Meet Our Team
Christine is one of the original founders of Blick. She studied fashion and textile design at Ulster University and briefly worked in industry in Italy before returning to Northern Ireland to set up her own fashion business. When she returned to Northern Ireland, Christine realised she didn’t know anyone working in the fashion industry in Northern Ireland or anything about starting a creative business. She found starting a creative business from home a lonely experience, especially after working alongside other creatives in busy open-plan design studios. She found it hard to meet like-minded people, stay motivated and inspired, and actually be productive working alone at home. She did a NESTA creative entrepreneurship course at Ulster University, and it reminded her of the value of working alongside other creatives and of having a space outside the house to work from for productivity, motivation and for work/life balance. She realised working from home meant she had missed out on lots of opportunities and the chance to meet new people. The other creatives on the course felt the same way, and together they decided to set up a shared studio.
They received £5,000 of funding from Unltd and rented a big warehouse in Belfast City Centre as a pilot project. Christine soon realised running a fashion business wasn’t for her, and Blick needed someone to take ownership of the project, so she took over the role of managing the organisation. Since then, Christine has been hands-on in all aspects of the business. Developing the organisation and its different products, services and projects in partnership with Rosy and with support from the board of directors and different freelance creatives. Christine is passionate about encouraging and supporting creatives to follow their dreams no matter how big or small, encouraging diversity within entrepreneurship and building creative communities so creatives don’t have to work in isolation or feel alone on their creative journeys.
Find Out More About Christine And Her Journey With Blick
Can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about how the idea for Blick first came about and how you brought it to life?
Hi I’m Christine, one of the founders of Blick. The idea for Blick came about when I moved back to Northern Ireland from Italy in 2005 with a plan to start my own fashion business. After moving back I soon realised I didn’t know any creatives, or have any idea about what was going on in the creative community in NI, I also really missed working in a studio alongside other creative people.
I was living in Newcastle County Down and found it hard to stay productive and motivated working on my own from home. I felt isolated and bored and like I was missing out on opportunities and honestly found it hard to even know where to start with my creative business idea or get to know other creatives!
By chance I then found out about a NESTA creative entrepreneurship course in Ulster University which I applied for, for my own fashion business idea. Being back in a room of like-minded creatives all working on their creative ideas reminded me of the value of it. For knowledge, for energy, for creativity, for accountability, for inspiration, for company, for confidence, for productivity, for motivation and for work-life balance and quality of life.
I felt as though I made more progress in a week than I had in months. Previously when working alone from home I found it super hard to get motivated as I didn’t know where to start and was easily distracted and bored! It was very easy to keep busy planning and doing the fun creative bits of my business, without actually doing the harder business bits that involved me trying new things and putting myself out there. Being alongside other people on a similar journey gave me confidence and accountability and pushed me to challenge myself and actually properly move forward with my business idea.
Most of the course participants felt the same way and as there weren’t any suitable working spaces for us in Belfast at that time (there were just fine arts and crafts or more corporate offices) after the course a group of us decided to set up a shared studio space. Then through word of mouth more and more people got in touch interested in getting involved and taking a space.
We set up a company (which later became a charity) and secured £5000 funding from Unltd which funded social entrepreneurs and started by renting a warehouse on Great Patrick Centre in the City Centre. We soon realised that while aesthetically it looked amazing a giant warehouse wasn’t the right type of space (too cold and impractical for mostly desk-based creative work). We started as a cooperative, which we soon also realised wouldn’t work. Without a clear leader there was no direction for the organisation and all the practical and administrative tasks fell on a couple of people which we knew wasn’t going to be sustainable long term.
I ended up taking over the running of Blick and during that time we were approached by Belfast City Council and Ulster University who offered us a small amount of funding which allowed us to open our first proper premises. Our Malone Road Studios which we found through a contact we had made at the Ulster University and NESTA creative enterprise course. Challenges with the funding made us realise early on that while we were grateful for the opportunities the support gave us we didn’t want to rely long-term on funding. So we set out to work on our business model and strategy, which initially didn’t make any sense financially!
To make things work and become financially sustainable we knew we needed to expand our services to increase our income and therefore our profit. We had always believed it was important to have a city centre base for Blick, so when the opportunity came up to take on premises on Hill Street in the Cathedral Quarter in 2012 in partnership with Flow Yoga Studio we jumped at it. There had been a crash in property prices since we started, and the Cathedral Quarter still wasn’t developed at the time so we now found ourselves able to secure a space (52 Hill Street) at an affordable rate. Through a contact we then had the opportunity to take over the lease of a bigger property (our current Hill St studios) next door in 2015and in 2017 we made the decision to move our original Hill St studios (52 Hill Street) to Cotton Court on Waring Street.
We now have 3 studio spaces, one in South Belfast and 2 in the Cathedral Quarter which at the minute works well for us!
What was it like building this project with your sister Rosy?
Getting to work with Rosy is the best thing. We always have a lot of fun and we both have opposite business interests and skillsets that make us a very good team. We balance each other out and have similar business and life values and have 100% trust and faith that the other will put in the same energy and commitment into anything we do! I’m honestly not sure I could have done it alone! Or would have wanted to as it certainly would have been much more difficult and nowhere near as much fun!
Whilst we have similar values we have very different skills and personalities and strengths and weaknesses and I think we have learnt a lot from each other and from working together! Rosy is amazing with details and spreadsheets and admin and most importantly our financial management. All things that I hate. Especially the admin. She doesn’t publicly take a lot of credit for the work she has done for Blick or its success, but that attention to detail and her financial management ability has made all the difference to our success as an organisation.
Are there any memorable moments or challenges you faced together that stand out?
We have had so many random moments and experiences and challenges (most of which I probably can’t even remember!). In my opinion this is one of the greatest things about starting your own business. Life is too short, I believe, to sit behind a desk all day doing the same thing. I strongly believe life is about experiences and that it is only by experiencing new things, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself that you grow as a person. You don’t know what you can cope with or deal with until you have to!
How has the creative community in Belfast changed over the last 15 years?
I think Belfast as a whole has changed enormously. The Internet and flights have made it possible to be based in Belfast but work globally. It seemed like when we started in 2007 people were just starting to return to Northern Ireland following the troubles. The Black Box and Oh Yeah Centre both opened at a similar time. It’s hard to believe but at that stage the Cathedral Quarter was mostly empty and Tiktok and Instagram didn’t exist! People used Twitter and Facebook!
In your opinion what aspects of Belfast’s creative community still have room for growth and improvement?
I would like to see better access and inclusion in the sector for people of all types, ages and backgrounds! It is a sector where connections are still hugely important and when starting out often takes longer to achieve success. Which means most people working in the sector have a certain level of privilege. Even if they don’t directly receive financial support from family they do usually have some support to fall back on (somewhere to live/ someone to bail them out etc).
I would also like to see better opportunities for collaborating and skill and idea sharing between creatives of different types, ages and disciplines. I think there is a lot of knowledge that could be shared, between industries as well as people of different ages, types and backgrounds.
What are some of the major achievements or milestones you are most proud of?
This is a hard one, over such a long period it’s hard to remember all the milestones and how you felt at the time. Like many people I am also not very good at remembering to pause and celebrate successes. My natural tendency is to achieve something and immediately move on to the next thing on my list or just be glad to get it over with! I am trying to learn to get better at this!
I think overall when I stop and look back I am grateful for the many wonderful opportunities I have had and the undeniable luck involved with my journey with Blick. So much of it is being in the right place at the right time!
But as someone who isn’t naturally confident, who has had to dig deep to put myself out there I am proud that I believed in myself enough and had the courage to seize those opportunities and make the most of them and stick it out through the hard times.
I am proud and grateful that I had the courage to follow my dream of working for myself. That I have achieved what I set out to do which was to live a life I enjoy, do work I enjoy, have some autonomy over what I do, feel like I’m making a bit of a difference (or at least not doing harm through my work) and make enough money to live!
Challenges and Growth
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced when starting Blick Studios?
There were many! When we first started it was during the property boom in 2007 and trying to even secure a property of any description without taking on a 20-year lease was almost impossible. Most people we spoke to about our idea thought we were crazy. They couldn’t understand having business premises without receptionists/ phone lines etc
I was also young and inexperienced, in my mid 20’s with just a short amount of experience working as a textile designer. I didn’t have much confidence in myself and also struggled to get other people to take me seriously.
We also started very naively with no money and no real business model or plan for financial sustainability. When I look back it was complete madness to take on rent and building overheads without any money in the bank either personally or for the organisation. My mindset was generally I have nothing, so I also have nothing to lose! The advantage of starting a business in your 20s!
How did you and your sister support each other during difficult times?
I think we just always both know that we will work together to face any challenges or get through difficult times. We will always back each other up and be there to support each other. We would never leave the other to deal with a difficult conversation or situation alone. That moral support and companionship is invaluable! We also both prefer where possible to take a direct approach, facing challenges head on and dealing with them so we can move on.
We also each work to our individual strengths, I am usually more laid back and easy-going when dealing with difficult people or situations, whilst Rosy is much better at standing up for herself and for us! Both traits have their strengths depending on the situation and I think we have both learnt from each other on how to meet in the middle and work together as well as play to our individual strengths and characteristics when dealing with difficult people or situations.
You recently opened a new studio – what was that journey like for both of you?
2024 was definitely a journey! It was a super intense and busy year for us. We started the year finding out we had to move out of our Malone studios, which involved a lot of hard conversations with our many different clients and residents. It also involved us looking at our finances and working out different options for the future of the organisation as we had no idea if we would find a different suitable property that we could afford and what the timescale of that would be! We also had to endure a long legal process that we couldn’t fully complete until the building was totally empty and the new occupiers had undertaken an inspection and were satisfied with the condition of the property. We were told that technically despite moving all of our property and business activities out of the building we still could have been liable for the costs so had to wait for that process to complete before we could sign the new lease for our Great Northern Street studios!
Physically it was also challenging, we had to clear 15 years of furniture and equipment, at the same time as administratively dealing with many studio members, virtual service clients and room hire users and keep the other studios operating as usual. I don’t think we had a full weekend off all year and also had to work many late nights. Poor Rosy has two children under 5 so it was especially tricky for her to manage!
You never know when you take on a new property how successful it will be, so it’s always stressful. You have to factor in costs of the rent, service charges etc and how much work it will take to be operational. But you also have to try and pick somewhere that will work for your clients, in terms of location and the look and feel of the space. In the end usually you just have to trust your gut feelings, take a chance and hope for the best!
Thankfully the new studios seem to be working well and overall despite the hard work I loved the process and the challenge and am very grateful to have had the opportunity to take on the space and redesign it! It’s a beautiful building in a really unique location nestled between traditional terrace houses just off the Lisburn road.
What are your plans and hopes for the future of Blick Studios?
It feels like the last few years it has been one thing after another, the pandemic, followed by the rebuilding of our core activities, Rosy being off on maternity leave, then having to move our Malone studios. So I’m really excited for the future and for getting to rebuild some momentum with Blick and consolidate a lot of our work. We are currently working on a residency program and some new events for Design Week.
What has this journey taught you about yourself?
This journey has taught me a lot about myself. It has taught me that I am more capable and more resilient than I thought. It has given me opportunities and experiences I never would have believed were possible. I am one of those people who was always very average at school and terrible at most activities such as sport, music, drama etc! It was only when I went to art college that I found something I was good at, (printed textile design) which I then after deciding I didn’t want to work in the fashion industry promptly gave up!
Starting Blick has taught me that a lot of my more ‘boring’ seeming attributes such as self-discipline, perseverance and determination, reliability, responsibility, patience, calmness and dealing with difficult people have value and have contributed to my success.
It has taught me to be brave and to face my fears and challenge my own beliefs. I have learnt that action creates confidence and to become more confident and build self-belief you have to push yourself outside of your comfort zone. It has taught me that commitment, discipline and consistency are more important than talent!
It has shown me my strengths, as well as forced me to face some of my weaknesses and taught me that both are often the same. For example, I am extremely disciplined and can be single minded to the extreme. Once I set my mind to something, if I’m not careful I can adopt a mindset where I will do anything to make it happen. There are times when that drive and determination has helped me achieve success, but on a personal level it hasn’t always served me well.
I am trying now in this stage of my personal and professional journey to remember that no matter what happens next, where I am now is where I set out to be! I want to have more fun and take things less seriously. I want to be bolder and braver and really make the most of the opportunities I am fortunate to get to have autonomy over my life and work and the opportunities I get to help and support other creative people on a similar journey.
What has this journey taught you about your relationship with your sister Rosy
That I am deeply lucky to have someone I can trust 100% to be on this journey with me and in my life. I have no idea how people do it alone! As I said before we have opposite interests and skillsets so work together well and have learnt a lot and continue to learn a lot from each other. We also are just really good friends and get on really well and have a lot of fun working together and hanging out and doing things together.
If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice at the start of this journey what would it be?
This is a hard one because on the one hand I would tell myself to enjoy it more. Have more fun, be kinder to myself and take it less seriously, to remember that it is just work and not the end of the world if things don’t work out or everything is not 100% successful. But on the other hand, I recognise that the single-minded discipline and hard work I put in over the years and the commitment I made to making it work no matter what when Blick started has contributed a lot to Blick working out in the end.
I don’t think there is any way to avoid a certain amount of hustling, hard work, commitment and discipline when starting and growing something successfully! It’s just reminding yourself it’s not sustainable or desirable to put that level of effort in forever. At some point you have to give yourself time to live as well.
What message would you like to share with aspiring creators or those considering joining Blick Studios?
That you can do it. You can be successful at whatever you choose, and you can choose what success means to you personally. Don’t let other people’s ideas or opinions make you doubt yourself or your vision or make you believe you need to be a certain type of person or do things a certain way to be successful. Action creates confidence, you need to start somewhere and build from there! Done is better than perfect. Perfect isn’t generally feasible when running a business and perfectionism stifles creativity as well as productivity. Perfectionism is generally rooted in fear which is also most of what holds us back (usually fear of our own feelings!). Fortune favours the brave; at some point you have to be bold and brave and put yourself out there and risk failure or rejection or success.
But also, that it does usually take time (longer than most people expect!) and commitment and consistency! But if you want to do it and are willing to make that commitment you can do it.
Also, if you do join a space like Blick like most things in life you generally get out what you put in. You need to be disciplined about using the space and make an effort to connect with the other users to get the most out of it! If you can’t afford to take a space, go to free events, workshops and talks so you can meet other creatives and build your network.
