ENTERPRISE + INITIATIVE Page 21 of 21

Give yourself a gift

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Dreamy

The gift of permission

The gift of time

The gift of space

The gift of community

The gift of creating

The gift of dreaming

The gift of belief

The gift of making it happen

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Give yourself the gift of a break from it all, to indulge in art workshops and to grow that creative business dream, in the company of a community of like-minded souls.

Give yourself the gift of a place at the Do What You Love art and creative enterprise retreat in the stunning English countryside, May 11-15 2011.  Tomorrow (Jan 21) is the last day to sign up and recieve the gift of a £50 (approx $75) early bird discount.

Give yourself a gift you deserve and register now.

Gratitude

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thank-you
I have been completely blown away by the response to my new creative business venture, and am feeling slightly overwhelmed with gratitude.

My old blog had a healthy following of lovely souls, but I have had more visits here in 10 days than I had there in 10 months.

I have had a flood of emails containing both support for my dream, and shared stories of how this new site and Do What You Love philosophy has already inspired people to rethink what they are doing with their lives.

The first person signed up for the Do What You Love art and creative enterprise retreat within the first hour of going live. We have have creative souls signed up to travel thousands of miles to join us here in England in May, and I am so happy that so many individuals recognise the importance of investing in ourselves.

It is one thing to dream, but another thing for people to share that dream – and make something really special happen – that ultimately benefits us all.

I believe we all need each other to help each other to make ourselves the best we can be.

I really believe that if we are doing what we love, we can make a more positive and meaningful contribution to the world, and be happier as a result. I have believed this for a long time, but I cannot tell you what it means to me to know that there are so many of you out there who believe it too.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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Friday is the last day to take advantage of the £50 off Early Bird Discount for the retreat. What are you waiting for?  Sign up and join us!  It is going to be AWESOME (and it might just be the most important investment you ever make in yourself and your creative business).

Get a sneak peek of our gorgeous accommodation here.

Sew Somerset feature

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Sew Somerset feature sew somerset

 

Priscilla Jones, one of the incredibly talented artists who will be teaching at the Do What You Love art retreat in May, is featured on the front page of the latest edition of Stampington’s Sew Somerset.

Priscilla’s mixed media work is gorgeous – she fuses wax, wire, paper, canvas, paint and stitch to create delicate fun 3d sculptures and paintings. Priscilla will be teaching ‘structure and surface: creating 3D sculptures with wax, wire, fabric, paper and found materials’. A delicious, hands-on, dive-in workshop. Not to be missed!

You have until Friday to take advantage of the special £50 early bird discount when registering for the Do What You Love art retreat.  It is going to be so special. Register here!

Get a sneak peek of our gorgeous accommodation here.

Sneak peek at our gorgeous retreat accommodation

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Shhh… don’t tell everyone or they’ll all want to come…

Here is a sneak peek of our gorgeous cosy accommodation at the Do What You Love art retreat venue, situated in the stunning Yorkshire Dales, deep in the English countryside.  Imagine yourself here with new friends, relaxing after three amazing days of creating, and processing your new-found inspiration and ideas to realise your creative business dreams.

lodge-at-night_credit-Natural-Retreats1

Sneak peek at our gorgeous retreat accommodation sofa credit Natural Retreats1

Sneak peek at our gorgeous retreat accommodation lodge interior credit Natural Retreats1

Sneak peek at our gorgeous retreat accommodation bedroom photo credit Natural Retreats1

Sneak peek at our gorgeous retreat accommodation lodge exterior credit Natural Retreats

And did I mention, this* is where we will meet, dine, laugh, learn and play:

Sneak peek at our gorgeous retreat accommodation dining tipi photo credit Papakata1

*This is an example of the kind of Papakata tipi we will use, inspired by the Sami people of Lapland.

Come and join us!

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Only one week left to benefit from the early bird discount – register by Friday (21 Jan) to save £50. Do what you love. Register now.

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Photo credits: top four photos – Natural Retreats, end photo – Papakata

Winning Marie Claire award…

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Winning Marie Claire award... Marie claire

A few months ago I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the UK’s 16 most exciting young female entrepreneurs, and awarded a place on glossy magazine Marie Claire’s groundbreaking Inspire & Mentor programme. Brainchild of Marie Claire UK’s editor Trish Halpin, the programme pairs participants with some of Britain’s most successful and influential businesswomen, including interior designer Kelly Hoppen, founder of ethical clothing company People Tree Safia Minney, and fragrance guru Jo Malone.

It felt like all my Christmasses had come at once when I was paired up with an incredible mentor – Kanya King, founder of the MOBO Awards. Kanya has been helping me strategise for my new business, and has been an incredible voice of support and constructive challenge.

KanyaMy mentor Kanya King (Image courtesy of MOBO)

I met with Kanya for another session in London yesterday, and it made me realise the importance and value of having a mentor who has been there, done it, and come through shining. They can help you see the bigger picture, share industry knowledge, steer you away from or around obstacles, inject fresh ideas, give you a totally different perspective, and also, perhaps most importantly, remind you that you really are making great progress.

I came away from yesterday’s session energised and inspired. Thank you Kanya, thank you Marie Claire.

Everyone needs a mentor – have you found yours yet?

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Do What You Love art and creative enterprise retreat

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Natural-Retreats

(Image courtesy of Natural Retreats)

Imagine a magical place in an area of outstanding natural beauty, deep in the ancient English countryside, where you can escape from everyday life, reconnect with the real you, and nurture your creative spirit.

Imagine a time when you are free to indulge your creativity.  When you can step out of your creative comfort zone and take risks, supported by a warm community of like-minded souls, under the guidance of an outstanding teacher.

Imagine a space where you can explore the ideas you have been quietly sheltering for so long.  Where they will be motivated by inspiring entrepreneurs and where, nurtured by your new community, your self-belief will soar.  Where you can grow your creative business ideas, or simply plant the seed of belief that you really can find a way to do what you love, for life.

All this exists.

You can find it at the Do What You Love retreat in May 2011.

It will be an intimate gathering of creative souls, sharing a special journey of change.

Everything will be taken care of.  You just have to take care of yourself.

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Take a look at the retreat brochure below, and see how this could be the most important investment you make in yourself and your creative business this year.

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Registration will be open here shortly.  In the meantime, if you would like to be one of the first to hear more (including details of the early bird discount) sign up for the newsletter here.

Making plans

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making plans

It’s blowing a gale over here. 

Winds of 90 mph in places, our bay tree was sent flying last night. 

 As the wind whips through the eaves and round the house, I am holed up in my attic office working away on my new creative business venture which I will share with you here very soon.  

So very exciting – I hope you will be inspired to get involved!

Exciting creative business news

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Sometimes great things seem to drop from the sky just when you need them. This is one of those times.

With huge good fortune I have been chosen as one of around 15 young female entrepreneurs to be part of a groundbreaking business mentoring programme run by a leading national glossy magazine here in the UK. This awesome opportunity partners us with some of the country’s most inspiring and successful businesswomen.

Kanya King
Kanya King (photo courtesy of MOBO)

I have been gifted the most amazing mentor – Kanya King, founder of the MOBO Awards, the largest urban music awards in Europe with a television audience of 250 million. Kanya is a creative entrepreneur of quite astonishing energy, talent and courage. She founded the awards 15 years ago, remortgaging her house to pay for it. Since then Kanya has won over the music industry, negotiating major TV and sponsorship deals along the way, to turn MOBO into one of the high points of the annual music calendar.  Not only has it been a huge commercial success, but it has also become a shining light for social responsibility within the industry. 

I am so excited that we will be working together on branding and expansion of my creative business – and there are some seriously cool things in the pipeline which I will share with you here soon. I will also use this space to share the many things I know I am going to learn from Kanya, so stay tuned, and get yourself some mentoring by proxy! 

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This year’s MOBO Awards will be held in the music mecca of Liverpool on October 20.

Doing what you love

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Hearts on bench
The other day I was pottering around Covent Garden and came across some powerful words scribbled on a hot pink wall: “Do what you love, because the world needs more people doing what they love.” How true is that?

It made me stop and think. And think. And think. What is it I really love doing, and am I doing enough of it? I love to explore, discover, create. I love a nice cup of tea and a sit down, chatting and laughing with old friends. I love spending time alone in cafes, wandering anonymously through far away cities and wild landscapes, meeting new people and learning about other ways of life. I love using my hands to make things which carry the stories I have seen and heard. And there is always more of that to be done.

Are you doing what you love? Tell yourself about it. Tell someone else about it – or tell me about it!

I have just returned from an incredible adventure of the soul in California (more on that to follow), where I made a circle of precious new friends who are all fellow artists. What a learning experience – each and every one of them taught me something, and they were all doing what they love. Just what the world needs.

Books of the week

ART: Taking Flight by Kelly Rae Roberts. The book that inspired me to go to California and meet my soul sisters (see www.kellyraeroberts.com)

ADVENTURE: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robin Pirsig.  One of those books everyone should read at least once, but it’s even better the second time around. It is both the story of a road trip and a meditation on values

STORIES: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. She makes English a more beautiful language (see https://www.weroy.org/arundhati.shtml)