Lots of words are overused these days. Awesome. Gorgeous. Amazing. I’m as guilty as the next person, especially on Instagram. Perhaps the most overused is ‘life-changing’. This week my inbox made me think a lot about what that actually means.
At its most simple it means to change a life, which means for someone’s life to be different to what it is now, as a result of some action taken, or direction followed. It is a phrase people often use in the surveys we carry out at the end of our courses, and while incredibly flattering, I do sometimes wonder what it actually means for the people who use it. But for some reason, this week, we seem to have been flooded with emails from course graduates who have completely changed the trajectory of their lives with the simple act of taking one of our courses (and then putting lots of work in, of course).
Here are a few examples of real people making real changes that came into my inbox just this week:
- Since taking The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design (ABSPD) Deborah Velasquez has licensed over 70 pieces of work, Bonnie Forkner of Going Home To Roost is on her second licensed fabric line, Hannah Nunn of Radiance has gone international with her new wallpaper line
- Our Design School students have won the Ideal Home Wallpaper Design of the Year competition two years in a row (Katy Hackney won it this week, following in the footsteps of Wendy Kendall last year)
- Linda Tordoff is taking Make Art That Sells: Assignment Bootcamp at the moment. Her assignment for February (a cuckoo clock-inspired iPhone case design) was spotted by Paper & Cloth Studio and she has now been signed as one of their artists
- There are so many successes from Make Art That Sells (MATS) that we are doing a whole round up later this week, including licensing deals across the editorial, children’s apparel, wall art, fabric, greetings and gift markets! And you can hear an interview with our 2013 Global Talent Search winner Zoe Ingram on how MATS and GTS changed everything for her.
- Since taking our business class a couple of years ago, one graduate has got herself out of debt (we are talking US-style law school debt) and is finally doing something she love
Every single one of these pieces of good news is a triumph, and we are so proud of them all. And every single one has been possible because
(1) These people followed their heart and instinct, and invested in themselves
(2) They applied what they learnt
(3) They kept going, and going.
This last week has been completely manic here, with very early mornings and late nights – not easy when you have a tiny baby (and sunshine calling you outside to the sea). But perhaps that is why all these success stories came pouring in this week, just when WE needed to hear them to remind us we are on the right track with what we are doing.
What steps could you take this week to change your own trajectory? (HINT: If you are an artist you could start by getting on the pre-registration list for our annual Global Talent Search, which is back! See here for details)
What are you waiting for? Do it!
Beth and the team
PS if you want to join one of the courses I mentioned above, ABSPD Modules 1, 3 and 4 started TODAY but you can still register here if you hurry. Make Art That Sells kicks off next Monday and you can join us here.
