Recently I was fortunate enough to attend a workshop generously funded by the City of Ballarat for creative businesses. It was held in the award-winning Annexe at The Ballarat Art Gallery, and was presented by Susan Nethercote of “Creative Conversation” Australia. Susan  happens to be a dear friend of mine (and we’re also second-cousins!) so I’ve seen all the love she’s put into this new business, and I must say, it is very impressive! Susan knows what she’s talking about when it comes to running a small business – she has been running successful urban designer clothing label Manque for over 13 years (if you don’t know her label, check it out, as her clothes are awesome – “urban designer clothing for REAL women”). She is passionate about helping others in their creative quests, and is a natural when it comes to speaking to an audience – she’s very authentic and engaging.

The workshop was called “Holistic Business Mapping” and was essentially about creating a business plan, but not in the traditional sense. As the name might suggest, it was really much more about using our intuition to help map out not only the future of our business and how to make a living, but also about creating a life we love. There was so much content crammed into the one-day workshop that I left feeling exhausted, inspired and excited! After attending the Big-Hearted Business conference earlier this year (and my eyes being opened to a different way we can ‘do business’) this was the perfect practical follow-up for me –  a whole day dedicated to thinking about the future of my business/life, and setting actionable goals to get where I want to be.

Susan had thoughtfully made a special folder for each of the 24 attendees, including the four topics that we covered over the day, complete with custom-made dividers, inspiring quotes, notes, blank paper, exercise sheets, and lists of resources/links/further-reading. Susan is a very organised and motivated individual, and she explained her love of lists and folders (YES! Embrace the inner nerd!), so to have this folder to keep all our business-plan info together is a great gift!

We also all received a little show-bag which included business-cards and flyers of all the attendees on the day. This was such a great idea as we can now all follow, support and encourage each other’s endeavours too. The creative conversation can now continue…

If you’re a creative type and are running a business, you might be interested in signing up for the Creative Conversation newsletter, or following the Facebook page. Then you can be kept in the loop about future workshops and also the coaching services on offer.

Tell me, are you a goal-setter? Do you have big dreams? What drives you and keeps you motivated? I’d love to hear in the comments below!

Talina x