Catriona Pollard Archives - Catriona Pollard

The importance of showing your appreciation

After I taught a creativity course recently, one of the students invited me to her property on the South Coast of NSW to collect material for my art as a way of saying thank you because the course was transformational for her.

I can’t even tell you how much that meant to me as I only use foraged material, so finding places to collect is hard. (Coincidentally, every single one of the works I made from this collecting session sold in my recent exhibition.)

I have this thing about saying thank you and showing appreciation. In business and life, we want acknowledgement for the things we do. We have an innate desire to feel appreciated and valued by others. And I believe our workplaces function much better with a praise culture.

So how do we make sure we say thank you more, and acknowledge the people around us?

Saying thank you

When we pitch a story to a journalist, and the story gets a run, the journalist is just doing their job right? They got a great story because we came up with the idea and sent it to them. In my Agency, we have a policy of thanking the journalist. We acknowledge their effort and time, by emailing a simple thank you. You should to.

Give when no one is expecting it

I’ve spent every weekend for the past three weeks at a gallery where my solo exhibition was being held. In between visitors, I sat on the floor and wove sculptures, which gave me some thinking time in that space.

I thought, I have expertise that all of the other artists involved in the gallery could benefit from. So on the last day of my exhibition, I put enough copies of my book From Unknown To Expert for everyone on the shelf in the storeroom. So simple.

Don’t take people for granted

I’m sure we all have people in our lives we take for granted. Colleagues, best friends or even the person that makes our coffee in the morning. I know I do. So from time to time, take stock of those people and acknowledge them. Let them know what their action’s personally mean to you.

Run a gratitude exercise with your team/friends/family

With my team, we sit in a circle with one person in the centre and tell them why we are grateful for them, being specific about moments, lessons and impacts. We talk about how we have changed because of their impact on our lives.

The power of thank you has the power to change a workplace culture, start a beautiful friendship or make someone’s day. It can also change your life.

Tweetable: The power of saying ‘thank you’ @CatrionaPollard http://bit.ly/2A1wm53

Nail your next presentation with these golden rules

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Last week I did a presentation and completely stuffed it up. Yep…even though I’ve done hundreds of talks, presentations, seminars, even a TEDx in front of thousands of people, I stuffed this speech up.

The talk was for my opening of my solo exhibition and I’m not sure what happened. I do know that I was exhausted, not grounded, hadn’t practiced, and weirdly felt people would judge me (even though most of them were friends).

The result was a jumbled mix of words, thoughts and nervousness.

What I do know is I didn’t follow my golden rules. As you probably know, it took a lot of courage for me to step into the spotlight (if you don’t, watch my TEDx about this journey). Along the way I have developed key steps to public speaking.

Prepare and practice

The more prepared I am, the less nervous I am. Research your topic thoroughly and prepare your speech and then practice, practice, practice.

Know your audience

Before any speaking opportunity find out information about the audience. This will help you to tailor your speech to their needs and level of knowledge.

Find your lighthouses

My friend and speaking coach, Mariette Rups-Donnelly taught me this, and I use it every single time. Find the lighthouses in the room. They are the people that are engaged and listening to you. Speak to them and they will feed you energy. It works every time.

Relax and deliver

Try to overcome your nerves. This was the hardest thing for me to do, but it’s important to relax and be yourself. You can use relaxation techniques such as controlled breathing to calm your nerves and make sure you are prepared.

Become a regular public speaker

Trust me, the more you practice public speaking, the more successful you will be. Start by speaking at small events and then build up to bigger ones. Say yes as much as possible to every speaking opportunity.

And sometimes you stuff up. And that’s OK. We regularly sing the song “Let It Go” from the movie Frozen in our office. Don’t hold on to failure, let it go.

I think the most important thing is to grow from the obstacles on your path and find wisdom through their solutions. And always – always – treat yourself with love and care.

Tweetable: Golden rules for public speaking @CatrionaPollard bit.ly/2lCCQng

How to get motivated to do the things you don’t want to do

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I’m coming to the end of my office lease and I’m considering my options about staying or finding a new office. When I even think about starting to look for a new office I want to well…do something else. Anything else. Run a marathon. Skydive. Make a cup of tea. Look at the yoga class timetable online. Check my Instagram feed. Sing live on TV naked.

You know, anything else.

So my desire to move is clouded by my motivation to look for a new office. Like anyone I can be highly motivated to do the stuff I like, but golly gosh, when it comes to the stuff I dislike, my motivation evaporates.

So how do we motivate ourselves to do the stuff we don’t want to do?

I just don’t feel like doing it

You can’t wait until you feel like doing something. Sometimes we never feel like doing a task, but you just have to show up. When I was writing my book or when I had my solo exhibition, I created a routine and just showed up. Sometimes what I produced was crap, but other times it was gold.

Just start

When I’m teaching fibre art workshops and I hear a million excuses about why they can’t dedicate time to their art practice, I get them to write down every reason so they see it in black and white. Then I ask them to spend time questioning it. Is it an excuse or a legitimate reason? How would it make you feel if you had more art in your life? Usually it just boils down to one thing. Just start. Even if it’s for one minute a day. Just start.

Willpower sucks sometimes, so trick yourself

I’ve spent a career on deadline. In PR and running a business I walk into the office and know I have multiple deadlines that day. So when I’m faced with a task I don’t want to do I attempt to trick myself by placing a deadline on it. (Attempt is a key word, as sometimes it doesn’t work as well as I’d like). So plan it out – decide what you’re going to do, and when and where you’re going to do it so there is no umming and ahing.

Ebbs and flow

There are times when it’s OK that you’re not motivated to get to the gym or to get stuff done. I’m not saying create a bunch of excuses to opt out. But there are ebbs and flows in our lives and we should listen and be aware of them.

So I’m going to trick myself into a deadline for looking at offices – even though I have a real deadline! What are you going to do today?

Tweetable: How we can get motivated to do the things we don’t want to do @CatrionaPollard bit.ly/2ioyIFU

Why unhooking ourselves from convention allows us to flourish

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I was in Rome recently and it was 43 degrees with the asphalt melting underfoot, so I went to my favourite (airconditioned) gallery – The Borghese – to hang out with Bernini’s Apollo & Daphne marble sculpture.

Still not wanting to deal with the heat, I walked across the park to the La Galleria Nazionale – The Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art. I found myself in this extraordinary gallery virtually on my own. It seems that everyone wants only traditional art when in Rome.

When I was at La Galleria Nazionale, I realised that we have a certain way of seeing art, or more specifically art is presented to us in a conventional way. I have never questioned that.

Seeing in a different way

Take for example marble sculptures. They are on a plinth so you look up at them. They are facing you, so often you can’t see the back or the whole work. There is a rope around them so you can’t get too close.

At La Galleria Nazionale, they mix old with new and I walked into a room with a stunning Dante sculpture of Diana. It was facing the wall, and wasn’t on a plinth or with a rope around it. It was extraordinary. I had a completely different experience with it.

It kind of blew my mind actually.

Unhooking from convention

It made me think about convention or specifically what would happen if we if we started to see objects, problems, things in our lives in different ways.

What would change if we unhooked ourselves from convention? What we think is…right, wrong, good, bad, predetermined, front, back…or “it’s just the way we do things”.

Often we only see what we want to see: visions that match our fixed beliefs and perspectives. I believe that anything that is defined in a limited way is open to transformation. When we lift that limitation, we have the opportunity to flourish in ways we never even imagined.

Opening yourself to change

When we dream a different reality, all its many dimensions flourish in a way so far removed from convention. We open the space toward what can be and will be more vibrant worlds to come.

So what in your life or business would benefit from flipping from front to back, or questioning the conventional approach? What would happen if you saw your life in different ways?

It doesn’t mean anything has to change. But my gosh…what if it did and it brought new wonderful experiences you never even dreamed of.

Tweetable: What would change if we unhooked ourselves from convention? @CatrionaPollard bit.ly/2x37Bmg

The beauty of ordinary natural objects [Podcast]

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I caught up with Angharad Rixon from TextileStories and had a wonderful chat about how starting basketry had helped me find my hidden passion and creativity.

I spoke about how I use materials to tell my stories, how I find the material and then deciding what to make and bring my vision to life!

I share how organic sculptures offer an opportunity to reflect on our own interconnectedness with each other and the world which surrounds us, inviting us to see the beauty in ordinary objects and slow the pace of our daily lives.

My exhibition ‘I am of you’ at Sturt Gallery was inspired by how everyone is so interconnected but also so disconnected from the world around us, this concept is inspired by the belief that we are inextricably linked with everything around us, the trees, the soil, the water, and all living things.

I talk about how I teach the exploration of basketry and creativity, not just process, but how even while I may have a plan for my art, it can change at any moment, and I may not even realise that the piece is actually completed at all!

I spoke of my struggle with confidence before teaching my first basket weaving class, and how I had thought that because my pieces weren’t very traditional, I didn’t have enough traditional knowledge to teach. But little did I know, it’s not about the structure it’s about your creativity and finding your own way, and using the skills you may not even know you have to make amazing pieces of art.

To read more about my art please go to theartofweaving.com.au

Listen to it on iTunes or here:

Watch it on YouTube while you listen:

Get bored over the holidays

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I was interviewed by AAP this week asking if we can survive without technology. I said no. I want the traffic lights to work on my way home, and computer to work so I can write.

But having said that, I do think this time of year it’s worth having a check in about how we are feeling about digital overload. (And overload in general.)

I feel like I’ve had two years in one. Now I’m at the end of the year, I’ve notice that I’m posting less and less, having fewer online chats, and not going on a few apps I was on all the time. I’m also not doing big Christmas events, just catching up with people individually.

I’m craving low key, which is lucky as I’m about to spend a few weeks at one of the quietest places in Australia (my parent’s place up the coast), and I’m starting to think about how I can recalibrate the best.

Digital chill pill

At the moment I check my email first thing and last thing in the day – as I do the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram twirl. Like most professionals, I spend up to 10 hours a day online.

I really think it’s worth asking the question…would I find it difficult to not take my phone with me down to the beach, to grab a coffee, to go for a walk, to go to bed?

Over the holidays, it might be good to challenge ourselves to a digital detox. See what life is like off the grid.

Do nothing. Be bored.

Can you remember the last time you were bored? An amazing thing happens when you are not constantly stimulated. Your mind quietens down.

I don’t do bored very well, but when I am, I come up with the best ideas and new concepts. (I was told by one of my staff not to come back from holidays with the idea to write a new book or launch another business…which happens each time I have a low-key holiday. I couldn’t promise it!)

Chillax

I’ve found this awesome app called Insight Timer. There are thousands of free meditations and my favourite is Yoga Nidra which is a progressive muscle relaxation. It’s so relaxing.

What I’m most excited about over the holidays is to sit under my tree at the very end of the beach and just gaze at the water and listen to the waves. The jury is out if I can resist taking my phone with me!

I hope you have a wonderful time over holidays – with or without digital. See you in the New Year.

Tweetable: Get bored over the holidays @CatrionaPollard http://bit.ly/2oZnMlA

Transform your business through creativity

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I’ve always been somewhat creative. Naturally, as an entrepreneur, I have a talent for out of the box thinking, and at different times in my life, I’ve dabbled in different creative pursuits, like photography, art, and design.

But if someone told me 15 years ago when I started my business the thing that would make the difference between failure and be building a sustainable, successful business was an art form that saw me playing with sticks and twigs and hosting a second solo exhibition this week; I seriously would have laughed. But that’s exactly what happened.

It was about six years ago where I was working flat out building my business. Like most entrepreneurs, running my business consumed me. I never really switched off, and I was starting to burn out from the intense pressure.

What’s more, my industry of public relations was (and still is) going through significant change. Dealing with the changing media landscape was like operating in quicksand, where I could be pulled under if I didn’t keep innovating.

Something had to change

I went through a process of reflection on what I wanted out of my business and my life, as the two were inextricably linked. I realised my ability to cope with change was being impaired; my creativity was being sapped. I needed to figure out a way to slow down and allow myself the space to problem solve and be innovative in responding to challenges.

I needed to find an outlet for my creativity that was tactile and not about perfection but more about exploration and play. I wanted to think in new ways and use creativity to gain new insights and perspectives.

Looking back now, I found an outlet that was opposite to my world as a business owner. I discovered the art of sculptural basketry – an art form that goes back to our primal roots and hasn’t changed for thousands of years. It was feminine, introverted, meditative and nature-based; compared to my entrepreneur life which was masculine, extroverted, technological and fast-paced.

A light was switched on

I began responding to change in new and unexpected ways. I wrote a book; I launched an online, productised side to my business. I started to work with my team in different ways so the business could leverage the collective strength of our ideas. The business became more stable, but more importantly, I felt more in control of where I wanted to take the business and what its purpose in my life was.

Through art, I was able to change how I saw things. It helped me to overcome business challenges and appreciate risk and potential in different ways.

Today my art is very much part of my identity

I conduct weaving workshops with my team, my office is overflowing with my sculptures, and I hold my own exhibitions – my latest ’11:11’ starts tomorrow.

And my business is better for it. There are still challenges, things don’t always go to plan, but how I respond to these situations is heightened with creativity and innovation. Rather than feel inundated and paralysed, I see the opportunities that are only limited by my imagination and creativity.

So is there anything in your business and life that would benefit from a creative approach?

Tweetable: Creativity can transform your life and business @CatrionaPollard bit.ly/2y1upHZ

You’re never too young or old to step into your spotlight

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I’ve said it many times, we need to redefine the spotlight and understand we all deserve to be there and share our voice with the people that matter to us.

I experienced the beauty of this last Saturday. I had my sculpture exhibition opening and it was opened by my 6 year old nephew.

Most people would have had a local dignitary or well-known artist to open their exhibition. But no, not me.

My nephew was so excited about my exhibition – it just really struck a chord with him. He asked if he could do some paintings to be put up at the exhibition and talk about them at the opening.

Hell yes! The sweetest 6 year old-style paintings have their own section at the exhibition. And I love them.

The opening of the exhibition was an amazing opportunity for someone so young to share his voice and be in the spotlight of his choosing. And this spotlight moment was him standing on a chair in the middle of the gallery, with my arm around him and talking for 20 seconds to more than 60 people.

But do you know what? It was the best art exhibition opening I have ever been to. His little talk made everyone laugh and be filled with joy. It made them feel something (which coincidently is what my art asks of the viewer as well).

And then I said a few words, followed by some words from the photography artist, Karen Visser, I’m exhibiting with who has never done any public speaking before.

Leading up to the opening I asked her if she’d like to speak, she said no, “You’re the public speaker you can speak for both of us.”

But it was also her spotlight moment. It was her time to share her voice with so many of the people that matter to her. It was her time to talk about what she loves.

At the end of her talk she said, “Gosh, I hope that was OK, I’ve never publicly talked before” and then my nephew ran over, held my hand and said to the audience, “It’s the first time I have done public speaking too”. Which lead to much laughter and clapping. So much love.

No matter what your age, you belong in the spotlight and people want to hear what you have to say. I know this to be true.

PS. Come along and see my exhibition. Details here. Want to play and explore your creativity? Learn Sculptural Random Weave with me this Sunday, 28 May. Learn how to create something beautiful from found plant material just using your hands and imagination. Warringah Creative Space, Sunday, 28 May. Book here.

Tweetable: No matter what your age, you belong in the spotlight and people want to hear what you have to say @CatrionaPollard http://bit.ly/2qddLS9

Stunning video of my work and Karen Visser’s photography by Karen Visser and original music by Jerome Duval-Fleury.

5 ways to handle rejection

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We all have experienced rejection in our lives. It’s a part of life.

It could be missing out on winning a new client you really wanted, being passed up for a promotion or not getting a second date with that cute guy/girl you went out to dinner with last weekend.

I’m not sure there is a right or wrong way to deal with rejection, but I do know what we choose to do with it makes all the difference. Here are my tips on what to do if you’re faced with a rejection.

Move forward
Don’t allow the rejection to stop you moving forward and trying again. Although it can be hard, see it as a way to make you stronger and more focused. And don’t allow it to define you.

Don’t take it personally
Well this can be hard, but sit with how the rejection makes you feel and face it. It’s OK to feel sad or disappointed. Try not to respond with negative self-talk, but with true compassion for yourself and the situation.

Look for new opportunities
A rejection may mean it’s an opportunity to do something different. You are surrounded by new opportunities every day, but it’s possible you’re not seeing them. Take a moment to reflect and consider what else is possible for you right now.

Get support
I know I have certain friends that are on speed dial when I’m dealing with a rejection. When you are challenging the status quo or reaching for that goal, reach out for support when you’re pushing through a ‘no’ to help you get to the next level.

Take action
Learn from the situation and then with new growth and wisdom, take action. When it comes down to it, you have to take action to achieve success. Sometimes you have to face the fear and do it anyway.

I believe rejection means that you’re living outside your comfort zone. It means you are brave enough to take risks and have new experiences. And that is a good thing because you are experiencing life completely.

Tweetable: How to handle rejection in business and life @catrionapollard http://bit.ly/2lw1fXs

Find your motivation to achieve your goals

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I don’t know about you, but at the start of the year my Facebook feed was awash with motivational quotes and images. I had friends starting the new year with a health kick, launching a new product or just super excited about what the year will bring.

And right about now…some of that motivation is starting to fade. It’s really easy to feel energised after a break and then the complexities of life start to impact your goals.

I must say even though I’m usually focused and goal orientated, at times I also have motivation slumps where I just can’t seem to shake off the lethargy to making things happen. Here are some of the things I do to change that.

1. Remind yourself why you wanted it in the first place

What’s your why? What is the deepest reason you set out to achieve your goals or vision? What did you want to feel when you reached it? It’s so important to write that down so you can revisit it when you’re feeling challenged or unmotivated.

2. Maybe you’re ready for a change

Have a think about why you’re unmotivated – it could be for a reason. Maybe something needs to change in your life, or you’ve achieved a goal and need to find the next one. Do some honest self-reflection and think about your abilities, your ideas, and understand you determine where your life leads.

3. Sit with it

On Sunday afternoon, I binged watched the TV show Younger (hilariously funny show on Stan). I didn’t go to Barre with my friend. I didn’t go to yoga. I sat on the couch for hours eating brownies a friend made for me. I mean, you can’t get more unmotivated than that! But I tell you, I felt so energised the next day. I just needed to sit with that feeling, and not fight it.

4. Checklists

Oh I love a checklist. They visually show me what I need to do reach a goal and what exactly needs to be done, and to keep track of the progress that I’m making. Break down your goals into bite-size, manageable chunks and enjoy crossing those items off the checklist.

We all have so much to achieve and we need to keep motivated to kick those goals. Let me know what you do to stay motivated!

Tweetable: 4 tips to get over your motivation slump and kick your goals @CatrionaPollard bit.ly/2lJAqyr