Module 1 why a creative career

This programme has been funded with
support from the European Commission
Module 1
Why a Creative Career?
"The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission
cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."

• Is a creative career /self employment for you?
• We put a spotlight on creative, self employed mind sets
• Difference between a creative brain vs a business brain –
Business thinking/Creative thinking/ design thinking
• Emerging trends in creative entrepreneurship
• Describing your creative business
• Creative Entrepreneurs, lessons shared
In this module, we will learn about

You are considering a creative career
because you love what you do and
you want to make a living from it…..
THIS TAKES COURAGE
& PERSISTANCE……
This module is all about inspiration!
It will enable you as an aspiring Creative
Entrepreneur to find about the potential
and emerging commercial opportunities in
the sector. It will inspire & convince you that
a Creative Career is a good idea for you
& help you to develop your ideas into
new businesses.

Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney
said, when a person is learning to
write poetry, they should not
expect to be immediately good.
“The aspiring poet is constantly
lowering a bucket only halfway
down a well, coming time and time
again with nothing but empty air.
The frustration is immense,
but you must keep doing it
anyway. After years of practice the
chain draws unexpectedly tight
& you have dipped into waters
that will continue to entice you
back. You’ll have broken
the pool of yourself.”

“Creativity is about being
proactive, about
anticipating change in an
ever changing world,
about developing ideas
and solutions ahead of the
competition. In fact, down
markets offer a great
opportunity to fill gaps
and take the lead”
Dianne Jacobs, The Talent
Advisors, Melbourne,
Australia.

What MOTIVATES you?
A sense of purpose, that your work matters and makes a difference in
the world, is one of the most powerful motivators you can have.
Let’s answer some questions and get this down on paper (or on screen!)
EXERCISE What do you create?
your creative business idea in no more than 20 words.

And now for the psychology that is
fundamental to success ….
• Why do YOU create?
• Why do YOU do what you do?
• What motivates YOU as a creative person?
• What gets YOU out of bed in the morning?
• What is it that gets YOU moving?
• What do you want from your career?
• How will you measure your success ?

What are the Creative Industries ?
For the purpose of this course we will take the 2015 UK Government
Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) definition which
describes the creative industries as:
those industries which have their origin in individual creativity,
skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth
and job creation through the generation and exploitation
of intellectual property
(DCMS 2001, p. 04)
"
"

Who is a creative entrepreneur?
John Howkins, Author of the
“The Creative Economy” tells us…
‘creative entrepreneurs tend to be bright and
value their independence above all else.’ 
Essentially, creative entrepreneurs are investors
in talent (mostly their own). They include..
Artists, sculptors, designers, soap makers, photographers,
web designers, furniture makers, film/video producers,
writers, craftspeople, animators, musicians, product,
software designers, textiles, interior designers, jewellery
designers, arts administrators, filmmakers, writers, media
specialists, glass/metal artists and… many more

The Self-Employed Mindset
• Wants greater freedom to control his
or her life and career
• 9 to 5 is not your idea of happiness,
you want to have the freedom to do
things your way
• Tends to burn out quickly while flying
solo
• Stubborn and often impatient/in a
hurry to get things done

Creative entrepreneurs
are full of paradoxes
They are:
• both rebellious and conservative
• humble and proud
• self-deprecating and shy to very confident
• both extroverted and introverted
• very passionate about their work, and can
be extremely objective about it as well
• smart yet naive at the same time
• responsible and irresponsible
What do you think?
Sound familiar?

Essential traits for self employment
• Self-reliance
• High motivational levels
• The desire and
willingness to take the
initiative
• Driven by a strong need
to achieve
• Enough self-confidence
• Good physical health
and great energy levels
QUIZ
https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/entrepreneur-toolkit/business-
assessments/pages/self-assessment-test-your-entrepreneurial-
potential.aspx
• Perseverance
• Competitiveness
• Great business and
industry knowledge,
• Organization and
management
capabilities,
• Resourcefulness
• Problem solving
• Vision

Spotlight on the UK.
• In the UK in 2014, Creative Industries was the highest
growth sector, it accounted for 1.8 million jobs - an
increase of nearly 16% since 2011 (Creative Industries:
Focus on Employment June 2015).
• Self-employment is where the growth is - 43% of the
current creative industries workforce is self-employed.
• 78% of its businesses have fewer than five employees – so
not small or medium-sized, but micro.
Business thinking
Creative thinking
Design thinking

Mindset: Design Thinking
Left Brain
Rational and Structured
Focused on analysis
Dealing with well-defined problems
A problem is something to get out
of the way
Mistakes are not tolerated
Analyse > decide
Focused on parts of the problem
Using both sides of the brain to
solve problems
Switching at will between rational
& structured to a more emotional
& intuitive
Iterating between analysis and
synthesis
Dealing with ill-defined problems
A problem is the start of the
process
Mistakes are learning experience
Analyse > Ideate > prototype >
evaluate > decide
Zooming in and out, taking the
problem apart to reassemble it in
a different way
Right Brain
Emotional and intuitive
Focused on synthesis
Dealing with undefined
problems
There is no problem
There is no mistakes
Perceive > ideate > decide
Holistic Focus
Business Thinking Design Thinking Creative Thinking

• Collaborative
• Open Ended Goal
• Long Term
• Bigger than Self
• Invest in Future
• Mind Resources
Competitive
• Goal Focused
• Short Term
• Self Serving
Let’s look at the business brain
& the creative brain

BUSINESS
THINKING
When business thinking and design
thinking meet and overlap we get
Design Thinking at the intersection :
CREATIVE
THINKING
Balanced thinking
A switch between
the two Focus on
connections
Problems seen as
opportunity
Mistakes as new
learning

We love this article from Brain Pickings
The 10 Stages of the Creative Process.
Listen to your hunches, sponge up ideas,
let them marinate, and know when
you’re done.
Click to access
https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/02/19/tiffany-shlain-creative-process/
Watch from filmmaker Tiffany Shlain, founder of the Webby Awards here:
https://youtu.be/5IRrJkIwlc?list=PLkNaMIsI8oSCCknemN6FelYOV0OTfBaNT

Emerging Trends In Creative Entrepreneurship
1. Creative Entrepreneurs as Distrupters
2. Creativity for Collective Good
3. The Rise of Creative Experiences

Let’s review new trends in emerging creative entrepreneurship…

1. Creative Entrepreneurs as Distrupters
The buzz words of disruption
Breakthrough Game changing Faster Cheaper Better
Creativity is about being proactive, about anticipating change
in an ever changing world, about developing ideas and solutions
ahead of the competition. In fact, down markets offer a great
opportunity to fill gaps and take the lead.
Dianne Jacobs, The Talent Advisors, Melbourne, Australia.

Here we put a spotlight on
some inspiring creative
disruptors….
3 Irish Artists/ designer/makers
featured on the FORBES list are:

Helen Steele
From a converted duck hatchery in
rural Co. Monaghan fashion designer
Helen Steele creates wearable art –
her process involves splashing paint
on to a canvas, from which she
makes her digital prints for her free-
form clothing – which has been
collected by the likes of Diane von
Furstenberg.
http://www.helensteele.com/

SUGRU
Kilkenny native Jane Ni
Dhulchaointigh, founder of stylish
mouldable glue business Sugru was
named by CNN as number three in
the ’7 tech Superheroes to watch in
2015’. Her business made #22 on
TIME Magazine’s top 50 inventions
in 2010.
www.sugru.com

Mamukko
All about upcycling, creativity & passion,
uniqueness, originality & consciousness!
Proudly built on a family’s heritage as 4th
generation creators & designers. One of their
passions is the collection of unique & original
sails, life rafts, leather, textiles & upcycling
them into boutique manufactured one offs &
limited edition eco – friendly sailing, fashion
& lifestyle bags in their workshop in Kinsale,
Ireland. They use traditional leather
craftsmanship & skills inherited from their
parents to upcycle & circulate their textiles
creating an eco-eclectic & original style of
their own. https://www.mamukko.ie/

Recent High Profile Distrupters (Technology Led)
Netflix –
changes the way
we consume TV
Uber –
an app that has
changed transportation

From Sweden… Spotify
Online music with Spotify, an online music service that lets users stream
millions of tracks on demand to their computer or mobile device. It offers
a monthly subscription service, or a free version supported by
advertising. Founded in 2006 in Sweden by Daniel Ek & Martin Lorentzon,
the company is now multinational. It launched in the US in 2011.

EXERCISE
How can you bring positive disruption to
your creative business start ?
From Sweden… Skype
Software application that allows users to make free voice & video calls
over the Internet. Skype was founded in 2003 by two entrepreneurs,
Niklas Zennström from Sweden and Janus Friis from Denmark. Skype was
acquired by eBay in 2005, & sold to Microsoft in 2011

2. Creativity for collective good
Setting Goals - What do you want from your career?
What motivates you?
A sense of purpose, that your work matters and making a difference in
the world? Have you considered social entrepreneurship/social
innovation, typically creativity ventures that can
• Improve our quality of life
• Tackle a social challenge
• Spark a sense of community within our creative/cultural economy/
create awareness
• Create projects that make a difference through education, resources,
experience, & exposure for creative individuals

Heard of Social Innovation?
Social innovators are setting up new businesses
& projects because they want to tackle social
issues. Social Entrepreneurship means
identifying or recognizing a social problem and
using entrepreneurial principles to organise,
create, and manage a social venture to achieve
a desired social change.

Ashoka Ireland
Ashoka believes that the best way to tackle social challenges is to
identify, support and nurture the people with the best ideas, proven to
change society for good. Ashoka is the largest global network of leading
social entrepreneurs (Ashoka Fellows). Since 1981, they have elected and
supported over 3,000 Fellows working across 82 countries.
EXERCISE
CHECK OUT www.ashoka.ie for great
examples of social innovation concepts

FoodCloud
Founded in 2013 FoodCloud is a social enterprise that connects
businesses with surplus food to local charities and community groups in
Ireland through a technology platform. FoodCloud is a community-based
social enterprise that brings food businesses and charities together with
an easy-to-use and reliable platform, matching those with too much food
with those who have too little.
They believe in building a culture
where everyone has the chance to
celebrate good food and learn about
its benefits & believe communities
built on shared food can be
rediscovered. Food cloud video profile:
https://vimeo.com/188539918

Suspended Coffee’s mission is to bring communities
together in hope, to inspire and empower people to
change lives, and to restore faith in humanity.
John M. Sweeney is the founder and chief kindness officer of the
Suspended Coffees movement. The tradition began in the working-class
cafés of Naples, where someone who had experienced good luck would
order a sospeso, paying the price of two coffees but receiving and
consuming only one.

John created a Facebook page in March 2013, & the Suspended Coffees
movement was born. Soon after that, something amazing happened.
People loved the page and all of the heartwarming stories being shared
daily, as well as the simple but amazing gesture of a suspended coffee.
https://www.facebook.com/SuspendedCoffeess

Dyslexie: A font for people with dyslexia
https://youtu.be/VLtYFcHx7ec

MYVILLAGES.ORG
Myvillages is an international artist
initiative founded by Kathrin Böhm
(Ger/UK), Wapke Feenstra (NL) and Antje
Schiffers (D) in 2003. Their interest is the
rural as a space for and of cultural
production and the continuously evolving
relationship between urban and rural
practices, geographies and realities.
Myvillages activities range from small scale
informal presentations to long term
collaborative research projects, from work
in private spaces to public conferences,
from exhibitions to publications and from
personal questions to public debate.

Let’s look at Cats Not Ads
Thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign,
a community action group Citizens
Advertising Takeover Service (CATS) funded
its first mission - replacing all the advertising
at a tube station with photos of cats.
And not pictures of cats selling something or
cats promoting something - just plain cats.
For two weeks in September 2016 , every
turnstile, escalator panel and poster at a
London tube station greeted visitors with a
photo of a cat.

Their mission?
to inspire people to think differently
about the world and realise they
have the power to change it.
http://weglimpse.co/catsnotads/
''
''

2. The rise of creative experiences
Drop Everything - is a contemporary cultural biennial
event that takes place on Inis Oírr, an island off
Ireland’s Atlantic Ocean. The event features national
and international participants from a cross section of
the creative industries, and the weekend is designed
to encourage and instigate creative exchange
between artists and audience alike. Drop Everything
is about getting excited by new ideas and taking the
time to consider them.
It’s for people who do and people who want to. Drop
Everything is created by everyone who contributes,
whether that's with their art, their skill, their time or
by funding the event. http://dropeverything.net/

Phase 1 Music & Arts Festival https://phaseonefestival.com
Phase One Festival is a music and digital arts
festival which takes place in Carrick on
Shannon , Leitrim, Ireland over the Easter
weekend. A series of FREE creative
masterclasses with National and International
pioneers in the field of digital arts and music.

Realising talents and
making your creativity pay

3. Realising talents and making your creativity
Forget about ‘earning money, it sounds
too much like drudgery. Instead, focus on
creating value.’ [..]
‘One of the many wonderful things about
being creative is that there is virtually no
limit to the value we can create for others,
and therefore potentially no limit on the
money we can generate’
Motivation for Creative People: How to Stay
Creative While Gaining Money, Fame, and
Reputation; Mark Mc Guinness.

Be Inspired by Wishful Thinking
Mark is a facilitator of others’ creativity. He is
a poet and the author of a string of
successful e-books and two of the most
popular creative business blogs in the world,
Wishful Thinking and at LateralAction.com.

Mark devised 5 creative career models:
1. Lucrative art: getting paid to produce works of art or entertainment
2. Commercial creativity: getting paid to produce creative work that
solves practical problems
3. Day job and night flights: taking a job to pay the bills and using it to
fund your creative work doing everything from teaching to working
shift jobs
4. Symbiotic creativity: working in two complimentary creative fields.
One to bring in the money, the other to create work you love.
5. Creative entrepreneurship: using your creativity to grow a thriving
business
http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/mark-mcguinness/

You answer these thought-provoking
& useful set of questions. They will
have great value in your business plan.
1. What’s the attraction of this project?
2. What’s its purpose?
3. What difference with it make if I/we succeed?
4. What are the opportunities for learning from it?
5. Will it provide anything other than making a profit?
EXERCISE Dig Deeper Exercise

Thinking of collaborating ?
Have we worked together before?
How did it go?
What commitments are we making to each other?
What will happen if anyone fails to deliver
on their commitment?
Will any of us be competing with each other?
How can we facilitate collaboration and
knowledge sharing?
What kind of encouragement and support do we
need to provide for each other?
What feedback loops do we need? If I/you have any
concerns, what’s the best way to raise them?
Interested in more
about creative
collaborations
Check out
Module 6
Co-working:
How do we work?
Creative Clusters/
Creative Hubs

Is the project aligned with
my/our personal values?
…................................................................................................................................
Will all involved be comfortable
with the work or need additional
support to create it?
…................................................................................................................................
What’s in it for me/us?
…................................................................................................................................
Who will own the intellectual
property created?
…................................................................................................................................
Who will be credited?
…................................................................................................................................
Will we be applying for funding/
competitions/awards?

Creative Entrepreneurs –
Lessons Shared

Lesson - Do what you love
The challenge of creative work is to develop
and know yourself as a person even as you
learn about yourself as a creator; What results
is your voice, your signature style, your brand.
And that is what’s original.
Watch Una Burke,designer share her journey
– her love of her craft is so clear and her
business advise so practical.
www.unaburke.com
People buy people. Be your brand
- Explored more fully in Module 4
- Your Marketing Strategy.

Lesson -
Understand that
everything is
connected -
network, meet,
co-create
Humans are wired to connect
and communicate. To truly
understand others, you must
work to understand yourself,
and vice-versa.

Fuse this understanding with skill,
your being & your art.
Take the personal and make it universal.
To stay innovative you need to stay inspired.
Despite the plethora of information available behind the
comfortable confines of your computer screen, you risk mental
stagnation when you fall into predictable routines.
Get out into the world and into the contexts that people
are using your product - you’ll be surprised how quickly
unexpected opportunities are revealed.

Lesson -
Look for new approaches
No money but a great idea ? Use
crowd-funding (see Module 5-
Funding for Creatives
Crowd funding is more than just the
money, it starts a conversation with
your community and audience.
People want stories, and they want to
see your development through
different media and formats. Carefully
craft and share your story
http://www.crowd101.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/10/crowdfunding-for-business-funding-
ideas.jpg

Lesson -
Understand the market
The is nothing like real time market
research – get out there and sell.
Markets/pop up exhibitions, showcases
are an invaluable way of gauging
what’s going on, gain early and real
market experience; see what sells, at
what price and get feedback on our
products. Lots more in Module 3!
https://www.etsy.com/market/no_guts_no_glory

Lesson - Be resourceful
Lots of great creative businesses start at kitchen tables,
in garages and spare rooms. The reality is you may need to juggle
a part time role or freelance while you build your business.
More in Module 2. No Guts No Glory failed to secure a bank loan
in the early days. With just £300 they printed their first run
of t-shirts, Nathan and his partner Hayley relied on the help
of friends to build their online shop, gathering support of their
local community by championing regional artists and makers.

Another great case study
of launching a creative
business on a small budget
Dutch creative Jeroen Smeets
wanted to run a project that
combined two of his passions
- art and travel. He launched
The Jaunt in 2015.
http://thejaunt.net/

“Through a friend I heard about a Danish
artist who had asked people to financially
contribute to a trip he wanted to make to
Iceland, and in return he would deliver a set
of prints to them,”
says Jeroen.
“Traveling is a huge source of inspiration for
many artists. I wanted to take that principle
and make it into more of a platform.”

What a great business model…
Working on the premise of taking established
artists to cities they have not visited before,
The Jaunt offers an opportunity for artists to
find and seek inspiration in the culture and
surroundings of their location, inspiring the
production of a limited edition print.
Prospective buyers can participate in the
creative process through The Jaunt blog,
which documents each artist’s experiences,
whilst the concept of buying the artwork
‘unseen’ finances the trip and print
production.

Lesson - Don’t be afraid of failure
Treat your business experience as a
journey. Value the process you go through.
Be agile. If an approach is not working,
change it – quickly.
Lesson - Focus on the customer
Focus on consumers who will enjoy or
benefit from your enterprise and are
willing to pay for this.

Lesson - Be prepared for
hard work and tough times
The first few years of any business
can be challenging. Factor this in
from the start. For example, you
might need other sources of
income to support yourself (Lots
more in Module 2). Prepare a
business plan (Module 3) and plot
where you’re going. Stay on course.

Own your strengths and weaknesses
What do you do ? 20 words
How do you stand out from the crowd ?
List 5 evidence points showing your true
uniqueness
EXERCISE Describing your creative business

Next up …..Module 2
Creative Business Models
and Emerging Trends
Designing your life - Exploring the Freelancer Economy
Time to embrace a Slash career. What this means for you today?
New platforms for pairing talent with businesses
Looking at models of best practice coming out of Ireland, UK, Poland & Sweden
Specialist Design & Creativity summits essential for learning & Networking

Module 1 why a creative career

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