Our Time is Now – What we Learnt from all the Creatives
We’ve come to the end of our first ‘Our Time is Now’ video podcast series sharing the stories of 5 different successful Belfast creatives. We have tried to showcase a diverse range of creatives from different backgrounds, genders, ethnicities, ages, education, skill sets, and sectors to show that anyone with the drive and determination can be successful in starting their own creative business. There are a lot of different things to take from each individual interview, as well as some ongoing themes that feature throughout. If you dream of running your own creative business here are some things we thought were most important that came out of the series of interviews
1.You have to be brave and believe in yourself
This is probably the most important point, but there’s no getting around it. If you want to run your own creative business you have to be brave, be willing to put yourself out there and risk failure. You have to believe in and have confidence in yourself. As Macy highlighted in her interview confidence is an ongoing process, something that can be built and worked upon, but it has to start with you. From that foundation of self-belief as Tony shares in his interview you can then take risks and follow different opportunities to increase your confidence. At the end of the day people can only buy your work whether it’s a product or a service if they see it. Putting yourself out there is the only option.
2. Follow your passion
Following your passion helps you stay focused and inspired when starting and running a creative business. Throughout all the interviews you can hear the passion all the interviewees have for their subject matter. Photography for Macy, supporting NI creatives and makers for LInzi, art, design and illustration for Mel, fashion and style for Tanice and helping people to learn for Tony. This passion shines through and helps them achieve success.
3. Be authentic and consistent
Be authentic and consistent – authenticity is important when starting and running a creative business. As Tanice highlights in her interview, if you want to be successful and you want people to connect with you and your brand you have to be authentic and you have to stay authentic. Linzi highlights the importance of consistency, both within social media and within running a creative business. To achieve success it’s important to be yourself, remember what is important to you, communicate that to your customers and above all to keep going and not give up.
4. You can be successful no matter what age you start and no matter what your educational background
Don’t let feeling like you are too young or too old or not having a creative degree, or not having a degree at all put you off following your creative dreams. Creative business owners are all different and all have different paths to success. Macy showed us in her interview that you don’t need to go to University or get a job first to get experience to achieve success. Tanice completed a law degree and worked in the corporate world for 10 years before embarking on her creative career. Linzi went to art college, but realised it was working for herself and having her own autonomy that mattered to her. After a challenging start to university Mel really valued the opportunity to learn and build his craft. Tony travelled around the world and had a varied career working in education, non profit organisations and corporate tech before starting his own business. There is no set path to success, everyone is different and everyone’s journey is different.
5. There are many ways to express your creativity and many ways to be successful
There are many ways to express your creativity. You don’t have to be limited to traditional methods such as drawing and painting. Creativity can also be expressed through growing and running a creative business like Linzi or Tony, or through fashion, makeup and style like Tanice so be flexible and open minded in your ideas. As Tony says in his interview, there are also many ways to be successful, many paths in life to take and sometimes it helps to be flexible and less rigid in our ideas about what is the right path for us.
6. The road to success is not linear
It’s easy to look at people who are successful at what they do and assume their journey has been straightforward. The truth is everyone suffers failures and encounters both personal and professional problems and challenges, it’s an inevitable part of life. Our interviewees illustrated that it’s not what happens to you but how you respond that matters, for example Macy, Tanice and Mel all talked about their experiences with grief and how their creativity actually helped them to process their grief. Mel shared his experience of his creativity and his sexuality and identity and having a mental breakdown during university and Tanice shared her experience of finding herself pregnant at 17 and how determined she was to prove people wrong and make a go of things for her and her son.
7. You create your own luck
Saying yes to opportunities and taking risks brings rewards, as our interviewees highlighted throughout the series. Macy and Mel both sought professional experience to develop their skills and build their networks. Tony shared his experiences of living abroad and taking risks and saying yes to different opportunities, which led in turn to further opportunities and success. Tanice highlighted in her interview that despite at first being embarrassed to post her pictures online she had courage, believed in herself and took the plunge, which led to her successful career as a content creator.
8. You have to be versatile and adaptable
To be a successful creative business owner it pays to be versatile and adaptable. As Linzi highlighted during her interview for most creative business these days talent isn’t enough, you need to have a broad range of different skills and be willing to get involved with all aspects of your business. As Mel mentions in his interview particularly when starting out you have to wear many hats and cover many services yourself, including marketing, sales, administration and managing your finances as well as your creative work.
9. Financial uncertainty can be the push you need to become successful
To run a successful creative business you have to find a way to monetise your creative work, otherwise it remains a hobby. It can be scary, but sometimes you just have to take the plunge and go for it. As Tanice highlighted during her interview it can be the push you need to make your creative business a success. It can be daunting, but it can also help you to focus and force you to commit and be consistent and put yourself out there, take risks and make it a success
10. Running a creative business is hard but it can offer you the opportunity to live life on your own terms
Starting out is scary, you risk rejection and failure and as Tanice shared the financial uncertainty and having no stable income is hard. Building something can be overwhelming as Macy highlighted with her experience of burnout and as Linzi shared once you have achieved a degree of success there can be huge pressures to maintain that success such as with social media. But it can also offer a certain level of freedom and allow you to do something you are passionate about , within an industry where you feel you belong, where you can be yourself and express yourself and ultimately it can allow you to live life on your own terms, which is what most people desire.
We hope that you have enjoyed this video podcast series and feel inspired to follow your dreams. Thank you for following us on this journey over the last 6 weeks and listening to these incredible people.
You can find all their interviews on our website: https://www.blickstudios.org/our-time-is-now/
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Another chance to see some of the pics from our @womenfolk.co JUNIOR.SENIOR event we hosted last month!
Jul 23
Here we meet and get some advice and insights one of our newist creative residents at Blick video editor Ben O’Neil
Jul 22
Due to an insanely busy period of work and travel, this is a very belated post on some of the key lessons from our last Blick Academy Creative Talk on 5th June with Saul Duffin founder of @yeomagazine
We have a full event writeup on our blog with lots more tips and insights from Saul and lessons he has learned throughout his creative journey! (Link to blog in profile) ✨️
Jul 16
Here we meet and get some advice and insights one of our newist creative residents at Blick video editor Ben O’Neil.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your creative work?
I’m a video editor who predominantly works in non-scripted television. Currently working on a two part documentary series for Amazon Prime
What was the biggest hurdle for you starting out and how did you overcome it?
Getting in the door. I didn’t know anyone in tv so the biggest hurdle was getting my name about and then getting hired to work on something. I made lots of tea for years then convinced someone to let me edit a small thing.
How do you stay inspired and motivated?
Watching good stuff
What do you wish you had known before starting out?
Everyone is faking it a little bit.
What’s your top tip/piece of advice for anyone wanting to follow a creative path?
Be prepared to fail and then get back up and try again. Also practice your craft as much as humanly possible.
Do you have any regrets or anything you wish you had done differently on your creative journey?
Too many to list probably. Still working on that part.
Where can people find you online?
I’m thoroughly offline but my email is mebenoneil@gmail.com
Jul 8
NI CREATIVE HUBS MEETUP #3 BANGOR
This is the third meetup for creative hubs in Northern Ireland to come together, connect, share ideas, and support each other. This time in sunny Bangor, where we will be visiting:
Boom Studios @boom.studios
Seacourt Print Workshop @seacourtprints
The Courthouse @courthousebangor
If you are involved with running or working in a creative hub in Northern Ireland, we would love for you to join us at this our third meetup.
This series of events is a collaborative project between Blick Shared Studios and Boom Studios
�Book your ticket on our website (link in profile) ✨️
Jul 2
Some pics 📸 from our @womenfolk.co JUNIOR.SENIOR event on Saturday 15th June with @wee.nuls and @majukooo sharing their creative stories ✨️
Jul 1
Happy Friday! It`s almost the weekend... some lovely light in our Cotton Court Studios earlier this week! Let`s hope we see more of it over the weekend 🌞 ☀️ 🌤
Jun 28
Last week I was very lucky to get to attend this year’s Hubs Meet Up Bautopia 4 Metamorphosis organised by the European Creative Hubs Network with the support of STPLN , the hosting hub in Malmö, Sweden.
This year’s Hubs Meetup was exclusively for European Creative Hubs Network members and was a three day event focusing on creative hubs and their current topics of interest and challenges. This year, it was all about delving into the transformations of our communities, the built environment around us and the impact of creators on designing how we live where we live. As well as the amazing opportunities for peer learning from and connecting with other creative hubs here are a few of the things I found interesting from the meetup talks:
Collaboration - is key, but people need to learn how to collaborate as it`s not a skill that’s traditionally taught in schools, colleges or universities.
Unlearning - we need to unlearn old ways of working to relearn new ways of working.
Cross-sector collaboration - will have a role to play in green and social transformation and future innovation, bringing together artists, creatives and industry. Creatives have different ways of thinking, methods and processes and are capable of shaping something new in lots of different ways.
CITY ECOLOGY WALK
We also got to take part in a city walk organised by Feral a creative studio and research platform for ecology in urban spaces which was a lovely way to get some fresh air, find out a bit more about the city, it’s heritage and ecology.
Some of the places we visited on the walk:
1. Traditional Herring Shacks
2. Traditional Herring Fishing Boats
3. Turning Torso
4. Redeveloped Industrial Seafront Area
SOCIAL IMPACT WORKSHOP
I also took part in an amazing social impact workshop, which I will share more on in coming days. Giving me lots of new tools and methods for measuring our impact here at Blick. I especially loved the advice that it`s ok to include anecdotal evidence including stories and observations, to build a broader picture of the real human experience and impact of your organisation. I`m looking forward to going through the process properly for Blick in coming months!
Jun 27
Thanks again to everyone who came to our last Blick Academy talk last Wednesday evening. We have our Womenfolk JUNIOR.SENIOR event this Saturday then will be taking a little break from events over the summer while we get ourselves organised for Autumn/ Winter when we are hoping to also introduce some more practical workshops. Let us know if there is anything you would like us to cover!
Jun 14
Some pics from our latest Blick Academy creative talk with Saul Duffin founder of @yeomagazine Thanks so much to Saul for a brilliant talk and to everyone who came along. Full event write up to come shortly!
Jun 10
Just over a week to go until our Womenfolk JUNIOR.SENIOR event on Saturday 15th June with two amazing creative women sharing their stories!
SENIOR SPEAKER: ESTABLISHED CREATIVE - NUALA CONVERY - @wee.nuls
Wee Nuls (Nuala) is a multi-disciplinary artist and creative director based in Belfast. She works in a number of mediums including spray paint, hand drawn and digital illustration, and printmaking. Wee Nuls street art murals can be seen across Belfast and have become a part of the visual identity of the city over the past few years. She is inspired by challenging gender inequalities, beauty ideals, sexism, and raising awareness for feminist issues in a playful way.
JUNIOR SPEAKER: EMERGING CREATIVE - MAJA SZOTKIEWICZ - OWNER OF MAJUKOOO - @majukooo
Maja Szotkiewicz is the founder of Majukooo (selling her illustrated stationery, prints and jewellery online) , and is currently in her final year of her Graphic Design and Illustration undergraduate degree at Ulster University. Maja`s work is inspired by everyday, imperfect moments, as she believes finding beauty in the mundane is the key to true happiness. Maja has been featured in Belfast Telegraph`s 30 under 30 list in 2024, was a finalist at the NI Social Media Awards in the `Entrepreneurial Student of the Year` category in 2023 and has her products stocked in 49 stockists in the UK, Ireland, US and Canada.
EVENT DETAILS
Event Date(s): June 15, 2024
Event Time: 11.30am
Location: Blick Shared Studios, Hill Street, Belfast BT1 2LB
Book through website (link in profile) 🌼 🌸 ♥️ ✨️
Jun 7
"I made a magazine directed at my 16-year-old self, who felt like there wasn’t anything cool happening in the city."
"Like most creative people, my work is a reflection of who I am and what my interests are. I love music, comedy, art and design so I have always loved to fuse those things together."
��"I don’t think I’d change much as the failures and mistakes were probably the most valuable part of the experience."
Looking forward to hearing Saul`s story at tonight`s sold out Blick Academy Creative Talk!
If you can`t make tonight`s event and want to find our more about Saul, we did an interview with him that you can read on our website ✨️(link in profile)
Jun 5
A quick summary of the month of May at Blick! you can find details on everything on our website! Link in profile 🌟 🌟 🌟
Jun 4
Happy Monday! Start the week by checking out our latest roundup of funding, support, opportunities, events, exhibitions and festivals for NI creatives.
Read the full listings including links on our blog on our website (link in profile)
Jun 3
Another chance to find out a bit more about Saul Duffin founder of YEO magazine who is speaking at our next Blick Academy event next Wednesday evening at 7pm in our Hill St studios!
You can read the full interview on our blog or get your free tickets on our website!
May 31
Less that a week to go until our next Blick Academy Creative Talk with Saul Duffin, founder of YEO Magazine, sharing his creative story and only a couple of tickets left!
EVENT DETAILS:
Event Date(s): June 5, 2024
Event Time: 7pm
Location: Blick Shared Studios, 46 Hill Street, Belfast, BT1 2LB
Cost: Free
Book on our website ✨️ (link in profile)
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May 30
Our latest roundup of funding, support, opportunities, events, exhibitions and festivals for NI creatives.
FUNDING AND SUPPORT
- Design Academy Adapt Fashion Industry Program Collaboration Between VORN - The Berlin Fashion Hub and Zalando
- Invest NI Ambition to Grow Programme - Up to £45000 Funding
- Design Competition Ukraine
- Student Invent - £2500 Prize Pot
- Artist Residency Frac Grand Large/ Hauts-de-France Dunkirk
- Northern Ireland Screen New Writer Focus
- Northern Ireland Screen Short Film Call - £6000 - £22000 Funding for Individuals and Companies
- Applications Open: August Craft Month 2024
- Craft NI Gallery Maker Call Out 2024
- Áras Éanna Residency
- 143rd RUA Annual Exhibition
- Sailortown Festival Smartphone Photography Exhibition
- Digital Arts Studios STARTS4WATERII Residencies – Open call for artists
- Belfast Potters market Applications Open
- The National Lottery Support for Individual Artists Programme – Travel Awards
EVENTS
Northern Ireland Screen Writing for Readers - Screenwriting with Steve Brooks via Zoom
Wed 29 May
12 - 2pm
Goal Planning with Groove: Get The Damn Thing Done!
Thu 30 May
11:00 AM – 12:15 PM EDT
Online
Social Media Safety for Creatives and Professionals
Mon 3 Jun
3:30 – 4:30 PM EDT
Online
Blick Academy Creative Talk: Saul Duffin Founder of YEO Magazine
Wed 5 Jun
7pm
Blick Studios, Hill St
Digital Horizon Masterclass: “Integrating Captioning into Creative Work”
6 June 2024
10.30am – 4.30pm
Ledger Studio, University of Atypical
The Circle: Let`s Talk About Imposter Syndrome
Wed 12th June
6 - 8pm
Oh Yeah Centre
The Power of Podcasting
Thu 13 Jun
9:30 - 11:30 am
Innovation Factory
Digital Horizon Masterclass: “Build your own Online Platform”
Thu 13 Jun
10.30am – 4.30pm
Ledger Studio, University of Atypical
Womenfolk JUNIOR.SENIOR
Sat 15 June
11.30am
Blick Studios, 46 Hill Street
An evening with Brendan Mooney MBE
Wed 19 June
Ulster University, York Street
5:30pm - 7:00pm
EXHIBITIONS
Usfolk 6
23rd May to 2nd June
The Naughton Gallery
Belfast School of Art 175 Degree Shows
Dates: 7th June Opening Night
8th - 22nd June
Read the full listings including links on our website ✨️
May 28
Off for the bank holiday and wanting to work on your creative business idea? The next exercise on our resources for creatives section on our website is now available to view and download
Exercise 4 - Understanding Your "Why" or Your purpose
Your “Why” or purpose is the reason you have formed your creative practice boiled down to a single sentence (or two). This exercise will help you to understand your purpose and communicate it to the world.
Downloadable PDF and Word Versions available on our website ✨️ (link in profile)
May 27