The Boss Profiles is a weekly series featuring women entrepreneurs, artists, and creative business owners who make a statement in Megan Auman Jewelry. This week I’m featuring my friend and fellow creative teacher, Amber Kane.
An art teacher turned entrepreneur, Amber currently runs The Unstandardized Standard, where she shares creativity tips for art educators and teaches online art courses.
Let’s start with a #nothumble brag. What’s great about you and your business?
This one was a hard one for me as I’m working on making transitions in my business and reimaging what I do and offer. The core of what I do and have always done is about empowerment. While I’m taking a break from textile design, when I did make one-of-a-kind handwoven scarves it was about creating pieces that made women feel powerful, giving them the confidence to step forward and fully show up.
In the teaching that I do, as well as the work that I’m transitioning into, it’s still all about empowerment. My business teaches people how to think in creative ways. I’m the most proud when my students transition from coming to me for answers, to finding answers on their own, and taking ownership.
If you only had an hour a day to work on your business, which hour of the day would you pick and what would you do?
7am. I get up early, but it takes a little bit for my brain to get started. Normally by 7 it’s working full force and I can come up with good ideas and/or really push projects forward. While I love repetitive tasks, I thrive on not doing the same thing every day and not having a predictable schedule. If I had to choose one thing for one hour every day I would work to develop a creative solution to a problem. Problem solving is my favorite thing to do. That might mean that I’m helping a student work to create a more dynamic composition, working with a teacher to help them challenge their school district, or developing processes and procedures to make day to day projects run smoothly.
What is the bravest thing you’ve done in your business?
I’ve run 2 businesses, I would say the bravest thing when it comes to textiles was doing New York Now as my first trade show. Ignorance is bliss I guess. It felt brave to say yes to expense of that show, find time to prepare while working full time, and to fully show up. I’m not a fan of small talk or networking, so this was far outside of my comfort zone.
When it comes to teaching, I would say the bravest thing that I did was quit my teaching job, leaving behind a salary, pension, and health insurance. I quit before I really knew what I was going to do. Quitting meant flipping my life up-side-down. In order to quit, we also sold our house, moved, and bought a house that needed major renovations. I had to trust that I was going to figure things out, and start way before I felt ready to start. It ended up being the best thing that I’ve ever done for my life and my business, and was the decision that brought me back to my love of teaching.
How do you pick yourself up after a bad day or bad spell in your business?
The practical side of me likes to sit down and create a plan, I know this doesn’t sound fun or creative, but I believe that it can be both, it just depends on how you do it. I’ve learned that I’m good at planning, and if I take the time to create a solid plan, and follow through with it, I’m going to be okay. It also helps me to look back at where I’ve come from. I know that if I could make it through leaving my job, I can make it through almost everything.
The non-practical side of me sits down and cuts confetti. I’m aware that this also probably sounds like a strange response, but as I said earlier I thrive on repetitive tasks, and find them soothing. I save colored pieces of paper that I get in the mail, or post-it notes that I no longer need, when I’m feeling overwhelmed, I sit and cut them into tiny pieces, then I send someone a colorful explosion in the mail. While this doesn’t usually address the issue, it does flip my mindset which is often more than half the battle.
I’ve also worked to develop a practice of reflecting on the day and thinking about what is one win that I’ve had. When you do this enough, you’ll find that even on really bad days you can find a win. The fact that I have my own business is a win.
Megan Auman Jewelry is all about celebrating strong, confident women. Who’s a woman who is inspiring you right now?
I’ve made up a story in my mind that the common answer to this type of question is someone famous, but I don’t pay much attention to celebrities.
While my grandmother is no longer alive, she has always been a big inspiration for me. She was strong, confident, and sassy. Whenever I’m feeling a bit weak, or like shrinking, I think of her.
She was willing to change rules and push past common expectations for a women of her age, that’s something that always resonated with me.
In many ways I’ve realized that I’m inspired by people that don’t live their lives by cultural norms or rules. Ash Ambrige, of The Middle Finger Project is who she is and make no apologies for it. In fact, she’s built a successful business around it.
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