Canvas Rebel
Thankful to be featured on Canvas Rebel. It was a great opportunity for me to reflect and share my journey
Excerpt from the article:
We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Heather Van Ravenswaay Womac. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Heather below.
Heather, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?
I never realized how important building a personal and professional network was until starting my own business. I was wrestling with how to define what I wanted to do next, and my friends and family were influential in helping me rediscover what I was passionate about. There were multiple conversations, many of which included strategic questions. One of the best questions/comments was “out of your last 16 years what do you love the most? – only do that”. It was then I started to see that I could design my own career. My passion/career did not need to look like a defined role or another company’s job description. I could narrow the focus on only what I am passionate about. It is hard to explain, but I began receiving calls from friends and their friends saying they needed my help.
This all lead to –
– 2 small commercial design projects
– 1 residential programming project
– 1 art commission for a friend’s home
– 2 art commissions for commercial offices
– 1 residential design project
– 1 furniture consulting project
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
The last 2 years of my career have been about reinventing and discovering. In September of 2020 I decided to step away from my 16-year commercial interior design career to reevaluate a few things in my life. I realized it is important to take time to define your personal WHY and align your career with it.
I asked myself a few questions:
1. How do I define creativity and how am I practicing that?
a. Defining creativity for myself is being inspired and actively responding to the beauty that I find surrounding me. The practicing part had not been happening for a very long time. This needed to change!
2. What was my top priority in life right now?
a. Family – my husband and 3-year-old daughter, I wanted more flexibility with my career to allow me time on a daily basis with my family.
3. What have I learned in the past that will help me move forward?
a. My leadership role as a commercial interior designer is so full and rich in lessons and tools that I can apply to other roles.
All three of these questions have helped me to define when to say yes and when to say no in my new business.
We can never plan for what challenges lie ahead and now is the moment to prioritize how you spend your time – do what you love most and pursue your passions.
