I joined this group many years ago to help me move from being a "dyer" which many refer to as "indy dyer" over to Surface Designer - which is actually what I have always done for over 55 years, mixed with garment design. I have been afraid for too long to move into the art world with my work and everyone here has helped me transition.
People's supportive commenting about art shows, etc in this group couldn't be more generous. I know sometimes mine have been blunt and to the point. Many times out of protecting myself and keeping the goal in sight - my work, my business and making sure I don't get off track.
In the meantime, I welcome mentoring others, when the time is right (that is key), and as I continue to get exposed to more people on the "art" side, I am thankful for all the experiences I have had being on the side I am moving away from, the opportunity to learn sometimes painfully, and the opportunity to share with others. Part of my learning and experience process was putting boundaries in place.
I found too many times, I would get trapped in someones issues, without stopping and saying to myself - whoa, is this really where I want to go? That was one of the hardest lessons for me over the last 8 years, to comfortably (key) be able to say to someone that is "picking" my brain when I don't wish to have that done to me, "Oh, this appears to be turning into a consultation and we will need to schedule an appointment to continue." I am amazed at how that simple sentence can have so much power in an instant. It was one of the hardest things I struggled with when approached by someone asking a "non-product" related question far too often during shows. This was one of the biggest boundary issues for me, and since I started with this response about a year ago, I have seen major positive change in me and especially in my sales. Taking back control during these times, rather than going with that really old archaic school of thought - the customer, and everyone else is always right, and you just have to sit there and take it (how I was taught so many years ago in retail). I removed the everyone else factor, and it's amazing, the results I am getting in my sales - measurable differences, just by putting up boundaries. So, when I saw someone discuss this very topic in a recent post, and made me realize, as part of our mentoring, we need to explain to others in the business when it's appropriate and when it's not. While some of you may take offense to this, here are some stats, and perhaps you will understand how critical setting up this boundary may be if you are also trapped. I have improved my sales to date by 25% over 2012/2013 which were both flat-line years. I must be doing something right.
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In regards to what I wrote, I spoke with a counselor about how to deal with the ongoing situation I continually found myself in, and paid for the session. It was the best $250 I spent.