The startup culture in Vancouver is not only thriving, it’s growing. It’s become a trend of it’s own that inspires, and encourages everyone to join in. People who move to the city see and experience this first hand, and realize that when surrounded by the energy here, there isn’t anything they can’t do. The world is your oyster in Vancouver, but how did that come to be? Why is Vancouver such a hot-bed of self employed creatives?

As part of an ongoing series, we’ll be meeting and interviewing creative entrepreneurs in Vancouver to see how and why they think this has happened, how they’ve benefited from it, and what makes them tick as an entrepreneur. We want to know, “Why Vancouver”.

The creative community in Vancouver is pretty great - I mean that's why we're here right? That's what this whole series is about at the end of the day. But sometimes the ease of connection through that community can be surprising. All it takes is a quick shoutout, a small mention in a Facebook group - and next thing you know you have people offering up their insights and help. Well that's exactly how we found the lovely Ciele!

So, Ciele - Why Vancouver?

"I’ve spent some time pondering the question “WHY Vancouver”, and while I tend to think I sort of fell into Vancouver, I realized that while I may have randomly landed here – there are definite reasons why I am STILL here. Before moving to Vancouver in 2013 I lived all over Canada and spent some time living in Vanuatu, S. Pacific. I went to the University of Victoria, and graduated with a BFA, Major in Visual Arts, in 2013. When I graduated, I only knew two things for sure. I didn’t want to stay in Victoria (as beautiful as it was), and I wasn’t going back to Edmonton. As luck would have it, a room opened up in a house with some really amazing girls in Vancouver, so I jumped on the chance to move to the big city. I figured it was now or never! My first year in Van was incredibly difficult. I found it was hard to make new friends, but mostly I was trapped in a minimum wage job, working full-time, barely making bills and hardly eating for lack of grocery money. The obvious outcome of this was having little time for my creative endeavours. I found myself wondering what I was doing with my life, and if getting a degree in the arts was in fact the worst decision I had ever made. “You’ll never get a job with an Art degree.” They’d say. And at the time I thought maybe they were right. (If someone ever says this to you, politely ignore them and go kick some freelance ass – because baby, you’re in Vancouver now. And it’s what we do!)

If a pre-existing company wouldn’t hire me, than the answer was “simple” - I would have to start my own.

Every week I would scour the internet for design or art related job opportunities, but found that most companies wouldn’t hire anyone with less than 2+ years of professional working experience – for entry level positions. This will forever boggle me because how are you supposed to get professional experience if no one will hire you for entry level positions without prior experience?! I realized that it was time to take things into my own hands. If a pre-existing company wouldn’t hire me, than the answer was “simple” - I would have to start my own. After another year of juggling part time jobs, each progressively better than the next, and using all my free time to work on art and music, I finally started to hit my stride. Last year I registered my art and design business, Honey and Heart Co. and began taking on client work and building up my portfolio. Once I started reaching out to new people and taking chances on new opportunities, what I found was that people in Vancouver are super stoked to connect and work together, and there are so many people free-lancing, or working on start-ups, that are also in need of connection and support, and we all want to help each other. The word-of-mouth connection is strong in Vancouver. People seem to be really eager to help each other find work and opportunities, particularly in the freelance world. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by online acquaintances who have gone out of their way to connect me with a potential client or collaborator.

Cities often get a bad rep for being cold, and isolating, and when I first moved here I definitely felt the same way.

An interesting thing happened though when I started to work for myself, and from home. I had to work a little harder to find people to connect with, and surround myself with so that I wasn’t just spending my days in isolation. Almost as an antidote to my ideal work situation (for myself, from home) I had to seek out new ways to be less isolated. The more I have done that, the more I explore the city, and meet new people. Also – my business depends on it. I’ve had to learn to network in order to succeed, which as an introvert doesn’t come naturally, but it does get easier with time!

Before moving to Van, I considered other options like Toronto and Montreal, but ultimately the mountains, the ocean, and the year round moderate climate called to me and I knew where I was headed. In a way, Vancouver is like a really, really big small town. It has all the opportunity and hustle of a big city, with the laid back lifestyle of a small town. You can cater your work and your life the way you wish. And because so many people are doing things their own way here, it’s a lot easier to maintain and manage because you know you’re not alone, and resources and communities exist to help you succeed."

Stay tuned for more interviews (1 every week!) with other creative “do-ers” on the topic of “Why Vancouver”, and in the meantime check out Ciele’s top 5 for getting sh*t done:

1. Do you have a favourite cafe or local spot to work from?
I love coffee, and love using it as an excuse to get out of the house and work elsewhere when I can. My go-to’s are Kafka’s on Main st. and Elysian (Ontario + 7^th). I’m actually sitting at Kafka’s while I type this. I’m also really looking forward to Nemesis Coffee opening soon in Gastown. The owner really knows coffee and atmosphere, so I think it’ll be rad! 

2. What's your favourite music to listen to whilst working?
When work involves admin, emails, and organization, I tend to listen to instrumental music. One of my favourite playlists is ‘Chill Out Brain’ on Spotify. While working on design work or painting I usually turn on a passive TV show on Netflix. I recently finished getting through How I Met Your Mother. A lot of drawing was done while “watching” that show.

3. What's your favourite thing about Fall in Vancouver?
Fall is my absolute favourite season in Vancouver. I love that things get cooler, crisper and sweater weather is officially upon us. The city gets cozier, and the mountains look that deep kind of blue that comes with the rain. It’s Raincouver in full bloom.

4. What's one thing you can't live without?
I like to think that aside from water, I could do without anything in life, if necessary! Realistically, and from a business perspective, I would probably have to say internet. My business thrives on having access to internet, and that’s how I deal with most of my clients.  (I would love an unplugged/ internet-free holiday sometime soon though!)

5. What's the best advice you've ever been given as freelancer/ self employed designer?
If you want to be successful – stick with it. Most of the people who are successful at something are the ones who stuck it through, while everyone else called it quits or moved on to other things.

Also, be authentic. And genuine. Its been said a million times, but this is important. It’s easy to feel down about how many artists, and freelancers there are in the world, already out there being successful at what you want to do. But no one has been exactly where you’ve been, or seen exactly what you’ve seen and therefore everything you bring to the table is unique, and worthy. You are the only one who can share from your particular perspective. So boldly create what only you can create. People will connect with that.

If you liked this post, let us know! We want YOU to be part of our community - so send me a message (lucy@ateliervancouver.com) and you can join in on one our community events, or be part of this blog series! Join the conversation!