Leaving your 9 to 5 to pursue a creative dream full-time may sound a little out there. Some people may even call it crazy. But when you know what you want and you know what you’re good at, it can work. All you need is a little faith. 

WELCOME TRISH BURTON

Today I sit down with Trish Burton, who courageously walked away from her job as a school teacher to follow her passion for making art. Trish is now a Melbourne-based artist, designer and art educator with a dedication to inspiring creativity in others and creating works that evoke personal connections. 

In our conversation, we discuss the rigidity that came with school teaching and how it no longer worked for Trish. She wanted freedom and knew she could get more out of life. This realisation led her to take the leap of faith into creating a life she really wanted and starting her own creative business. 

NICHING DOWN TO FOLLOW YOUR PASSION

While Trish found stability and grew her business through corporate graphic design, she eventually made the decision to let go and pursue the work she was truly passionate about. Trish shares how she turned her world upside down to niche down on illustration, and we discuss how putting out what you really love into the world will bring the work to you.

GETTING RID OF NEGATIVE SELF-TALK

Trish is an optimist, with a wonderful mindset and strong self-belief. However, her self-talk wasn’t always positive, and Trish discusses how reframing things and recognising the wins along the way changed how she saw herself and her work. She’s learnt how to be okay with failure and how to show up in confidence in the face of it. 

LEARN BY DOING

There’s no ‘right’ way to do business, and sometimes you just have to get stuck in and figure things out along the way. Trish talks about learning from the mistakes as well as the successes, and how feedback can be a catalyst for improvement. We discuss throwing yourself in the ring and how it often has a greater impact than observing from afar. 

Pursuing a creative passion can feel like chasing a pipe dream. But with the right mindset, strategy and a healthy dose of self-belief, it really is possible. Trish leads by example with her amazing positivity, humour and zest for life. Never taking herself too seriously, Trish shares such valuable insight into growing a business and finding the time to laugh along the way.

LINKS:

Where to find Trish Burton: 

Website:   https://trishburton.com.au/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trishburtondesign/

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[00:00:00] Emily: [00:00:47] Hello, how are you? I hope you’re going really, really well. It is a Friday here as I record this intro and I have a little man sitting on my lap. This is Lando. He’s got the hiccups , so you may be able to hear that. Uh, we’re off to a wedding today. We have friends’ wedding in, um, country Victoria, so we’ll be getting ready to pack up, get in the car, and um, woo.

[00:01:10] Head off for the night. I’ve been looking around some childcare centers. A lot of them actually just to start getting a bit of a feel chatting with some different nannies, just looking at options. so I can get a bit more time. Well, yeah, get some at time at all. back into my business. so it is kind of a weird feeling.

[00:01:27] I’m really enjoying, um, Lando at this age and just seeing him change so, so quickly, learn new things, develop all, all amazing things. but at the same time, I’m. needing and wanting, some dedicated work time too. So anyway, we’ll see how we go, um, looking at kind of getting that started. But today we have a fabulous guest for you, someone that I just love chatting with.

[00:01:52] I find her so positive. And just a gogetter, sorry. Let me introduce you to Trish Burton. . Trish is a Melbourne-based artist, designer, educator with a dedication to inspiring creativity in other people and creating works that evoke positive personal connections. Trish skillfully manages to add a little piece of her magnetic personality to everything that she creates through her love of pattern and color, and she takes inspiration from the day to day and in particular from special moments that make her stop just for a second.

[00:02:25] Before moving on with our busy lives, Trisha’s style is defined by her inclusion of intricate details, special touches or quirks that add a unique personality to her pieces. And her goal is to enable others to get the joy she does from creativity and art, whether it be teaching creative practice. Or simply experiencing the visual joys of her pieces.

[00:02:46] I’ve got to know Trish through her being a member of the Modern Marketing Collective, along with her working with me in my Mastermind program last year. Scalable. To create her own online program, teaching others creativity and helping others find that creativity from within. I’ve adored, I also, um, had Tricia one of my retreats too, so I’ve had the opportunity to get to know her and, uh, like I said, she’s just an inspiration.

[00:03:13] She’s such a opportunity seeker. Someone that is really, really good at connecting with people, , who bring such a. Optimistic and big picture thinking, and let’s give it a go. And of course we can make this work attitude, which I really adore, and it makes it very, very fulfilling as a mentor and coach to work with someone like Trish.

[00:03:37] So in this episode, you’re gonna hear where Trish started out, which was actually. In schools teaching. And when that no longer was working out for her, she very courageously walked away. And we speak about what happened after that and how her own career has evolved. Some of the challenges, the many highs and wins that she’s had.

[00:04:01] Marketing, even though Trish kind of feels like she doesn’t market. The way that she does this is actually just so natural and genuine and, uh, I think you’ll, you’ll pick up a lot from this episode. So, without further ado, let me wrap up from, um, from Lando and myself and introduce you to Trish Burton.

[00:04:21] Trish Burton, thank you for being here today. 

[00:04:29] Trish: Oh, it’s my pleasure. Thanks for having me.

[00:04:31] Emily: Ah, such a pleasure and I’m excited to, um, to chat with you today just about like so many different things, I love your energy, your optimism, your positivity and all that type of thing. And I’m sure people will feel a dose of that energy after listening today. 

[00:04:45] Trish: Oh, thanks it makes a big difference when you get to draw beautiful things and be around colours and amazing stuff all day. So, you know, I won’t lie, I’ve got a pretty good gig.

[00:04:55] Emily: Well, on that, Trish, what is it that you do? Tell us about your business. 

[00:04:58] What do you you offer?

[00:04:59] Trish: I’ve got two parts of my business, so I’m an illustrator, artist and educator. And I create just beautiful artworks and illustrations for amazing brands that want to stand out with something a bit different, a bit unique and just because I love doing that so much, I wanted to share how amazing it is to be creative.

[00:05:16] So I’m also an educator for beginners who want to make art, be creative, but don’t necessarily know where to start or perhaps have the confidence to start. So I’ve got the twofold where I have my one-on-one client work. And I support their projects, but then I also support everyone else to get all the amazing benefits of being creative, which is humongous.

[00:05:39] Emily: Tell us a couple of them, Trish, those listening that are like, well, hang on a minute. I don’t really have any creativity right now. Why do they need it? 

[00:05:46] Trish: Oh, well first, everyone’s creative. And it’s, it’s such a myth where people say they’re not because they are. It’s so much about if you can choose an outfit for the day or garden or cook or whatever, that’s all been creative and there’s a really special, like in the zone your, your brain quietens. There’s a sense of calm when you’re doing something that’s so beautifully creative.

[00:06:09] You have room in your head to explore so many ideas that not only gives you some time out, but more diverse thinking and ideas and just decision making. It’s such a nice space to be in. So I think everyone should do something creative. It doesn’t matter what, and I can bring my skills to teach a bit of art and hopefully, get people having some time out for themselves.

[00:06:32] Emily: It’s so good, Trish, and that’s actually, if we wind the clock back, would you like to share what you used to do before this business and then I guess what the early iteration of the business looked like? The many kind of like twists and turns and to what it looks like now? 

[00:06:46] Trish: I was a teacher for about 12 years and taught art and design to secondary school students. And all the while I was also a graphic designer. Cause you kind of finish uni and people say, Oh, you’re really good at art that artists don’t make money, so you’ll have to be a graphic designer. So off I went, so …which is ridiculous now that I look back. 

[00:07:05] But people can be an artist in their own right. But I went down the graphic design path, which was great at the time. Then taught, and I loved teaching, absolutely loved it. But like so many people, you have a kid and things just change. Your life is upside down. So They just, they change everything, right? Yeah, he just changed our world. It turned it upside down and I didn’t fit at work anymore at that nine to five or, lot longer when you’re a teacher, so, I didn’t fit, the culture didn’t fit me and I needed family friendly and I probably in a really badly sleep deprived state, just decided one day, I was just gonna walk out.

[00:07:42] So I did. And yeah, no plan, nothing. So I just left a really good job and didn’t know what to do. The only other thing I could do was out of design, so, , what did I do? I started making jewellry, homewares, watercolour painting, children’s education resources, textile design, surface design workshops, um, graphic design and just everything, anything that was creative that I could do, I did and sold.

[00:08:09] Emily: And I think there’s a, this, really understandably, a huge fear of walking away from a really good job and good, can look like many different things to many people. But I guess you did it without a plan and you made it work, right? 

[00:08:23] Trish: Oh, I had to. 

[00:08:24] Emily: That’s the thing and you have to. 

[00:08:26] Trish: It was that, or go back to the lifestyle I just didn’t want anymore. I didn’t think I don’t know. You know what? I just didn’t know. I didn’t know what having a kid would be like, so I just had to. Pivoting and moving and changing and that was life for a while, so I tried a lot of things.

[00:08:43] Emily: And people might not b e able to understand that until they do it, but you will make it work because you have to. And I think we can stay safe. We can stay safe for so long doing something we don’t want because we don’t believe in ourselves, that we can make it happen. But it’s because we don’t actually need to and you know when you need to do something. It’s often, um, a very big Catalyst for putting yourself out there or doing things that are way outside your comfort zone because the alternative is going back. to the life that you don’t want, right. 

[00:09:09] Trish: So, so true. And that was always in the back of my mind . Like my husband and I set dates and said, okay, let’s have six months. If we haven’t got to here by six months, we might need to find an alternative, but I was gonna go and work at the cafe.

[00:09:23] Like I was not going back to the rigid lifestyle. So there was always a plan, there was always something else you could do, but I was making it work. So now I guess after all of that, my business through Covid, because we really had to shut down again so the child comes into it and you know, things get a bit crazy, homeschooled.

[00:09:46] So I had to really, I had an amazing business. I had so many clients and I was fully booked out, but I couldn’t be the best version of the mum I needed to be when my son was being homeschooled. So I one day just said, let go of most of my clients and put my attention on him. But in hindsight, that was pretty amazing because as I’ve come back, I don’t want to do corporate design work anymore.

[00:10:12] I love illustrating, and I learnt this off you. I mean, you’re always talking about nicheing down and finding your thing, and it was illustrations. So even though it was scary to think, does that many people really want illustration. They do, they actually really do. So 

[00:10:31] you were in my ear saying niche down, niche down. Oh my gosh. Okay. Oh. So, but it works. The system and process works if you’re doing what you love and it just works. 

[00:10:46] Emily: You realized I can’t do all of this that I have been doing. I’m gonna keep the work that I love. Is that what you did? And then let go of, you were doing some corporate graphic design type work. Is that right? And say, look, I’m can no longer off, or I’m not gonna offer this anymore. What, what happened after that? 

[00:11:00] Trish: I was so nervous because it, it turned my world upside down to say goodbye to some really great clients. But, I treaded very carefully for a while and, um, I, it’s just funny like you put out there what you want and it just comes, I think when you are ready.

[00:11:17] The work just comes and you start to talk about it more and you’ve got a bit more passion. And as we started to get out and chat to people, work would come. I’ve never actually marketed or said, does anyone need this? It all has sort of come as I’ve chatted about what I love doing. 

[00:11:34] Emily: I actually remember Trish, something you said to me that I just thought was one of the best things ever. And, uh, we were talking about getting in front of people for your online program and you said something like, oh, I’ll just chat with people like at the swimming pool or whatever, or at the soccer field, and I’ll meet people and that’ll be fine.

[00:11:50] I can talk three, If I need four people in my course, oh my God, that’s so easy. I can meet four people. 

[00:11:55] Trish: I just like, especially with the course, I so much in my insides believe it’s for everybody, that if some poor person turns around and looks at me, I’m like, right . You know, they’ll either love it or hate it, so just, just talk about it to everyone and even your friends that like, they don’t know what you do. You’ve just gotta tell them. 

[00:12:13] Emily: How, Trish? I actually wanna dig deeper into that in terms of that belief in what you have to offer. Not everyone has, that, or not everyone can fully embrace it or believe it. And there’s perhaps that lack of, maybe It’s not that good, or I know it’s not perfect, maybe that module could be, it needs updating or, um, you know, all of these little sabotages or nasty things we tell ourselves. Do you know where you’ve got to that place where you, just have like that full faith, full belief, like, I believe everyone needs this, and if someone’s silly enough to look at me, I’m gonna be telling them that because imagine if we all approached our business and what we have to offer in that way, just knowing that this is something, like someone is so lucky to be able to get their hands on what we have to offer. Do you know where that, like, talk to us, where did that come from? How did you develop that?

[00:13:01] Trish: It’s taken years. And you know, self-talk, whether it’s your business, your personal life, your friendships, your relationships. You’ve got self-talk everywhere. And I mean, I’ve like read a lot of books cuz it’s always sabotage me regardless what it had to do with, you know, are you a good mom or a bad mom? Like there’s no such thing you’re just a mum and you’re just an artist. So I, I’ve worked so hard to just reframe things , and especially when I say, oh, you know, oh, I’m not creative. Well, all I’ve gotta do, I surround myself. Like, you can probably see my background with amazing things. And on my wall I’ve got, you know, all the products that I’ve designed.

[00:13:41] And if it’s always front of mind, you can get rid of all those negative thoughts. So, yeah, I just think these people wouldn’t have asked me to illustrate for them and then they wouldn’t keep asking me. That’s proof. It’s not my funny little voice in my head. It’s, it’s actual proof that, you know, I’m good at what I do and people that have done my course have loved it. So their words far better than the little voice in my head. But I think we just forget that when we’re so into ourselves and down in that dark hole. So I guess for me it’s having reminders around. 

[00:14:17] Emily: So good. Cause we can get buried in emails and the boring stuff or the mini fires we need to put out in business, or this thing didn’t work or whatever it might be. But yeah, I can imagine having those vigils literally in your space around you. And for some people maybe if it’s not Art that they offer and design.

[00:14:35] So maybe it’s having some of those amazing, wins or feedback or that type of thing that they’ve had from their clients or their customers pinned up on their wall or, um, some reviews printed out to remind you when you’re going through the day-to-day, the rollercoaster of, hang on, this is what I’m doing it for. This is the difference that I’m able to make. And, um, let’s just get out in front of more people so I can help help them. 

[00:14:57] Trish: I mean, sometimes you’re just not a fit. So not all of my work’s been successful. There’s been times where the client and I just haven’t fit together, and that’s one thing I’ve refined over the years is, when I’m working with someone, we have a really good chat to start off with cuz we need to fit.

[00:15:15] You know, my style doesn’t fit everyone and that’s fine. Yeah. I don’t mind that. Like some people might hate it and I’m so okay with that. It’s okay if not everyone likes you, but you’ve got your group that will. 

[00:15:27] Emily: And I think that if we can put it out and for you, perhaps you do those calls with potential design partners, clients beforehand. I think when we put ourselves out there through for me my podcast, through our social media, whatever it might be. Like, give people a taste, cuz yeah, I’d much rather someone understands if they, that they’re the right fit, if they’re going to light my style and all that type of thing beforehand. So um, I find the best students come from, um, having listened to the podcast often cuz they already know my style and they’re like, yep, I like what she’s doing. I can get on board with that. 

[00:15:53] Trish: And like you said, social media is a big thing. A lot of people will find me through social media, so you’ve just gotta be there. I’m not there as much as I should, but I’m working on that. But you’ve just gotta show up. Doesn’t matter how. 

[00:16:06] Emily: I guess the way that you’ve run your business, what you’ve offered has changed a lot over the years really. What does it look like now in terms of how you are making it work around what matters to you in your life, where else you wanna be spending your time, your energy? And I know that you had a bit of a realization too, perhaps last year or something around making time for yourself and.. 

[00:16:26] Trish: Yes, I did. That’s it. Sort of the next stop in my journey. So my non-negotiables are I do school drop off, I do school pick up and we’ve got lots of after school activities and I do those, so I tend to kind of turn off at about school pickups at about quarter past three. So it’s from about two thirty.

[00:16:47] I like to get there a bit earlier and go for a bit of a walk and just clear my head to go from work mode to mum mode or else I get a bit antsy cuz I, I kind of wanna be back working. So I have to sort of like shake off the work and then if I don’t devote my attention Jack, I I can’t do two things.

[00:17:05] Like I, people say females can multitask such a lie. I, I total, there is no such thing in my world, um so I have to be in one place or else I really do get a bit antsy about things. 

[00:17:18] So if I do have to come back to work, I sometimes will do an extra half an hour, an hour or so at night, or I get up really early in the morning when the house is really quiet.

[00:17:29] That’s kind of my days. The weekend I might touch base a little bit on work if we’ve got no family things on, I kind of got that down pat running really well. So now I’m giving more time to myself because it’s sort of been between work and my family, but now I’m giving time to myself to paint because I’m encouraging everyone else to be creative.

[00:17:53] Well, now I need my time to do it just for me, for no reason. So that’s what I’m trying to build into my bus, well, not even my business, my routine this year. 

[00:18:03] Emily: Do you do that on a certain day? What does Friday, ? that look like, Trish? 

[00:18:08] Trish: Fridays. So, I mean, even a couple of weeks ago, a friend came over and we just stripped the table, got out all the paints and like, we just painted all day. It was so amazing. 

[00:18:21] Trish: Yep. We don’t have an end product. It’s just the process. It’s, yeah. matter what you do, you just do it. And I think that definitely frees up my mind. The amount of ideas and business related things that I get while I’m painting is unbelievable. 

[00:18:37] Emily: When I’m doing something, I like to have the finished outcome, the finished product. And this is an issue, because then it turns it into I need to do it right or it needs to be something that I’m gonna hang on my wall. And your approach, Trish, is that it is more for the process than the actual finished solution, and I think that is such a core philosophy, such a helpful approach for a lot of us that are perhaps high achievers or we have our business and we’re doing this, and every minute should be, feel like we feel as though it should be productive. Talk to us about that. 

[00:19:12] Trish: Yeah. Oh, I’m like a big culprit for this because coming from graphic design, it’s very much, you get the brief, you go through the process, you deliver your final. I’ve used art a lot for sort of mental health and relaxation and just to zone out. And from that I’ve learned it’s more about, it’s the doing. It’s like if you were to sit and knit, it’s counting the stitches or doing a puzzle. It’s that repetitive motion where people find the most relaxed and in the zone. And so that’s the sort of thing I’ve tried to encourage and I’ve, I’ve done a lot of sort of reading about it right side, left side of the brain, a whole lot of thing. But to me, it’s come right down to the process. So a lot of the activities that I offer are things that you, you don’t really need to plan. So it might be like paper weaving. So I give you how to choose your colors, but I’ll only give you a couple of options. So there’s no analysis paralysis. It’s like, it’s this or this. Choose one and then you do this, and now let’s just go over and under and weave. And before you know it, you don’t realize that you’re at the end. You haven’t judged your work because you’re told what to do and then you step back and go, oh my gosh, look what I’ve just done. Yeah, I’ve just tried to take a lot of that fear and expectation out of the activities that I offer. 

[00:20:36] Emily: That is the best approach to business too, hey? It’s like we we kind of know the end well, of course, we know the end goal or the next goal that we want, but if we can figure out how to be present in the process and enjoy the process and make the most of it, and know that the process is the way, really, like the process is what business is, it’s gonna make it so much sweeter and enjoyable. And then we’ll look up and look around and be like, oh my gosh, look where I am now. 

[00:21:01] Trish: A hundred percent because before I joined the Modern Marketing Collective, I do all the things right? I’d subscribe to all the emails and I’d try every new thing that I saw on Instagram or I read about, but then I came into the group and I just, I followed, I followed all the steps, and sometimes I wanted to go down the rabbit hole, and then that would be bad because I’d go down there for hours and then I’d pop back up.

[00:21:25] I dunno what I was doing, but if I just followed your steps and learnt to let go and not just not worry too much about it, it didn’t have to be perfect as long as I just did something. And like that’s how you ran scalable. I wouldn’t have had a course if I didn’t just go step one, tick, step two, and then it was there. You just gotta do it. Just go through it and it’s never gonna be perfect cuz there’s no such thing. 

[00:21:51] Emily: You mentioned I think around having that, that structure and that process and beforehand you were doing all of the things, which I used to do too, and I think it’s just the rite of, I really think it’s just the rite of passage. It’s just like, that’s what you’re going to do to figure out what you want to do. That’s how you get those experiences. What was the next phase then? When you went from doing, all sorts of things, offering all sorts of things, what was the action that you took? And how did you implement? it? Just talk us through, okay you started, and you were like, doing all the things. What happened next? 

[00:22:20] Trish: It really came down to what was easy for me, cuz I used to try and do things that I thought I should be doing. I mean, I should have a product in the stores or I, should, you know, be working with these type of people. My design should be in a magazine. But why? Like it , you don’t actually earn anymore and it doesn’t make your life any different. So it really came down to, I used to try and hide my skill behind products.

[00:22:50] That’s why I started jewellery and homewares. But it’s really my skill that people would buy. So why not just use it as one-on-one for all these clients? So instead of having products and stock and like it was just mayhem, I don’t know why I was doing that to myself. And then when I just realized I can actually have zero overheads and you know, I just, I brought it straight back down to basics. So a lot of talks with my husband and my friends and other business people that I just love and trust. It’s, I just broke it back down to actually what I’m good at , which is a big help. And um, yeah, just simplified everything. 

[00:23:29] Emily: I guess what happened for you after you did that, and then what happened in terms of how the business then looked and changed and grew? 

[00:23:37] Trish: It doesn’t even feel like I work anymore. Especially when I niched right down into illustration . A product’s recently being released and it features just heaps of dogs. 

[00:23:47] Emily: Tell. Would you like to share what it is? 

[00:23:49] Trish: Oh, I’d love to. I love to. I love it. I drew dogs for weeks, like it was the best job ever. The product has just been released. It’s a collaboration of Rudie Nudie Designs and uncanny animals and it’s this gorgeous waterproof mat with dogs all over it. So it’s a doggy pooch party play mat. And it’s great cuz like the dogs come in, they’re all muddy. Roll around. You put the mat down and when they’re gone you just chuck it in the washing machine, hang it out on the line. So originally the business was for babies, but we’re just going, well, we should just do a dog one. But like, this is a power of community. Jackie, the owner and I met when our kids were like, two or three years old at a swimming pool, and so we just both started talking, going, well, I wanna do this one day and I wanna do this, and I wanna have my own business, so do I. Chatter, chatter, chatter. And we’ve become such good friends as well as work together in a business sense. And it’s just, you’ve gotta talk to people at the swimming pool is the bottom line, but it’s a beautiful collaboration.

[00:24:51] So we’ve had so much fun with it, but my life, I got to draw dogs for two weeks. Like that’s pretty awesome. So, and now I’m illustrating at kids’ books so I’m doing more just drawings. It’s um, yeah, barely feels like work. It’s actually stuff I can’t wait till Jack goes to bed so I can do some more drawing and I have to actually stop myself and go, no, take some time off.

[00:25:15] Emily: Yeah, I would do work over so many other things. I would like, it’s just what I love to do and I guess it doesn’t really, like some of course some things do feel like work, and, but a lot of the time it’s just that using our creativity and coming up with ideas and being like, oh my gosh, I could do this. And the stuff I love to do, like the chatting with my students and the coaching and all that type of thing , and I know that we were chatting just before we hit record as well around I guess being a mother as well. And having a business. And we kind of discussed how perhaps we were similar there that I really, you know, still want to work and still wanna do what’s like really fuels me and, and all that type of thing, what was your experience with that? Because I knew, I know that we were saying it was kind of similar too. 

[00:25:57] Trish: Very much so, and I, that’s why I started to do the children’s education kits because I found this, so Jack was probably three or four and yeah, he wasn’t having as many sleeps, so I had to play with him a whole lot more. And I really did not like playing trains. Like I just, my brain was too busy to do that.

[00:26:19] So then I would make him little activities or little sheets and little handwriting sheets, and we’d go to the cafe. And so I could have like my copious amounts of coffee and he would just draw on these sheets and people kept saying, oh, where did you get those? Like, oh, well I make them. So I started making these education kits of boxes and I’d mail them out to people and it, it was really great. But it was funny because it just kind of served my need for that time. And when he went off to school, I was going, okay, I don’t wanna do that anymore. I’m always thinking about art or work , and I don’t leave the house without a sketchbook and it’s just always there. So I have to make it work with my life. I can’t separate it or else I’m just always thinking about it. 

[00:27:07] Emily: Something that I’ve kind of been telling myself or figured out or whatever it might be about, like we can have all the things and do all the things but not on our own, like, we need to get help. What, what is that l ike for you? 

[00:27:18] Trish: Uh, my husband’s amazing. He’s always been supportive of everything I do. He’ll often, um, do loads of house stuff, especially if I get stuck in work, I won’t realize it’s dinner time. So, you know, he just knows when I’m in that kind of mindset and yeah, he just knows me so well that he’ll do that. So we’ve got a really good kind of vibe going on. It is tricky some days because we don’t have family in Melbourne. We’ve got family, but they’re a bit further away in Melbourne, so it’s not an easy thing, but we just, we just juggle it and manage it. And Jack’s really understanding. We’ve got different zones in the house, so both of us work from home. We’ve got our different studios and jack has his work zone. So Jack can come in like love it when he comes and does stuff with me. But yeah, it, it’s just his life and it’s Chris’s life and we’ve just kind of got used to each other doing this and it just, oh, it just works. Yeah. But so much talking like we have to, we talk it out about everything so we all understand, but I think that’s the main thing. They get that I need to be creative and encourage it. 

[00:28:29] Emily: Now you said you haven’t really done a lot of marketing. I guess the newer part of your business is with the education arm. Could you share what that looks like, what it is that you’ve developed, and then, it’s in the earlier stages but your little bit of the marketing that you have maybe planned for it as well? 

[00:28:45] Trish: Well, I am in my early stages, so my course is called Reignite Your Creativity, and I did launch last year in December and it was, yeah, it was so much work, but it was so satisfying. Launched the course, had some most beautiful students, and honestly we had a ball. But let me say, it was in December, and we were all insanely tired.

[00:29:11] So, a lot of learnings from December. And I’ve had a really good look at the course over the last couple of months. Cause I, I do like to do something once, just get it out there, do it, and then have a look at where I maybe felt like I was a bit uncomfortable doing things, so I’ve rejigged that a bit and now I’m just like loving all these new things and about to launch again in April.

[00:29:37] We’ll start the course again and my marketing, it’s very much social media. Uh, social media and word of mouth. So chatting a lot. I’ve got a great community and just popping things up on social media. But we were chatting earlier, I’ve just joined this amazing reels course with these gorgeous girls. And some of the stuff that I’m doing, I can’t even believe I’m doing it.

[00:29:57] And normally I’d be going, nah, not a chance. So putting that out. But it’s a classic like, cause I’m talking about stuff that I think or I wholeheartedly believe will benefit everyone. It doesn’t even matter that I look like a complete twit, and it’s, so that’s all I’m doing. And it’s funny because my engagement has been unbelievable. It’s, it’s all about trusting the process. I trust these girls and I’m like, all right, but I’m dying looking at myself doing this, and I’m just doing it, and it’s, it’s just working. So 

[00:30:29] Emily: And it’s having that willingness to try things, I think too. 

[00:30:34] Trish: What’s the worst that could happen, right? Some of my friends are going, oh, Trish, what are you doing on social media? I’m like, I dunno, but they’re not my target buyer. So I’m just having fun with it. I think. You know, the course is fun and it’s the whole thing. You can’t take it too seriously and you can’t take yourself too seriously. So I may as well have fun with the marketing, but it’s been good. 

[00:30:58] I’m forever going back over all of your bits and pieces, Em and there’s always a different way or something else you can get from it. When I said about December, I followed sort of, you know, the, the guidelines that you set. And it was amazing cuz it forced me to get the course out and it forced me to do webinars. It’s at, oh my god, webinars . So yeah, my first webinar totally bombed. I couldn’t get the sound to work and it get freezing and it was just, you’ve got to do all that and go, right, I’ve got that outta the way now.

[00:31:30] It can’t be nearly as bad as that one . I’m so, so glad I did that because now I know that I’m much more suited to teaching people online rather than just talking about teaching people. And I love doing the workshops in person, and I’ve just mixed and matched all the good bits and the bits, all my strengths.

[00:31:51] Emily: Cuz there’s no one right way to have a online course. There’s no one right way to do it, to do anything, to do any business and it’s just having some frameworks, I think, and some processes and just to make it easier. And to shortcut some things and be like, all right, let’s just try this. And then you get to be like, cool, I’m gonna tweak this bit here. Or I’m gonna like, oh, what if I pop this bit in here? And, and making it just you and the way that you do things. Cuz that’s what your audience and your students and your clients are gonna love. 

[00:32:23] Trish: Exactly but you never, you don’t know what that is at the start though, which is the funny bit. Like you kind of want this course to be perfect and a huge success, but you kind of gotta get the first one. It’s like, I don’t know, it’s someone, it’s like making pancakes. It’s that dud one at the start. You’ve just come and do it and go, oh yeah, I didn’t have the stove up high enough. Or whatever. I don’t make pancakes, but… 

[00:32:44] Emily: And this is like really my philosophy too, cuz I think it can be really quite, gosh. Like really hold ourselves back when we’re like, I have to launch the perfect course with the perfect launch and get the perfect number of people in it. And, um, something that I like to say is like, your first launch is just no representation of what your future launches are gonna look like cuz you kind of just gotta get it out there hey. Otherwise, for a lot of us we wouldn’t cuz we would be really holding ourselves back with, okay, well hang on, I gotta get it all recorded, all looking professional, all like all every single thing thought about. It’s like, just get it out there.

[00:33:22] You’re gonna learn so much like you have around who your students actually are that join, what it is that that works for them, what works for you, what, how you can shuffle some of the things that you offer perhaps, and all that type of thing. You do it through their actual, like you learn by doing versus you can learn intellectually, understand what you should do, but then it’s about taking the action. What is kind of the next version of what the dream business looks like? 

[00:33:49] Trish: Definitely to paint more and, you know, maybe one day show some paintings. The hardest bit is going to be making myself take the time to do it. So I’m very, very focused on that, is to make sure I don’t just have it as a one day I want to, but schedule in time and just paint and explore that. I think there’s a lot, a lot to be explored and a lot of personal development to gain from doing some paintings and yeah, I’d love to have a show one day or do something like that. That’s the next thing. Tick on the business. Keep doing workshops, and I’d love to maybe work with some corporates at some stage.

[00:34:31] I just think experimenting with creativity would have such a big effect on businesses. Just working with groups of people and maybe on like team retreats or something like that. I just think it’s got so much much potential. 

[00:34:45] Emily: So good. Trish, I just wanna pick up on one thing you said there, around scheduling in more time for painting. And I’m giving a talk to, um, women in business event next week. and. I was looking through what they had submitted in terms of what they find most challenging about their marketing and growing their business. And a common theme came back was the time and I really think it’s, you just gotta figure out how you can find the time and it’s like, you just gotta schedule it in, I think. And it’s like maybe going to, if you’re into going to F 45 Or going to Pilates, or if you’re into horse riding or whatever, it might be. Those maybe regular ish things that you do. And you might not get to them every week or every month, but you have them in the calendar. And I think that’s, if, if we are struggling to find the time to do things, it’s okay. Let’s look at my diary. When am I actually gonna schedule and, and commit to it? What, what do you think of that and was that perhaps how you did get some of your course done and out there when it is a mega task, a lot of the creating and now you’re like, right, what’s the next thing I wanted is actually doing or painting for yourself? And you mentioned, right. I’ve just gotta schedule that in. Just curious to hear what you think. 

[00:35:52] Trish: I do. I have a, um, massive, like I covered my cupboards in whiteboard material adhesive stuff, and I do, I map out everything because. If I don’t map things out and write things down, I’ll spend an hour in the morning going, what am I supposed to do today? Should I do this? Should I do that? And I can’t waste that time thinking about what I should be doing. So I try to keep my weeks exactly the same as the last week and as the week coming. And obviously things get in the way, but I’ve gotta be really diligent about boundaries cuz I can, I get distracted very easily because I work from home, I’ve got to be very, very strict. So I know when I work best is in the mornings and that’s when I’ll schedule my marketing. and I know when I need a brain break because things don’t come as easily to me, so I have to go for a walk like it has to happen or else my afternoon’s a write-off. And painting is nice cuz I can schedule that in the afternoon when I’m not so alert because it’s more about doing, and that actually gets me more hyped up that I can then do more work if I want to. I t’s knowing when you work best and what to put when, but trying to eliminate thinking about it, oh my gosh, there’s so much to think about already that I have to take out a lot of that thought time.

[00:37:11] Emily: Makes a lot of sense. I just cook the same stuff now because I’m like, then I don’t have to think about it. 

[00:37:16] Trish: We know what we have Monday night and we have it every Monday night. 

[00:37:20] Emily: And like, I guess I don’t find much joy in that. So some people that’s their thing. You know, cooking is a real job but for me, I’m like, what’s the quickest way I can get some food on the table? I think we are the same. I think we’ve talked about that before 

[00:37:29] Trish: Exactly. 

[00:37:29] Emily: No Joy 

[00:37:31] Trish: None at all. It’s terrible. I’d rather do dishes. 

[00:37:34] Emily: Oh well Trish, thank you so much for your time today and for sharing so generously and with so much humor and, uh, just love chatting with you and sharing around having the boldness to look at what it is you actually enjoy, trusting that there, even if you didn’t believe it at the time, but I guess just being like, right, what if . There are enough clients or enough work for me to do this, these things that I really enjoy. The illustration side of things and then taking the next leap of faith into creating a program and developing your, like really good belief in it as well, that it’s just the most amazing thing.

[00:38:09] And I think there’s something to be learned in that for everyone in terms of how much do we believe in what we have to offer. And then in terms of the marketing, and you say you kind of don’t do marketing, but you just do it in the most natural way because you just have conversations with people in person, online, show up there, try things. Be willing to not take yourself seriously, and to find what feels good to you, which you really can’t go wrong with. So thank you so much for being here. 

[00:38:38] Where can everyone go to find, follow and connect with you, Trish? 

[00:38:42] Trish: I mostly hang out on Instagram, so it’s @trishburtondesign, and my webpage is trishburton.com.au. There’s a bit of information there about what I do and my course, but mostly Instagram is, is where I hang out. But it has been so much fun chatting. It’s always a laugh.

[00:39:01] Emily: So good. And is there anything, by the way, that you wanna share that I haven’t asked you? 

[00:39:05] Trish: I know that, you know, I’ve said it, I love what I do, but I’m not gonna lie, there is so many confidence ups and downs. It’s there with everyone. I always go through it and as well, like never turning off and questioning everything. But I’m not there to impress the people that I think are going to be questioning me. Like I know they’re not my people. So you’ve just gotta keep trusting your gut. I guess my biggest thing is just to have an amazing group of business besties that you know, they’re not your best friends. They’re not your husband, they’re not your parents, but they’re people that are in there with you cuz they totally get it. So it’s pretty nice to have them to bounce off. Cuz working by yourself can get pretty lonely. So you do need, you need, your people. 

[00:39:51] Emily: For sure – share the ups, down. The, I can’t believe this just happened 

[00:39:55] Trish: Yes, exactly. I just posted this ridiculous thing. What am I gonna do? 

[00:40:00] Emily: So good.