Why Your 'Why' is the Key to Thriving in Business
Design and Shine
There's one thing that successful surface pattern design business owners have that unsuccessful ones who give up trying to succeed almost ALWAYS have: a 'WHY.'' In this episode of the Design & Shine podcast, I talk about why having a 'why' you choose to have a business at all is so critical to your ability to succeed. I share my personal 'why' and a habit that I have that helps me keep going despite disappointment or setbacks in my business. I also give you some critical questions to ask yourself to help you gain some clarity on your 'why' if you're not sure about what it may be! ...
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How I Became a Self-Employed Surface Pattern Designer
Design and Shine
If you've ever wondered how to become a successfully self-employed surface pattern designer and course creator, this episode of the Design & Shine podcast is for you! I share my personal journey on how I got started as an employee to becoming a university teacher, and then on to self-employment as an online course creator. Listen to this episode to learn: What it's like to work as a professional employee in the surface pattern design industry The advantages and disadvantages of employment and why I decided to transition to freelance designer The pros and cons of putting...
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How to Choose Colours That Will Help Your Surface Pattern Designs Sell
Design and Shine
If you're struggling to make your color palettes work, this episode is for YOU! In this episode of the Design & Shine Podcast, I’m breaking down the BIGGEST mistakes designers make with color and sharing my top tips to help you create stunning, cohesive palettes that POP! Listen to this episode to learn: The importance of colour in design and the primary reasons consumers are drawn to or repelled by the colours in a design. The 3 most common mistakes new designers make in creating a cohesive colour palette How to improve your use of colour including how to experiment...
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How I Avoided Burnout And Renewed Joy In My Business
Design and Shine
Last year I came very close to experiencing burnout in my surface pattern design business... I'd got to the point where things had begun to feel too heavy, hard, and demanding. Everything seemed to be taking me further and further away from the things that mattered the most to me, from my daily art practice to time with my family. When I started to become resentful of my business, that is when I knew I had to take a step back. And so I did - and what an amazing decision that was! I'm excited to be back now for Season 3 of the podcast and am kicking things off by sharing what...
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End of The Year Reflections
Design and Shine
As 2023 comes to a close, I reflect back on the huge changes that I made in my business this year in this final podcast episode before I take an extended summer break at the beach with my family and new puppy. I share my process of looking back to assess my goals, how I question my progress, and why I believe it's so important to take time to do this reflection work when you run a creative business. A few questions that I ask myself that may be as important to you as they are to me are: Did I create more space in my life for practicing my art? Did I streamline and simplify my business to...
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Surviving To Thriving As An Independent Creative
Design and Shine
When I left full-time employment as a surface pattern designer, I could not understand why I found it so incredibly difficult to design with the same confidence and ease as I did for my clients... Despite years of design experience and confidence working to a design brief, when I decided to work for myself I immediately fell into a ''surviving creative'' mentality, and everything began to feel so. much. harder! It took a massive shift in how I thought about myself and my ability to design before I was able to grow a successful surface pattern design...
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How Your Hidden Limiting Beliefs May Be Sabotaging Your Creative Success
Design and Shine
Recently, my family and I invited a new member into the family - a PUPPY!!! His name is Juno. And while it's been a LOT of fun these last few weeks getting to know him, it hasn't been as much fun training him not to wee in the house! 😅 But it has been interesting to watch him learn. It's made me reflect on how - with anything new we learn - our brains need to be 'trained' just like my Juno's. I know mine did when I first started my creative business years ago... I had to 'train' my brain to...
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How Nurturing Self-Compassion Inspires Creativity
Design and Shine
While our creativity is a beautiful expression of our own personal unique gifts and ideas, it can also carry with it a lot of things that can end up hindering our progress... Things like criticism, self-doubt, and perfectionism. So in this week's Design & Shine podcast episode, I explore why it's important to cultivate and nurture self-compassion. I share my thoughts on: What having self-compassion as a creative means Why it can help us progress in our creative practice How not having it can hurt us and keep us stuck What having self-compassion requires...
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Staying Persistent Despite Failure And Rejection
Design and Shine
If you love what you're creating but you're facing a lot of failures, rejections, resistance, and you're hearing ''no thank-you'' so often, you may start to wonder how you're going to keep going... How are you going to stay persistent if you're constantly facing obstacles? This is what I want to explore with you in this episode: The power of staying persistent and how you can learn some practical strategies that will help you keep at it! I'll share tips on: How to maintain a positive mindset about failure and rejection How to turn a ''no'' into an opportunity to improve and...
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How Gratitude Can Help You Thrive As A Creative
Design and Shine
I believe many creatives underestimate how helpful gratitude can be toward helping them reach success... It's a simple mindset shift that can make a BIG difference - if you know how to use it in how you approach your creative work. I share several ways you can start practicing gratitude in your creative business in this week's Design & Shine podcast episode, including: How to use gratitude to increase your daily inspiration, creative ideas, and new possibilities Ways that gratitude can help you overcome setbacks and failures in your business Why gratitude can help you grow into a...
info_outlineWhen I left full-time employment as a surface pattern designer, I could not understand why I found it so incredibly difficult to design with the same confidence and ease as I did for my clients...
Despite years of design experience and confidence working to a design brief, when I decided to work for myself I immediately fell into a ''surviving creative'' mentality, and everything began to feel so. much. harder!
It took a massive shift in how I thought about myself and my ability to design before I was able to grow a successful surface pattern design business. ⚡️
But once I did the deeper work of changing my ''surviving identity'' beliefs, I was able to quickly grow my business to my first $100k and have not looked back since! 💃
So in this week's episode of the Design & Shine podcast, I share my story of how I overcame my lack of confidence and fears about my design abilities to finally get momentum in my creative business.
It's an important step that I believe every creative person needs to make to shift out of a ''surviving identity'' into a ''thriving identity.''
I hope you enjoy it!