2013 was a big year for creativeLIVE — both as a company and as a community. In the past 12 months, we broadcast 197 workshops, produced three major conferences, and launched five new channels (all of which are now streaming 24/7). We added a second home base (in San Francisco), grew our lean team from 40 employees to close to 100, and celebrated major milestones with our instructors, coworkers, and students. Throughout this insane growth, we learned a number of important things — on individual and collective levels.
Here are just a few of the powerful things creativeLIVE employees learned this year:
“I would consider myself a big thinker… I often have tons of ideas bouncing around my brain, but my problem is that I often do not have the discipline to see them through. In 2013, I learned that I need to set reasonable and achievable GOALS and hold myself accountable to seeing these bouncing ideas through.”
— Michael Karsh, Content Producer
“I’ve learned that networking isn’t about what you get, but what you give. Giving freely of my time, energy and passion has been rewarding beyond measure.”
— Lesley Grossblatt, Director of Product Management
“I learned that to truly grow I must ‘Let Go’ in all aspects of my life. In my career I learned to Let Go and delegate so that everyone shines. While moving homes, I learned to Let Go of physical stuff that I really didn’t need (even though I paid to store it for 3+ years!). I’ve learned to Let Go of judgment in relationships and Let Go of physical tension in my body. The art of Letting Go to open space for growth is something I imagine I’ll continue to learn in 2014, and beyond.”
— Kenna Klosterman, Lead On-Air Host
“I learned that I could move to a city that I knew very little about (I had only been to Seattle once before I decided to take this job!), leave my family and friends in Los Angeles, and start life all over again. I use all 3 recycling bins (that took awhile to figure out!), and have learned to love the beauty of the water and mountains here. I’m stronger than I thought, and I hope that it shows in my work at creativeLIVE.”
— Arlene Evans, Director of Photography Education
For my part, I learned to trust the strength of my ideas, even — and perhaps especially — in unfamiliar territory. I joined creativeLIVE last April after six years in print and online publishing, boarding a rocket ship headed directly out of my comfort zone. The velocity of the following months forced me to rely on my mind instead of hiding behind industry research and ‘best practices’ — and it’s been a terrifying, transformative process.
What’s the most important thing you learned in 2013?
