Bhargavi Gundala on Support, Community and What it Means to Grow in the Art World | ATH Podcast

Some people live more life in one lifetime than most of us live in three. Mikki Hoogendijk is one of them. She survived a bomb attack. She lost people she loved. She built things and watched them fall apart, lived in cities she had to leave, and carried grief that would have stopped most people. And every single time, she didn't move away from the pain — she moved through it, and turned it into something you could see, touch, and feel. In this episode, artist and author Mikki Hoogendijk joins Charuka Arora for a conversation about loss, fear, reinvention, and the quiet freedom that waits on the other side of the things we're most afraid of. Mikki's mother handed her a camera a month before she passed — and that gift began a lifetime of creating through grief, from photography to clay to eight-meter bronze sculptures. Now, with her memoir The Art of Letting Go, she shares what all of it taught her. We talk about: Why grief is never about a single moment and what it asks of us How to keep creating when your life is falling apart The seven-year-old self she keeps on her phone and why that child runs the show Why she stopped making art for anyone's approval Reinventing yourself at any age, while everyone else settles Why letting go isn't losing it's making space for what's next This one is tender, honest, and quietly freeing. Whatever you're holding onto, or afraid to let go of, this conversation is for you. Because the other side of fear, it turns out, is freedom.

What happens when life changes in ways you never imagined and you're left to rebuild from the pieces? In this episode of Season 6, Charuka Arora is joined by Micky Hoogendijk for one of our most moving conversations yet. Together, they explore grief, trauma, resilience, and the quiet strength it takes to keep living after profound loss. From surviving unimaginable experiences to navigating the lasting impact of loss, Mickey shares why grief is never about just one moment and why healing isn't something we simply "get over." This episode is for anyone who has loved deeply, lost deeply, or is learning how to carry both grief and hope at the same time. Season 6 Episode 8 is coming soon. Don't forget to tune in this Tuesday for the full conversation.

Creative burnout doesn't arrive in one moment. There's no single day you wake up and know. It starts so small you don't even notice, one yes, then another yes, then another. Until the things you love get quieter and quieter, the things that feel heavy get louder, and one day you realize you've been running on empty far longer than you'd like to admit. In this solo episode, Charuka Arora Founder of Arts to Hearts Project herself, gets honest about being in exactly that place. This isn't a talk from someone who's figured it out it's from someone still in the middle of it. For six years she's shown up for this business, her team, this community, and every project along the way. And somewhere in all that showing up, she lost the version of herself who used to make art simply because she loved it. So, this episode is Charuka saying some things out loud that she hasn't heard many people say. In this episode, she talks about: Why burnout starts as "just another yes," and why we don't see it coming The two kinds of lonely, including the one nobody warns you about, the kind that arrives after things go well What happens when the thing you love quietly becomes the thing you owe Why art has always been the thing that brings her back to herself And how she lost touch with it The guilt of wanting to be an artist first again Why choosing yourself isn't quitting it's evolving If you're somewhere in here too still showing up, still saying yes, and quietly tired this one's for you. You're not behind, and you're not alone. Sometimes the bravest thing an artist can do is admit the cup is empty.

Success is often measured by what we build. Rarely do we talk about what it costs to build it. In Episode 7 of Season 6 of the Arts to Hearts Podcast, Founder Charuka Arora shares one of her most personal conversations yet. After six years of building Arts to Hearts, she reflects on burnout, the quiet pressure of always showing up, and the realization that, somewhere along the way, she had lost touch with the artist who started it all. This isn't an episode with easy answers. It's an honest conversation about ambition, responsibility, creativity, and the courage to acknowledge when something needs to change. Because sometimes the greatest challenge isn't building the dream. It's finding your way back to yourself. Tune in this Tuesday for Episode 7 of the Arts to Hearts Podcast.

The creative economy is worth nearly $10 trillion. So why do most artists never see a cent of it? That's the question Charuka Arora, founder of Arts to Hearts Project, brings to Nina Orm in Episode 6 of Season 6. Nina, founder of Creativity Meets Capital, has spent her career across finance, entrepreneurship, and politics and is now building the financial infrastructure the art world never gave its artists. Her argument is simple and a little uncomfortable: artists aren't broken because they're bad at business. They're broke because nobody ever built them a system. Galleries take 50% (sometimes 70%). Art schools teach craft but not contracts. And the "starving artist" gets romanticised instead of paid. This is one of the most practical money conversations we've had on the show. We cover: Where the trillions in the art world actually go and why so little reaches artists Why the gallery model is built the way it is, by design The "starving artist" myth, and why Nina wants it gone The one financial habit every artist should start today The 10-10-10 rule for creatives who don't have a big income to play with Why multiple income streams protect your creative freedom How to read a P&L and why you're already a business Ownership, copyright, and why "the law is what makes things real" Whether you've never sold a piece or you're already earning from your work, this episode hands you a system for your money and a backbone for your career.