How I became a business woman in 12 months…
A year ago I barely remembered I could paint. The first Covid 19 lockdown had just begun, and I was starting to lose my mind with the sudden halt in my busy life. When I think back to previous years, 12 months doesn’t really feel that long, things happen but time fly’s by in a blur of work and beach moments.
However, this last year has been like no other. I’ve hardly seen some of my family and close friends, having people round for dinner or going out and having a drink in a bar feeling like long lost memories. Socially, it’s been one of the hardest years that our generation has ever experienced. On the flip side of that though, I have a business….my very own business?!
Painting ‘Polly Joke - Peace’
12 months ago, I would never in a million years have thought people would like anything I had painted, let alone part with their hard-earned cash to own one of my pieces. I have a website, displaying a full body of work that I am continually adding to. I am working with one of the best printers in Cornwall to create limited edition reproductions of my work. I have homeware?! I am a licensed drone pilot and have re-discovered my love for photography, using my trustee drone to explore Cornwall from above.
‘Breaking on the Rocks’ & ‘The Power of Polzeath’ Framed Limited Edition Prints by The Logical Choice Group - Cornwall.
Don’t get me wrong, that all sounds wonderful and that it was easy to do, it hasn’t! I have worked a full-time job during the day, then worked late into the night throwing everything I have into my business. I have done countless webinars and workshops to learn how to be an ‘entrepreneur’, how to build and run and a business, how to grow a following on social media, how to be a successful artist. I have had to learn how websites work, that it’s not just a case of set it up and off you go. It takes continual work to keep it updated, keep it engaging and try to drive traffic to it in order to grow.
I have learnt how to market myself and my work, even though every bone in my body cringed at the very thought of it. Ever since I was little, I have hated being the centre of attention or putting myself out there for all to see. But my passion for Cornwall and for encouraging more people to discover and explore their creativity, seems to have over-ridden all that fear.
My photo for the @holly.co - Holly Tucker MBE, Female Founded Business campaign.
I have met so many incredible people over the last year, hardly any of them face to face as that is the world we have been living in! Most of them I have discovered or connected with via Instagram, or another social media platform and I cannot wait to be able to meet up with them the good old fashion way. I have met other artists and creatives, professionals in the art industry, and female entrepreneurs on similar missions to me. Every single one of them I admire greatly and can’t believe that I have been privileged enough to work with and learn from them.
This has been one of the hardest yet one of the most exhilarating years of my life. I now wake up every morning excited to see where my artistic journey will take me, who I will meet, how I will be able to share my love for Cornwall and Art. I wonder what the next 12 months hold for me and my little business…
Would you be interested in me sharing more about all the steps I have taken over the last year to create a business? If so drop me a message through the website or social media. I am thinking about running a little workshop in the near future so it would be great to gauge a reaction on whether it would be of interest
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