Caught Red-Handed Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Today's guest is Caryl Cunningham (@carylcunningham on Instagram) who is a tattooer but started out as a henna artist. She was one of our guests at the Mektoub Marrakesh Henna Journey in March 2022. I was excited to talk to someone who is a hardcore traveller and learn about her perspective on the event. If you are interested in the Mektoub events please follow us on instagram (@mektoubhenna) or visit us at MektoubHenna.com. If you have suggestions of people you would like us to interview email us at MektoubHenna@gmail.com. 

If you have ever met Connie, online or in person, you know she has many thoughts and feelings. She joined our Mektoub Marrakesh Henna Journey in March 2022 and we were really happy to have her there because we knew her and liked having some friendly faces at our first ever event. Listen in to hear her perspectives on our Moroccan  event and her transformative experience. 

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I interviewed 13 people (myself included) and got 13 different recipes. Imagine that! Incontrovertible proof that there is no secret recipe for henna paste, no perfect one-size-fits-all recipe. Who would have ever guessed that! All my guests are pro artists with years and years of experience and most of them are still working on their perfect recipe. Almost everyone agrees that you have you change the recipe according to a variety of factors: the weather, what kind of gig it is, what tool you are using, where your gig will be held, what kind of designs you are going to be doing, and possibly even the phase of the moon.

This is the last of the series on mixing henna. If you haven't found a recipe or a technique that you like after all these conversations there is no hope for you. Of course, I am sure you--whether wet-behind-the-ears newbie or season ole pro who has seen everything--will have learned something that will take your henna career to the next level. Go put some henna powder in your favorite bowl, find a spoon or a spatula and get ready to fill your ear holes with wise words from the henna pros!

Remember to subscribe to this podcast via iTunes to always be the first on your block to get the newest episode. This helps me know how the podcast is doing and will also help me attract sponsors to help finance the podcast down the road. Please also rate the podcast on iTunes just so I know how I'm doing . Thanks!

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This episode of the mixtape mixology series is a classic East Coast-West Coast battle with Middle America officiating.  We have Sarah Walter in the West, representing Seattle (pictured above).  Deborah Brommer takes up the middle position, representing the flyover states from her home in Ohio. She's the perfect person to middle because she is very tolerant of all types of henna, mixes, essential oils and even tools.  She can roll with whatever is at hand which I found impressive.  Representing my East Coast peeps is Rebecca Freedner, based in Vermont.  No she does NOT mix her henna with maple syrup.  Don't listen to the haters!

The more I listen to all these mixes the more confused I am about what is best for me.  I'm making small changes in how I mix henna, nothing too drastic because I need to be sure I have a good and consistent batch for working on clients.  I think this winter I will have time to do some experimenting outside my comfort zone. What have you changed since you started listening to this mixtape series? Share in the comments.  After this episode, there is one more in the series in which I am interviewed by our very own Nev.

I mention this in the podcast, but just a reminder to register for HennaCon if you haven't already. I'll be there teaching an Advanced Moroccan workshop with Noam Sienna, and also doing a live podcast with a bunch of awesomely creative people.  Go to HennaCon.com to register and see you there in October!

Remember to subscribe to this podcast via iTunes to always be the first on your block to get the newest episode. This helps me know how the podcast is doing and will also help me attract sponsors to help finance the podcast down the road.  Please also rate the podcast on iTunes just so I know how I'm doing . Thanks!

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I can hear you all out there banging your spoons against your henna bowls in anticipation of the next Mixtape episode.  Clang no more, put those bowls to good use.  This episode will give so many new ideas for mixing henna that you'll want to run to your kitchen right away.

The first episode ranged across the US, but this one narrows its focus to just the Bay Area.  Even though all my guests are in the same area they each have their own way of dealing with the climate and their own unique recipes.  All three are very active in the bridal scene, offering up some great ideas for making special paste for bridal henna.  We even have a minor controversy brewing over whether there is such a thing as dye release (possibly a subject for a future episode).

Interestingly all three of these women have very no-nonsense approaches to mixing henna.  Maybe there is something about doing bridal henna in an environment with a lot of henna artists  and a lot of gigs that makes a person become more focused on what works and what doesn't.  It sounds like there really isn't time to play around with different powders and oils and teas etc. but instead they have all strived to get the very best paste in the easiest and quickest way possible.  That said, they all arrived at their current mix through a lot of experimentation which is the core lesson from all of these interviews.

Remember to subscribe to this podcast via iTunes to always be the first on your block to get the newest episode. This helps me know how the podcast is doing and will also help me attract sponsors to help finance the podcast down the road.  Please also rate the podcast on iTunes just so I know how I'm doing. Thanks!

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Henna recipes are like snowflakes...no two are the same.  Or maybe a better metaphor is that henna artists are grannies with their own special recipe, made with love and no measurements, or maybe carefully measured but always with a little pinch of something you never thought of.

I floated this episode idea of a collection of interviews about henna recipes with a bunch of seasoned pro henna artists in my inner circle.  I thought maybe there would be a few interested in talking to me and maybe I'd get 5 minutes of tape from each. It turned out to be way more than that. One of my pro buddies wondered aloud how many recipes there could possibly and how would that make an interesting episode.  I hope she's listening!

My cattle call got so many takers and each call was a full conversation so I had to split them up into several episodes.  Here is the first batch ready for your hungry ear holes.  My guests were Sowmya from San Francisco, Wardah of San Diego, Victoria in Minneapolis and beyond, and Nev way up in Portland, ME.

Remember to subscribe to this podcast via iTunes to always be the first on your block to get the newest episode. This helps me know how the podcast is doing and will also help me attract sponsors to help finance the podcast down the road.  Please also rate the podcast on iTunes just so I know how I'm doing . Thanks!

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Disclaimer: It's hasn't yet happened that this podcast requires a disclaimer so I hope I am doing this right.  In this episode the existence of sex and sexuality is acknowledged.  If you are under 18, please ask your parents if you can listen to this episode. If  you are an adult and don't want to know that these things exist, that there is an industry devoted to it, and people who work in it, I suggest you close this browser window and walk away.

For the rest of you still reading, this episode is a treat, and an unusual one at that.  Donia is a business consultant to sexuality professionals.  Somehow I got it into my head that there are a lot of parallels between the work of a professional henna artist and that of a sexuality professional.  You will have to listen to the episode to see exactly what those parallels are, and I am sure you can think of a lot more than those we talked about.  The episode isn't all just sexy stuff--it's not sexy at all--but it's chock full of great business advice that we can all benefit from, at whatever stage our career are.

Donia was generous enough to share some great links, some of which she talks about on the podcast, and others that she thought would be useful to you all.

http://polyweekly.com/2011/03/personal-branding-for-the-sex-positive-educator/

http://www.onlinemba.com/blog/90-tiny-tips-to-build-your-personal-brand/

http://www.wikihow.com/Build-Your-Personal-Brand

http://diybusinessassociation.com/gobrandyourself/

Donia offers a free 30 minute consult to any one who fills out the form on her website: www.doniachristine.com

Remember to subscribe to this podcast via iTunes to always be the first on your block to get the newest episode. This helps me know how the podcast is doing and will also help me attract sponsors to help finance the podcast down the road.  Please also rate the podcast on iTunes just so I know how I'm doing . Thanks!

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Perhaps you remember Darcy from the inaugural episode of this podcast, or maybe you have seen her work online...either way, she is hard to forget.  A bridal panel just wouldn't be complete without talking to Darcy.  In my years of friendship with her, Darcy has shared with me so much of her bridal henna knowledge.  Her advice---based on personal experience---was very important to the growth of my own bridal henna business.  I hope that you listeners will benefit from her advice as much as I did.

Upon listening back to the three (so far!) bridal panel episodes I am amazed at how many ways there are to run a henna business, not to mention all the different ways to do henna, from making paste to wrapping up a bride.  I was able to glean such a variety by choosing artists with different backgrounds, located in different areas of the US (working on some interviews with overseas artists so stay tuned), unique approaches to their art and even different art.  As you listen to this series of episodes I think you will see some common themes like the need to change up your marketing regularly, and keep trying different things until you find that sweet spot, and the need for a high level of professionalism both in your business activities as well as your art.  What were the biggest takeaways from these interviews that influenced your career in henna?

Darcy can be found at hennaguru.com as well as hennalounge.com; she has a huge presence on all the social media that you have heard of, and even some you haven't!

Remember to subscribe to this podcast via iTunes. This helps me know how the podcast is doing and will also help me attract sponsors to help finance the podcast down the road.  Please also rate the podcast on iTunes just so I know how I'm doing . Thanks!

Sarah, of sarahenna.com, is not only a fellow henna artist but is also an IT person by day, like myself.  Talking with her for the podcast felt very familiar because of our similarly split personalities.  I've long admired Sarah's work, especially her bridal work, because it embodies so much of what I am always striving to achieve, especially clean lines and original designs.  Wandering around her Flickr galleries is such a pleasure and also an inspiration.  

I learned a lot from my conversation with Sarah and our conversation continued on Facebook where she has been really helpful--along with a lot of other pros--at helping me with my cone challenges.  It was interesting to hear the practical matters of bridal henna and compare and contrast it with the information gleaned from other bridal artists.  I think a lot of us henna artists strive to find the one perfect way to do henna, but these conversations have shown me that not only are there a lot of different approaches to the art form, but also that individual artists often change their methods from bride to bride, or evolve over time.  I think that I can give myself a break for finding myself in beginner's mode at times, now that I know that great artists who I admire are also still learning.  I hope you enjoy the podcast and discover that you are also growing!

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My interview with Fatima was so fun. After we hung up I was exhausted and energized and kinda teary.  It was such a joy to talk to someone who is so passionate about her art and especially about Moroccan henna.  I often feel like I'm the tree in the forest which no one is there to hear when I talk about Moroccan henna. The henna world is all Indian, all the time and there doesn't seem to be space for Moroccan henna in that world which makes me very sad.  That's why talking with Fatima, whose passion for Moroccan henna far surpasses mine, was such a treat.

Collecting images of her work for this blog post was another pleasure.  You can see from the photos above that she seriously rocks the Moroccan Fessi style in a way that I rarely see outside of Morocco.  I get misty-eyed looking at these designs of hers...nostalgic for Morocco but blown away by someone who conveys the best of Moroccan henna through her work. What is also incredible are her non-Moroccan designs which are also executed with a syringe. Having tried to do henna with a syringe I can barely imagine doing Moroccan designs with them let alone the floral and viney work that Fatima creates.  I really love the pieces where she fuses the Moroccan with the Indian in a way that few artists can do.  In this sense she is a true Moroccan artist, personifying the crossroads nature of Morocco, picking up influences from all over the world and expertly melding them into a creation that is greater than the sum of its parts.