Please Share Your Brownies

It might change your life / I want to eat them

Firstly, if you’re reading this, I don’t believe in accidents. I reckon you’re reading this for a reason. Perhaps some kind of internet angel shoved it under your nose because you were meant to read it today. Thanks, internet angel/algorithm/whatever you are. Nice work.

This week we kicked off our first-ever CHALLENGE inside The Good Ship Illustration. 4 (friendly, encouraging) kicks up the bum to get you working on your illustration business stuff.

There’s still time to join if you want in:

Ok, Katie business challenge bla bla bla yes whatever, what’s this about brownies?

I always butcher this story a bit, but HERE GOES.

---

Imagine you’re in your kitchen whipping up a batch of chocolate brownies. Your friends are round, and because they can smell the deeeeelicious baking smells wafting out to them, they pop their head round the kitchen door to see what you’re up to.

You push them out and start to close the door on them.

“Piss off.” You say. “I’m baking.”

A bit taken aback, your friends head back to the living room and sit down, exchanging WTF?? glances with each other.

Another friend tries to come in. They knock gently.

“DON’T COME IN. This has NOTHING to do with you!” you yell, slamming the door shut again.

The brownies are ready, so you take them out of the oven.

The smell is incredible and your friends are so excited to taste them.

You take the brownies through, sit down in the corner, and you eat the entire batch yourself.

Credit: The brownies story has been shared faaar and wide. I first heard it from Leonie Dawson, but I *think* this is the original.

---

Sharing your work with the world can feel bloody scary. No matter what industry you’re in, saying “tadaaa, look what I did!” can bring up the worst feelings.

• I’m not good enough

• They’ll laugh at me

• I’m not ready to share

• What’s the point, there are already so many brilliant people doing incredible things out there. The market’s saturated.

• Nobody listens anyway! It’s like shouting into the void.

Your brownies = your work. Your gifts. The stuff that you really love to do.

And the world needs your brownies! People love your brownies even when they’re a little crumbly, even if they look wonky. Even squidgy almost-raw brownies are delicious. Especially when someone made them just for you.

Generously sharing your brownies with the world is the least you can do.

Do not hoard your brownies. Please. Keeping them all to yourself isn’t fair to you, or to the potential brownie-munchers in this world who might just need YOUR specific recipe.

There’s never a good time to share. There never will be a perfect time.

The market is not saturated - you’re the only you there is. Your experiences, gifts, and what makes up your life = completely unique, and no matter what you do that always comes through in your work, even when you can’t see it yourself.

People can say what they want about your brownies - it doesn’t concern you. The people who love your brownies and who will gobble them up and yell “moooore please!” are your people. Stuff the rest. Stuff ‘em!

If you make a commitment to continually sharing your brownies, people will start to listen. And your brownies will get better and better.

Keep going.

Keep making and sharing your brownies and experimenting with the recipe.

If I could go back in time and give myself one bit of early-illustration-career advice that would be it. Just keep going.

x Katie

p.s. Let me know when your brownies are ready because I would like some.
And if you’d like brownie-sharing help, you can join The Business Course while the doors are still open! But be quick, doors close on the 18th October. Read all about it here.