International Women’s Day is a day for celebration - of our achievements and the impact we make on the world around us - it is also a day to contemplate and take action on the change we want to see. And to mark this year’s IWD, we spoke to three accomplished wāhine to hear their stories of careers, collaboration and community, as well as how they have overcome challenges faced on their journey.
It was right back at school that Shayna Peat saw the value and the potential of a career as a creative. Past students pursuing fascinating work would come and talk to the art class about what they were doing, which ultimately inspired Shayna to follow a similar path. Today she designs websites for her clients, carefully balancing creativity with practicality.
“I’m a practical designer and when it comes to a website, of course we want it to look amazing, but it HAS to work. It has to be easy for people to fix the information they need and connect. It’s the constant balance of the two, not compromising one for the other.”
As a co-founder of Picky (a New Zealand stock and mockup imagery collection), Kimberley Torrie’s career has taken many twists and turns over the past 11 years - from the experience of months of low-pay internships, to working as an Senior Art Director in leading Creative Agencies spanning Auckland, Wellington and London. And each learning curve has been something she’s taken in her stride.
“I think my creative craft has been ‘honed’. I now trust my gut, to know what ideas, imagery, content are the right fit to each specific brief and client. And as I go on through my career, being more selective in the work I take on and making sure it aligns to my personal values is radically important to me.”
This is something Tracey Creed, a freelance photographer, content strategist & copywriter, is also a fan of - working with purpose-led brands. And thankfully she has been able to niche into this work as a freelancer, creating for clients who are here to ‘make the world a bit better’.
“I find meaning in this work. Late last year, I completed an app project with Damaris Coulter for The Realness, a directory that celebrates independent, owner-operated and Tangata Whenua—First Nations-owned businesses. It’s about increasing equity, uplifting these businesses and the people behind them rather than funnelling dollars to large multinationals.
“And again, it is about challenging the uniformity we see in the mainstream, which also plays a role in suppressing culture, so I feel incredibly fortunate to have become involved in this movement.”
But while these three women have most certainly earned every success in their career, they haven’t arrived where they are today without challenges to overcome - in both their personal and professional lives. For Tracey, it was learning to accept that not everyone was going to share her vision, as well as the anxiety and self-doubt that can creep in when producing work. For Kimberley it was setting up a business in the middle of a pandemic, with no ‘hard’ business experience. And for Shayna, it was a trip to the emergency room with her son and the days following that which has consumed much of her life recently – juggling mum & working life.
Image: Kimberley
Naturally, when challenges arise it can be difficult to find the motivation to be ‘creative’. Kimberley will often see her drive ebb when she is too isolated in her work - especially as a self-confessed introvert - and this is when she knows it is time to put ideas back out into the world, to collaborate with others and find differing perspectives.
“Picky specifically, we can get bogged down in the admin of running a business. But seeing epic new images from Picky photographers in our inbox gets us so fired up. It’s a good reminder of the community we’re creating and the connections we’re enabling for photographers around the country.”
Tracey also looks to others for inspiration, through consuming people’s writing and photography, both digitally and in print. She also understands how the work she does can impact on all aspects of society.
“As creatives, we have a responsibility, given our influence over the messages and imagery that go out into the world. With this understanding, I pride myself on the degree of thought and intention put into my work.”
And Shayna is continually driven by the relationships in her life, particularly within her Rocketspark community and the clients she gets to work with. At the end of the day, she just wants to do best by them, and ultimately, that’s what keeps her motivated.
For Kimberley, Tracey and Shayna, International Women’s Day provides an opportunity to pause and reflect - of where the creative industry sits when it comes to equality, and what this means for their career and the women around them.
Tracey says that while she has never considered her gender specifically, she does often think about the uniformity presented to us and our role in achieving greater diversity within the creative landscape.
“The lack of diversity and inclusion regarding race, ethnicity, and gender produces a lack of diversity in thought, systems, ideas, and visuals. Without diversity, we cannot have creativity.”
Kimberley recounts the fact that she didn’t work for a female Creative Director until she was in London - six years into her career. But she definitely feels like things are changing, with many incredible female creative leaders paving the way and inspiring more women to stay in what can be a pretty demanding and gruelling industry.
“Flexible changes to the way we work as an industry are certainly helping to retain females and ensure there’s that balance, visibility and leadership at the top too. I feel chuffed to be a female within the local creative landscape.”
And Shayna is also an advocate for seeing more sustainable models of work that enrich our lives, instead of depleting them. She thinks women have a unique role to play in rejecting the hustle culture, stemming, in part, from the past few years in which she has learned how precious our time and energy is - with boundaries to support that.
For more information about International Women’s Day, check out the UN Women website. And to our interviewees - thank you for sharing your stories, we truly appreciate your time.
Image Credit: UN Women
Read the full interviews with Kimberley, Tracey and Shayna!
Kimberley Torrie is the Co-founder and Creative Director of Picky – a stock and mockup image platform (Co-founded with Lauren Burton).
For the last 11 years, Kimberley has worked as an Art Director in leading Creative Agencies spanning Auckland, Wellington and London. Now a freelance Creative Lead, Kimberley splits her time between Picky and working for NZ based clients, either from Auckland or remotely.
Q. What inspired you to become a creative, and how did you get started in the industry?
I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do when I left school, my interests and subjects were super widespread from science, history, sports to arts. But the design open day at AUT got me! I was in awe of what students were creating, the problems they were solving, and how a design thinking foundation could spread to so many different working opportunities.
From there, I hustled for a Creative internship at a big NZ Ad agency. It took a lot of rejection, patience and refining portfolios (plus the lucky ability to live at mum and dad’s while not earning). You certainly get pushed in the deep end in agency life – big clients, big budgets, big expectations from day one. But such wonderful creative challenges and clever minds to learn from.
Q. Can you share with us some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your personal or professional life and how you’ve managed to overcome them?
Lauren (Burton, Picky Co-founder) and I had been toying with the idea of creating a New Zealand based image marketplace, a way of connecting local photographers with agencies, designers, marketers and small businesses. We took the leap into creating Picky just as the largest lockdown hit in 2021. That was a pretty major challenge – suddenly we were trying to set-up this thing remotely, with no timeframe of when we’d be out of lockdown, and no hard business experience between us.
However we flipped it to be a massive opportunity – we knew we now had an even more compelling selling point. Photographers were looking for additional income streams, had time to look into their hard drives for usable content and agencies / businesses needed local imagery with no way to shoot bespoke content for a time. It was a lot of late nights, hard graft and accepting that we needed to call on everyone we knew to help upskill us quickly in areas we didn’t even know we needed to know.
Q. What impact did the pandemic and recent major events have on your business, and how did you adapt to the changing circumstances?
It’s hard to say exactly as we didn’t exist pre-pandemic! On one hand, having the pandemic hit as it did gave us time to fully dedicate ourselves to building and launching our platform outside of our other jobs. But on the other hand, it’s truly tricky to get a true gauge on how we’re performing and to plan accordingly. Economic uncertainty, tightening budgets, lockdowns, and recent weather events, all have massive impacts on the ability for our customers to either commission photographic shoots or purchase “pre-made” stock imagery. With these factors constantly changing, it’s been a challenge to work out if our market fit is right, and where we should be investing within our business.
Q. How has your approach to your creative craft changed over the course of your career?
I think my creative craft has been “honed”. I now trust my gut – to know what ideas, imagery, content are the right fit to each specific brief and client. And to make those connections faster. I’ve learnt so much from the clever and brilliant minds I’ve been lucky enough to work with over the last 11 years, which really helps to push an idea, to evolve it and make it fresher and more engaging.
Working on briefs and for clients you truly believe in is vital. If you don’t wholeheartedly believe in their mission and their creative / business offering, how do you expect anyone else to be persuaded through your work? As I go on through my career, being more selective in the work I take on and making sure it aligns to my personal values is radically important to me.
Q. How do you stay motivated and inspired in your work, especially during difficult times?
Creative burnout is certainly a thing! I find when I get too isolated in my work I start to lack motivation. I am quite introverted by nature, so I have to remind myself to put ideas back out into the world, to collaborate, learn and bounce off as many different minds as possible. Differing perspectives always evolves the idea to a new place, and gets me excited about the work again.
Picky specifically, we can get bogged down in the admin of running a business. But seeing epic new images from Picky photographers in our inbox gets us so fired up. It’s a good reminder of the community we’re creating and the connections we’re enabling for photographers around the country.
Taking a break – I know I work my best when I’m exercising, yoga-ing and spending time by the ocean, so I’m working harder on bringing more of that goodness into my life everyday (and not feeling guilty for taking those breaks).
Q. Can you tell us about a particularly meaningful or successful project you’ve worked on, and what made it stand out to you?
Picky is by far the most meaningful creative project I’ve ever worked on. It’s our labour of love.
From the original insight, research, creating the concept of our platform, bringing the brand to life (with Billy Baxter), social media planning, building the business, understanding our audience, Lauren and I have touched every single aspect of this business and it’s so cool to see how far we’ve come in 20 months. Every time we get a sale, we literally do a little dance at our desks.
Q. How do you feel about being a female / wāhine amongst the NZ creative landscape?
I feel chuffed to be a female within the local creative landscape and I feel like it is changing from the “boys club” days, particularly in advertising. I was pretty gobsmacked to go from design school (where we had two males in our class) into an ad agency where females felt like a minority in the creative department. I didn’t work for a female Creative Director until I worked in London, 6 years in! However there’s so many incredible female creative leaders paving the way now, and inspiring more of us to stay in what can be a pretty demanding and gruelling industry. Flexible changes to the way we work as an industry are certainly helping to retain females and ensure there’s that balance, visibility and leadership at the top too.
Q. How do you see the future of the creative industry, and what role do you hope to play in shaping it?
Aotearoa New Zealand majorly over indexes creatively. I genuinely think we have such an incredible creative industry here, some of the most brilliant minds and the sheer willpower to make things happen. And fast.
However it is the same story – we need a more diverse array of people coming in, staying in and becoming leaders of the creative industry here. Through Picky we’re doing everything we can to change this, so far we’re female-owned and run, representing 60% female photographers spread all over the country. We know our platform is no way near as diverse as it could be, both behind and in front of the camera. However as we grow we’re constantly looking at how we change this, through partnership opportunities, the briefs we commission, and fair payment for photographers and talent.
Kimberley Torrie
@kimberleytorriecreative
kimberleytorrie.co.nz
Tracey Creed is an independent freelance copywriter, content strategist and photographer based in Tāmaki Makaurau, working with purpose-led brands.
Image credit: Amandine Paniagua
Q. What inspired you to become a creative, and how did you get started in the industry?
It was realising that my work in marketing and communications was ultimately to deliver value through creative content. In my first job out of university, there was a limited digital marketing budget, so I saved up for a camera, and that was where I started — with food photography.
Q. Can you share with us some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your personal or professional life and how you’ve managed to overcome them?
Understanding and accepting not everyone is going to share your vision. And that is okay. You don’t want to work with those people. My food photography at the time was not what Instagram looked like, and potential clients want what is perceived as popular, so I learned to let go. If you are financially positioned to do so, I recommend it. I leaned on my copywriting and marketing skills to make a living which enabled me to spend the last four years creating photographs that would build on a personal aesthetic. I don’t want to execute other peoples’ ideas or visions. That way, I could curate a portfolio between select client and personal work. If people vibe with that, there is an opportunity for collaboration, which will be organic versus competing on day rates. The more our work looks the same, the less valuable it becomes from an economic perspective.
Second, anxiety and self-doubt and the implications both in producing work - being in a state of mind that supports the creative process and self-promotion. I am not the loudest person in the room, so marketing myself does not come naturally. I have come to understand that self-promotion is about giving people a reason to care about what you do. And to pay you. For me, Instagram is more about giving context, talking about recent work or what I find interesting. I started engaging on LinkedIn, as much of my work is focused on waste and, more broadly, sustainability, and I see opportunities here by being active. I’m working on my consistency.
Q. What impact did the pandemic and recent major events have on your business, and how did you adapt to the changing circumstances?
I was incredibly fortunate to have escaped the impacts that have, for many, become defining in how they head into the future. I lost a 30-hour week contract at the beginning of the Pandemic, which made me realise there are risks to leaning too heavily on one client. Today I work with three to varying degrees and have the odd photography assignment. I want my work to be varied; I work across content strategy, SEO, photography, visual identity and copywriting, as this work is interconnected, and that makes sense to me. With this approach, I can contract one client part-time and take on a 10-hour writing project or produce a photo shoot. With this flexibility, you open yourself up to more earning potential.
In terms of the broader societal work culture shift, embracing remote working required me to become more accessible and flexible with my hours. It also began working more independently. I went on to work with Little Bird Organics during the Pandemic. This was my first full-remote role, and it gave me the freedom to organise my work based on my creative process and not because of strict office hours, and collectively we achieved fantastic results. Since 2017 I have tracked my daily tasks in Notes, and I know my productivity and creativity levels are higher. I’ve embraced remote work with collaborators since, and it aligns with the freedom and openness I’ve always strived for. Ultimately all anyone is interested in is what you have produced.
Q. How has your approach to your creative craft changed over the course of your career?
Regarding photography, what informs my references and my approach has shifted. I’m drawn to imperfect images. And I also edit less, if at all. With my food photography, I reduced the styling. I’m not selling a concept. The idea is to get someone excited enough to want to make that dish, and a certain level of accessibility is required. For food, I have a fondness for natural light and sunshine that has increased over the years. For everything else, I prefer to photograph things as they are. I’m not overthinking it. In the last year, I started photographing more with film and with flash inspired by various works of Martin Parr. I don’t want to idealise things. I want to show it like it is, and I have found flash a useful tool for achieving this.
Q. How do you stay motivated and inspired in your work, especially during difficult times?
Through consuming other people's work, mostly writing and photography, both digital and print. I go through periods where it is difficult to photograph because my mind is not in that space, and I feel down or insecure. However, I grew immensely and solidified most of my craft (still learning) through curating Pinterest boards and reading a lot. So seeking out references and seeing what others are producing—what has been produced motivates me to get on with it. That and just because you stop creating doesn’t mean others do.
Q. Can you tell us about a particularly meaningful or successful project you’ve worked on, and what made it stand out to you?
I am fortunate to work with people who are here to make the world a bit better, and I find meaning in this work. Late last year, I completed an app project with Damaris Coulter for The Realness, a directory that celebrates independent, owner-operated and Tangata Whenua—First Nations-owned businesses. It’s about increasing equity, uplifting these businesses and the people behind them rather than funnelling dollars to large multinationals. And again, it is about challenging the uniformity we see in the mainstream, which also plays a role in suppressing culture, so I feel incredibly fortunate to have become involved in this movement.
Q. How do you feel about being a female / wāhine amongst the NZ creative landscape?
If I am being honest, I have never considered my gender but often think about the uniformity presented to us and our role in achieving greater diversity within the creative landscape. The lack of diversity and inclusion regarding race, ethnicity, and gender produces a lack of diversity in thought, systems, ideas, and visuals. Without diversity, we cannot have creativity.
Q. How do you see the future of the creative industry, and what role do you hope to play in shaping it?
As creatives, we have a responsibility, given our influence over the messages and imagery that go out into the world. With this understanding, I pride myself on the degree of thought and intention put into my work. I am interested in how personal values inform the way we consume and currently work with (always seeking) forward-thinking collaborators that are ready to meet me with a shared sense of responsibility and awareness of their impact — socially, environmentally, and culturally. My role is to use my creative and strategic talents to build purpose-led brands that communicate meaningfully and act responsibly. I think we will see a shift towards this thinking in the future.
Tracey Creed
Picky Collection
@t_creed
Shayna Peat is the Creative Director at Repeatable web and graphic design agency in Palmerston North.
Q. What inspired you to become a creative, and how did you get started in the industry?
I was inspired by some excellent teachers at high school to see the possibilities in a creative career. They would bring in past students who were pursuing really fascinating work to talk to us and our tight knit group of arty students would get very inspired. I particularly remember a young woman who was studying make up artistry and brought in her fake skin and paints to make realistic wounds. And I had a friend who had done a lot of research about where to go (Unitec, to do a design degree but major in painting - the best of both worlds) so I just copied him and did the same!
Q. Can you share with us some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your personal life and how you’ve managed to overcome them?
I am in it right now. Last year just as we were planning on putting more focus back on our business, my son got very sick and we found ourselves in the emergency room with a Type One Diabetes diagnosis. It was challenging enough last year to be working while “unschooling” my kids, but we had made the decision to send them back to school so to have this curveball has really been hard. I have so much more empathy for people who have challenging health conditions. They can be really consuming. The plus side of diabetes is that there is so much support and growing awareness, and it is very manageable. The downside is there is no let up to the management. It is 24/7. It has been three months now and we are constantly learning about all the things that can impact his blood sugar levels, as well as adjusting to the new terminology and technology (which is pretty amazing). But trying to get momentum in our business again has been really tough. To get Arlo settled back at school I am his full time teacher aide until they appoint someone, and even then I will need to pop in at lunchtimes for a while as he can get a bit anxious about doing his insulin injections.
So we are just learning as much as we can, figuring out which technology works best for us all to manage things effectively, and I’ve really learned a lot about asking for help and accepting the help and support that is out there. Something I have never been good at!
Q. Can you tell us about a time when you felt like giving up, and what kept you going?
I have wanted to give up many times over the past few years… it can be very lonely working on your own, and I’ve really had to look at how to make my business sustainable when I have had long stretches without much real life contact with others. This is still a work in progress and I’m sure I will keep adjusting things over the next year and I figure out a new balance. We had also moved to a new city just before the pandemic so are still developing friendships and networks, and only just starting to reach out locally for new work. We have been able to maintain our business with our mostly Auckland based clients, and having more local (Palmy) clients is something that is important to us going forward. We love working with small teams and individual business owners as we love the personal connections we make, understanding their business, point of view, and why they do what they do.
Q. How has your approach to design changed over the course of your career?
My motto has always been the wisdom of William Morris - keep whatever you believe to be beautiful and know to be useful. I’m a practical designer and when it comes to a website, of course we want it to look amazing, but it HAS to work. It has to be easy for people to fix the information they need and connect. It’s the constant balance of the two, not compromising one for the other.
Q. What advice would you give to someone who is facing similar challenges to the ones you’ve overcome?
Be honest with yourself when things are hard. Understand what exactly the challenges are and why they are hard, and be easy on yourself. We all respond to things differently. Just because someone else comes well with a certain challenge doesn’t mean you have to. And then really keep open about it with the people you trust. Ask for help. And find ways to build connections if you don’t have the support you need. And remember it takes time, usually longer than you want!
Q. How do you stay motivated and inspired in your work, especially during difficult times?
The thing that has kept me inspired are the relationships we’ve built. Within Rocketspark, and with clients. Working with people who like us and our work, where we like them and their work, makes things so much easier and more enjoyable. And wanting to do best by them keeps me motivated.
Q. Can you tell us about a particularly meaningful or successful project you’ve worked on, and what made it stand out to you?
It was incredibly meaningful to us to be able to work with Honest Kitchen during the pandemic and get them online to take orders. There were so many businesses who suddenly realised how essential it was for them to be online and ready, and they were a business who really needed to be there for people. They supply ready made meals for many people who might be unable to cook as much as they used to (as well as many other customers who just love their delicious healthy food) and so this was a critical time for them to be accessible to people to be able to order for their elderly parents for example.
Q. How do you see the future of the creative industry, and what role do you hope to play in shaping it?
Creativity is essential to life and we need the world to be filled with creative people who can see solutions to problems, adapt to change and create a vision for the future we all want. I always want to stay creative and make progress, and make sure it is always bringing us as people closer together.
Q. How do you feel about being a female / wahine amongst the NZ creative landscape?
Great! I think as women we have a unique role to play in rejecting the hustle culture and creating sustainable models of work that enrich our lives (and energy) and not deplete them. I’m sure it’s something I will keep learning my whole life, but over the past few years particularly I’ve learned how important it is to understand how precious our time and energy is, and to have boundaries that support that.
Shayna Peat
@repeatabledesign
www.repeatable.co.nz
