Step Forward

One free mentor session from me, each quarter this year, because sometimes we all need a hand to get started. Enter submissions for January session this weekend.

As part of shaking things up with my work since last year, I also want to give back.

My decision to keep pivoting outside of my writing & styling work was driven partly by a desire to explore new creative avenues & partly to raise my game & use my 30 years + experience of working in interiors & business. It also came about because magazine publishing has become an increasingly hard field to earn a decent income in. It’s a space I still love & work in but fees have gone down over the last 20 years, not up, & the ever tough rights issues for images & words (particularly for newcomers into the industry) has made it a hard place to feel valued or earn a living. Which means I have made discerning decisions over how to spend my time - and what time to devote to editorial, books, design, 1:1’s, consultancy, and future courses.

What triggered this decision? It was waking up to the fact that if I don’t value my own skills & time, then no one else will. And when you start making those decisions for yourself to pivot it feels very liberating.

It’s also part of the reason I have decided to move my journal / workshop style writing across to Substack last week. It’s a hard subject to talk about valuing one’s output financially but it’s an important one. If all content is free it becomes like wallpaper. If more exclusive & paid for then I feel the right people will find you & all will benefit.

It can be hard to see these things in the early days of your career, when you would sell a kidney to get freelance work, but in the long run if you don’t value yourself, your time & output becomes worthless.

I am acutely aware that many cannot afford to do paid subscriptions to platforms like Substack & many cannot afford take part in the 1:1 mentor sessions - that I now love to run with many independent creatives & business owners. SO as my way of giving back, once a quarter this year, I will run a pro bono 2-hour mentor session to creatives who need a step up, to take a step forward. If you are/ or know of a creative who is struggling financially & who would benefit from a session this quarter, pls DM your/their details. I am thinking Jan would be a good month to kickstart - Q1 name to be selected randomly and privately from submissions by 15th Jan. Small gesture but I hope helps.

#freementoring #1:1

As a lover of storytelling, words and images, I am excited to be able to communicate and share with you in a longer form way, as an extension to my instagram feed, and am grateful for those supporting me with a paid subscription. After having worked in interiors and many related fields for over 20 years, since leaving the corporate world, I am looking forward to sharing many of the valuable things I have learnt, and have helped me pivot since starting my own company; along with insights, learnings and creative direction, that I hope will inspire you too.