I’m a web designer/web developer/jewellery designer/whatever designer/content creator.
When I was growing up I had my heart set on being a veterinarian. The 7 year university course didn’t bother me too much, I was thinking of going to Edinburgh – it was going to be such an adventure! I did my work experience weeks at a vet surgery, got good enough grades in my sciences – heck, I even did a latin GCSE to help with pronunciation!
Things changed, though. I was always an anomaly in that I loved science and art. I could quite easily spend one evening poring over my science text books, then the next evening splashing paint and lettraset on a canvas. Eventually I made the decision to spend a year doing an art foundation course, rather than pursue science (at least for the time being). That turned into an art degree (which, without mincing words, was shit), during which I spent the majority of the time teaching myself to build websites and faffing around importing stuff from the USA to sell on ebay.
For the past few years I’ve been building websites, making jewellery, learning code, printing stuff, waxing lyrical about PHP, and even blogging passionately about business.
There’s a new label flying around for folks like me, we’re being called ‘Multipassionate solopreneurs’.
Sounds pretty douchey, doesn’t it?
But…
It works. And it’s true. It describes me perfectly, and has settled so much of my internal anguish.
From tiny children it’s built into us that we should follow a path, choose a career and niche down to a pre-described speciality. We should go to school, college, university, get a graduate job, get a better job, get promoted, get promoted again, settle, retire.
When I decided to leave my day job as an agency web developer, it was always my aim to combine both Finest Imaginary making with Kim Lawler Creative web design. I wanted to keep a comfortable equilibrium between the two, together but separate. There were times when I considered ditching one or the other to ‘niche down’ and become specialised.
Then it hit me.
I am niched down. I am specialised.
Who else combines a boutique brand like Finest Imaginary alongside creative services and web design? Who better to work with a web design client looking for their own online presence, than someone who’s struggled through it with their own brand?
Passionate about baking and social media? Write me your ‘recipe’ for facebook success. Bake me a twitter inspired cake. (Shit, sorry, that first one was so corny… forget I said that.)
Love cats as much as you love being a manicurist and making youtube tutorial videos? Hellooo! Crazy cat lady manicurist showing us cat-inspired nail turtorials on youtube, you just got branded!
Okay… so maybe I was clutching at straws with that last one, but you get my point.
How do I combine my passions? I don’t exactly make website inspired jewellery, do I?
No. I’m a multipassionate creator, and I love being part of a community of creative people. Many of my web design clients know me through my jewellery first and foremost, and the markets for all sides of my business cross over. It’s a venn diagram of awesome that makes my business thrive. I’m constantly looking at new ways to bring the things I love into my business. I’m even working on bringing some of my blog style musings into the web design side. It keeps me engaged and interested!
Ignore the precedent for specialisation, and create your own niche from the things that get you pumped!
