GRATITUDE JUNKIE & ARTIST #puginspire series
A gratitude junkie, a rock ’n’ roll chick and a collector of kindred spirits. Eli Trier currently lives in the wonderful, wonderful city of Copenhagen, in Denmark. When she was little she wanted to be an artist. However, when she did grow up she ended up making a living in marketing. But it never really felt right. It never felt like her. One day she woke up and The Depression Monster had completely taken over her life. She went to bed and didn’t get out for a month. During that time she made a decision — “if I was going to be miserable I might as well be miserable doing something I enjoyed.”
Eli started making art again and realised that the only way she was going to get better was by noticing and appreciating all the good things in her life. Thats when she started The Gratitude Project — a blog where she drew a picture and wrote a thank you note to all the people who changed her life. The Gratitude Project eventually turned into her first book.
And the most wonderful thing happened — over the course of the year her story and artwork had captured people’s attention and she started getting paid illustration work. First a little, and then a lot…
I’ve had endless struggles with my confidence and (not unrelated) money issues. I’ve had to work extremely hard to divorce my sense of self from my work and come to terms with the fact that whether people like me and my work or not is none of my business. My job is to do the best work I can do and send it out into the world. What happens next has nothing to do with me. My money mindset needs constant attention as well. My family was bone-grindingly poor when I was a child and I’ve struggled my whole life to get my head above water financially. It’s been an epic journey!
What do you love about working independently?
Everything! One of my highest values is freedom, and running my own business offers me the opportunity to live life completely on my terms. It’s not always easy but I’m always the one calling the shots. Plus, I get to spend my day drawing pictures which I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to get paid for!
What advice would you give to aspiring illustrators?
Get really, really crystal clear on what you do and who for. This is the most important task you can do in your whole business! Also, stay in love with what you do — keep checking in and change direction if you need to to keep your offering fresh, exciting and innovative.
To know more about Eli check out www.elitrier.com
