Yep it's been a year since I quit my day job at a local TV station to work as a fulltime illustrator. Well, about a year. Believe it or not I don't actually remember the exact date! But it was the end of July so at least I've got that to go on :)
I literally cannot believe it has already been a year.
I'm so proud of myself for making it so far, especially in an icky economy--I think a lot of people worried that my business might fail. But it didn't and indeed it has actually grown.
Here are a few things I've learned in my first year:
--Just be yourself. It's probably one of the most important pieces of advice you'll ever get as an artist. Take the time to really find out who you are and what you want to bring to the world.
--You have to love what you do in order to make it work; you really have to live your work and be thinking about it constantly.
--But you also have to learn to flip the switch off and take some down time every now and then. Even if it's just a day or an afternoon or an hour.
--Being your own boss can be a blessing and a curse, you have to learn to be disciplined in some aspects and relaxed in others. I'm still trying to find that balance.
--Your taxes will always be more tha you think they will and it will always just suck to write that check.
--You will miss the consistent paycheck of your old job. Sometimes money will be plentiful and sometimes you will worry that you won't have enough.
--But as lame as it sounds, the best thing you can do is NOT worry. Turn your energy it something productive, something new, something fun and you'll usually find out that in the end everything will work out exactly how it was supposed to whether you worried yourself to death or not.
--Just because you create it doesn't mean that someone will buy it. You've got to promote it. You've got to get yourself out there.
--The best marketing I've found so far is just to constantly be talking about what you do whether it's on Facebook or to friends and family. You'll get a shocking amount of business just from that word of mouth.
--Sometimes that thing that is your favorite thing that you ever created just won't sell and that thing that you didn't love as much will sell like crazy. It's the way of the world, you just have to learn to work with it. Recognize trends in your own work that people are drawn to and build on those while editing out other aspects of your work.
--But you still have to be true to yourself, so always keep that balance in mind.
--It's hard to not work all the time when your office/studio is just right upstairs. But I find that I work better and feel more refreshed when I set certain parameters for myself such as only checking emails twice a day instead of every 5 minutes and taking at least 2 or 3 hours in the evening to spend with my boyfriend/family/friends/pets.
--You'll learn something new about yourself every day that you work for yourself.
--You'll always being learning something new or trying to figure something out.
--Sometimes working by yourself can be pretty lonely and isolating. I thank
Twitter and
Facebook for keeping me a bit more in touch. And I try to remember to actually see my friends from time to time. And maybe leave the house for more than a trip to the post office.
There have definitely been ups and downs over the last year. Sometimes I cried and thought maybe I wasn't meant for this creative life. Other times I loved it more than anything and worked 10 times as hard to ensure that I would never work a "regular" job again. But in the end, the good things have far outweighed the bad and while I still feel like I am adjusting to my new life/job, I also feel like I've accomplished so much in this last year.
And I can't wait to see what I accomplish in the coming year!
There will definitely be surprises :)
PS--And there will definitely be a nice celebratory giveaway posted later today!
