Publicity, press coverage and plenty of potential projects…
Things have been going well since my last blog apart from one minor disaster (which I’ll get to later). Last year finished on a very positive note with the highlight most definitely being receiving the Press Young Business Entrepreneur of the Year 2007 and the awards ceremony that came with it.
It’s amazing to get this sort of recognition for my work and ‘entrepreneurial skill’. I wouldn’t necessarily see myself as a textbook ‘entrepreneur’ - i.e. someone who takes risks and plays the market. I just have an idea and am so passionate that it’s going to work that I pursue it and make it a reality - I guess other people would see that as risk-taking but it’s never felt like it to me. Anyway, it was great fun simply attending the event and the press coverage that I got as a result was huge. I wasn’t expecting quite so much publicity but it’s been brilliant, leading to meeting lots of new people, making loads of contacts and many new business leads, which is great.
So…for the last few weeks of 2007 everything began to wind down as everybody got ready for the festive season. Things were a bit quieter through November and December, probably because at that time of year people aren’t really thinking about undertaking new projects. This brief lull in activity was my opportunity to take stock and plan for the year ahead and I took full advantage!
Soon I’ll be attending the opening of one of my projects that I completed towards the end of December and I’m really looking forward to it. I was asked to design some artwork to create a relaxing and upbeat environment for the new Teenage and Young Adult ward at the St James’ Institute of Oncology in Leeds. It was something I was really happy to be involved in. The project brief was to make a less clinical space for the patients and turn the ward into more of a teenage crash pad where they could access mobile phones and the internet along with other things they wouldn’t normally be able to do whilst in hospital. My part in the project was to design a series of glass screens which would be both works of art and fire screens.
As the project went so well, the Teenage Cancer Trust have approached me and asked me to participate in a similar project further afield. I can’t say when that will take place as nothing is definite yet but it is something I’d be very interested in getting involved in if it does go ahead.
That aside, the New Year didn’t start quite so positively as 2007 had ended. My entire computer system crashed and I had to send it away to get it repaired. I didn’t realise quite how much I relied upon it until I didn’t have it anymore… When it crashed my whole business came to a standstill. I hadn’t been backing up my files nearly as often as I should have done but the importance of doing so really hit home when I was faced with the possibility of losing all of them. I’ve definitely learnt my lesson there - albeit the hard way! Anyway, it’s now back and in full working order and getting regular back ups!
As for new projects for 2008, there are plenty in the pipeline but unfortunately none that I can speak of in any real detail at the moment as plans aren’t finalised…I guess it’s just a case of watching this space and I’ll hopefully be able to tell you more next time.
