Today I was part of a creative careers event at Derby University. I had been asked to be part of a Green Room of experts to advise students on starting businesses after graduation.
It felt really strange as this time last year I was one of the students and I am certainly not an expert on starting businesses but everything went well in the end despite my worries about lack of credentials and experience.
It was really great to talk about my experiences of leaving University and setting up as sole trader as an artist. We discussed the importance of networks and also of having confidence in yourself as an artist and in the work you produce. We talked about how the current economic climate has effected the art market and stressed the importance of trying to keep a momentum going, planning for the future and being prepared to work extremely hard.
Dylan Jones, Editor of Britain’s best-selling mens’ magazine GQ was the main guest speaker who spoke immediately before ours slot started. He proved to be a very educated, intelligent, articulate and funny man which really set us up for a fall, with a an untenable position ahead of us we all did our best and managed to come out relatively unscathed, I would like to think that what we had to say was useful. It was certainly a useful experience for me.
