I am privileged enough to meet monthly with an AMAZING group of Creative Professional women in my adopted hometown of Blacksburg, VA. We have been meeting for years and have fallen into a comfortable rhythm of reflecting on our previous year each December and goal setting each January. Several years ago, we started choosing our ‘Word of the Year’ in January. My original word was ‘Courage’ but that did not feel quite right…

I know I have courage. I left an incredibly toxic relationship at the beginning of 2018. A relationship that needed to end much earlier than it did. A relationship that left with me with low self confidence and little self worth. Being alone scared me endlessly but it was the best decision I’ve ever made for my daughter and me. I took myself to and from China by myself to work with children in July 2018. This was a trip that changed my emotional, spiritual and financially life forever. I regularly create art and put it on public display. That takes courage. And then, five days before Christmas, the Children’s Museum where I have spent the past 1.5 years of my life as Program Coordinator for children age 0-5 years, announced it would be closing it doors for an unforeseeable time as it transitioned to a new location…and if we wanted to work there again, we would have to reapply for any available positions. Looking ahead to an unknown future as a single mother and a full-time working artist in a rural town in southwestern Virginia takes courage.

The word courage didn't fit this new chapter of my life.

The more I reflected on what I wanted 2019 to be, I wanted courage…on steroids. That is when I found the word ‘TENACITY.’

Courage plus spirit, grit and spunk; a fierce determination.

So bring it 2019. I’m ready.

What is your Word of the Year? How did you come to choose it?

I repackaged and will launch my 'Creative Girls' Tribe' on Tuesday, April 12 with confidence that both sessions will fill this summer. Here is the flier that I made to market the program in person and on social media. creativegirlstribe_2016

Here is the Welcome Letter I crafted for the Artist Camper. I wanted to have a 'Welcome Packet' this year. Something that was delivered to each girl in the mail that would get them excited about coming to camp.

creativegirls_welcomeletter_2016

I crafted a brief bio about myself. I wanted the parents and the camper to fill comfortable about my art and summer camp programming experience.

aboutbeccaimbur_2016

I am just so very excited about my 'Artist Stack Pack!' I created this pack of cards so that each camper could fill them out and send them back to me. I have included a SASE in the packet to make this easy. I wanted each camper to connect with the experience prior to coming to the program. There are (10) cards in all. This allows me to get to know each girl individually so that I can custom design each campers' experience.

art_stack_infocards_2016

There are a couple more things I am going to include in each packet. Primarily, the 'Parent Welcome Packet' including a 'Social Media Connect' card. I want the parents to be able to check out my presence and validity prior to sending their daughter to me. Since social media is a HUGE part of my marketing, I want to make sure I can include this as a part of this camp experience.

I cannot express my excitement about launching and implementing this camp experience for young women. I can only imagine what my creative path my have looked like if I would have had some one-on-one guidance from a working artist.

What are your thoughts? Can you let me know what you think about mentor and entrepreneurship in regards to young artists?