There are very few people that I can honestly say have inspired me both creatively and on a business level but there are a few that I have discovered over the years that I acknowledge have inspired me to set up my own creative business and I have found their passion and business ideas a great help. One such person is Amy Butler, the absolute queen of pattern. You’ve probably heard of her already but I have been a fan of hers since she first started out.
It is not just her beautiful textile design that I love, it is her whole ethos. She set up her design company with her husband who is a graphic designer (she also started out in that industry). Her belief is that you can succeed in business without getting in over your head with bad debt. I totally agree with her on this point and I think it is best to stay small until you have the security to grow to a new level. I have known many people over the past couple of years who have borrowed phenomenal amounts of money to keep their businesses afloat and now they are in a very bad way. It’s not worth it and it’s not good business practice. I think that if you have a creative business you need to keep your mind free of money worries so that you have the space to be creative…a bit pie in the sky perhaps but it works for me! Work with what you have, don’t live in a permanent state of debt and grow your business slowly. Thank you Amy for spreading your words of wisdom, I have followed them to the letter and it is certainly working for me!
It’s so nice to find something that you like and then find that it is created by someone locally. The ceramic beauties produced by Letterkenny based artist 
