path I was on that I and the chemistry that you have, many people walk through your door, and there may or may not have a chemistry, like an appreciation for what they might be able to help you with. Then there's that person that walks through the door. And you just know they're it. But they opened the door to such incredible vast knowledge because they encourage you to see yourself already successful or they're not going to waste their time with you. And you do not want to disappoint. I could never been to that I went into to you know, dragons retaliate in segway on, you know, fifth century, magnificent building a turret and I'm walking up the stairs and I get to the top. And what do I see? I see this, these posters with his name beside Picasso. Beside Athlon, Alvarez Christo. I mean, the guy who put the things all over Central Park in New York, I mean, I'm like, Okay, this is the dude that I'm going to be working with. And I'm a nobody. So you slap yourself and you say, but I'm here, karmically, I showed up somehow, my determination, because I wanted to meet this man, the story of me finding him was, you know, pretty, it was really crazy. And

I, you, you set the bar, so high for yourself. But you don't ever really tell anybody, your only person you disappoint is yourself if you don't make it. And then as you realize that, oh my god, like I actually am doing this and this. And this pivots into this. And this pivots into this. And the next was the end result of that. And and so people that don't know you eliminate some of your humility, and talk about you know, what came out of that was your experience with that, then Then what did you go past being? Oh, still be the humble student? Well, it took me Okay, so this is we're talking almost 20 Some 20 plus years, almost 24 years, I wanted to guide people through the story to let them know where that where that landed. Oh, wow. So yes, I had successes in different ways in different in the business world as well. I always felt an incredible desire to help people so I've always been a servant. I'm a Rotarian service above self. I have a project in Cambodia. I I've been, you know, in Nepal, we have we Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation Board. We have a hospital and a school. So there's that side of me the giving side. So the recognition of all the good things that you can do, are not just about you, it's got you have to be able to see the rest of the world as a collective consciousness that you have a responsibility you might want to grab and take from it and your business and yeah, I'm gonna get paid and I'm gonna get this and whatever. But what are you actually doing to encourage the mindset of the futures the future, you know, people who are going through this world by by having some form of you know,

What you do now? Yeah, along the way, I was recognized top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada four times inducted into the Hall of Fame, universal Women's Network, Lifetime Achievement Award, women of inspiration. I'm an ambassador for the for the people's improvement organization. I was knighted, I'm a dame of the Order of St. George. I've received the Canadian Civil Liberties Association Award with Roberta Bhandar, the astronaut, like but those those are moments that just happen like they're It's gratifying. And the recognition is gratifying. But it's not where you spend your your soul your brain, you can't do that. You can use that, you know, because it gives you the credibility for people to say, Oh, well, I want to own a Patricia guy gets painting because actually one day my paintings will be worth a lot of money, I will be dead more than like way. But the history and the sort of like the weaving of being dragons only only student for this many years. He wasn't he won't teach anybody like very, very few people have been able to cross his path. And historically than that, that's something pretty special. And but it's the end, it's what you take away from it. How do you want to live your life? What is your place that makes you the happiest, so if you want to be the President of the United States, then you know the route you need to take, you know, you need to get into politics, you know, you need to do this, this, this, this and this, that you want to become the president or CEO of a major corporation, you got to get into the corporation, you got to find and weave your way through, you've got to do your academics, because the world is actually you know, strung out on academics. It's the LSD of reality. And then nobody, then you've got your personality you've got to have, the thing that I've been really fortunate is that I love life. I'm a Libra Virgo, that's, that's my world. But I love life. I love people, I cannot stop myself from wanting to help, if I can. And that I think in in a person who doesn't have that quality, should look at how can they introduce that? How do they become somewhat selfless, in order for them to see how the benefit will eventually come back to them as well. So lifestyle choices, but really having a good attitude. You know, we're not all born geniuses, obviously, we're not I'm not Nikola Tesla, Einstein, what little pieces of me that I want to, to manifest at my highest and best I had to work towards and, and I had to like being in between the moments. So that you your gratification is that that's what it is. I have enjoyed my freakin life, no matter good, bad, constant traumas and all these other problems. But I, but it was a life worth living.

That that's so powerful. I will say one of the things that tragedy or actually facing the the the worst times. And the benefit of that is, is the gratitude of the greatest times. And you know, some of the challenges that that I have faced with my lovely, lovely bride, Deborah. And the two of us have have gone through the struggle. And one of the greatest things that came out of it is the awareness that we are completely satisfied with the choices that we made in our life. Yeah, and and that is one of the key components of life is what you're expressing is that that you actually want the journey that you're on, that you actually are enjoying it and that this is the journey that you were meant to do. And what a powerful message that that ultimately people never even face the question, let alone have the effective answer.

Yesterday, a really long time friend came to see me at the studio. She's here from Vancouver, British Victoria, British Columbia. And you know, it was like a love fest, we had the opportunity of not seeing each other, you know, pre COVID I was the last time and then before that was probably like five years before that. And her and her husband, we got into such a deep and dark conversation evolved around health predicaments issues. But what what we actually said and with this conversation rolled into the celebration of life, at the end of your life, you're having a celebration of life and they both looked at me and said, You are the perfect example of the celebration of life every single day because my My attitude is, don't feel sorry for me Don't don't. But look at the good parts, look at what you have been able to accumulate the influence that you've had the smallest thing, you know, my project in Cambodia. Oh my gosh, like when I think back to how that whole thing started, Never would I imagined in my wildest dreams that I would have lived a life that has actually changed the face of so many people, so many people, by my one decision to get involved.

Here, here. Yeah, it's such a powerful message, I want to highlight just a couple of things that you said one is working hard. And that's a lost art form these days. Absolutely. And both of you and I both have that same commonality, that great work ethic we got in the game early in our life, and just understood that it was a journey. And just kept going in the journey, bringing on new information, new experiences, new mentors into our life to create our success. And, and that's such a powerful lesson. And the other component of that is the adversity quotient, I call it and the ability to persevere. good times and bad, it's taking one foot in front of the other and just keep moving forward. And it's one of the things that you kind of talked about underlying everything else that we were mentioned in here only, it's definitely something to highlight that your perseverance and you keep moving forward to to step into your greatness with confidence is so evident when we hang out when we see you, your confidence and your love for life oozes from every pore. And it's it makes everybody around, you just want to spend more time with you.

Thank you the losses that occurred in our life, you know, I kept getting into it. So I wrote the book karmic alibi, gagne expedient wisdom by leaving your excuses behind, because the only way you can move forward is if you detach from that. But I think the beautiful parts of allowing yourself to appreciate, okay, this happened, you know, my father died literally right. Like days after my 25th birthday. That was hard. And his his mother, my grandmother died one week later to the day. So back to back losing two family members. Just it just kept pivoting and changing and more things happened. I had an accident I was I actually died on the Trans Canada Highway. For some reason I came back to life. That's a, you know, a story for me that I think, okay, they weren't ready for me or my, you know, some some cloud up there and having was like, sorry, we're still doing some some renovation up here, put it back down there for a while, and then they forgot about me. So I'm still here, then, then just so many things that could have, you know, tore my life into shreds. And, and you persevere, you just say okay, I'm here for this. The people who enter your world that you've called or made a choice, they're there they are part of your existence. That's the karmic piece like you can't necessarily get rid of them, you can try. Sometimes we do have to do evolve relationships, because they're toxic, they're not healthy for us or them. And with great respect, you just you move forward. But the key is always, always, always be in a state of appreciation and gratitude. And you know, our Franklin warshauer You know, has, you know, the story of you know, you're a miracle you're an actual miracle, the number of you know, things that the Golliwog that we're running around inside and all of a sudden one of them attaches to that little egg and you become a human being consciousness arrives and, and then it's a miracle. So why not celebrate your life is a miracle even when it's being taken away. We already know genetically that we're not going to live to be Noah's Ark 400 or 500 years old, but we have whatever this journey is which is timeless and enjoy it. Good, bad, indifferent. You just have to enjoy it. Make peace with yourself. It's the easiest way to get through life.

Work ethic, perseverance, enjoy everything that you doing, love it and follow your passions has our guest here has done Patricia What a pleasure for all the people that we have listening all around the world where can they find more of you your art and your experiences and your engagement, where can they reach out to you?

So, this week, actually, I'm doing an update, we're just finishing the update on my website. So it is simply www dot patriciakarengagic.com. I don't post much on Instagram, I'm going to get better at that I do have Facebook presence and that there will be but the easiest way is even if people want to reach out to me directly, I will answer all emails, patgagic@gmail.com. And excellent. That's it.

Patricia Karen Gagic, it is absolute pleasure. They can reach you all over the place, look for her and find it and it is G A G. I see. So Patricia gag it's, it's a pleasure and such a great honor to have you here. You have inspired people for decades now. And my vision is that you will continue to inspire for decades more in person in our experience and so pleased to be able to call you friend. Thank you so much for being here.

Oh, thank you so much. And I love you.