April 4, 2015
Tanya Collier, Tickle the Imagination Magazine
Bio The path that led her to this point
My journey to where I am now has been rather colourful.
A lifetime of experiences, both good and sad have brought me to where I am today.
I have always loved designing and making...my mum was very creative and I have lovely memories of crafting with her throughout my life, and my dad is always with pencil in hand - his passion is sketching and this love was passed down to me also.
For most of my childhood I wanted to be an art teacher when I grew up.
Then in high school a keen interest in the environment moved my focus to environmental engineering and I dreamed of owning a property down south where I would build a self-sufficient, mud brick home - but the universe had other plans!
A few bad subject choices meant I was unable to apply for environmental engineering, and I ended up studying nutritional food science!
A year into my degree I realised it wasn't for me and decided to transfer to teaching.
About the same time I met the love of my life, and shortly after followed him to Broome.
I spent the next year and a half sharing my time between external study, a full-time job at a supermarket, a part-time job at a video store, and Sundays at the local markets selling my handmade wares - looking back I guess I've always enjoyed keeping busy!
We moved back to Perth in 1997 - and since then I have studied and worked in marketing, had three gorgeous children, started many (many) different handmade businesses and most recently studied interior design.
All the while, I was learning and developing my graphic design skills and knowledge - working with small, local businesses to create their branding, business stationery and websites.
Creating a magazine is something I had imagined of for a long time, and I have many notebooks filled with ideas, but never really thought it would be possible.
While studying interior design in 2011 one of my assignments was to style, shoot and design a spread for a magazine - I loved it so much I thought I would give a full magazine a try and after a little research I discovered that I could publish in digital format.
And so tickle the imagination began!
Q&A Insider advice & tips
What's been your greatest achievement to date?
Personally - my three gorgeous children.
In business - the first print edition of tickle which was made possible thanks to the support and generosity of readers and advertisers through our crowdfunding campaign with Pozible.com.
If you haven't heard of crowdfunding before, please pop over to their website, it is a fantastic concept.
What's been your biggest challenge so far?
My biggest challenge has been developing this wonderful hobby into a business model - it has never felt right to earn an income from something I love doing so much and I still struggle with that side of things. And knowing when to say ‘no’.
Best lesson you've learned along the way?
While it's important to have a goal or destination in sight, be sure to enjoy journey...wonderful things take love, time and hard work!
A website, book or resource that has helped you in your business or inspired you and why?
Adobe Creative Suite – could not live without it! I use Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Dreamweaver to produce each issue and maintain our website.
Issuu – to publish digital issues
Pozible – crowdfunding site that made it possible to take tickle to print (twice!)
Mailchimp – mailing list manager
FetchApp – for selling digital issues
You Send It – for transferring large files
Which person or brand do you most admire and why?
Ooh, that's hard! I admire many people, but the first few that spring to mind...
Florence Broadhurst & Signature Prints – Florence was an amazing Australian designer, a little kooky and eccentric and very ahead of her time, she was probably best known for her wallpaper designs in the sixties and seventies. Signature Prints, owned by Helen & David Lennie, have brought Florence’s designs back to life and handprint gorgeous fabrics and wallpapers using her original screens. I admire their vision and dedication.
Shannon Morton – a talented graphic designer who got in touch not long after I started tickle. Her experience and portfolio is very inspiring and it has been a great honour to work with her. I admire her skillset, work ethic and authenticity.
Justine Barsley – Justine is the creator and creative director behind Perth Upmarket. She has done wonderful things for raising the profile of the designer/maker industry here in Perth. I admire her business acumen and motivation.
Renata Cooper - Renata is the founder and CEO of Forming Circles, an ethical and social investment organisation. I admire Renata's generosity and passion.
I very much admire every designer and maker who takes the brave step into the world of business.
And I especially admire those who use their success to help others.
What advice would you give someone starting an independent business in your industry?
Be authentic, work hard, believe in yourself and don't be scared to ask questions and introduce yourself to new people…you never know where it will take you!
Finish this sentence
Everything changed for me when…
I lost my beautiful mum in 2003.
The realisation that life is so short and you just never know what might happen next inspires me to live each day to the full and to look for happiness in the smallest things.
It also gives me the courage to believe in myself, to step outside my comfort zone, to take a chance...and to live my dreams.
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