Whoa, what a month! Our October issue sees our attention pulled in two directions as we celebrate Small Business Week with our Professionals special feature and take a close look at the Arts on the Saanich Peninsula. At first glance, these seem very different ideas and I worried that readers might wonder if it’s possible to marry the two together in any cohesive way. But, the more we’ve worked on the stories and features, the more similarities I’ve noticed between these topics.
Speaking with entrepreneurs, there seem to be certain core principles that are required for any start-up business. Learning about writers, film makers and other artists, I feel the same core principles resonate. Ideas! A willingness to experiment; the knowledge that practise and repetition are the only ways to get really good; bravery – taking a leap; and sticking with something even when it’s hard. The small business professionals featured this month will have been through many of the same processes that our incredible Peninsula artists do each time they approach a new creative endeavour.
Working in a business that has creativity at its heart brings me great satisfaction. Each print cycle I experience the pleasure of bouncing ideas around with my colleagues, reaching out to new collaborators and then the gradual coming-together of the magazine’s content. There’s an inevitable build in momentum as we head towards our press deadline and the work days tend to get longer! I relish getting my first look at the whole issue when it’s laid out, seeing all the ideas we’ve had come to life (or not – sometimes things just don’t work out!) I’m no artist, but my career has brought me to an interesting point where I find myself at a juncture between those two worlds of art and business.
As many of you will be, I’m still struck each September by the complete gear change of the back-to-school routine. It’s the transition that’s hard, especially with multiple children participating in multiple activities. But now October is here, we’ve settled (somewhat) into a routine and can start to anticipate the chill in the air and promise of cozying down in our homes. Autumn also brings two holidays with creative opportunities, Thanksgiving, just a few weeks away now, and Halloween hot on its heels behind. I’ll make my usual best-effort at costumes for the children, but I don’t really go to town with decorations for either of these events. Something that will be connecting me with my love of the arts though is a new idea we have, to start a Seaside Magazine Book Club! We’re still working out the details right now, but I’d love to hear from you if you’re interested: deborah@seasidemagazine.ca.
