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Home Blog Brad Blaze – From insurance worker to global entertainer
27Mar

Brad Blaze – From insurance worker to global entertainer
By Sonia Goss | Blog, Podcast, Brad Blaze, Speed Painter, Sole Trader, Entertainer | 27 Mar 2023 |

World renowned Australian artist, speed painter and entertainer, Brad Blaze joins Brad Eisenhuth in the next episode of Real Talk With Outperformers. In this fun and insightful episode, the boys talk about all things paint, being a solopreneur, stories and experiences from the entertainment world and the challenges of being a sole trader when you’re in demand. Here are some of the podcast highlights.

Here are some of the podcast highlights;

Mad about ‘Mad’ Magazine

When talking about the beginning of his interest in art, Brad describes his younger self reading ‘Mad’ magazine and becoming infatuated with the drawings, copying them and developing a desire to become an artist when he grew up.

Brad’s Got Talent

After 9 years in a corporate role in the finance industry and a stint with drawing caricatures at events, Brad entered the first ever season of one the nation’s favourite reality competition shows, Australia’s Got Talent and showed his talent for speed painting to judges including Red Simmons and Dannii Minogue. Thankful for his experience on the show, Brad decided to kick start his career as an speed painter and entertainer.

Wait… what is speed painting?

For those that have yet to leave this blog to search for Brad’s performance on Australia’s Got Talent or Google him, Brad explains speed painting as bringing a character/person to life through paint, glitter and fire in under 4 minutes!

The hustle and grind to get started

Once Brad decided to make a living out of speed painting, he sent out the footage of his time on Australia’s Got Talent to “every Event Organiser in Australia” along with a video of short, sharp snippets of his performances at a few events. Although, risky at the time as he was presenting himself with a niche talent and in his own words “re-inventing the wheel”, the gamble paid off when he was a presenter at the AIM (Australian Institute of Management) Conference and was able to show off his talent in front of 750 people in business.

Some gigs are better than others

Brad explains that there is almost instant verification of a good show from the applause he receives after a performance. He says that most times he can say to himself that his paintings turned out well and the jokes he told landed with the audience and there have been a few times where it’s gone the opposite way. He says that the best way he deals with the ups and downs is by acknowledging that “Some gigs are better than others. A great thing about being in the entertainment game is you walk out for that ballroom or wherever you’re performing at and it’s a new day”.

“There’s no time off when you’re self employed”

Brad (Eisenhuth) asks Brad (Blaze) what happens if he’s unwell and Blaze says he powers through. The one and only time he didn’t attend a show was when he had Kidney stones. Other than that, ‘the show must go on’. Brad even recalls attending a function to paint the Johnathan Thurston (former NRL player) where he was very unwell. This segued into a conversation about the pros and cons and fulfillment (if any) that come with being self employed including accepting that getting sick and letting people down is part of the journey.

The best & the worst

When asked to talk about some the highlights and lowlights of his career so far, Brad talks about one of the best times being in 2011 when he painted the late Shane Warne and U.S. Golfer, Tiger Woods in front of about 1000 people, most of which were ‘A-Listers’. The better part of that memory is, James Packer was in attendance that evening and purchased the painting of Tiger Woods for $40,000. Brad also talks about the time he painted Richie Benaud in front of the Australian Cricket team as well as painting Australian Prime Minister, John Howard.

In terms of a “Bad day for Brad”, Blaze put it down not being prepared enough for an event.

Constantly learning

“The most important thing, is to have niche” Brad says is one of the most important things he has learned on his journey. Striving to stand out in a niche market is what drives Brad and keeps the wheels turning for his business. His only regret is that he didn’t start his business sooner.

Appreciation of art Vs Commercialism

Brad Eisenhuth asks Brad Blaze, when it comes to appreciation of his art versus running his business, which comes first, Blaze humbly responds, that feeding his family will always be the priority. For Blaze, “success is being comfortable in what you do”.

Surviving COVID as a business

During the lockdowns of COVID, Brad explains that he kept his business going by performing and painting virtually for corporate events. He also used this time to reset, spend time with his children and get fit.

To find out more about Brad, have a listen to the podcast and to see Brad speed-draw Brad Eisenhuth watch the YouTube Video of the podcast. Links below.

Listen on Spotify 🎧

Listen on Apple Podcasts 🎙️

Watch on YouTube👁️‍🗨️

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