An A-Ha Person from SB3
© Addison Geary, www.AddisonGeary.com, 2011
For many, the lessons from SB3 were summed up in Colleen Wainwright’s SB3 keynote message “be awesome” and “be nice”. How surprising and refreshing to hear the phrase ‘be nice”. (It reminded me of a sign carried by a small boy at a Madison, WI anti-war rally at the outbreak of the Iraq War. It read, “No hitting”.) Sometimes we lose sight of the obvious and it falls to wondrous people like Colleen to pull a long forgotten given out of our dark, cynical brains and back into the light.
I met Colleen the first day of SB3 in LA but didn’t get around to subscribing to her blog until a few days after the second of the SB3 weekends. Within days of reading her posts, she had changed my life.
In a key post, Colleen wrote about why she will NEVER be a copywriter again. Her wonderfully crafted words made me laugh and sit up in bed. She walked away from a mind numbing revenue stream and so could I!
I was writing for a difficult client who subjected my writing to a panel of editors that squeezed the personality out of my words and with it all joy in writing. I realized after reading Colleen’s post that every week I continued to write for that client, I was further damaging the confidence I needed to continue to do my all important personal work. I quit the job the day after reading her post.
It isn’t always what you jot down as you sit in front of an inspiring speaker or chat with others at events that matter the most. It is the relationships that begin in environments that have been carefully crafted to encourage interaction. ASMP SB3 did a suburb job in so doing. Thanks ASMP for introducing me to Colleen and all the other inspiring teachers and attendees at SB3. I learned from all.
Ellen Boughn is a writer and consultant to photographers. She offers an inexpensive introductory half hour consult to new clients for $39.00 at www.ellenboughn.com/ask-ellen. She reviews portfolios, answers business questions and edits images for websites among other things. She is also a very good chef!
6 Responses to 'An A-Ha Person from SB3'
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Thank you Ellen, we learned much from you as well. You, and the other great speakers, were a big part of why SB3 was such a huge success. I am grateful to have been afforded the opportunity to attend, and work with all of you, at all three locations. It was an invaluable experience for me. Congratulations on your commitment to your growth in your craft. I applaud your courage.
Ellen – your observation about how damaging it is to work with people who don’t respect what you’re bringing to the table is such an important message. Producing the kind of outstanding work necessary to succeed in any creative field cannot be done after days or weeks of compromising your artistic integrity and being made to feel “less than.”
You’ve made the hard but much better choice and I’m so proud of you for being willing to sacrifice short term profits in order to protect that well-spring of creativity. I’m confident this decision will help you grow your business in more valuable and satisfying ways over the long-haul.
I’m with Judy (when am I *not* with Judy Herrmann?): this “hard but better” choice is the only way to roll as a creative person. I just finished reading The Alchemist last night—yeah, I’m not so much with the au courant—and the passage toward the end where the alchemist tells the boy what would happen were he to give up pursuit of his Personal Legend chilled me to the bone. Because that way always lies death by degrees.
I salute your astounding bravery and grace. And I look forward to seeing what juicy creativity—and revenue!—it unleashes.
[...] recent blog post from Ellen Boughn reminded me of how important this concept really is. Ellen decided to walk away from a lucrative [...]
[...] and reader alike. I quit the day after reading Colleen’s post and wrote about it for the ASMP Strictly Business [...]
[...] of kickass, one of my 600 new best friends wrote something so nice about me it made me cry. Thank you, Ellen Boughn. May we gather together to eat extra-crispy bacon again very [...]