MY ACT OF REBELLION: MARIE LOUISE WILLIAMS

Yesterday I had a text from a member of my community, it read:

“Thanks for the inclusion this afternoon… Felt great to get the spark from talk about something I feel passion for… Glad to be part of something that feels amazing xxx”.

When Lana asked me to write this story about becoming an Impact Driven entrepreneur, I had to ask “… Even if it’s about a very gentle, subtle, slow, yet hopefully enduring kind of impact? And that I’m open to not — knowing exactly what that impact will be?” She said yes.

I didn’t set out to become an entrepreneur.

I didn’t even know I was one until this time last year.

I set out from the point of loneliness, isolation and frustration. I lacked both a physical space to make the art I wanted to make and the social environment which would inspire, nurture and enable my own creativity to blossom.

I am also no longer ‘driven’ in the traditional sense. That kind of mentality crippled me, both physically and mentally in the past. There is no place for it in my current methodology.

So how did I get to this point where I am clearly making a positive impact in others lives and stepping out fully into my role as a social and creative entrepreneur?

The answer is, by way of a lot of apparent failure.

I have been fired, or left of my own accord, from at least four jobs over the years due to being “too slow“, or taking too many sick days, or simply for speaking my truth to the powers that be. I slowly, painfully began to realise that I don’t fit into those environments — or rather that those environments don’t fit me. They were not conducive to my flourishing as a creative and innovative human being. They also did not fit with and were not supportive of family life.

So I made myself a commitment that, “Whatever steps I take from here in my work in the world must integrate fully with also supporting and enriching my health and well-being and mesh beautifully with caring for my family”.

My business (or timeliness as I prefer to call it) is in no way a traditional start up.

I had no business plan, I didn’t know what this community would look like, I didn’t expect to make a profit in the first 5 to 10 years (I’m currently six years in).

“But,” I hear you ask with incredulity, “how do you make a living? How do you pay the bills?”

We set up our life to become anchored around this long-term project. We budgeted so that we could afford to live on a single wage (my husband is a teacher). We keep a small house and a small mortgage. I negotiate and re-negotiate with my business premises landlord on a regular basis to enable gradual growth.

I built up relationships and networks over a long period of time (since 2004), working for others who have similar values and are supportive and inclusive of someone like myself who has a long-term chronic health disability and dyslexia.

I made time for ‘blue-sky’ thinking and tested out ideas on this network of friends and colleagues. Working out slowly, through trial and error, letting go where I was hopelessly off key and pushing ahead where I seem to be in tune.

I began to work at my own pace, whoever I was working with or for, and I did (and continue to do) the one thing pretty much everyone in the entrepreneurial business says is a given for success: I persevered, and I do this by following what brings me joy.

I find that perseverance is easier when thinking long-term, and continually align and revise actions according to values.

I worked out what kind of working environment I needed. I kept telling people in my industry what I was doing and how I was doing it, making my values clear in both what I said and what I did. I slowly built up a good and reliable reputation over many years.

I believe my work is beginning to truly flourish at this moment in my career in large part because I set out to let it grow slowly and develop over time. Because I gave myself the time and space to respond, make mis-takes, and adjust along the way to the feedback I received both from my clients, my community and most importantly from myself, paying deep attention to my body-wisdom, trusting my intuition.

Decisions I have made this way have often not made complete sense at the time. They have sometimes been rough around the edges and required some improvisation, but they have always been proven right. (Unlike when I ignore it, which invariably turns out to be a bad idea and cost me in terms of opportunities lost, money, time and health.)

Most of all it is flourishing now because I have finally learnt how to unapologetically ask for the help and resources we need to make it work.

My husband calls our artist studios “The retirement plan” — for him. I intend never to need to retire because I am doing the work I love. In this way, my hope is that my work in the world will have a long, lasting and sustainable impact. An impact that will continue to flower even after I am gone.

YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT MARIE LOUISE’ WORK AT www.marielouisewilliams.com

Or follow her at https://www.instagram.com/mariebuzzart/