What To Do If You Worry Your Creative Work Isn't Unique Enough

If you've ever wondered how to become a successfully self-employed surface pattern designer and course creator, this episode of the Design & Shine podcast is for you! I share my personal journey on how I got started as an employee to becoming a university teacher, and then on to self-employment as an online course creator.   Listen to this episode to learn: What it's like to work as a professional employee in the surface pattern design industry The advantages and disadvantages of employment and why I decided to transition to freelance designer The pros and cons of putting yourself out there when you are a freelance designer (especially when you're an introvert like me!) Tips for creating your own surface pattern design course, including how long it took to create my Pattern to Product comprehensive course key skills you'll need to develop to be successfully self-employed, including tips on business systems and email marketing! I also share how I experienced many of the same struggles that you might be experiencing if you are aiming to become self-employed, from trying to figure out what I liked to do to knowing where and how to get started!  Don't miss this episode if you dream of becoming a professional surface pattern designer and course creator as I have!  

If you're struggling to make your color palettes work, this episode is for YOU!  In this episode of the Design & Shine Podcast, I’m breaking down the BIGGEST mistakes designers make with color and sharing my top tips to help you create stunning, cohesive palettes that POP!  Listen to this episode to learn: The importance of colour in design and the primary reasons consumers are drawn to or repelled by the colours in a design. The 3 most common mistakes new designers make in creating a cohesive colour palette  How to improve your use of colour including how to experiment with tone, balance saturation, and design with the end consumer in mind I'll also share some practical exercises that you can use to improve your use of colour right away! Don't miss this episode if you're ready to uplevel your use of colour in your designs to improve your sales today!     

Last year I came very close to experiencing burnout in my surface pattern design business...  I'd got to the point where things had begun to feel too heavy, hard, and demanding. Everything seemed to be taking me further and further away from the things that mattered the most to me, from my daily art practice to time with my family.  When I started to become resentful of my business, that is when I knew I had to take a step back. And so I did - and what an amazing decision that was!  I'm excited to be back now for Season 3 of the podcast and am kicking things off by sharing what I've been experiencing over the past year. Just a few things I cover in this all-new episode are: The biggest lessons I learned over the past year, including low points and highlights Finding healthy boundaries between business and life, and what that can look like Why working 'seasonally' in business is better than a non-stop grind  Finding space for more time to do what you love most - your art! How I not only avoided burnout, I renewed the joy and MAGIC in my business! Join me for this brand-new season of the Design & Shine podcast if you want to learn how to grow and thrive in your surface pattern design business! 

As 2023 comes to a close, I reflect back on the huge changes that I made in my business this year in this final podcast episode before I take an extended summer break at the beach with my family and new puppy. I share my process of looking back to assess my goals, how I question my progress, and why I believe it's so important to take time to do this reflection work when you run a creative business. A few questions that I ask myself that may be as important to you as they are to me are: Did I create more space in my life for practicing my art? Did I streamline and simplify my business to remove overcomplicated processes? Does my business align with my creative and lifestyle goals? How did this year's goals compare to the previous year's goals? Did I create less or more hustle in my life this past year? What will next year's goals be and how will I go about achieving them? Listen to this episode of the Design & Shine podcast to hear my personal answers to these questions and more! And I'd love to hear how you went with your 2023 goals too! Did you achieve your goals? Why or why not? What are your 2024 goals?  Come let me know on my Facebook or Instagram accounts where I'll be checking in over the holidays before Season 3 of the podcast begins next year!  Until then, have a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year! 

When I left full-time employment as a surface pattern designer, I could not understand why I found it so incredibly difficult to design with the same confidence and ease as I did for my clients... Despite years of design experience and confidence working to a design brief, when I decided to work for myself I immediately fell into a ''surviving creative'' mentality, and everything began to feel so. much. harder! It took a massive shift in how I thought about myself and my ability to design before I was able to grow a successful surface pattern design business. ⚡️ But once I did the deeper work of changing my ''surviving identity'' beliefs, I was able to quickly grow my business to my first $100k and have not looked back since! 💃 So in this week's episode of the Design & Shine podcast, I share my story of how I overcame my lack of confidence and fears about my design abilities to finally get momentum in my creative business. It's an important step that I believe every creative person needs to make to shift out of a ''surviving identity'' into a ''thriving identity.'' I hope you enjoy it!

Recently, my family and I invited a new member into the family - a PUPPY!!! ​​His name is Juno. And while it's been a LOT of fun these last few weeks getting to know him, it hasn't been as much fun training him not to wee in the house! 😅 But it has been interesting to watch him learn. It's made me reflect on​​ how - with anything new we learn - our brains need to be 'trained' just like my Juno's.  I know mine did when I first started my creative business years ago... I had to 'train' my brain to overcome my self-doubt about whether or not I could reach success as a surface pattern designer and artist. That self-doubt, self-sabotage, and lack of confidence come from hidden, subconscious beliefs that we're often not even aware of until we do the deeper work of looking for them and examining them. ​ These are our limiting beliefs, and if you've ever felt stuck, frustrated with your lack of progress, or filled with doubt that you could ever make it as a creative (which ALL of us have, of course!) then you know exactly what it feels like to have them! ​​​​ So in this week's episode of the Design & Shine podcast, I explore what limiting beliefs are and how they might be holding you back from the creative success you desire - and how to get started overcoming them!🎤🎧

While our creativity is a beautiful expression of our own personal unique gifts and ideas, it can also carry with it a lot of things that can end up hindering our progress... Things like criticism, self-doubt, and perfectionism. So in this week's Design & Shine podcast episode, I explore why it's important to cultivate and nurture self-compassion. I share my thoughts on: What having self-compassion as a creative means  Why it can help us progress in our creative practice How not having it can hurt us and keep us stuck What having self-compassion requires and how to nurture it! So listen to this episode and start nurturing your self-compassion so that you can continue to grow and thrive as an artist today!  🎤🎧

If you love what you're creating but you're facing a lot of failures, rejections, resistance, and you're hearing ''no thank-you'' so often, you may start to wonder how you're going to keep going... How are you going to stay persistent if you're constantly facing obstacles? This is what I want to explore with you in this episode: The power of staying persistent and how you can learn some practical strategies that will help you keep at it! I'll share tips on: How to maintain a positive mindset about failure and rejection  How to turn a ''no'' into an opportunity to improve and grow When to seek feedback or help from others How to stay committed to your goal yet also stay adaptable to change How to keep moving forward when you're feeling defeated! So listen to this episode to get your mind back on track if you've been feeling like giving up on your art recently!

I believe many creatives underestimate how helpful gratitude can be toward helping them reach success... It's a simple mindset shift that can make a BIG difference - if you know how to use it in how you approach your creative work. I share several ways you can start practicing gratitude in your creative business in this week's Design & Shine podcast episode, including: How to use gratitude to increase your daily inspiration, creative ideas, and new possibilities Ways that gratitude can help you overcome setbacks and failures in your business Why gratitude can help you grow into a thriving, successful creative artist with an authentic voice and style How it can also help you better connect with your audience and respond to their interest and feedback in a way that helps you, rather than letting it get you down!  Listen to this episode and start practicing more gratitude in your creative business today!

Are you a Visual, Auditory, or Kinesthetic learner? Not sure what those are? Listen to this episode of The Design & Shine podcast to find out! I dive into what these 3 different learning styles mean and share how to tell which one you may be.  Knowing which one is your predominant learning style may help you get better outcomes with your creative work, including how you absorb, process, and understand what you are learning.  You'll finally understand why some people can't read maps, listen to directions, or need to DO something before they can understand it!