I don't talk about my personal project enough, so here's the back story.

Meg Yonson from @studio.maybe and @fat_tuesdays taking my photo. One of the many creative women I have photographed for Creative Women’s Business.

Freelancing can be tricky.

Since moving back from the UK in 2011, I was conscious that I needed to find my community, so I shared studios with other creatives. My first space was a desk at my good friend's office Future Classic in Redfern. I sat next to the now very famous and delightful Melissa Leong and had some fantastic meals and good laughs with the office. But I quickly outgrew the small desk and needed more space, so I moved to Marlborough House in Surry Hills. I shared a big studio with Hello Future and a few others, but once I had a baby, I felt there was no need to have a space for work, so I started to work from home. I made some great connections while in this studio I met Sophie Tatlow from Utopia Goods, and I still work regularly with Hello Future.

I parted ways with my agency during my "maternity leave", and my work slowly dried up. I tried to keep the work alive with my clients, but things changed. Art Directors move on and start using new photographers. But the world keeps spinning without you, and it is hard to stay connected. I kept working here and there but felt isolated and struggled to find my people.

Then COVID happened!

Evi O shot in her painting studio in Marrickville, Sydney.

Sometimes you need a like-minded friend.

After the lockdown in 2020, Jessica Ibbett, a long-time friend and a creative inspiration to me, started chatting. We talked weekly about feeling isolated working from home and having kids the same age; we bonded over our struggles. It immediately became clear that we both wanted to connect with more like-minded women and create an inclusive support network, a community! So, we started Creative Women's Business. Our vision was to come together with other creatives so we could create together. Finding a community of like-minded people is hard when you work as a freelancer, primarily if you work from home.

How do you create community?

Our first port of call was to create a Facebook page. I mean, when you think community, you think of Facebook, don't you? We thought people would hang with us there, and we worked hard at it at first. But it quickly turned to tumbleweeds as we didn't like hanging out on there either! So, we set up our Instagram page, knowing more connections and community would take place there. At first, we were sharing our peer's work, trying to help get these fantastic creative women out into the world. But as a photographer, I saw an excellent opportunity to connect with creative women in their creative spaces by talking about their portraits and documenting their studio or office. So, it's turned into a unique personal project which all photographers should have.

My neighbour Liane Rossler in her Super Local Studio in Bondi Junction.

Events are a vital aspect.

Meeting people in real life is much more rewarding than Zoom, so in late 2020, we managed to sneak in a tiny get event thanks to our great friend Kitty Clarke at Saint Cloche. Again, it was a testament that we were on the right track. We had created a community of like-minded women who wanted to connect with others. Some people ended up working together after the event, and we were thrilled.

You need a website!

Jess's vision for branding has evolved over the last few years.  I’m unsure how she manages it as she is busy running many other businesses! But Jess has this incredible knack for making each branding project suit the individual company she is working with; it’s her superpower! Our original vision for the website was to be a hub for creatives, a place to go to if they needed some creative business advice. During the 2021 lockdown, we worked on a resources section along with a few of our members, and I'm proud to say we recently launched our directory, which is free if you meet the criteria until the end of 2022. Apply here.

Antonia Perricone takes a brief seat for me when I visited her studio.

Our community rocks!

I'm no expert on communities, but I'm proud of what we have created so far, we have a lovely community of women around us, and it's been amazing to meet women from all different creative backgrounds. I no longer feel isolated and will continue to grow our community and bring their stories to the broader public. So, where to from here? I'm thrilled to say we will be hosting an “Open Studio” with AGDA at Evi O Studio this week. It sold out very quickly, and I can't wait to meet everyone who can attend. I hope we can continue collaborating with fabulous organisations to bring events to our community and followers because without community, are we human?

Let me know what you think by emailing me here. Plus, subscribe to the CWB mailing list­ to be the first to find out when our next event will be.

Happy Halloween!

Love Katie xo