“Take the chance on yourself”

Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.

“I work in the creative industry, helping bring other people’s ideas to life. I enjoy the work and the proximity to creativity, but I also feel a growing pull to make my own projects, particularly documentary and experimental work.

The challenge is that I’m in my early thirties, and sometimes it feels like the moment for starting as an artist or filmmaker has already passed.

I’m curious how professionals think about this tension: building a stable career while also wanting to create something personal. How do you know when to take that leap? And how do you find the confidence and momentum to actually start making work rather than just thinking about it?

How do you know when it’s time to stop being ‘sensible’ and seriously pursue your own creative work?”

Shanice Mears, co-founder and head of culture & communities at The Elephant Room:

I think it’s normal that you think this way. I believe that anyone starting their own thing has always toyed with the thought of whether or not they should be doing it, but the thing is – they do it anyway. Don’t let that be the thing that takes you away from potentially starting something that could change your life. I would start slow first, figure out what exactly I want to be doing, and I mean that as a small question. What do I do really well? How much of my time do I love spending on this? What help do I need?

A lot of the time we convince ourselves that we’re too old, we aren’t ready, or it’s already been done. But we shouldn’t limit ourselves, especially if you are already working with others on building their own dreams. You’re still young, even if the industry makes you feel like you aren’t.

I agree that there is a tension between building for others and building for yourself, but I don’t think that you should have to choose. If you aren’t ready to go all in, take your time building stronger relationships, mapping out the direction you want to take and learning about those you do admire. But there’s always a way. I think one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever got is to not be afraid of failure, and if you feel the fear – do it anyway. So even when you question it, take the chance on yourself.

In answering your creative career conundrums we realise that some issues need expert support, so we’ve collated a list of additional resources that can support you across things that might arise at work.

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