2023 Lessons Learned
This started off as a (late) video chat, and has now turned into a (very late) blog post…..mainly because I kept saying ‘ummmm’ through the entire video! At least I can empathise more when I’m filming others in front of the camera…
Reflection and taking time to step back for a second is important in general, but especially when running a business. So it’s worth giving credit to Business of Architecture, which I was part of for 9 months last year, ably led by Rion in the UK, and Enoch in the US. As well as teaching practical skills like tracking all your leads, pipeline, etc, and how to be better at selling your wares (still working on that), each week brought a reflection and discussion on what’s happening. This included a celebration, a challenge, and a commitment for the next weeks(s).
We also had quarterly meetings to assess if your ship was heading in the right direction; taking a step back and celebrating where you are, and aiming for where you want to be, with tangible ‘how’s’ is really valuable, and something that’s easy to lose when you’re busy. I imagine we all struggle with acknowledging our own wins; I definitely just jump to thinking about what’s next rather than staying in the moment and congratulating myself for a minute. I recommend taking a minute to do the same for yourself right now!!
On that note, a win for me has been networking, and making the effort to get out there and meet in person. This has been in various architectural forums and societies, and also some non-construction related events, meeting a diverse range of people and chatting to them. Both architecture and photo/video touches a huge amount of people and companies, and you never know where a new connection, or new work might come from.
2023 was a mixed year for architecture, with some big practices laying off staff, and some projects slowing for various reasons. A trying year at times for someone only a year into full time freelancing! So I think it’s worth mentioning honesty and perseverance. It was comforting to hear from people at various stages of their careers that they did, or still do find things really challenging, and it’s not all roses despite how things might look. Some of the people I saw doing this include Leanne Tritton, Jim Stephenson and Andy Matthews. It’s important to celebrate wins, but equally to be humble and have the candour to be open.
It’s also been a year of adapting to demands in the market. While I’ve not gone bananas with this (I don’t reallllly fancy doing any more weddings!), when things fit alongside your goals, and might help you towards those, it’s good to say yes. This has included doing some presentations, leading some architectural photo walks, shooting a few architectural events, and doing some teaching about videography. While I don’t intend to spend huge amounts of my time doing any of these things, each one has felt personally valuable on one level or another, even if it’s a renewed confidence in realising you know more than you think you did compared to people who don’t do the same thing. Since I’ve never been formally trained in photography or videography, it’s easy to forget about the hundreds if incremental steps I’ve made and continue to make. It’s also rewarding being able to help people do things better!
