5 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 14 July 2025
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
“Most artists are told they’ll never make a living from their work. Tim Packer is living proof that’s a lie. A former police officer turned celebrated Canadian artist, Tim walked away from a badge and a pension to chase a dream—and built a thriving art business that’s both creatively fulfilling and financially successful. Today, through his Tim Packer Art Academy and new book You Can Sell Your Art, Tim is mentoring a new wave of artists to do the same.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/timpackerfinearts
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timpacker1/
1. From the Badge to the Brush
“Tim, let’s start with your backstory—what was the moment when you realized you had to walk away from police work and fully commit to your art? What fears did you face, and how did you overcome them?”
2. Why Talent is Overrated
“You say that talent is a myth and that success in art isn’t about being ‘born with it.’ What do you believe actually sets successful artists apart—and what are most creatives getting wrong?”
3. The Missing Curriculum
“You’ve said the traditional art school system is broken. What are the most important things you had to learn outside the classroom about building a sustainable career—and how do you teach that in your academy?”
4. The Business Side of the Brush
“Let’s talk dollars. Pricing art is something many creatives struggle with. What’s your philosophy on pricing, and how can artists overcome the fear of ‘asking too much’ or ‘selling out’?”
5. Building a Creative Empire
“From originals and prints to your online academy and now your book, you’ve built a multi-million dollar art business. What’s your advice to artists who want to think bigger and diversify their income streams—while still staying true to their creative voice?”
Sponsor Shout-Out:
“Today’s episode is brought to you by White Cloud Coffee Roasters. Listeners, you can enjoy 10% off your first order with the code CREATIVITY at checkout. Visit WhiteCloudCoffee.com.”
“Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review Your World of Creativity wherever you get your podcasts—and come back next time as we continue to explore how creative professionals like you bring their ideas to life, and the world!”
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0:00.0 | Welcome back, friends, to our podcast, your world of creativity. And if you're an artist that has been |
0:06.6 | told, you'll never make a living doing your work. This episode is for you. How many times have we |
0:13.0 | heard this? But our guest is not only proof himself that this can be done, but he has some ways and |
0:19.6 | means and teaching tools that is going to share |
0:22.7 | ideas on how we can make a living with our creative work. My guest is Tim Hacker. |
0:28.8 | Tim, welcome to the show. |
0:30.5 | Oh, thanks. It's a pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me. |
0:32.7 | You back. Tim is a former police officer. He's turned artist. |
0:39.8 | He lives in Northern Ontario, Canada. |
0:47.9 | He walked away from this career to really pursue his dream in art and has built a thriving art business himself. And now he's teaching others to do that. |
0:49.8 | And he's got a great book just being released called You Can Sell Your Art. |
0:56.2 | Tim, maybe we can start with your idea of mentoring this next gen of artists to follow your lead in what you did and retooling your career and your focus towards your creative side. |
1:09.5 | For sure. |
1:10.6 | Again, when I left the police force |
1:12.8 | at 40, walked away from my job, cashed in my pension, still the scariest thing I've ever done in my life. |
1:19.0 | I'm sure. And was able actually to figure things out. I was very lucky. I had a few mentors, |
1:25.5 | but I was just like an avid devourer of everything about art and kind of just tried to find out the commonalities of what made certain artists successful while so many failed. And I reached the point, I guess in 2015, this is a bit of a long story, but it's necessary to get there. In 2015, I was at a show, one of my solo shows |
1:45.9 | at an upscale gallery in Toronto, and it was like the artist's dream. There was, we were, |
1:51.9 | the gallery was closed. They closed at five and were opening again at seven in the evening |
1:56.1 | for the opening of the show. And I was in the front window with a gallery painting and I could |
2:00.1 | see people lining up on the street. when the doors opened at seven people like people flooded in |
2:07.4 | there was waiters walking around with trays of wine there was someone playing music red dots |
... |
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