A textile designer named Céline sat at my table. Laying out her perspectives as a creator and professional.
Everything she does, feels like a fit. Has to be a fit to feel right.
The slow process of creating designs out of wool. From harvesting the local Belgian sheep who patiently grow their soft wool to the craftsmanship of preparing and processing, of spinning and dying the yarn with natural dyes. And at the same time instinctively following her deep understanding of today’s aesthetic language.
As she described it to me, she suddenly realised that selling her designs in pop-up shops doesn’t feel completely right. The pop-ups bring an income, yes. But they come with a cost of time, money, rush and stress. The opposite of her values.
She sat there, contemplating that stretch. And I observed her imagination drifting off to a place she never described out loud before. The ultimate dream would be to own a small store, to curate items that fit right next to my own designs. To let it be a slow space, packed with interesting goods, where people could come by to wander and discover for hours. They would visit the store, just to be inspired by the beauty of handcrafted design. To select unique pieces for themselves or loved ones.
And there it was, to her own wonder, but very clear: the dream of opening that small store.
Immediately, the objections started popping up. A store is not a small project. But together with the objections, the idea started to crystallize. A first step in this process will be: less pop-ups, more selling in consignment at stores with similar values, focussing on creating goods that bring in financial breathing space. Céline has time to explore the options, to write a plan, to take steps, to make decisions. To chase her very own big dream at her own pace.
With this story, dear reader, I want to set your imagination in motion too. Question: if anything was possible in your professional life. What would it be that you want to reach? Who would you want to become? Where would you stand? What is it you really dream of?
Lately, I was reading Veronique Bockstal’s book De vrouw van 1 miljoen (~ the one million woman). I wanted to understand how scaling a business exactly works, which allows me to support clients going through growth like that.
What I found interesting in the light of Céline’s story was this observation of the author: as (female) entrepreneurs we’re afraid to think big. We’re coming up with arguments that fuel our doubts and undermine our self-confidence.
Bockstal lists advice on how to stay focused while you’re on your path to realise your dream. I’m sharing 3 tips of hers:
Do not invest money/time/energy in side tracks.
Keep your eyes on the goal, on the dream. Is your goal big enough? What are the subgoals, the milestones? Make sure you’ve got a next goal that drives and motivates you.
Be strict for your thoughts: dismantle the so called arguments with which you try to convince yourself of a yes that should actually be a no.
To wrap up this letter, I would like to give you the permission, and maybe even the duty, to dare to dream big enough as a creator. Especially when it feels like the world is on fire and we seem to be drowning in an endless muck of artificially generated creations. Creativity, art, imagination: it will be the very thing that saves us, like I wrote in April. This world needs your creations desperately. And no one else is able to make them.