It Takes Courage To Build The Career You Want
Some Career Thoughts I'm Sharing.
It Takes Courage To Build The Career You Want
About 15 years ago, my partner Hitoshi Ohashi and I decided to start an art gallery. Some of our friends thought we were nuts. We didn’t have any direct experience working in a gallery but we were looking for something creative that we could do together. I was happy with my university position but I wanted to work more with creative people.
We both love art and after a trip I took around Asia, we wanted to do something to promote the artists I had met.
We eventually opened a gallery and built it into a business that that has brought joy as well as additional income and wonderful friends to our lives.
It has not been easy. We’ve had challenges developing a sustainable business and have made many mistakes—which we are careful not to repeat. We now represent several Asian artists whose work we now exhibit in our gallery and sell on-line.
However, it’s not only our courage in starting the gallery that I want to highlight here. It’s the courage of the artists we work with. It takes courage just to be an artist. Everyone else is telling you how hard it is to make a career as an artist, how you will be starving, and how you will never be able to live. Yet in the face of all this negativity, the artists continue to pursue their dreams.
Artists have for the most part gone against societal expectations and norms. They do not concern themselves with money or what other people think. Artists have a dream of making their art, doing their work, and nothing will keep them from doing this. One of the sculptors we represent creates large works out of wood and iron. He wanted to learn more about the sculptures of Italy.
He did not let his lack of language skills or experience abroad keep him from heading there for one year to learn more about the techniques the artisans used. He didn’t have the language skills but he used the strengths he did have. When he needed to communicate, he used his drawing skills. He just sketched out what he wanted to say and this worked for him.
I sometimes tell clients who are facing challenges at work to “go talk to an artist.” The clients learn about passion, about dreams, about courage, about doing work that matters, and more.
Do you want a very different perspective on your career that might be helpful to you? Try talking to an artist, a dancer, or a musician about the passion that drives them to create.
Adapted from my recent book NO REGRETS: How TO KICKSTART YOUR CAREER AND YOUR LIFE. Available on Amazon now. https://amzn.to/2Xo9Xfh
