Over the past few months, our family has been making our way around Australia on what has become one of the biggest adventures of our lives. Along the way I've had the opportunity to meet some wonderful people, share workshops in incredible communities and reflect on the journey that has brought me here.
Recently, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Shaun Lord from Owners Outlook Podcast for a conversation about art, business, creativity and the winding path of building a life around doing what you love.
We chatted about everything from my early days as an artist and educator through to the growth of my business, the challenges of balancing family life and creative work, and what inspired us to pack up our lives and head off around Australia in a caravan with two young boys in tow.
One of the things I appreciated most about the conversation was the chance to speak honestly about the realities behind a creative business. The highlights are wonderful, but there are also plenty of lessons, risks, pivots and moments of uncertainty along the way. If you're a creative, small business owner or someone dreaming of doing things a little differently, I think you'll find something valuable in the discussion.
It's the first time I've spoken about a lot of this stuff as one story and it was really interesting reflecting in preparation for our conversation. Where do I start? What would people like to know? Is my story interesting? What if I forget to say blah blah blah?
(I did forget to say lots of things and I could have easily expanded further on any of Shaun's questions. Each could have been a half hour conversation in themselves!)
A little behind the scenes of recording. I recorded the episode while staying in a caravan park. I sought out a lovely little tropical floral background nearby our caravan and I was very lucky to not have any neighbours drive in and make heaps of noise. My partner whizzed the kids away for a little nighttime adventure. I'd originally planned to find a quiet space to record in but we'd been up in Cape Tribulation with very little reception and I never made that happen, but winging seemed to work this time! Phew!
A big thank you to Shaun for the thoughtful questions and for creating a space for meaningful conversations with business owners and creatives.
You can listen to the full interview on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and here:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2l1RjY4SqJ7pORcCG0wtBm?si=ae2dee31e4744299
I'd love to hear what resonates with you most after listening.
Happy listening,
Natalie
