I’ve been putting off writing this for quite a while; I’ve
tidied my sock drawer, alphabetised the cd collection and written my Christmas
cards, okay the last one is untrue but it gives you an idea of how difficult
this is to write.
I have recently taken a step back from stitching and taken a
close look at my ‘business’. You see I even find it problematic to call it
that, but with the help of the wonderful
Creative Business Network I felt it was time to investigate my earnings
and try and separate my love of creating from the need to pay bills.
Embroidery is everything to me, the creative process feeds
my soul and without it I feel unfulfilled. But there is something about this
creativity lark that seems to make me want to apologise for trying to make a
living and worse still undervalue what I do. Guiding me through the process of
unpicking costings, Helen at The Creative Business Network was a fresh pair of
eyes who ultimately helped me to work out my bottom line. I had a few shocks
along the way, perhaps the greatest being that I was paying myself about £3 an
hour for some of my pieces.
Why do we find it so difficult to ask for our worth? Why the
lack of confidence in our work? I’m sure not everyone has this but I know a lot
of my creative friends do. This idea that someone will accuse us of not being
worth it, tap us on the shoulder and call us a fake? It’s even got a name
‘imposter syndrome’. I’ve had a few
incidents that have exposed this raw nerve; once at a craft event when an
incredulous woman asked me three times how much something was and then brought
her family and friends back to my pitch to once again express her astonishment
at the ‘huge ‘price tag. It was a brooch for £20 that took me over 2 hours to
make. I didn’t respond I just stood there and smiled.
It’s funny isn’t it that those events stay so vivid in the
mind whereas all the lovely things that are said get filed away.
So what I am trying to say is I am going to adjust my prices
not because I want that holiday in the Maldives or that 3rd luxury yacht
but because I’m worth it. I trained for 5 years at Art College and university,
I have practised my art and my heart and soul goes into what I do. I am working
on confidence and being able to say I’m proud of my work and I’m good at what I
do.
I also have incredibly tidy drawers!
The price increase will come into effect on the 1st
September, but I will continue to make items to suit a range of pockets.
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