We were lucky to catch up with Ruth Smith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ruth, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I think its natural for any business owner to have this thought on a regular basis. There is a lot of stress that comes with owning your own business, When I have a lot of projects going on at the same time, it can feel overwhelming and I long for quieter times. When things are on the slower end of the spectrum, I feel like I should be doing more. And yea, healthcare benefits are alluring sometimes too haha.

But the positives definitely outway the negatives. I love the variety of courses I get to design – from entymology, to digital painting to executive education – that I probably would not get in a “regular” job. I also love the flexibility that being a sole proprietor brings. I get to chose which projects I want to take on and which ones I don’t and over the years I have gotten better at saying no to ones that are less rewarding or interesting. For the most part, I get to choose my own schedule too which is something I value a lot. If I want go out for a hike mid-day with a friend, work on art over coffee in the morning, or play with my kids when they get home from school, I can. I just adjust my work time around it. It’s taught me to be very productive and efficient with my time. It’s also rewarding at the end of each year looking back at all I have done that year and saying wow, I did all that. Just me. For me and my kids.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I run my own instructional design and learning development business, Rhombus Learning. I started it over 10 years ago when my first daughter was born and haven’t looked back since. My expertise is in helping clients (a mixture of university and corporate clients) to design and develop online courses. I work with faculty or subject matter experts who know the content extremely well and then I bring my creativity to the table to recommend different approaches, media, or technology to use to engage students in the learning process and to meet the intended learning outcomes. And then I help with developing the courses based on these recommendations. I love it because its a mixture of visual design and pedagogy and it feels very much like both an art and a science. The process is very structured and methodical but my creativity (in how I design and in how I think about learning) can come through at any stage of the process. I would say I am most proud of the fact that I have never had to market my business. All my work has come about through word of mouth and that is a great feeling. Also, during the pandemic, I was called on to lead the design of a course that would ultimately teach over 3,000 faculty across all of North Carolina how to effectively design online courses – something many faculty had no experience with. This came at a time when I think we all were eager to find some way to have a positive impact in whatever way we could and it felt rewarding to know my expertise could be used to make the virtual teaching and learning experience better.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think the pandemic was definitely a moment of resilience for me as it was for most of us. When it hit, I felt like I was in a field where I could have a positive impact on the education industry which was all moving to virtual learning, but initially everyone’s budgets were frozen and no one was contracting out work. After a month or two of no work coming in, I ended up going on unemployment and worried every day about the future of my business. But I did not give up and things eventually picked back up. It definitely was a scary time though and made me appreciate every project and job I work on a little bit more.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I think creativity is at the center of everything I do so I honestly can’t imagine a life without it. It is who I am, how I think, how I see the world…and I like sharing that with people. During my free time, I am busy in my studio creating abstract art with a laser cutter or experimenting with acrylic gel prints and markers. In my work, I am always pushing myself to be a better visual designer and to learn new tools for creating graphics, animations, interactives, or videos. And in between I find inspiration by experiencing other people’s creativity – by listening to music, by hearing people tell stories, by creating and attending artist meetups, and by going to galleries and shows to learn from others. For me, creativity is about freedom – freedom to explore different techniques, different ways of expression, different mediums, and without that exploration, the world would be a very boring place for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rhombuslearning.com/ and http://www.ruthcsmith.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodhalfthought/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthcsmith/