Building Creative Resilience: real talk & advice from some of Bath’s most experienced creative minds

On a Wednesday evening in June – we hosted our first ‘Gather Round Presents’ event at Trinity Church. It was one for the books…

Whether it was the promise of an honest, open conversation about the challenges of working in the creative industries, or a need for the answer to the mutually felt question “Am I the only one feeling the pressure?” – tickets flew out in record time.

At 6.30pm we opened the doors to The Vestry and a new community of creatives flooded in, the vibe was electric. Backlit by a perfect summer’s evening and armed with their own stories to share, we saw people making instant connections, sharing contact details and engaging in deep conversations before we’d even sat down. This is something we all needed to talk about.

After a glass of free prosecco and some delicious free pizza from our partners Bosco, we moved through to The Great Hall, bringing an air of focus with us, as our all-Gather Round-member panel took their seats to share their wisdom.

In the face of adversity, be elastic

Bend, stretch, but don’t fold… become elastic. Your business depends on it.

A recurring theme from each of our speakers and touched upon in more depth by Jamie Ellul of Supple Studio, was Covid, a trying time to say the least. Jamie discussed how those turbulent years almost sent Supple down – something that, back then, was easy to take personally. This feeling was only made slightly more manageable due to the fact that his friends, colleagues & clients were all feeling it too. Jamie openly discussed how this felt like a great exercise in cutting the umbilical cord, once he realised how much of his self worth was wrapped up in the business. Something that he has since tackled through therapy and looking inward. This raw honesty was something that fuelled the rest of the evening, with equally inspirational testimony from the rest of our panel.

Admit when something isn’t working

Tim Miness, Creative Director of Osborne Pike, shared a few mantras with the audience that have helped him stay flexible, creative and resilient. A statement that resonated was not being afraid to admit when something isn’t working. Bend the rules. What decision do I need to make in order to change my situation? How can I tap into that magic creativity and find the answer to this problem? Not only that, but how can I ask the right questions? Tim’s advice – hire people that are better than you. Expand that collective creativity, and together, you’ll find the right question.

Honesty is the best policy, and we definitely heard that from our panel. There were murmurs from the audience mentioning how refreshing it is to hear people being open about their downfalls, where they could improve and how they got through hard times. A refreshing perspective on managing a business, compared to older, more traditional ways of thinking.

Tim shared his dislike for the phrase “Fake it til you make it”. Something we’ve all encountered and tried to embody in some way, as we try to make sense of our place in the world. Sharing his love for the sentiment of trying new things, but ultimately landing on, why do we feel like we have to pretend to know what we’re doing? Perhaps one of his mantra’s “Learn it til you earn it” feels like a more sensitive way to approach things, although (in his own words) “…it doesn’t quite have the same punch.”

Looking inwards

Robin left us with a perfect segue into Kate Southerby’s interactive section of the evening. Coaching with the brain in mind, Kate is a facilitator of insights. She guided the audience through her 7 step plan, asking everyone to score themselves out of 10 for each section: Sleep, Movement, Focus, Introspection, Daydreaming, Play, Connection. There was an overwhelming consensus that we aren’t looking after our brains as well as we could be, so this was a welcome exercise that left the audience with plenty of food for thought.

The importance of nourishing your mental and physical health was a thread followed by all of our panellists, as each person has faced certain difficulties of their own. As Steven Hore discussed, managing stress has elevated how he works. He and his family made the decision to leave London after more than 20 years in the city. Initially causing more stress than intended due to commutes, but, after Covid eliminated presenteeism, time usually reserved for long car or train journeys was swapped out for more time in nature, exercising and moving through beautiful spaces that nourish his soul.

Something more attainable than moving city that he shared with the audience though, and perhaps the most simple and obvious tip: get a good night’s sleep! Steven shared how implementing this one action has transformed his ability to handle combined stressors such as job insecurity, shifting budgets and demands of 16+ hour shoot days with ease.

It’s not all about work though, as we revisit a comment from Jamie Ellul on not letting your self-worth get too wrapped up in your business, the panel delved into the importance of finding things outside of work to nourish your creative side. Find a hobby you love and indulge in it as much as you can. Hustle culture is dying, now is the time for slow, intentional living.

The elephant in the room: AI

Of course – it wouldn’t be a conversation about the state of the world right now without touching on artificial intelligence. A topic that roused the crowd, unsure on how to feel about this powerful new tool we’ve all been given. But the biggest question on everyone’s lips… What does this mean for creative jobs? Tim, Kate, Steven, Robin and Jamie all steadfast in their belief that creative jobs aren’t going anywhere. A sigh of relief. Steven shared some positive thoughts on how AI is a great democratiser. The barriers to entry now are lower than before, meaning more eyes, more screens and work happening in more places than ever before.

This being said, clients will always want emotional, relatable, human stories. From Jamie’s perspective, AI can only produce more of the same and will never be a match for the way humans think and create. We left that topic firmly closed with his mic drop moment – “AI won’t give you a drumming gorilla for a Cadbury ad”.

Where do we go from here?

After a short break, we resumed the discourse in the form of an intimate Q&A. With questions from a concerned audience, on how positive the panel feel about the creative industries going forward – will we see an upturn? Leaving us with some final gems of knowledge, the panel discussed how being brave will ultimately lead to success. However you view success though, is up to you. Times have been difficult, really difficult, but they ARE changing. There are spaces, like Gather Round, where community is flourishing and people are coming together with ideas and strength beyond what they thought they were capable of, just a few years ago.

In the words of Anthony Burrill, “Work hard and be nice to people” – but most importantly, be brave, nourish your network, ask questions, take care of yourself and the rest will follow. Stay resilient out there!

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