Tamara Lackey Puts the Hot in Business – Now You Can Too!

Submitted by Kenna KlostermanPosted on September 19, 2011 - 6:00am

Tamara Lackey kicked off her 2-day Taking Care of Business workshop on creativeLIVE with a bold statement, “We’re going to bring hotness to business!” She was right. Tamara was on fire for two days as she walked us step by step through the elements of running a successful small business. creativeLIVE has released a playlist of YouTube video clips that we’d love for you to watch and share with your friends via your blog and social networks. Help your peeps help themselves!

Tamara challenged us to put the same passionate flame that fuels our photography into our business: “How could your company change if you had as much affection for your business as you did for your art?” Many of us creatives might instinctually think, ‘But Tamara, I don’t love business like you do. I don’t want to use my left brain as much as my right brain.’ It may be obvious that in order to survive as an artist we must also be smart business people, but that doesn’t mean it’s obvious HOW to do that! Enter Tamara, who taught us not only the Whys but also the Hows.

Before anything else, Tamara says to “Define what YOU are, because YOU comes up a lot.” As small business owners, our clients inevitably see our brands through a filter of who we are as people. How can we expect our clients to know who we are and what we value if we don’t spell it out for them, or worse yet if we aren’t even aware ourselves? In the sea of our many competitors, Tamara says it’s not our technical skills but our unique personal vision (and our quirks) that’s our biggest differentiator. So how do I go about defining my vision? I’ll use this self Q&A exercise as just one small example of the gigantic HOW-TO tool kit that Tamara gave us in her workshop.

Brainstorming Me (Kenna):
Q: What are you drawn to constantly?
A: Water, travel, people, nature, culture, smiles, music, flavors, sweet smells, earth tones, compassion, social justice

Q: What makes you go dead inside? When does your soul shrivel?
A: Sitting in a cubicle, working a 9-5 job for a big corporation where I don’t feel empowered to actually make a difference, tireless meetings that don’t achieve any outcome

Q: What in you needs to be expressed?
A: Desire to help others, desire to show the innate beauty and interconnectedness of every living thing, encouraging smiles

Q: What have you always thought you could do, but haven’t?
A: Get a grant to do a humanitarian documentary photography project, documentary film or publish a story that enables social change

Q: What are you really, really good at? What skills come naturally?
A: Peacemaking, listening, being compassionate, writing, cooking without recipes

Q: What are you repelled by, just KNOW isn’t right…. for you?
A: Corporate head shots, detailed project management, bookkeeping, following recipes… ; )

Okay, so now I need to use these answers to narrow myself down into a set of words that describe who I am at my core. Right now I’m thinking: earthy, soulful and joyous. Next I’ll use this as a filter for not only the way I brand myself/my business, but also the way I communicate with my clients, the way that I write emails, the copy on my website – in everything that I do. Tamara calls this establishing your brand clarity.

Ready? YOUR TURN! Let me know how you’d answer these questions in the comments section. Better yet, write your own blog post & post a link on the creativeLIVE Facebook page or in the comments below.

One more thing. Don’t just take my word for Tamara’s ability to bring hotness to business. Tamara's in person students have shared deep insights about how coming to creativeLIVE changed their lives and how they are ready to challenge themselves after the experience. Get inspired by reading their blogs! Tamara shares her thoughts on the workshop too!

~Kenna Klosterman


 

Tamara's Blog Post + Photos

Tamara Lackey: "There's just no way I could pull together all the thoughts, emotions and experiences from this second experience teaching at creativeLIVE, so I’ll just say this: I'm ridiculously grateful to be associated with such a cool organization. I'm overwhelmed at how many people from all over the world tuned in, actively participated, offered unreal support to everyone involved and were kind enough to offer fantastic feedback after the workshop. Okay, whew. There. I said it. The saying has happened." FULL POST: creativeLIVE: behind the scenes in seattle, taking care of business

 

 

Studio Audience Blog Posts:

Courtney Jade: "I feel like I just got home from summer camp. I can almost smell the campfire on my clothes. It's that feeling when you just get home from an awesome experience, fresh and ready to take on the world. I feel refueled, mentally at least, and I'm still riding that high of inspiration, motivation, and the passion to focus, and to change." FULL POST: Bringing the Hotness...

Jesse Clements: "I've been marinating for a couple of days now on all the wisdom that Tamara shared, and will be re-watching to actually do all that crucial homework. Here are a few of the nuggets that have stayed particularly sharp with me over the last 48 hours." FULL POST: creativeLIVE, gettin' real, & pizza on capitol hill

Kellianna Wirth: "I have written two lengthy blog posts about this experience. Oh you can't find them? That's because I deleted them. It has been so hard to put in to words all that happened. This will be the 3rd and final blog post, so without further ado I'm just going to get freaking started!" FULL POST: creativeLive with Tamara Lackey : Taking Care of Business

Carolyn Ann Ryan: "From the moment we started, Tamara Lackey informed us that we were going to "bring hotness to business". Her energy, enthusiasm and general sweetness is completely disarming. Somehow I was mostly able to forget that we had video cameras recording every whisper, movement, giggle or sniffle." FULL POST: creativeLIVE, Tamara Lackey and Taking Care of Business.

Donovan Fannon: "I sit on the train en route to the airport, nursing a mild hangover, another jaunt to Seattle draws to a close. I can't speak enough of the friends I've made, the stories shared, the deconstruction, breakthroughs and frustrations addressed." FULL POST: Thoughts in transit (aka creativeLIVE rave)

 

Worldwide Blog Posts!

Fuzzypants Pet Photography: "I literally spent 2 days glued to my computer, frantically scribbling away. I not only left with a whole new perspective on operating a business and providing a stellar customer experience but I also learned so much about myself. I have 15 pages of notes and would have more if I could write quickly enough!" FULL POST: We never stop learning

Jenika's Lens Photography: "I've spent the last two days parked in front of my computer watching a creativeLIVE seminar with Tamara Lackey. I'm still going over my notes absorbing and processing it all. There are two big themes I took away from the seminar... " FULL POST: Cinnamon Rolls + Free Education = Great Weekend

TLR Photography: "Coming from a world of retail and journalism the thought had been ingrained since college: Watch your back, don't share your ideas, be careful who you talk to and don't let your competition know how good you are because they will cut you down to size. But one weekend sitting at home watching a workshop on line and twittering has changed all that." FULL POST: Something I Just Learned

Dreamfleur: "I took in the course, pen in hand, scribbling down notes and pieces of creative wisdom. My favorite parts were the discussions about being yourself in business and presenting what makes you unique. Here are snippets of my notes below..." FULL POST: Being Yourself & Taking Care of Business: Inspiration from Photographer Tamara Lackey

Cassandra M Photography: "I sat at my computer editing, while running the latest creativeLIVE broadcast on my ipad next to me. I called it multi-tasking. The editing was a bit slow because I found myself taking a ton of notes, but it was worth it." FULL POST: creativeLIVE and Tamara Lackey : Taking Care of Business

Karine Ardault Photography: "My practice of art has bloomed with my moving to Tanzania. I have never received any formal photography training. I learned with books, online courses and by trying and failing. I would like to go to workshops but plane ticket from Africa, workshop price, accommodation, food, other expenses = big bucks!!!! So I have creativeLIVE..." FULL POST: creativeLIVE, I love you

D'Attoma Studios: "This past weekend I watched an online financial course with creativeLIVE and Tamara Lackey. When I say it completely blew my mind and rocked my world, I’m not just throwing out idioms. Actually, I'm not even doing it the justice it deserves." FULL POST: Taking Care of Business

Shuttermama Diaries: "Today I spent some time while baby was napping watching Tamara Lackey on creativeLIVE. Her work is STUNNING and her business ethic is solid. She is a totally amazing and inspirational speaker/educator. Some quotes that really stood out for me..." FULL POST: Awesome Versus Authentic

 

Have you written your own blog post about Tamara Lackey's business weekend workshop? Post a link on the creativeLIVE Facebook page.

 

Related Courses: 
Taking Care of Business with Tamara Lackey

Relevant Courses

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