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Success means different things to different people.
Doing work that we love. Making a difference. Financial
security. Balancing a career with family. Fame and
fortune. All of the above. For many of us, it’s about what
career success can bring into our lives that becomes the
driving force. Freedom to choose how to live and work,
and finding career fulfilment, are arguably key goals for
today’s creatives.
Yet navigating the path to success isn’t easy. We
often don’t appreciate how far we’ve come, let alone
understand how we got there. Rising to the challenge of a
tricky client brief, pushing your creativity to new heights,
taking the freelance leap, starting a business... these are
the moments in our career that can make or break us.
Throughout life we may also experience serendipitous
encounters that lead us down a different path: a chance
conversation that results in a new job, or an opportunity
to test our skills in ways we didn’t think possible. We
may not grasp the significance of these moments until
much later, when we have that elusive ‘ah-ha!’ moment
and we realise that everything has finally fallen into
place. Of course, for many of us that moment has yet to
materialise. Take comfort that the struggle is part of the
journey. Success doesn’t happen without it.
Over the following pages, a selection of leading
creatives share the pivotal moments in their careers, and
how these standout experiences have shaped their own
definition of career success – and hopefully will fuel the
inspiration of all readers wanting to make the most of a
career in the creative industries.