We were lucky to catch up with Victoria Beerman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Victoria, appreciate you joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
I am not currently earning a full-time living from my creative work, but I am earning income from it. I dream of working full-time on my business and will shout for joy when that day comes! I am so glad to share my journey with other creatives, because my path has not been linear, and I hope I might be able to encourage others to keep pursuing their dreams, no matter their life circumstances or age. There is no shame in holding down a day job if you need it. You can think of it as being your silent business partner!
It has proven to be slow-going to work full-time while building my business, but by being consistent I am making progress. I show up for my side business every day. Those small steps really do add up. My day job is very stressful and not creative at all, so I use all kinds of mindset shifts and tricks during the work day in order to keep myself creatively inspired and moving forward. I have a very special place in my heart for creatives who either work full-time or have other limitations on their time, such as caregiving, health constraints or full-time parenting. So much so that I wrote “The Day Job Survival Guide for Creatives” which is available for download on my website! (I admit I often re-read it myself when I need encouragement.)
One thing I wonder often is this: should I quit my day job and just go all in? Sink or swim? I am certain that if I focused on it full-time it would flourish — but I have so far been too cautious to take that huge leap.
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 am currently 59 years old, and I am building a surface pattern design business while working as an admin at a nonprofit. I spend evenings and weekends designing my patterns and working on my business, which is called victoriab:design. It is both extremely rewarding and very challenging to do this while working a full-time day job.
I am based in Brooklyn, NY, and I love to dream up playful, exuberant surface patterns for victoriab:design. These patterns can be licensed and used on a variety of products, such as fabric, home decor, stationery and kitchen goods. I also sell products in my online shops on Etsy, Spoonflower, Redbubble and Society6. I am inspired by memories of the bright, bold patterns of my ’60s/’70s childhood; the energy of the city; and the patterns in nature. I am also a mixed media/book artist and create hand-dyed silk scarves in limited editions. I dream of creating limited edition jewelry designs, too. I have a fun, quirky, colorful illustration style which is hand-drawn-yet-graphic. My studio cat, Henry, sometimes appears in my designs as well. Honestly, when I look my fine art, fine crafts, and surface pattern designs, they all feel happy. In fact, a fellow magazine art director once told me my magazine layout designs felt joyful. It is such a privilege to be able to share my joy with the world through my creativity! In fact, I am delighted to be included as one of the 100 surface pattern designers featured in Issue 57 of UPPERCASE magazine, in the 5th Surface Pattern Design Guide!
To back up, most of my career was spent as a print magazine art director/designer. It was very creatively fulfilling to earn my living in that field. While working at magazines, I eventually began learning handmade paper, printmaking, and bookbinding skills and creating mixed media art and artist books. For several years, I exhibited with a local arts collective on the side. My inner artist needed to create outside of the graphic design I was doing at the magazines.
I think it’s important to share that when I first attended college, I was afraid I would never be able to earn an income in a creative field. No one in my life modeled that for me in my Midwestern upbringing. Instead, I majored in business and moved to NYC and worked on the marketing side of magazines, crunching numbers. My creative soul began to wither, so in my late 20’s, I quit, applied to art school, and waited tables to support myself. I got that graphic design degree and went on to work on the creative side of magazines. So I encourage you to find a way to make it happen for yourself! I am super proud of myself for making that huge life pivot, and I use that business degree a lot as an entrepreneur.
When I was 53, the magazine I was working for folded so I pivoted once more. I did not think I would be able to get another creative job at my age, so I decided to start my own creative business. I began victoriab:design as an Etsy shop by adding hand-painted silk scarves to my fine art practice. I did this while collecting unemployment through a special program I was invited to join by the Department of Labor. When unemployment ended, I had the bare bones of a small business thanks to the training I received in that program. But I still needed a job. A neighbor connected me to my jobs in the nonprofit sector and I continued to build my creative business on the side. When Covid hit, and I had much more free time due to lockdowns, I finally decided to transition my graphic design skills into surface pattern design. That’s what I continue to do today.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
I have so many thoughts on this subject. Society needs artists and creatives. We contribute so much to our cultures, and we also have a unique ability to think outside of the box. We are innovative problem-solvers. We contribute beauty to the world. We contribute new perspectives to the world. Our contributions are extremely valuable. In fact, our contributions are crucial.
We deserve to be paid fairly for our creative work. We deserve to be able to earn a full-time income from our creative work. We deserve to be able to afford secure housing, health insurance, and to provide for our families.
If an artist works a day job, the employer should be glad to have such a creative thinker on their staff. The artist should not have to hide their passion projects nor be made to feel as if they need to buy into corporate striving and hustle culture in order to maintain their jobs. Artists can be the most loyal, dedicated employees – if companies treat them with value, respect and understanding.
Artists come in many shapes, sizes and ages. Just because some of us are older doesn’t mean we are any less creative. Just because we look a certain way or live a certain way doesn’t mean we are any less of an artist than someone that meets what society expects an artist to look like or behave. There are many ways to live a creative life and all of them are valuable. There is a place and a path for everyone.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I love being a part of creative communities. A fair amount of time spent being an artist requires solitude, but it can be a lonely journey if all you do is stay in a studio and create. I definitely need to protect long focus blocks on evenings and weekends so that I can build my art and design business outside of the hours I spend at my day job — but that does not mean I am going it totally alone. I belong to several online memberships where I connect with fellow creative entrepreneurs and we support each other through the challenging times, and celebrate each others’ wins. I also belong to two surface design peer groups which meet on Zoom several times each month. We all value cooperation over competition and it has been so inspiring to be on this amazing crazy challenging entrepreneurial journey with them. When I used to belong to my artist collective, I felt the same. I encourage everyone to seek out communities of creatives where you can connect and support each other. It is because of my supportive fellow artists and designers that I keep on moving forward. Without them, I might have given up when things got difficult. Friends and family may not always understand your journey as a creative and may not be able to offer the support you need. That’s why joining creative communities is crucial.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.victoriabdesign.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoriabdesign/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/victoriabdesign/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoriabeerman/
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/victoriabdesign/
Image Credits
Victoria Beerman