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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 nola:
who are you and how are you creatively self employed?
My name is nola diamantopoulos and I have a studio called nolastudio in Sydney Australia. This is where I run creativity programs that expand your experience of what it means to be creative – like why you do my kindred spirit. At the studio I mosaic, draw, sculpt, paint, create programs for team building and for personal personal awakening. Every two years or so I have an exhibition of my sculptures and drawings, my mosaics are commission only or community work and I have a one on one coaching practice. Everything I do involves art and creativity.
what was your day job before you were fully self employed?
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?
It was immediate and surprising. One day I was thinking about my next career move, something you do every 3 – 5 years in a career cycle. I was almost through my second degree, this one in law and then a question came…”how is it that you are working in a company where you are part of a team who’s aim is to grow profits and protect shareholder funds?” and another question…”do you know these shareholders?” I changed in that moment and for the very first time I didnt know what I was going to do next. Shall I tease you now and leave the next chapter for another interview??
what fears came up along the way and what did you do with them?
When the insight came to become an artist, it was a clear, it was a calling and I was fearless and have been ever since.
what was the biggest surprise along the way?
Not only did I discover a passion for the expressive arts and a strong motivation to learn (which has not stopped and in act become stronger), I also discovered a passion to educate, to share my learnings. Its very natural actually – I cannot consider being one without the other.
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?
where can people find you online? please share your blog/website/facebook/twitter links and any exciting news you may have:
the exciting news is that nolastudio is about to change to….
thank you nola.
nola is such a creative kindred, it’s a delight to have her here on my blog!
stay tuned next week to hear from our next amazing and inspiring guest – darrah parker.
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:
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by roots of she, Andrea Schroeder. Andrea Schroeder said: interview with @keepinspired stepping out of your dayjob + into your creative dream: http://bit.ly/gN6yH7 [...]
[...] read the full interview by clicking here. This entry was posted in Improving Performance. Bookmark the permalink. ← just launched [...]
[...] “ABCcreativity interview with nola diamantopoulis,” Andrea Schroeder, ABCcreativity: Andrea’s about to take the leap into full-time self-employment (like me!). This is one of a series of interviews she’s conducting with self-employed creatives, a dynamic visual artist and studio owner in Sydney, Australia, who once was a tax manager for an energy company. [...]