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You have already passed the first test …
Really, you have.
Getting here is all you really needed to do for me to know you’re going to be a success. I didn’t want to say this before we began, but this class really is life-changing, and I know it’s the start of what’s next for you. You may not believe me just now, but I promise we will revisit it at the other end — I won’t forget.
One other very important thing I want you to know is that every part of this course is for you. I did all of this because I was given the chance to learn it all and I know how these learnings have completely changed my life — as a woman, a business owner, a creative, and so much more. There’s nothing I want more than the very same for you.
Alright, enough of all that. Now, time to give you the lay of the land. Each chapter begins with a video lecture and it’s here that I offer you an overview of the topic we are covering, sharing my personal approach, understanding, and application of the topic. Essentially, I use these lectures as my chance to ground you in the topic at hand, so you are ready for the lesson to come. So, in the spirit of things, let’s begin with a video overview of the course as a whole.
BEFORE WE START
This classroom is a two-way street, it involves me doing my very best to both teach and inspire you in a way that you can easily learn – but it also involves you putting in the patience, time and trust to work through each chapter slowly, do the exercises as they are intended, complete your homework and make sure your workbook is complete before you move on to the next lesson.
Let’s start by making a pact, I promise to do my best to guide you – if you promise to be open to being taught. Try to resist racing through this class looking for quick wins and golden nuggets that will life hack your way to creative success. This class is very much a doing class; knowledge will be learned in each chapter, but true wisdom will come to you by slowing down and working diligently and honestly through your workbook. As simple as some of the exercises seem, sparks of genius will arise from them, and ‘a-ha’ moments will appear that can change the course of your project incredibly. We’ve seen it time and time again.
This classroom is designed to be “all killer and no filler”; each sentence here is key, and each exercise critical to you mastering Styling and Storytelling – the very reason you are here.
You have access to all content here for 15 weeks, and your workbook, exercises and supplier directory is yours to keep forever. Since it is designed as a ten-week course – a chapter a week – you should feel comfortable taking your time on certain chapters – there’s no rush! You can also extend your time in the classroom for AUD$20 a week if you need it – towards the end of the class, you will be emailed options on how to extend your time, should you wish.
Please set up either a temporary or permanent home for this class and your project in some way. If your desk is the kitchen table or your couch, purchase a lovely candle or coffee cup to use whenever you open this class and dive into your work. Science tells us these small visual clues helps the brain delineate this important work from every other part of our day, which seems to rush by. If you are lucky enough to have a dedicated workspace, find a simple tool you can use for whenever you are working on this class. It could be a new fountain pen, a lovely note pad, a particular cup of tea. Let’s use science to give us the best chance of getting as much out of your time here as possible.
And, on that note of setting up your working environment, please sit in front of a desktop computer, laptop or iPad when taking this school. I fear you’ll lose a lot of the depth and impact if you complete the course on your phone, so I would highly recommend utilising a full-size screen. There are plenty of pop-ups, videos and click through links that will want your full attention.
Lastly, this class was designed to work on a project while completing it, to best teach you our ways and whys. If you don’t have a current project in mind to take through the exercises, please make a dream project or idea up, so you can fully understand how our processes work, and so you can practise the tools and ideas we are going to teach you here.
CLASSROOM FORMAT
Next, I want to take a moment to explain how each chapter is formatted. I always feel like taking the time to familiarise yourself with things will help you to feel far more comfortable when moving through.
After your video lecture, you jump straight into the lesson. This section is where we tease things out more (expanding on references made in the video, etc) and I teach this way for a few reasons:
It gives me the chance to really explain things in full. Video is wonderful, but sometimes you just need to see lists, diagrams, pictures and more.
We all learn differently, so I have purposely broken down our chapters into sections that allow us to approach our topic from multiple angles and modes of learning. Whether it be visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, verbal, social or solitary, we get to interact with our story in many ways.
I am able to update information and best practices as they evolve. I can add in new things as we learn them – like answers to Q&As that may be relevant (or just interesting!) to the whole class.
Next, through the lesson I am going to ask you to turn to your Workbook at various times. This is where we are going to work on your project, step by step. Our exercises allow you to directly apply theories we have learnt to the project you are using to take through this class, or a made-up one if that suits you better.
Remember to print your workbook out – this is essential – and to put it in a binder or on a clipboard, just like I have in my video lectures, ready for use. The download link lives right up the top of your student dashboard for easy access.
The last tool you’ll have to utilise along the way is your Case Study. Make sure to print this out and pop it into a binder of its own, there is also a download link for this file on your dashboard, right up the top next to your workbook. There’s nothing quite like watching a project evolve, and I have two very personal projects as examples to share, which you’ll follow along with to see how we practically apply the theories we’ve been learning – just in case you get stuck seeing how they might apply for you.
As an example of working on your own interiors, our first case study is my own home, The Hermitage, in Southern Tasmania. The second is an example for those taking this class for their own business or craft – a fictitious ceramics line I dream of doing … one day!
Through this class: You’ll find photographic examples of the concepts we are teaching.
COMMUNITY
I strongly believe in the power of collaboration and shared experience, that’s why I think the community portion of this class is so important – you need one another. Sharing your stories, supporting and pushing each other just a little bit further is part of the whole experience. I know the friendships you build and the community you create will be essential to your success as a creative. It’s my goal to facilitate these connections though this class, but let you foster them. In other words, I don’t want to toss you into a forced group – I want to provide the space for you to comfortably connect. Together we’ll use social media to share our work, and it’s here that you’ll have every opportunity to engage with your fellow students through hashtags and comments.
At the end of each chapter, you’ll see a community section with a specific hashtag you can use on your Instagram posts for you to share with other students. You can follow the hashtags as well so you can see other people’s work; just click on the hashtag in your comment and it will take you to all the other images tagged like yours. Explore these and click ‘follow’ at the top of the page.
Since I know it’s where most of us navigate from, Instagram will be the hub of our community. Knowing this, I want to take a moment to make sure you’re comfortable with the platform and have a level of understanding where you feel confident to engage. I recommend quickly going through the quick start guide here.
HOMEWORK
I cover so much in our lectures, lessons and exercises but there’s always a little more that I want you to engage with. After all, sometimes it’s not the direct learning that makes the difference, but the supplemental and not quite as obvious inspirations that solidify our understanding (or at least the ‘why’ behind the things we do).
Most of your homework revolves around additional talks and articles, designed to broaden and deepen your knowledge base around the topics we cover. These additional tasks are key to developing your understanding of the why and how behind your learnings, and won’t require much more of you than kicking back with a cup of tea or a coffee to enjoy them.
Q&As
Finally, as you are one of the first students to complete this class, you will be able to submit questions to help create our Q&A knowledge base. Keep your questions general in nature, so that they will benefit the entire class reading them. We will email you to let you know when and if your question has been answered, and which chapter has been updated to include your words. If you have more specific questions individual to you, you can book some one-on-one time with Sarah for assistance, using the contact form below.
LEGAL
Before we start, please make sure you understand as you work through our class your legal obligations, in terms of our General Advice Warning, Accuracy & Reliability of Information, Our Copyright Terms, Links to Other Sites and our Terms of Service. You can access our Legal disclaimers and information here.
“The beginning is the most important part of the work.”
– Plato
Well, just one more thing, not necessarily from someone wiser, but from someone who’s been here a few times before …
I have met so many of our students, class after class, and I absolutely love to follow each of their personal journeys. Along the way, I’ve noticed a few patterns with those who are quite successful, and I believe it is so because they follow the process – doing the exercises properly and in order, following along step-by-step rather than jumping about – and it makes all the difference. Those who are patient, who interact with their peers, and are generous and kind, seem to thrive. Also, after class, these students give themselves permission to take time with it all, letting everything sink in and settle.
Remember, you’re going through the process of a potentially major project – none of this class is a quick fix or hack or 10 ways to style a ... anything! Believe in yourself. Trust your inner voice. Be vulnerable. You are so very capable, I know it.
So … Shall we begin?
Use the links below to navigate to the next lesson, or back to your dashboard – where you can access the class content as a whole.