Love design, and always wanted to see it shift from side-project to centre stage, to find a way to pay the bills doing what you love? As &company, I was throwing open a huge conversation: There must be a better way. How can we learn from other people who are running successful businesses based on their passion to make a difference through culture and community? What does it really take to turn an idea or a skill-set into a business?’
In the arts, there has long been an uncomfortable and unhelpful dichotomy between needing to make a living (putting a financial value on your work) and “selling out”. I had begun to notice a wave of new businesses outside the Creative Industries that were forging new models of profit-for-purpose: businesses that prided themselves as much on their ethics and integrity as they did on their quality product or service – and making a good living. We had so much to learn from them.
I produced and presented Design Your Day Job, a one-day symposium held at Sydney’s Musuem of Contemporary Art for the Vivid Sydney Festival.
18 industry leaders were invited to interrogate the question “how can we do great design AND great business?” Speakers included a guerilla chef, rogue beer brewer, indie bookseller, major bank, tech entrepreneur, activist, event producer, social media marketer, journalist, life coach and a few designers.
- Sarah Norton primed us by addressing Fear, Failure & Risk.
- Liane Rossler shared her experience as a businesswoman who has followed her passion and become an active member of the art and sustainability community.
- Head of Sustainability and Community at Westpac, Siobhan Toohill provided lessons for creatives conversing with the business world.
- Sally Hill from Wildwon shared juicy advice on building and leading tribes for change.
- Lisa Fox explored the share economy.
- Avis Mullhall explored alternative models for profit-for-purpose entrepreneurs.
- Amory Starr pointed to lessons of business and purpose we can learn from the local food movement in the US.
- Local enterprises Young Henry’s brewery and Hungry Mondays explained their experiences of breaking traditional models.
The Symposium sold out. The audience left inspired and motivated to take creative control of their businesses, not just their creative practice. The event fostered new professional relationships and new collaborations, and an alumni of supportive, connected and networked freelancers.
Images from instagram.