i have been working very hard on ABCcreativity. i have worked my way down to 3 days a week at my day job and i’m getting ready now to take the leap into full time self employment. exciting! scary! and so i am interviewing super inspiring creative beans to gather tools, tips and inspiration from them. and i am sharing their gems here on my blog, every wednesday.
also: i have created a stepping out of your day job and into your creative dream resource page. on this page you can find links to all of the interviews in this series, and resources for building your creative dreams.
this week’s interview is with susannah conway.
susannah and her polaroid
who are you and how are you creatively self employed?
I am a photographer & writer and I run an online class called Unravelling. In the last two years Unravelling has morphed into a full-time business for me.
what was your day job before you were fully self employed?
My path to self-employment unfolded in fits and starts, but I guess it all began in 2002 when I left my job as a newspaper fashion editor to work as a freelance journalist.
how did you make the switch into full time creative employment? did you plan for it or did it just happen? was it gradual or sudden?
I’d been building contacts in my industry in the lead up to going freelance, but looking back I realise that I really did just jump into the unknown. I hadn’t saved any money to support myself while I looked for writing gigs which put a lot of pressure on me in the first few months until I settled into a few regular writing jobs.
However, the creative business I have now came about in a much more unexpected way. In 2005 I suffered a very devastating bereavement and was unable to work for over a year; gradually I began accepting some copywriting work, and started a blog in 2006. This proved to be a crucial turning point, both in my healing and also my creative life. Blogging reignited my passion for photography (I’d studied it for three years in the 90s) and in 2007 I launched my photography business. In the autumn of 2008 I was invited to teach at a local arts centre and it was then that I first had my idea for the Unravelling classes. They started as an evening class and were a great success; as blogging was such an important part of my life it seemed natural to find a way to share the class online too. At that time I knew of only one other e-course so was taking a risk, and had no idea then that this would turn into a fully fledged creative business. But after the success of the evening class I took a leap of faith and launched the
Unravelling: Ways of Seeing My Self e-course in January 2009. It sold out in a week and has been going from strength to strength ever since.
what fears came up along the way and what did you do with them?
I’m frequently plagued with the fear all self-employed people share – the fear of not making enough money to live on. The fear is always in the background, especially as I am a single woman supporting myself, but I use it to spur me on. I love what I do and this is not a “job” to me – this is a vocation, which is why I work seven days a week on my biz. It’s my hobby and passion as well as my job.
what was the biggest surprise along the way?
My whole business is a surprise – I didn’t plan for any of this!
i have been working on my dream for some time. i have worked myself down to three days a week at my day job, and i am preparing to make the leap into full time self employment. what advice or tips do you have for me?
I work so much harder now than I ever did when I was working for someone else, so be prepared for the insane amount of hours you’ll be devoting to your biz (and you’ll want to do it, so it won’t be a hardship : ) Believing in yourself and your biz is essential, but it needs to be backed up by tons of hard work, passion and integrity too; I work really hard to ensure that everything I put out into the world is truly useful and good value, and comes from the truest part of me. Crafting your own creative business means you can do work that’s in alignment with your values, and to also be able to pay your rent is such a great feeling.
where can people find you online? please share your blog/website/facebook/twitter links and any exciting news you may have:
thank you susannah.
i just love susannah’s work. i could get lost in her polaroids! so sweet and charming.
stay tuned next week to hear from our next amazing and inspiring guest fabeku fatunmise.
i am so excited about this whole interview series. in hearing all of these amazing real life stories about making creative dreams real, i hope to inspire both me and you to take the leap, go for it, and dive into our dreams. check out the stepping out of your day job and into your creative dream resource page for more support, ideas and resources.
excited!
ps – do you know that you are a creative genius and you can make your creative dreams real?
if you haven’t joined yet, i want to encourage you to sign up for creativity 101: an e-course to help you discover, explore + empower your creative genius. it is free for everyone on the creative adventure email list. you can sign up right here:
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Lovely interview, I’m always interested in reading about how creative folks I admire made their way into their careers :) Your blog looks fantastic, I’m about to have a look through and read some of your articles!
wonderful post.. her courses sound fabulous!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Susannah Conway, ABCcreativity. ABCcreativity said: @photobird 's inspiring creative dream story: http://bit.ly/bkvfEV [...]
Susannah is a rock star – birds of a feather flock together <3 you are both inspirational and lovely x
hello eadaoin it’s so lovely to meet you :)
thanks bonnierose… yes! i have only heard amazing things about unravelling.
awww jane right back atcha ;)