Mum… I want to be an artist

Do you remember what you wanted to be when you were a child? I wanted to be an actress. The first time I mentioned it at home, my family thought it was a childhood whim; typical of that time when we all wanted to be such wildly-differing things as an astronaut, teacher, vet or fireman, all at the same time. Smiling, they told me “Study, and when you grow up, we’ll see”. Over time, they realized I was serious. Then the message turned into “Choose a career with a future, and then you can have that as hobby if you want”. I was a very good student – one of those who gets grants to study abroad and so on and so forth. However, it seemed most people around me thought it would be a waste of time if I did not aim for what they called ‘a proper career’. Something similar must have happened to my parents, as my father had a voice which could fill an opera house, but ended up being a doctor; while my mum was continuously told that dancing was not something fit for a lady. Being the general consensus, I thought it must be right. I studied hard and became an economist, eventually getting a job as an investment products specialist in a well-known multinational bank. It was great, I can’t complain. For a while, I even thought that those who told me acting was just a childhood fantasy might just be right.

I spent many years almost exclusively working in that job until something that happened made me realize that I was forgetting to live and enjoy the things which were important to me. That day, I decided that, no matter what, I was not going to leave my dream on the scrapheap, and started studying to become an actress after work. I felt a little ridiculous in the beginning as everybody was much younger than me on all the courses, but all that vanished when I got in front of the camera. I then started working in short films and adverts, and getting to know people with whom I shared a lot in common. It was a real burst of happiness. Most curious of all? My business results were better than ever when splitting my time between my work and my passion.
It was becoming clearer and clearer that I wanted to make a change in my life. However, my financial and professional situation was good and that stability was difficult to give up. Luckily, life gave me the push I needed, in fact it was a veritable big-bang moment: after 19 years in different positions in the bank, I received a very good offer from another bank and decided to switch. I thought that because the conditions were much better there, I could save money and would be able to change to the life I wanted in a few years. There wasn’t even time to start saving. 6 months after I changed bank, it was liquidated and everything I’d worked for to that point disappeared from one day to the next. It was a real shock, that I cannot deny. But to be honest, it was also a relief. Suddenly, I had the opportunity to rewrite my life right in front of me. This time I decided to write the story I had dreamt of for so long.

I realized that all those years in banking weren’t as much of a waste of time as I had first thought. Thanks to that experience, I now speak two languages: art and business, and I’ve acquired knowledge and tools that are mostly neglected in artistic careers. Key tools. Ones which can make a significant difference to an artist’s life; which can make their career one with as great a future and as lucrative as any other profession. I decided that from then on, I will combine my passion with the advice and transmission of those tools to creatives and artists in all disciplines. So they can make a living from their art; so they can grow, and thrive. To bring those hugely-talented artists around us out of anonymity, so we can all enjoy what they do best, their ART.