“Mighty sets me up for success as a host because I have flexibility.”

Meagan Mahaffy

Founder

Like so many students with creative passions, Meagan Mahaffy felt her college professors gently direct her away from making art as a career toward a more practical path. She knew they meant well; these people knew more than most how difficult it is to make a living as a full-time artist. So Meagan explored the administrative side of the arts and landed jobs at some of New York City’s biggest museums like the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Smithsonian Design Museum. But after eight years, Meagan realized she had lost touch with her identity as an artist and felt uninspired about where her life was heading.

“When I moved over to the Smithsonian, it was a job that a lot of people were like, ‘Oh my God, you're so lucky to have this,’” Meagan recalls. “And I internalized that a little bit and thought, ‘Oh I can never leave, even though the more responsibilities I get and the higher up I go, the more disillusioned I am and the more burnt out I'm feeling.’ All of that came to a head in 2020.”

Meagan knew she needed to make a big change. She returned to yoga, meditation, and journaling — self-care activities she had left behind as she rose low the ranks. But then she had an epiphany: making art again could also be a part of that wellness practice, and she needed to find her way back to it.

“For me, art is such a powerful tool for self-discovery and healing,” Meagan says. “With Art Gurl, I wanted to start this community where people would be able to access their creativity and use it as a tool for healing and wellness without having to identify as an artist or work on technical skills. Instead, it could be a physical act of self-expression.”

When Meagan decided to leave her job, she didn’t know exactly how Art Gurl would manifest, but she knew she wanted to dive deeper into studying the power of creativity. While she was consulting, she launched Art Gurl as a newsletter that explored the intersection of art, spirituality, and wellness. She didn’t have many subscribers, mostly friends and family. Still, it felt like a start. Then, one of her friends who owned a restaurant in Williamsburg offered their space to Meagan so she could try hosting an in-person art-making event.

“I put up an Instagram post that said we were going to color and make collages,” she says. “The energy of the event was incredible. Some of the people who came are actually still in the community.”

After seeing the people magic of her first event, Meagan felt like she was onto something. She started adding more platforms to the “Art Gurl universe.” She started a WhatsApp group chat, which quickly felt overwhelming to open. Next, she tried Discord, but it seemed geared for gamers, not a group of crafty people hoping to find friends. Meagan knew she needed a better gathering place for her people that felt more aligned with the distinct brand she had cultivated. She also wanted her community to expand beyond New York City. She decided to work with a developer to build a website, but ultimately, the features she wanted were either too complicated or expensive.

Then, she found Mighty Networks — Meagan didn’t have to choose between a customized look and ready-to-go, top-notch features.

“The big thing for me is Mighty gives me a streamlined place where I can share my knowledge instead of Art Gurl being a newsletter, plus Instagram and events, and a group chat,” she says. “Instead, everything is right here.”

While the cost and complexity of coding a website kept Meagan from fully exploring her vision before, Mighty Networks gave her a whole new palette of people-first features to paint with. She quickly became obsessed with the automations for daily prompts and meditations that she could plan ahead (especially for when she’s traveling in another time zone). And now, she has an organized place where she can clearly announce workshops, courses, and in-person events so online friends can see each other IRL.

“A big part of the membership is habit building and creating a space where people can consistently show up, but in a low-stakes way,” Meagan says. “What I love about Mighty Networks is that I am still the host of the community, but I can level the playing field because everybody else's creativity is just as important. And that's really what makes the membership magical.”

Although Meagan started using Mighty Networks just a few months ago, she feels confident about choosing the Growth plan because it provides not only a blank canvas to express her vision, but also a full spectrum of mediums she needs to make it happen. She’s specifically excited about creating an Art Gurl app so her members have inspiration and the support of their fellow Gurls in their pocket. But for now, she has already seen her members have the same breakthrough she did when she made time to create.

“I've already had a lot of messages that say, ‘Making art every day has completely changed my life.’ They’ve been able to move houses or get a new job because of the confidence that builds when you are consistent in self-expression," Meagan says. "The support of the community is what makes Art Gurl really loving, juicy, and meaningful for people. We are way more likely to follow through on new habits when we have an accountability buddy. Here, we have hundreds of them for you built in.”