Make your dreams come true!
The Do What You Love e-course will encourage you to reconnect to the real you, deep inside, in order to uncover what you really love. Understanding yourself and your passions will help you map out your perfect road ahead.
“This course is like pressing a pause button on your life – to take stock and help realise your potential.” Course participant, January 2015
Join us this June for the experience of a lifetime.
Today we are delighted to bring you an interview with talented Brooklyn-based designer Lotta Jansdotter, a self-taught pattern and print maker whose designs can be found on everything from mugs and rugs, to prints and wallpaper to clothes and baby carriers.
I met Lotta back in April when I took her workshop at the Sweet Paul Makerie retreat, Philadelphia. I had so much fun playing with colour and design, creating simple mood boards, stencilling, and completing my own fabric project. As we chatted I learned that Lotta was born in 1971 on Åland, a small group of islands in archipelago between Sweden and Finland, which explains why her aesthetic is so deeply rooted in nature and the landscape.
I was also impressed by her pragmatic and self-sufficient approach to design: Can’t find what you want? Make it? Don’t know how? Learn! Lotta takes the basic craft skills she learned as a child, such as potato printmaking and sewing, and reworks them into sophisticated tools and techniques. Her designs may be steeped in artisan traditions and DIY but the homespun aspect ends there. Her look is sleek and urban and her products are practical and functional – created to suit busy city life. ~ Rachel
PS If this inspires you to explore possibilities for your own designs, you might be interested in a free five-part video series on Designing for Home Decor from our sister site MakeArtThatSells.com (starts Jun 8 – register here now to get the videos into your inbox)
The long summer evenings have brought with them a renewed sense of relaxation and calm after an incredibly busy few months at DWYL HQ. After almost a year of new content creation and recruitment our team has clicked with everyone fitting into the right roles, finding autonomy and feeling assured. The sheer volume of work that the team has got through since January is astounding. I take my hat off to each and every one of them, from Beth downwards. It is a pleasure and a privilege to work with so many people who are motivated by purpose, and who work with humour and a smile to such incredibly high standards.
Fast on the back of her appearance at The Barclays Debate #barclaysdebate Beth was proud to talk at the recent Mumsnet conference in London. She was there as part of a panel providing business and lifestyle advice about how to start up on your own. I know she thoroughly enjoyed herself as she came back with a spring in her step after mingling with so many other aspiring and driven mothers.
The Business Soul Sessions opened its classroom doors (digitally speaking) on May 11 to a new group of individuals. This revolutionary course offers a thought-provoking, perspective-shifting, mind-opening approach to business growth for entrepreneurs who want greater impact, explosive growth and serious profits they can be proud of. Without blowing our own trumpet, I wish we could have taken The Business Soul Sessions at the start of our journey!
It has been nearly three years since the previous class ran and I can’t wait for all the wonderful eureka moments that I know our students will have. So many great things come out of this course for so many people, and it’s wonderful to watch our students grow and transform their approach and their businesses before our eyes. This is what some of our past students have said…
“This course was pivotal for me. It helped me gain a professional confidence and business identity that I didn’t know I was even missing.” ~ Noelle Rollins
“My business has grown at least 300% and my network and knowledge have expanded exponentially because of this course.” ~ Sandra Dumais
“The Business Soul Sessions changed my entire approach to everything I did. It changed how I thought about business and living the life of a business person. I taught myself to value my talents, my time and my efforts. I would tell anyone who is in a business that relies on creativity, imagination and ingenuity that they really need to do this course. It will pay for itself and you’ll look back in time and be so grateful that you invested in your soul work”. ~ Kass Hall
And there’s lots more exciting news to report…
1. Registration is open for the next DWYL e-course, starting June 15. We’re proud to say that the powerful yet practical content contained in this transformative course continues to surprise people. It’s all about helping you find the answers to your questions and then taking the right actions for you. If you are wondering about the true power of the course, well it doesn’t come much bigger than a Marriage Proposal… and just wait until you find out how he popped the question!
2. We launched our brave stranger campaign to celebrate bravery in all shapes and sizes, by every day people. Get involved on Facebook or Twitter next week for a chance to WIN a place for you and a friend on the DWYL e-course.
[Tweet “Change your life! WIN a place for you and a friend on the next DWYL e-course”]
3. We’ve had some brilliant applications for Little Beach Hut of Dreams and we can’t wait to share how our beach hut residents spend their days by the sea. UPDATE: The Little Beach Hut of Dreams has been sold as we no longer live in Brighton and only residents are permitted to own beach huts there. This post has been archived for reference but we are no longer accepting applications for Dreamer-in-Residence. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our Dreamers-in-Residence for being part of our adventure, and to Towergate Insurance for awarding The Little Beach Hut of Dreams runner up position in Beach Hut of the Year 2015. She was very proud!
4. Our Webinar Series – Alchemy – has certainly got people inspired and thinking. The feedback and comments have been great. Alchemy is constantly available and now takes pride of place in amongst our other FREE Resources – Sign up today and listen to some of the most interesting and potentially important conversations you will hear all year.
5. Our blog continues to be galvanised by our guest bloggers who are all leading all experts in their field. They include: Alastair Humphreys, Ben Keene, Frances Booth, Louise Armstrong and Lara Tabatznik.
6. What do you think about our new look? Last month our new website launched. We want it to be a place you can trust to find all the inspiration, tools, resources and support you need. At the end of the day all of this is for you. So we’d love to hear you thoughts. Please get in touch and let us what works, what doesn’t and most importantly, tell us if something is missing, or if there are any features you’d find helpful. We really do value your feedback.
1. The LIVE event is SOLD OUT! Make Art That Sells: The Global Art Gathering will take place in Brighton, UK, on Friday, June 12, 2015. It promises to be a fun-filled, action-packed day with all the energy, passion and magic you’d expect from Make Art That Sells. We’ll be welcoming a host of acclaimed speakers and panelists from the international art industry to advise and inspire you.
2. MATS: Creating Collections for Home Decor has been hugely in demand since we announced its launch last month. Lilla and Beth have teamed up with Top Art Director Margo Tantau – to run the fantastic course that Margo has described as a GAME CHANGER! To ensure you don’t miss out before it sells out Register here.
3. MATS: Assignment Bootcamp has entered in its final month. I can honestly say that I will miss the buzz in the Bootcamp Community when it draws to a close but I know there will only be a short interlude before attention turns to this year’s Global Talent Search. Don’t miss out on what could be one of the biggest and best opportunities for your career… join the waiting list here.
4. Our gorgeous new Make Art That Sells website continues to turn heads! It’s bursting with free resources, industry insight and motivational videos to help the artists among you make leaps forward with your career. Be sure to check it out.
Since our sister site, Make It In Design, announced Printsource New York as their Official Trade Show Partner energy levels have been sky high. As one of the world’s most prestigious shows for the surface pattern design and textile industry, this partnership will provide exclusive content, behind the scenes access, and top tips to help designers build their brand through trade shows.
1. Trade show video series – over 1,000 people tuned in from around the world last week to watch our latest Trade Show video series hosted by Rachael Taylor and Massimo Iacoboni, the owner of Printsource New York. The feedback has been amazing with many people letting the team know how many great ideas they’ve picked up and how grateful they were for all the free inside know-how to trade show success. Rachael shared years of trade show trial and error to help others avoid the steep learning curve. The videos are still available to watch until May 31, 2015. Sign up here.
2. Make it in Design are on the countdown to one of the most exciting and powerful courses in the world of surface pattern design – ‘The Ultimate Portfolio Builder in association with Printsource‘. This advanced 7-week course will give you all the tools and advice you need to grow your body of commercially viable work, refine and strengthen your professional design portfolio, make your designs more sellable and give you the fast-track to trade show success. Class starts on May 25, 2015, there’s still time to join us.
3. Uppercase launched an exciting competition to win a place on the upcoming ‘The Ultimate Portfolio Builder’ course. To date there have been over 70 entries which you can read on the blog here.
4. Summer School dates are out! Last July hundreds of people joined Make it in Design for some creative fun for all the family. Check out the Summer School Lookbook featuring some of their favourite designs and join the waiting list to get more details soon.
5. We are also thrilled to tell you that a number of Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design students exhibited at Surtex in New York last week. You can see their latest work right here on the Make it in Design blog.
Just last week Beth (Mrs. K) and I sat down to work through the ‘Core Values’ section of The Business Soul Session course for our business (yes, we use our own resources!) and it couldn’t have been better timed. In the midst of all the ideas, an ever-growing team, increasing commitments and working at 100 mph to get everything done, we needed to ensure that we were still being true to the soul of our business. The outcome was really insightful; it reminded us that we must never lose sight of the ‘WHY’ behind our business. It is the beating heart of Do What You Love.
Make time for the important things and stay true to yourself.
Until next time,
Mr. K
This is a guest post by Ben Keene. You can find out more about Ben here.
My nose is running. My sun-tan is already fading. I’m even shivering a little. Its not mid-winter but spring in England and British Summer Time has just kicked-in. So why the doldrums? Well, I’ve just got back from three months of fun and fulfilment in Bali piloting a new Tribewanted project focusing on co-working. I’ve learnt post-tribe fatigue is inevitable. I’ll be back in the game shortly.
So, in this moment between tribes (I’m back at The Escape School next week) — what did I learn?
At least 4 times a week we would meet at Hubud and ask 2 questions to everyone:
What are you getting done today?
How can we help?
The simplicity and regularity of these sessions helped us take small steps forward daily and accelerate towards our goals.
I knew from my research that Bali, and Ubud especially, would be a good destination for coworking and startup inspiration but my expectations were smashed.
Bali’s spiritual, creative, natural culture is powerfully seductive — you can’t help but be wrapped up in its glow. This layered onto a canvas of volcanos, ocean, reefs and the bright green quilt of paddy fields and its popularity is unsurprising.
My daily commute cycling through Ubud monkey forest in the early heat, hopping round cafes for meetups, into galleries for inspiration, hiking through paddy fields, disappearing into bamboo paradises and the endless swimming opportunities meant that you couldn’t not feel energised. The challenge is fitting everything in — life was full in Ubud (I didn’t even make it to ‘ecstatic dance’).
3. Sunshine (and thunderstorms) are caffeine for the soul
The island climate at this time of year is dramatic — one minute intense heat, the next a monsoon. At night cracks of thunder that would crack into the core of your being. I found the drama of the weather an energizer. Bugs aside, there’s nothing like a tropical rainstorm to awaken your senses and reflect on what you’re doing. You can’t detach your work from the natural environment in somewhere like Bali and that’s a very good thing.
4. Give and you shall grow (pay it forward without expectation)
We did a lot of skill sharing. I can’t think of an occassion when this didn’t build stronger relationships and increase impact. We planned to split our time 50% (our projects) 25% (each others projects), 25% exploring Bali. With this mindset I saw a lot of people supporting each other with no questions asked about ‘how much time’ or ‘will I get it back.’
Whatsapp is our watercooler (we’ll get to ‘Slack’ at some-point), we gather round it to share our meetup plans, pictures, jokes and rapid feedback.
Strikingly is our ideas accelerator — the difference between people talking about their ideas before they visualised them was always obvious.
I watched Loretta, a consumate international development professional unleash her inner entrepreneurial creativity once she got a handle on a couple of tools and the permission to go wild with them — now, she’s an ideas machine.
Tommy: Young travel blogger taught himself how to build a following and engagement on instagram and then shared his lessons with us. In under a week he had become the ‘instagram’ expert.
Philippa: Teacher and novelist shared her creative writing tips and in return was motivated by the tribe to churn out her novel.
Bob: Corporate HR guy turned ethical recruitment missionpreneur shared his hiring tips and gained feedback on how to keep it lean.
Every Thursday we invite a guest to share their story with us. These included:
Vlatko: How (and why) I spent 6 years filming the Croatian coastline.
Kadek: Why I started Yoga Barn and the Bali Spirit Festival
Eiji: What I learnt making ‘The Happy Movie’
These might seem like irrelevant interruptions in our busy schedules, but often we found these fresh perspectives and inspiring stories would reinforce or shift our thinking around what we were doing.
Lisa: ‘So I’ve spent all night thinking about changing the name and brand to ‘your news assistant’. What do you think?’
Tribe: ‘But we love ‘Newspresso — your shot of daily news.’
Lisa: ‘Really?’
Tribe: ‘Yes!’
Lisa: ‘Ok, Newspresso it is!’
9. Not everyday is perfect. Even in Bali.
I’ve been to enough islands to know that paradise is a state of mind and not a perfect place. Bali is a handmade society, still struggling with corruption, traffic, pollution, rampant tourism, poverty, climate change and more. It looks perfect on the surface — this is what makes it a great holiday destination.
But when you’ve come to explore your future career or kickstart your business idea, there are days when the wifi is too slow, the bugs bite too much and, yes, when its just ‘too hot.’
This is when your tribe matter the most — they pick you up, remind you why this decision was a good one and that you’re not on your own (even if most people ‘back home’ think your in paradise).
Our Chief Experience Officer, Gusti Badra
10. Mindsets shift through community
This is something that Rob from The Escape School (my next tribe) said to me. It resonates perfectly. For all of us in the ‘behaviour change’ game we know that the key to making a positive and sustainable impact on someone is by connecting them meaningfully with others who share their outlook, intention and values.
If we can build a community — a tribe — around things that matter to people, then minds and behaviour will shift. Its a huge lesson and one that is becoming clearer by the day.
Thank you to my tribe buddies from Bali for leaping into the unknown and sharpening this conviction for me. Loretta says it best: [Tweet “A Tribe is a powerful thing.”] Being part of this one is an experience I’ll never forget!
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Tribewanted Startups Bali in numbers (so far):
In numbers… 45 tribe members. 60 ‘check-in’s. 62 new ideas (in one night). 3 volcanoes climbed (in one day). 30+ strikingly pages. 4000+ juices. 1000+downward facing dogs. An unlimited amount of hugs…
Meanwhile, just beyond the monkey forest, the adventure continues.
This is a guest post by Lara Tabatznik who talks more about building 42 Acres – a dream retreat in Somerset, UK. You can find out more about Lara here, read our interview with her here and read her last blog post here.
On some level I didn’t believe this dream would come true, and on some level I knew deep down it would. It feels like this is just the beginning. My dream has been evolving for the last two years and I believe it will continue to, as I do. After all dreams are manifestations of who we, are as well as who we are becoming. So yes, it feels incredible to have planted the seeds for my dream retreat venue, and I feel like I’m only just getting started!
I think one of the most exciting things has been watching the house transform into a beautiful healing center right before my eyes. Besides the way it looks and feels, the energy of the space is completely different. There’s a sense of calm and peace and you feel it instantly, as soon as you walk through the door.
I have also loved the creative process of dreaming up ideas and visualising what 42 Acres could be. There is so much freedom in starting with a blank canvas, and the land is exactly that. The 42 Acres is just fields and fields of open land – with incredible potential, and endless possibilities. I think this will continue to be one of the best parts this venture; exploring new ideas and allowing the next stages in 42 Acres’ development to unfold easily and naturally.
Endless potential for 42 Acres to expand and grow
I see the first few months as an opportunity to pilot, to trial, to learn and to begin to figure it out. We have already opened our doors and we ran our first retreat a few weeks ago. It was a natural movement weekend, which explored the idea of humans as animals and how we evolved from primates – climbing, squatting, and hanging – to survive and thrive over millions of years.
Over the next few months we are running a whole range of events, including Raw Food workshops, Yoga, Sound Healing, a Philosophers Camp, an Indigenous Dreaming Retreat, and Social Change Workshops. It’s a varied and interesting program, and it truly excites me.
I see 42 Acres as a place that will grow organically. I see it as a center whose reputation will spread through word of mouth as a result of people’s own personal stories and experiences. I believe it will attract the people it is supposed to attract – the ones who feel drawn to come to us whether they know why or not. I see it as a place that will change lives and I hope that in years to come it will be known as a global home for transformation.
What has led me to this point? My gut. Over the years I’ve learnt that whenever I follow it I realise my dreams. My advice to anyone who has a dream is to trust your instincts, even if you don’t know where they are taking you. Go for it, reach high and you will figure all the details out along the way. The hardest part is to just start.
For more information about 42 Acres visit www.42acres.com or e-mail [email protected]
A while back I talked about how we often teach what we need to hear, and this has never been more true than right now, this very minute, as we kick off our new course The Business Soul Sessions. Today has been a day for recalibration and redirection and it has been exhilarating.
Rewind to yesterday, a glorious sunny day here on the south coast of England. Mr K and I took Sienna to Stanmer Park, a wonderful green space in the grounds of a stately home, complete with cows, a stone church and a sweet little tea room. We spent two solid hours laughing as we chased her round and round the field, stopping only to make a daisy chain crown for her hair.
She has been walking with assistance for months now, but for some reason, last week, she just decided to go for it and started walking unaided, round in circles, up steps, and even breaking into a little wobbly run. It was amazing. Pure joy, and she was so proud she kept clapping herself. Now the world must look very different to her, as she can go where she wants and look at anything that catches her eye.
For us yesterday was such a fun family day, and it made us start thinking ahead to the expansion of our family in the months ahead, with baby number two on the horizon (due at the end of July).
When Sienna was born I did a really bad job of juggling work and new motherhood, to the point where I exhausted myself, and probably did neither of them properly. This time we want to do it differently. We want to spend more time with the new little one, but also with Sienna as she gets used to having a little sister. So things need to be done differently.
With that in mind Mr K and I spent today working on our business development plan for the next few years, with thoughts of our family front of mind throughout the process. It was an invigorating day of brainstorming, questioning, challenging and imagining, and we are truly excited about what lies ahead. The best part? We were recalibrating for our change in lifestyle, but by REALLY focusing on what is important to us, came away with ideas that will make our business better as a result. (I look forward to sharing some of those things with you in the coming months…)
How did we do it? Using the resources from our very own Business Soul Sessions course! We took a selection of the worksheets from the course and powered through them in a mammoth café session. We came away with an extraordinary sense of clarity, direction and new ideas. It was so exciting to use our own course to help direct the next phase of our own business, and it makes complete sense.
Because having a soulful business is all about being clear on WHY you are doing what you are doing, serving WHO you want to serve, with WHAT they need, and doing it all in a way that makes you happy and makes you profits you can be proud of. But we all change and grow over time, our motivations change, our situations change, and the world outside our door changes. So it follows that your business needs to change, adapt and evolve with it. The principles of the Business Soul Sessions played a major role in the early days of our business, and I am thrilled that the course is equally valuable at this stage, because it’s about principles and possibility, which are important wherever you are with your business. (And it wasn’t just us – here’s a fantastic case study from designer Hannah Nunn who took the Beta version of the course a while back and has seen a 53% rise in sales, combined with a complete perspective shift – it’s an inspiring tale!)
If you think it’s time to recalibrate your own business, to get re-motivated, re-inspired, and ready to create much greater impact, profits and freedom, then join us. Class has just begun but you can still squeeze in here if you are quick!
This week we’d like to challenge you to think about what areas of your life could do with recalibration. What have you been doing the same for a while now, even though something has changed – your circumstances, your friendship group, your interests or whatever. Think about it, and take a moment to reflect and recalibrate today.
Have a great week!
Beth and team
Today, as part of our ‘Love Business’ month, we bring you a fascinating interview with Kathy Heslop, an incredible woman who has lived many lives already, as professional musician, nautical globetrotter and serial entrepreneur who has seen multi-million dollar success for her creative businesses. She also happens to be one of the funniest women I know. ~ Beth
British by passport, half Scandinavian and a NYC/London girl by heart, Kathy was once a professional violinist, working with UK orchestras, theatre and opera companies. She was the first female electric violinist to perform at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club and co-wrote the trailer music for the movie Notting Hill. In 1998 Kathy co-founded the digital recording studio Serious in London with her polymathic husband David. Within a year it had morphed into a digital publishing company and by the summer of 2000 they had moved to New York City to open a sister office. Serious went on to win multiple awards and employ over seventy staff with three offices worldwide, (London, NYC and Singapore). She then made the jump to PR and is now Director of Communications for veinteractive.com, a multi-award-winning technology company which implements online efficiency strategies for domestic and multinational retailers, increasing their online conversions by an average of 25. Kathy has invested more than 10 years achieving strategic business goals through high impact marketing and PR initiatives and has a deep understanding of how effective communications can impact an organisation.
Here she shares some very valuable insight and practical commercial advice for anyone trying to start, or grow, a creative business…
1. What is the most important thing for entrepreneurs to remember if they really want their business to fly?
Well, firstly, if this is you dear reader – congratulations, you have the privilege of having a vocation. Lucky! Even more so if you have mastered flexible working hours to achieve a good work-life balance too. And what great timing you have. Many consumers are returning to an appreciation of quality workmanship and individuality over the mass produced and manufactured, and are rebooting their values and choices in life. So crafting can now become a career. Plus we are living in this amazing networked ‘global’ village with its opportunities and new markets. You no longer need retail real estate, your brand can be virtual and if you’ve got something unique on offer too – you can potentially transcend all borders. On top of this, social media has also created the open source movement, so it’s now easy to join or build communities that share creative information and expertise, and these types of like minded communities are all potential ecommerce customers for you.
…However, drunk as it is easy to be on the fantastic opportunities available today, sober consideration needs adding to the mix too, because if you are serious about making the leap from hobbyist to professional ‘doing the thing you love,’ a leap of faith alone will not be enough. I don’t need to touch upon the sources for creative inspiration here, (ideas, self-belief, listening to and caring about your audience, finding support etc), because this blog is all about the concept that you can build positive relationships whilst doing something you love, and it is already attracting like-minded souls, cruising by full of ideas and encouragement. However, may be where I can proffer help is to add some science to your art, to help you monetise your dreams.
Whether you’re a sole trader or thinking of starting a company, creativity needs to be twinned with enterprise if your ideas are going to be viable. Building and running a business, be it a boutique independent or a multi-million pound retailer, demands organisational control. It also takes patience and dedication, so if you are a start up, you are going to need other means of financial support during this period because most businesses don’t bear fruit for a long while. Then factor in that we’re all still bruised from the global recession, and it’s looking like further battening down of the hatches and ‘frugal innovation’ might be ahead.
So my advice to any creative entrepreneurs is: if you want your business to support you and ideally fly, you’re going to need to keep your feet on the ground first and address some key business skills. With this in mind I’ve made a potted ‘practical’ list below based on my own personal experiences. This could be modified and translated across any kind of business, so take from it what you need and I hope that it brings a little bit of insight and guidance:
• Observe the current market place. Credit is tight and access to funding is tough, this could be a growth barrier to certain types of business.• Refine your business plan and don’t lose track of your main goals.
• Test the market to see if there is demand for your kind of products, if not, rethink, modify and re-test.
• Adopt key performance indicators (KPIs) to make sure that everything is on track (eg. how many jobs need to be being pitched on and worked on at once, what’s in your pipeline, what’s the level of enquiries you’re getting?)
• Build a financial plan – start with the end game in mind and identify stages to get there.
• Make sure you have a cash base to cover a reasonable period of run rate.
• Know your P&L (profit and loss). Figure out your time management to pricing policy ratio, (but not solely on how pricing impacts your bottom line, but also think about the perception that your pricing gives about the quality of your products too).• Keep admin costs to a minimum (always!)
• Make sure you are in the right role and if not, partner with, or hire people to cover those areas. (For example, if you’re not financially minded, get help there so that you can focus on other areas of the business that you are better suited to. And don’t just hire nodding dogs either, hire better than yourself!)
• Work out your branding and messaging, how does this reflect your business’ ethics and authenticity, customers care nowadays
• Think about whether you need to protect your intellectual property and if so, how?
• Plan how to promote to, acquire and then retain customers.
• Think about potential lateral revenue streams that can help support your business – could you teach, write for example? Start building your profile so that new eyes are always finding you so and you can begin to establish yourself as an industry expert. This may give you the cachet to attract commissions, speaking engagements, press or even spin off opportunities to contribute to or write columns and articles. So think about the kind of supporting content you can be creating alongside that will help get your presence and brand equity across all promotional platforms; online, print, radio, TV. Especially think about how this content can be syndicated across online mediums: (blogs, podcasts, webinars, video). It’s so easy to distribute nowadays and content is king!
• Get advice. A business will drown you if you don’t get the technicals and fundamentals right.
However if you think that any of this means selling out as an artist, then seriously don’t do it! Keep your passion as a hobby. Once you have skin in the game and your income is dependent on your creativity, stress can be one helluva passion killer!
2. What do you wish you had known when you were 20?
• Yoga. It took me reaching the end of my twenties to try it and I was hooked immediately. Many musicians suffer with repetitive strain injuries and back in those days, tuition revolved solely around the sound you made, but with little thought as to whether the technique involved might be causing potential long term damage to one’s body. I took Alexander Technique lessons which helped, but I think Yoga would have been a highly beneficial counterbalance to the long hours of playing that have subsequently lead to some permanent knots in my left shoulder worthy of a Baden Powell badge!
• That Scandinavian straight hair is best left au natural. Acid ‘corkscrew’ perms are called acid for a reason
• That life is a blank canvas stretching out in front of you at that age, so crack on with making it super colourful and interesting. My canvas has been, but could probably have done with some sketching of ideas first. It’s definitely been a Jackson Pollock so far; colourful, random and in a myriad of directions!
3. What spontaneous thing have you done that seemed random at the time but made sense later, or was instrumental in putting you on the path you are on today?
Moving to New York. The opportunity came about suddenly at what was actually a blissfully happy time in my life and made no personal sense whatsoever. Only three months earlier we had bought our first apartment and I was enjoying creating my brand new home. But off we went to set up the US office of our UK business, ultimately to live in one room above that first office for over two years! People tell us we were brave. I say more naive and gung ho. We knew no one out there. That we survived and went on to create a successful business is testament to the tremendous capacity New Yorkers have for welcoming and encouraging young entrepreneurs. It lead to eight incredible years of living in Manhattan and a raft of amazing experiences; building the business, working with some truly wonderful people, meeting others, travelling, learning new skills. We acquired an archive of global business experience from investment raising, to recruiting, running an interactive production team, negotiating licensing deals, dealing with approvals processes, organising manufacturing in different continents, dealing with shipping logistics and running three offices worldwide, all of which has lead us to the point we are at now – operating our little boutique management consultancy and helping clients who are trying to achieve results in similar disciplines. We also learned how to really order coffee. “I’ll take a skinny, wet, single shot, soya, decaff latte to go, with extra foam on the top. And make that extra hot please.”
4. What is the most insightful or inspiring thing anyone has ever said to you, and who said it?
There have been several…
• I was once described as “talented but needs taming” by a contemporary British composer who shall remain unnamed. This comment was fed back to me by one of his highly amused fellow panellists after they had been judging my final recital towards my degree. I had performed the dazzling E major Bach violin Partita (fun), the ethereal Debussy violin sonata (gorgeous) and the maddeningly fiendish Saint-Saëns’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, (do not try this at home!) all dressed in, well let’s just say my own inimitable (flea market) student style and for my piece de résistance had I transcribed a beautiful Pat Metheny composition to play with a Jazz pianist. Evidently my technicolour musical ‘cabaret’ was perceived as the Classical equivalent of having red wine with chicken! Nonetheless his comment provided great amusement and I have to confess it only fuelled my creative spirit more. I was flattered. Follow the herd? I think not.
• Always make time for silly,” Humphrey Lyttleton. (Humph was another of life’s polymaths – Jazz trumpeter, cartoonist, BBC broadcaster, calligrapher… and utterly hilarious guy).
• A business owner once told me: “your troubles start once you have staff.” I couldn’t relate at the time, but for some reason it struck a chord and I never forgot it. Nowadays I know that with strategic hiring and a good company ethos, your workplace should be a happy and rewarding place for staff to be. However in spite of a kind and nurturing culture at her company, she had some incredible horror stories. So don’t be naive in business and especially now. We are living in exceptional ‘get rich quick’ times, (fuelled by the economic downturn and especially endorsed by the popular media). There are people in business who will try to fast track their careers via unethical methods, rather than cultivate a path and enjoy the process of gaining valuable business acumen and skills along the way, people who think kindness is a weakness in business and presume that you’ve had it easy. They don’t see or comprehend the hard work and sacrifice that has lead a business up to the point of actually being able to create their employment. So warning! If you do recruit, mine for diamonds.
• “You won’t recognise your business in 12 months’ time” – my husband. The message being – be open to change. Revenue can come from sectors that you don’t always anticipate. You will be amazed how you can unveil hidden profits in previously untapped markets. (He is one of those entrepreneurs who has the phenomenal ability to zoom out and take a 35,000ft view of a business).
5. How do you keep believing in yourself when things go wrong, or don’t turn out how you wanted them to?
I’ve always been self employed, so I’m used to having to ‘eat what I kill’ and therefore have no other point of reference. But I’ve also had to learn to toughen up along the way too. In my experience, when the chips are down there’s always a solution, you just have to get into a good head space, ideally surround yourself with positive, smart people and then get problem solving! Employing other people is also massively motivating – if you’ve got to make pay roll, you have no choice but to crack on! (We had a million dollars of overheads a month before we even switched a light bulb on in New York…)
I do have a personal point of reference though that gives me a sobering context when things have gone wrong. And that is 9/11. I was in Manhattan that day and those horrific events have gone on to amplify just how lucky I am and they can always be used to trivialise any kind of work headaches. Nothing can ever compare. And after the shocking attacks, no waaay were we going to abandon New York or fail! I’m proud that we dug in and went on to raise over $60M in investment and create jobs during our time there. So my advice would be to find some similar point of reference that is close to your heart and that works as a motivating reality check whenever you need a jumpstart. Or feel free to borrow mine.
When you believe in what you do, real failure isn’t an option. Instead position yourself to succeed, persist and to quote Winston Churchill; “never never quit.” Maybe this concept was indoctrinated in me as a by-product of a rather intense musical training from a young age, because actually you never ever stop learning a instrument, even when you get to a professional level. So keep sharpening that pencil. Create change. Never stagnate. Be resilient. Reinvent. And embrace the process, “the journey is the reward…” (Tao saying).
As part of our ‘Love business’ month, we’re excited to bring you this interview with Max Lenderman, one of the world’s leading experts on experiential marketing.
As well as being a lecturer at University of Colorado’s Boulder Digital Works and a founding board member of the International Experiential Marketing Association (IXMA), Max is an author, a sought-after public speaker, and a media commentator and mentor on the subjects of strategic branding, experiential marketing and emerging global business trends. He is also founder and CEO at School, a purposeful advertising agency that helps make the world a better place.
Download a high res version to print here.
When you think of doing what you love, what comes to mind? Many of us think of travel, friends and family, creativity… but not always business.
We want to change that. Here at Do What You Love we believe business can be incredibly life enriching if it’s built on the right values. Our friends at the Happy Startup School share our passion for business, and as part of our Business month they’re offering a great free toolkit to help our community kick-start their businesses the right way.
The Happy Startup School are helping a new breed of entrepreneur gain the confidence, skills, toolset and community they need to build meaningful businesses & be their own boss. They put on crazy events like their annual camping retreat in Sussex for budding change-makers, the Happy Startup Summercamp and gather tribes of likeminded creatives online to support one another in the start of new business ideas.
They’re here to give you a push starting out in business and have a free ebook and startup toolkit for people to learn how you can build a happy startup. Start working on your business plan with their simple approach and free worksheet.
Need a bit of inspiration to get started? Check out the Happy Startup School’s 10 steps to happiness in business & life below.
You can do it!
