36 | theceomagazine.com
Rul e one
Do what you love, but know your own value
Don’t sell your work to every brand that wants to
work with you. You can’t work with everyone, so
sometimes it’s okay to politely say, “Thank you,
but it’s just not the right fit at this time.” Put your
work out there on social media and see what
people respond to. This is a really good indication
of what your community likes from you. Make
sure there is a market for what you love to do.
Don’t oversaturate yourself as a brand. If art is
your main thing, don’t veer too far from that,
otherwise you can lose the magic and romance of
why you started. Love what you do and look at
every mistake as something to really learn from.Rul e t wo
Don’t always say yes
The best decisions I ever made were turning down
adverts for cigarette brands, and not selling my work
to a mainstream homewares chain in the US. The
homewares offer came up when I was just starting out,
and it was for a large amount of money at the time.
Something in my gut told me to turn this down, and
I think it’s the best thing I have ever done. Your instinct
is always right. I think it’s sometimes the things you turn
down rather than the things you say yes to that can
define your career path. Putting your work on candles
and pencil cases may give exposure, but it may take
something special away from your art. Choose
collaborations very wisely.“I THINK I HAVE JUST FOUND MY WAY AS I HAVE GONE ALONG
AND LEARNED FROM MY MISTAKES OVER THE YEARS – OF
WHICH I HAVE MADE MANY – BUT THEY HAVE HELPED ME.”