By Jared Hart
If you read through my previous blog about Creative South, then you already know what the Creative South conference is all about as well as some of the things I learned while I was there. In short, Creative South is a small creative conference held in Columbus, Georgia that is heavily focused on growing relationships within the creative community on a personal level. All of the useful information I received was too much to cram into one blog so now I get to revisit my notes and share some more of the great information that was shared with me.
More Inspiration From Creative South
Andrew Hochradel
Due to a last-minute speaker cancelation, our emcee, Andrew Hochradel prepared a great talk about the lessons he’s learned throughout his years of freelancing.
One of the tips Andrew discussed is to always prioritize happiness over success. Do your artwork for yourself while showing off the type of work you want to get hired for. Other people will watch and hopefully hire you to do a job you will enjoy.
This is an approach I had recently started taking myself, so it was great to hear someone else advocating for it. When you are trying to prioritize success by making things you think others will like, you’ll likely limit your creativity. Making things for yourself gives you the opportunity to push your limits, try new things, and grow your skillset. This leans into another thing Andrew said, “Focus on what you could be rather than what you ‘should’ be.”
In my previous blog about Creative South, I talked a lot about what Doc Reed had to say about mentoring others. Andrew also discussed the significance of mentoring in a slightly different way. Andrew talked about how mentoring someone is an investment in your own future. The biggest hope when mentoring someone is that they will surpass you and begin mentoring you. Making it an equal mentorship.
Here are a few other bits of advice Andrew gave that I found noteworthy:
“Life happens. Sometimes ‘good enough’ is good enough.”
“YOU are your value. Your perspective is unique and can be lucrative. Put your worth into your perspective. Not your work.”
“Fall with style and fail with passion—going all-in can lead to huge disappointment but can lead to new opportunities.”
“Set goals that make you want to vomit. Goals that you don’t think you can hit. If you fail, you can cheat. It’s your life!”
“Make friends, not connections. 80% of my income is from friends.”
“Make yourself proud of yourself.”
With the amount of valuable information I’ve received each of the two years I’ve attended, I can’t recommend this conference enough. If you’d like to learn more about Creative South, check it out at creativesouth.com
Tickets for Creative South 2023 are on sale now.
Bonus Perk for Students: You can get heavily discounted tickets!
In the meantime, come check out some of the art kits at Ignite Studio and create something for yourself. Happy making!
