Laura George (’10)
This interview was conducted in summer 2020.
Business Consultant for Artists
Raleigh, North Carolina
WFU Class of 2010
Major: Studio Art, concentrating in sculpture and printmaking
DeacLink: Please walk us through your path from graduation day to your current job.
Laura George: Getting to this career has been a bit surprising. Back when I graduated 10 years ago, I didn’t know you could teach the business of being an artist. I knew I didn’t want to go to New York and try to make it as an artist and that I didn’t feel inspired by working in a gallery or teaching art in schools. So I felt pretty lost. Luckily I had taken a few digital art classes in school, so I was able to get a paid marketing internship at a company in Winston-Salem. After 5 months, they offered me a permanent position and I turned them down because I hated working 9-5. I felt like I spent all my time working, doing chores at home, and sleeping. This crushed my creative spirit. So I ended up taking a work-from-home position doing administrative work for my parents’ business while I tried to figure out what to do with my life. It happened that I had started selling handmade jewelry during my senior year, so I had been doing it for about a year, and was learning a lot about the ”solopreneur” movement. With the extra time I had because I was working from home, I put some more effort into selling jewelry, but I still wasn’t happy. I didn’t like feeling pressured to create, which is why I hadn’t wanted to pursue being a full-time artist in the first place. But just when I was starting to feel discouraged, I started getting asked questions by other makers. They wanted to know how I was taking good pictures, writing effective product descriptions, using SEO, etc. And I felt ignited helping them get these things right and sell more of their art. A few people had asked me to just write their product descriptions and about pages for them, so the first iteration of my current business was actually copywriting. I was a copywriter working solely for makers. People were hiring me, keeping me very busy. But I was having much more fun giving unsolicited advice on other aspects of their businesses when I delivered their finished copy. And the reactions were amazing. People were thanking me for telling them what to do – that’s the dream for us “control enthusiasts”. It became apparent within a year that I had found my calling. So all this happened between summer of 2010 and fall of 2011. By January 2012, I had dropped everything else and was all-in on business consulting. It took a few more years to niche down to working with only fine artists instead of all creatives, but I’ve essentially been running this business since 2012.
DL: How much did your studies and general experience at Wake inform or drive your career path?
LG: What’s interesting to me is that Wake breeds independence. I remember having a meeting with the dean of the English department at the beginning of my sophomore year to ask him to make a special Creative Writing major just for me. I was precocious. But this attitude that we are in control of our destinies and can make our own paths is what drove me forward after graduation. In high school, I would never have dreamed that I wouldn’t end up in a traditional career. I thought people became doctors, teachers, lawyers… you worked in an office. But at Wake, you learn how to be more than the mold that has been set in front of you. You learn how to achieve excellence in anything you do. So of course being an art major influenced my career path, but the culture of our school was even more influential.
DL: How did you find and apply to the various positions you’ve held?
LG: The only traditional job I’ve held was that marketing internship I got straight out of college. There was a job database that Wake provided at the time. I’m sure they still have one. That is how I found the marketing internship. My work-from-home position was through family because I expressed to them my discontent in my career path. And I created my own job in this business, of course. But I suggest always being open with everyone you talk to about what you’re looking for in your career. You never know who could help you. I’ve helped other people get jobs by introducing them to people I know. Though, one person I hired in my own business literally emailed me out of the blue and asked if he could work for me. When you show that level of passion and interest, it’s easy to want to find a place for you. The worst thing you can do is sit around and wait for jobs to pop up online. You could find something that way, but you’ll definitely find something if you talk to people about it and reach out to your dream jobs directly.
My best tip on networking and interviewing, though, is to portray confidence. Remember all the wonderful things about you and go into it knowing you are worth paying and that you can learn to be their dream employee. As a Wake alum, you can learn to do almost anything.
I know artists doing hundreds of different things and living all over the world, even in small towns. I wish people knew how much opportunity is out there for artistic people, and I hope students feel empowered in choosing a career path.
DL: What is your favorite part of living and working in Raleigh? What is the most interesting thing going on in the art scene there at the moment, in your opinion?
LG: The art scene downtown is vibrant and bustling. Coming from a business background, my favorite part about this city is that the general public loves to buy art and support artists. There are a lot of people who really enjoy going to the markets and First Friday events, even if they have no connection to art themselves. Many artists here are able to make some money at these events and to get a much-needed dose of confidence that will help them make bigger sales and even begin working in the business-to-business side of the art industry, which can scale their income much more quickly.
DL: What is your favorite part about being a business consultant for artists?
LG: My favorite part of being a business consultant for artists is that I get to be a catalyst for someone else’s dreams coming true. It’s an incredible feeling to see one of my clients succeeding as an artist. My favorite part of owning my own business is how much freedom I have with my time. I have a one-year-old and our nanny went on vacation for a week. I was able to just take off most of the week. I cleared my schedule and just didn’t work. I can’t do that all the time, of course, but I can be flexible when I need to be.
DL: What and where is next for you?
LG: This business is a dream come true. My next phase is scaling my courses and workshops so I can help more artists and have a little more free time. Having a child takes up most of the time that used to be free for me to pursue my creative passions, so my business needs to shift a little to accommodate the change.
I’m crossing my fingers we will move in the next couple years. My husband has a great job, and a new business of his own too, here in Raleigh. So we’re staying put for a while. But I have my eyes on a few other cities I’d like to try living in for a while.
DL: Any kernel of advice you’d like to impart to the readers?
LG: Don’t believe other people when they tell you it’s a pipe dream. Don’t believe it when people say you can expect to be a ”starving artist”. Don’t believe that you aren’t going to make it. You don’t have to wait to get discovered, you can create your dream career if you stay focused and persist.