Nurturing Creative Growth: The Invaluable Lesson of Carving Out Time to Explore and Innovate
Years ago, I was chatting with my friend Susan McLeary, a talented florist and floral educator that constantly inspires me. At the time, we were both becoming veterans in the event industry and feeling out what the next steps would be for our businesses.
She encouraged me to build in time to experiment and try new things that weren’t directly for clients. Taking this creative time for myself and my team would lead to breakthroughs that I could then use for client work.
I took her advice and I realized that it not only helped me to sell more interesting ideas to clients, it also nourishes my creativity and keeps me excited about my work.
It’s so easy to get into a rut of taking more and more orders until you feel creatively drained and uninspired. This is me telling you to take some time for yourself and remember why you became a cake designer in the first place.
Will your ideas fail sometimes? Of course! That’s part of the beauty of taking creative risks on your own terms. You learn from your mistakes and no clients are disappointed in the process.
Making this time can look different for everyone. At Sweet Heather Anne, we have a slow season in the winter where I encourage the entire team to take on projects that are out of their comfort zone. It can also look like volunteering to make a cake for a friend with a surprise design, saying yes to a photo shoot, or simply scheduling a lighter week as a creative break. Whatever it looks like to you, enjoy it, and don’t feel guilty limiting your client work to make time for your own creative growth. It will pay off tenfold in the end.
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