We were lucky to catch up with Pamela Zeljak recently and have shared our conversation below.

Pamela, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

When people ask me what’s the best part of owning my own business, I tell them it’s not having to go to meetings. And that’s mostly true. Not having to waste time in meetings that don’t pertain to my job or “could have been an email” has been a liberating experience. But there are drawbacks to not having meetings with contemporaries. I don’t get to bounce ideas off of them or get different points of view on solving complex problems. I miss the benefits of being in a group of people who are working in the same industry and often on the same projects that I am. It doesn’t mean I am more or less happy as a business owner or that I want to go back to a regular job. It just means that being a business owner is different from having a regular job. There are “good and bad” differences that you have to get used to.

Pamela, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am the am the Founder and Principal of Civic Icon Arts, a full-service Public Art and Creative Placemaking consulting firm. I have been interested and involved in the visual and performing arts since grade school. When I graduated from college with a Music degree, I went to work for a nonprofit. The skills I learned at the job allowed me to transition into a role in administration at a museum. At the museum I had a wonderful boss that helped me explore the curatorial side of art along with my administrative duties. Those experiences are what brought me to Public Art, which turned out to be my dream job.

Between working for nonprofits, as a museum administrator, and a municipal Public Art administrator, I have accrued fifteen years in the field. What made me uniquely suited to pursue a career as a Public Art consultant was my experience in building relationships with artists and community stakeholders, a background in Public Art project management, strategic planning, and budget planning and management. I also had experience in organizing and executing art festivals, community engagement events, and gallery exhibitions.

At my company, we fulfill the creative vision of small and mid-sized communities, organizations, and businesses. What we do is always fully focused on the client, their community, and what type of art they envision. A Public Art and Creative Placemaking program allows them to set a unique course for community pride, civic engagement, artist support, public health, and economic growth. Some cities are fortunate enough to have the resources to hire their own Public Art employees or even set up an entire Public Art Department, but many small and mid-sized cities have to rely on other staff who may have no Public Art experience and are already burdened with their regular workload. That is where a consultant like me comes in. I survey the community, assist them in building a plan, and work with the administration and community members to execute that plan. I also work with private residential and commercial developers because Public Art is important to them for the same reasons. That goes for community organizations as well. Our goal is simple… Creative Vision Completed.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Since my business started out slow, as most client-based businesses do, it was easy to make my own schedule. I was able to take a day off each week to run errands to take care of personal business. I thought that was the way it was if you worked for yourself. After building up my client base, I realized that is only the case when scheduling far in advance. My week-to-week schedule is determined by my client’s schedule and my client’s needs. I can give my clients my availably for the next few weeks, but if they need me to meet at 7pm or Saturday morning, well then that’s when the meeting is.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

I’m always looking for people who share my profession on LinkedIn. When you run your own business, it’s good to know other people in the field and to keep up on what they are doing. LinkedIn is great for that. I make it a point to exchange a few messages with those I connect with. I thank them for connecting with me, ask them about any new or exciting projects they are working on, or if they are attending the latest big conference. I made a connection with one such person who was a consultant in another state doing something similar but with a very different background. We scheduled a phone conversation and realized our skill sets complimented each other. We still have our own separate businesses but work together to build teams with Public Artists to apply to large projects.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.civicicon.com
• Instagram: @civiciconarts
• Facebook: @civiciconarts
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamela-zeljak-37140ab/

Image Credits
Meagan Gumpert Photography