What I call my tribe includes the smartest, most talented people I know — faculty and fellow alumni from my alma mater — affectionately called the Missouri Mafia because we hire our own. It also includes other talented colleagues I’ve worked with, my fellow board members, and my big, loving church family. I connect with my fellow classmates from my media classes at Peninsula College and watch their work for inspiration.
The benefits of having a community like this are not only enriching personally and relationally but also professionally when we can collaborate on projects. I trade recording studio use for voice-over work with another creative business owner in town. I comment on his social media pages about his work. I also donate my video work to businesses and organizations I support in order to build my portfolio and my business and to help their businesses grow. With projects done in trade or in-kind, I give to my relationships in my life: my daughter’s school, my midwifery, the board on which I serve.
What I want to do is to expand my professional circle and do more commercial projects. I’d like to develop a team to work with me: another editor and photographer, a back-end web developer and more voice-over artists.
We benefit from this kind of relationship because we strengthen our networking as artists and share our talents and resources. By being in community, we draw inspiration from each others’ work, which is critical as creators, designers and artists. Our clients also benefit from the flow of creative ideas and sharing of expertise, which ultimately produces a better work product.
Winding Straight Road 