The Parallel Universe: Developing Creative Businesses Here in Georgia

Coming to the country life

Welcome! Thanks for logging on and finding out more about me and the "parallel universe" I tend to inhabit, agriculture. How did I get here? Telling you that seems the natural place to start.

I'm a communicator--a talker, connector and social educator. My story has all the elements of a good summer novel: misunderstood heroes, a rescue, passion, pride and love.

I started my career in design--the only thing other than talking that I was really good at. Who knew I wouldn't love it for the rest of my life? :)

In 1998, I was rescued-- yes, I really do believe that's the right word--from a nightmare job by my good friend Mike Danna, director of public relations for the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation. Didn't know what it was, didn't know what they did, and for damn sure didn't know anything about agriculture. But I made the jump and wound up falling in love. Hard. No, not with Mike, bless his heart--but with farming, ranching and a lifestyle that is at best seen as anachronistic and misunderstood, and at worst is mocked and devalued.

My first trip out to a sugarcane field in south Louisiana, about a week into the job, the producer I was to interview looked at me about two minutes after I got out of the car and said, "Darlin', you don't know anything about farming, do you?" Busted. Then and there I realized: there's no getting over on a farmer. They're smart people, and they've got your number, Slick.

"No sir, I don't," I said. "But I know how to tell stories, and if you'll tell me about what you do, I'll tell your story the best I know how," and that seemed to satisfy him.

Telling those stories satisfied me, too. For 10 years until I moved to Atlanta, I worked with the farmers and ranchers of Louisiana and their families. I learned enough about agriculture to be dangerous. I also learned a tremendous amount about the people of rural communities who are very different from the folks "in town." I learned about life, death, the extraordinary dangers that come with farming and that, if you come to a producer's house for an interview, you'd better expect to sit down to a huge home-cooked meal before you go or you'll insult his wife or mama. I gained about 15 pounds my first year at Farm Bureau.

I have become a passionate advocate for the rural communities and citizens of our nation. They are some of the finest, kindest, most honorable people in the world who, every day, do a job every one of us depends on to live. These people feed and clothe us, and provide shelter to protect our bodies. yet even today the perception of farming is negative and, if you think of farmers at all, you likely imagine an old man in overalls on a small tractor. That couldn't be further from the truth, and that's the story I make my living telling. Keep coming back and you'll learn something every time (I hope), whether it's thought-provoking, funny or weird. You might also learn more about my family or work--for me, anything and everything is up for discussion. Glad you came to visit--stop on by again soon!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Developing Creative Businesses Here in Georgia

Yesterday I went to an all-day workshop in Macon, GA on developing the creative economies of the state. The creative economies defined by the Georgia Tourism Foundation are slightly different from Richard Florida's famous "Rise of the Creative Class" creatives, who include researchers, scientists and the like. The GTF literally means CREATIVES -- dancers, photographers, painters, jewelry-makers, fiber artists and more.

Many of these folks are women, and many also are struggling to make a name for themselves and elevate their work into a full-time business. The workshop I attended is to find and develop trainers to work with creative, mostly rural businesspeople and give them skills they need to succeed. Many rural towns in Georgia and other states were founded on the presence of a particular industry or company, and have fallen on hard times after losing that business. These folks don't want to abandon their town or homes, so creating an alternative business infrastructure is vital. The workshop featured presentations on "discovering your heritage" for these towns, and featured towns such as Savannah as success stories. It can happen if enough people become committed and band together to effect change.

I sat next to a lovely fiber artist named Carla Powell in the session. If you don't know what a "fiber artist" is, it's someone who works with and creates art with textiles. She is PHENOMENAL. Go to www.carlapowellstudio.com and see if I'm lying. More on textile artists in a minute...the great deal about sitting with Carla is that she was there to offer creatives training in making a website to promote themselves and their art on blogspot. HELLO--where is my new blog? She inspired me to sit down and take care of my OWN business, finally--something I've not focused on nearly enough lately because I've been working a lot.

So the trip was worth it, the creative economies project is DEFINITELY worthwhile, and I'm going to post some links for you to follow to find out more about the creatives in Georgia and, if you're a creative or microbusiness, there'll also be some links on resources you can access for help.

Back to fiber artists--I've learned there isn't a big fiber artists community in Georgia, or at least Atlanta. I learned this from Leisa Rich, an AMAZING fiber artist and also my teacher. I've been taking classes from Leisa for a couple of months at Callanwolde here in Atlanta (www.callanwolde.org)--an arts center where you can take classes on anything from dance and pottery to drawing and acting. We're very blessed to have that resource here. Leisa is so busy working as a teacher, mentor and artist that I wanted to give her a shout-out and direct y'all to her website, www.monaleisa.com. She does custom commissioned art pieces and has many works in traveling and permanent exhibits. Check her out!