Real Artists. Real Results.
Featured stories from the Art of Collections & CatCoq Collective
Across the globe, thousands of creative entrepreneurs are building thriving licensing careers, and it all started here! Hear directly from our alumni and community members about how the Art of Collections and our community inside, the CatCoq Collective, helped them grow, launch, and land the deals of their dreams.
🎥 See What’s Possible
Jessica finally got the insider strategy and no-gatekeeping transparency she could never find elsewhere
📍 Location: Dallas, Texas
Jessica Molina has been a professional lettering artist and illustrator for years, but the business side of licensing always felt mysterious and out of reach. In The Art of Collections, she finally got the clarity she had been missing. The industry didn’t feel hidden anymore. She understood how decisions are made, why collections succeed, and how to apply strategy to the work she already had. For the first time, she felt aligned, confident, and supported by a community where transparency is the norm. It changed how she sees her art, her portfolio, and her future in licensing.
Website: jessicamolina.com // Instagram: @seejessletter
“I saw students pitching and landing licensing deals left and right. It proved that everything we were learning actually works.” –Jessica Molina
Ann reignited her 14-year art career through The Art of Collections
📍 Location: Los Angeles, California
Ann Shen spent years creating successful client work but felt unsure how to turn her personal art into a licensing career. Through The Art of Collections, she built 12 new collections, organized years of artwork, and finally gained the clarity and confidence she had been missing. Her story shows how the right structure can reignite your direction and open doors you never thought possible.
Website: ann-shen.com // Instagram: @anndanger
“This is the best course I have ever taken as a professional and as an artist.” –Ann Shen
Amy built 22 collections while working full time in The Art of Collections
📍 Location: New Hampshire, USA
Before joining The Art of Collections, Amy Severino felt lost about how to build a real licensing portfolio. She had creativity and determination but no structure to guide her forward. Inside the program, Amy built 22 full collections, learned exactly what licensors need, and gained the confidence to pitch her work. Her journey shows how strategic support can turn limited time into meaningful momentum.
Website: amysevarts.com // Instagram: @amysevarts
“Cat takes you from having an idea to seeing your art on real products. It showed me exactly how to build a licensing portfolio and gave me every tool I needed. It was the best thing I could have done for my business.” –Amy Severino
Katrina landed her first licensing deal through The Art of Collections
📍 Location: Seattle, Washington
Katrina Miller spent years feeling scattered and unsure of her direction. Through The Art of Collections, she built multiple new collections, gained confidence in her style, and finally started pitching with clarity. Her consistency and renewed focus led to her first licensing deal. Her journey shows how structure, support, and momentum can help artists break through long standing roadblocks.
Website: katrinamillerdesign.com // Instagram: @katrinamillerdesign
“I’m so glad I did it. It was the best way I could have spent the money and the best thing I could have done for my business at that point.” –Katrina Miller
Jenn Yu landed her first licensing deal with her dream stationery company
📍 Location: Hong Kong
Jenn Yu spent years creating artwork but felt stuck and unsure how to break into licensing. Through The Art of Collections, she built her first pitch-ready portfolio, gained confidence from personalized feedback, and finally started sending consistent pitches. Her focus and persistence led to her first ever licensing deal with her dream stationery company.
But Jenn didn't stop there.
She studied what the company loved, aligned her work with their aesthetic, and kept pitching new collections every month. Aaaaand it paid off! They selected even more of her artwork, including a 2027 planner to be sold at HomeGoods!
A year earlier, Jenn had bought a planner from this same brand in Hong Kong and told herself one day her art would be there. Now it is.
While Cat was visiting Hong Kong on vacation, she met up with Jenn for coffee and Jenn gifted her a card featuring the very first design she created in The Art of Collections, the one that landed her licensing deal. Cat cherishes it. Now Jenn and Cat are both licensing with the same company. Jenn's journey proves that consistent pitching, strategic alignment, and refusing to give up can turn dreams into reality.
Website: theintendedspace.com // Instagram: @theintendedspace
"I just signed my FIRST EVER licensing deal with my DREAM stationery company!" –Jenn Yu
How Aby turned her watercolor art into sellable collections through The Art of Collections
📍 Location: France (originally from Mexico)
Aby Morales spent years creating beautiful watercolor paintings, but lacked the structure to turn them into sellable collections. Through The Art of Collections, she learned how to create with intention, build cohesive collections, and understand what makes artwork market ready. Her confidence grew as she watched her pieces sell and attract new clients. With her new portfolio, Aby even gained traction at a Paris trade show and secured a licensing deal. Her story shows how strategy can turn creativity into real opportunity.
Instagram: @aby_creativejourney // Portfolio: view here
“I was finally able to make strategic decisions behind my artwork. It’s not only pretty anymore, it is selling, attracting new inquiries, and opening doors.” –Aby Morales
Alexandra negotiated her first licensing deal with confidence after finally learning the business side of licensing
📍 Location: Lisbon, Portugal
For years, Alexandra created beautiful collections but felt completely stuck on the business side. Through The Art of Collections, she finally learned how licensing works behind the scenes, how to talk to art directors, and how to negotiate real contracts. With support from Cat and the community, she signed and negotiated her first licensing deal with confidence. Now she has the clarity, structure, and self belief to continue pitching and growing on her own.
Website: www.tuscastudio.com // Instagram: @tuscastudio
“Negotiating a real contract with a real company, asking for my terms, asking for more than they were offering… it was a lesson in itself.” –Alexandra Pinheiro
How Sharell found the roadmap to move from "information overload" to a professional licensing career
📍 Location: Seattle, Washington
After leaving her 9-to-5 to pursue art full-time, Sharell Katelynn found herself stuck in the "YouTube and Skillshare rabbit hole." Despite years of research, the sheer volume of conflicting advice left her feeling bombarded and without a clear direction. Inside The Art of Collections, Sharell finally found the structure she had been craving. By following the program’s monthly prompts, she built a cohesive, pitch-ready portfolio. She even leveraged her existing artwork, organizing "one-off" pieces into strategic, sellable collections. Sharell went from "knocking on the door" from the outside to confidently identifying as a professional artist, pitching consistently, and contributing to the community as a peer leader.
Website: www.sharellkatelynn.com / Instagram: @sharellkatelynn
“It’s better than any course I’ve ever taken. I’ve taken other licensing courses and I’ve never made this much progress. All of the people I know in the program are saying the same thing.” –Sharell Katelynn
📍 Location: Miami, Florida
Website: www.indysigncreative.com / Instagram: @theindysign
Indira landed her first licensing deal just 3 months into the program, with artwork from her first three collections!
Indira joined The Art of Collections ready to transition from client work to art licensing, but she had no idea how quickly things would move. Three months into the program, she secured her first licensing deal! …and it wasn't just one collection they selected. Artwork from her first three collections in the program all got selected for licensing.
The artwork in Indira’s collections was a combination of new designs and older artwork. Indira applied the repurposing strategies taught in the course, transforming older artwork into fresh new collections by aligning color palettes and applying simple but powerful techniques. This combination of new work and reimagined art helped land the deal.
Her work went live on the brand’s website almost immediately. Now Indira and Cat are "licensing twinsies," both working with the same company, something that's happened with a handful of students in the community. Indira's story proves that with the right structure and strategy, artists can go from learning to landing deals faster than they ever imagined.
📍 Location: Caribbean Netherlands
Website: www.shellycraig.com / Instagram: @shellycraig20
Shelly Craig landed multiple licensing deals and saw her work selected for major retailers, all within months of joining!
Shelly’s journey inside The Art of Collections is a powerful example of what happens when strong artwork meets clear strategy and a genuinely supportive community.
Early on, Shelly leaned heavily into peer feedback inside the program. She shared her collections, asked thoughtful questions, and actively incorporated suggestions from fellow artists. Again and again, she credited the community for helping her strengthen her work, refine her collections, and push them to a truly pitch ready level. That openness to feedback paid off in a big way.
Shelly landed a her first ever licensing deal with a fabric company! Her coastal collection, Washed Ashore, is set to launch in 2026. But the wins didn't stop there. A couple months later, she also landed another licensing deal to license 30 pieces of her artwork for online and big-box retail, with the possibility of placing her art into stores like Target, Wayfair, Michaels, Macy's, Nordstrom Rack, Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart, and Kohl's.
Shelly also won an online challenge with the Reef Restoration Foundation, having her Brain Coral pattern featured on their 2026 merchandise. Two of her designs were selected for Cat's 2026 Trend Report, and she was interviewed by Visual Arts Journal for issue #35. Shelly's story proves that staying open to feedback, refining your work with intention, and trusting the process can lead to accomplishments that exceed your wildest expectations.
Olga started as a complete beginner and landed a 250-calendar deal and two new clients
📍 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Before joining The Art of Collections, Olga Somers was a complete beginner. Inside the program, she found direction and structure without pressure. This led to a massive win: a company purchased 250 of her calendars! When the workload grew, Olga leveraged the community by hiring a peer to manage the project together.
One of the biggest perks of the program is the access to top-tier industry experts during the monthly calls. Olga leaned into this, connecting 1:1 with an expert guest speaker for a deep-dive coaching session. This access gave her the confidence to introduce herself as a professional illustrator at a conference, landing two new clients on the spot. Olga’s journey shows that when you leverage the community and the high-level experts we bring in, you stop being a beginner and start being a pro.
Website: somertimedesigns.com / Instagram: @somertimedesigns