Tell us a little bit about your collective?
The Creative Women’s Circle is a group of women working in creative industries. We hold regular events featuring an invited speaker in a creative field, and she shares with us the challenges and opportunities she has faced in her career, and offers advice and insight into running a successful business as a creative woman. The events are informal and a fun way for creative women to network, share their information and resources, and learn from the experiences of other women who are balancing work, family, their creative pursuits outside of a ‘day job’, and everything in between.
Interior & accessories designer Dearne Herrenberg (www.mainichi.blogspot.com) started the group in 2004. She organised a small group of Melbourne-based women and they met every couple of months to discuss their businesses and share their creative work. I joined the group (after hearing about it online) upon moving to Melbourne in 2007. As a graphic designer working in-house at a government department, I wanted to connect with other like-minded women who enjoyed design & craft, and to experience and discover the creative hubs of the new city I lived in.
When Dearne had her son in 2008, I offered to take over the organising of the CWC. The group had helped and supported me a lot as I ventured out to start my own graphic design business (www.tessmccabe.com.au), and I could see the group’s potential to reach many more women in Melbourne and help them on their creative business journeys.
Since then, the CWC has evolved to regular events with an invited speaker, a larger audience and an active blog – and our database of talented ladies just keeps growing.
Above image taken by Pauline Abordi www.paulineabordiphotography.com.au
Hearing the career stories of successful and interesting business women who I respect and admire is a fantastic thing. But just as fun is meeting the women who attend the talks. Our events are quite casual but with a fabulous energy. The women who attend our events are engaged in all sorts of creative businesses, from photography to jewellery design, retail, graphic design, styling and fashion - at both amateur and professional levels, start-ups and established ventures.
It can be isolating working for oneself, and despite the active blog and social networking community in Melbourne (and internationally), nothing beats meeting up with people face-to-face and sharing an inspiring experience.
Above image taken by Pauline Abordi www.paulineabordiphotography.com.au
It’s in my blood. My mum has always made things (her passion when I was growing up was patchwork quilting, which she taught extensively and even wrote a book on the subject). My dad also has a keen eye for quality and well-designed products, especially in print as his background is in publishing.
Like most creatives, I’ve always had the need to make things for myself, and I get immense satisfaction from doing so. In terms of my career, I fell in love with graphic design at a young age and looking back, it was so obvious that it was the career for me. I’m sure my primary school teachers would not be surprised to learn I do it for a living now – my school projects were always presented in an overly artistic way .
I think the best thing about handmade products, is that they have not been ‘market tested’ or factory-made, aren’t bland or a carbon copy of another product. Most often than not, handmade products are imbued with a sense of passion for good design, attention to detail and a story to accompany it, which makes it worth so much more than a chain-store bought version.
Name 5 reasons (single words) why your creatives should join the collective?
Resources. Motivation. Insight. Encouragement. Community.
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For more information on the collective please visit www.creativewomenscircle.com.au or www.facebook.com/creativewomenscircle
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