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Finding your Why isn’t always simple. It’s more than just making a statement you think your audience will get behind. And it’s far more than co-opting the Why you’ve seen work successfully for others. Audiences are smart. They will instantly be able to sense if your Why is not authentic. Your Why is not the same, but has to align with and drive everything else you’re doing, especially your vision, mission, and values. Remember:

  • Your Vision describes where your organisation is going in the coming years.
  • Your Mission focuses on your business operations and the products or services you offer.
  • Your Values define how your entire organization should go about achieving your mission.
  • Your Why shifts focus from internal operations to your external impact.

Understand Your Why Exercise

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.


How to Identify Core Purpose: 5 Whys

  • Start with WHAT you do. “We make X products or deliver Y services”
  • Next, ask “WHY is that important?” How do you make a difference in the lives of your customers?
  • Ask the WHY question 5 times. Each time brainstorming and writing down your answers.
  • After a few whys, you’ll find that you’re getting down to the fundamental purpose of your creative practice or business.
  • Review all the different answers to the WHY question, searching for the answer that resonates most, generates some passion, and gets to the heart of your business or creative practice’s core purpose.

Questions to Test & Refine Your Core Purpose

  • Do you find this purpose personally inspiring, and does it make you feel proud of your business or creative practice?
  • Can you envision this purpose being as valid 100 years from now as it is today?
  • Does this purpose help you decide which opportunities and activities to say YES to and which ones to say NO to?
  • Is this purpose authentic (not merely words on paper that “sound nice”), and would it be greeted with enthusiasm rather than cynicism?

Putting it into words

When you’ve got your purpose figured out, try and put it in words. Keep in mind, it doesn’t need to be a description of your products and services. It needs to be a succinct description of the impact of those products and services, and it usually begins with ‘we.’ And it should speak to your highest aspirations, it doesn’t need to be something you’re delivering on 100 percent today.

You can find downloadable PDF and Word versions of the exercise below

Understanding Your 'Why' Exercise

Understanding Your 'Why' Exercise PDF

PDF: 57.64 KB
A downloadable PDF version of the 'Understanding Your 'Why' exercise
Download document

Understanding Your 'Why' Exercise Word

Word doc: 402.17 KB
A downloadable Word version of the 'Understanding Your 'Why' exercise
Download document

Questions to Test & Refine Your Core Purpose Exercise

Questions to Test & Refine Your Core Purpose Exercise PDF

PDF: 41.12 KB
A downloadable PDF version of the Questions to Test & Refine Your Core Purpose exercise
Download document

Questions to Test & Refine Your Core Purpose Exercise Word Document

Word doc: 330.54 KB
A downloadable Word version of the 'Questions to Test & Refine Your Core Purpose exercise
Download document

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Some of our favourite bits from our April Creative Talk with @laurenkelsoillustrator
In April award-winning illustrator @laurenkelsoillustrator shared her creative story with us at our monthly Creative Talk!
Some insights and words of wisdom from Juliette El Fouly founder of @lecontourcandles Creative Talk earlier this year!
Looking back on this lovely sunny Monday to Juliette El Fouly founder of @lecontourcandles great creative talk for us earlier this year. Today we find out a bit about Juliette and tomorrow we will share some insights and wisdom from her talk!
We have 2 dedicated deskspaces with storage available in our Hill St studios in the Cathedral Quarter!

Quiet, professional, working space for creatives in a beautiful building right in the centre of the Cathedral Quarter.

£165 for one desk or £285 for both desks all inclusive (rates, utilities, broadband, 24 hour access, use of communal facilities etc)

Email christine@blickstudios.org for more info or to arrange a viewing
Some pics of all our lovely studios. If you're interested in taking a space with us check out our website for current workspace availability or get in touch for more info or to have a look round!
Hello! We thought it would be nice for anyone who doesn’t know the Blick story of how and why we started way back in 2007 (18 years ago!) to share it with you over coming weeks. 

Starting with a short intro to sisters Christine and Rosy who have been running Blick since the organisation was formed in 2007 by a group of young creatives (including Christine) who wanted to come together to create a great workspace for creatives in Belfast.  

Our ambition as a group of creatives was to create beautiful but affordable spaces for creatives to work in. Spaces for like-minded creatives to meet and share resources, ideas and inspiration. Spaces to build a sense of community and encourage, support and inspire each other. 

As the idea grew and evolved, Christine took over managing Blick while others in the group focused on their own creative businesses. Christine’s sister Rosy came on board as a volunteer initially to manage the financial side of the organisation. Together they have been managing Blick since 2007. 

We will be sharing the rest of our story over the next while or you can also find it on our website: https://blickstudios.org/the-team/the-blick-story/

Thanks to @verahylands for creating the video for us and gently encouraging us to do it!
Our Nurture End of Program Creative Talks will be showcasing the creatives who took part in our 8 month Nurture incubation programme which started last October!

Join us on Wednesday 28th May in our Great Northern Street Studios to hear about their creative ideas and their journeys with their creative businesses so far! They will each share their experiences and insights of starting a creative business, their advice for other creatives starting out and their hopes and dreams for the future!

Featured Creatives:

Grainne Mullan – Founder of Kitsch Sisters @kitschsistersbelfast

Wholesome crafts, creativity, cookery and garden gang based in Belfast. Weekly workshops and pop-ups

- Bethany Millican Illustrator @bethanysmillican

Artist and Illustrator based in Belfast

- Vera Hylands Artist, Videographer and Content Creator @verahylands

Artist, Videographer and Content Creator inspired by nature

�Book your ticket to hear their stories on the events page of our website (link in profile)

Our Nurture program was kindly supported by Belfast City Council
Happy Bank Holiday Weekend! Here's what's on at Blick this Month!

- Wed 7th May - Creative Talk - Artist & Illustrator Danni Simpson
Time: 7pm - 8pm
Venue: Blick Hill St

- Sun 4th May - Seaside Books Beginner 6 Week Poetry Workshop Course�
Time: 2pm - 4pm
Venue: Blick Great Northern Street

- Tues 6th May - Seaside Books Intermediate 6 Week Poetry Workshop Course�
Time: 6.30pm - 8pm
Venue: Blick Great Northern Street

- Tuesday 27th May - Womenfolk Peer Mentoring�
Time: 7pm - 9pm
Venue: Blick Hill St

�- Wednesday 28th May - Nurture Program Participants Creative Talks
�Time: 7pm - 9pm
�Venue: Blick Great Northern Street�

�Find out more on our website: �https://blickstudios.org/events/�����