Beata Wrobel – From Graduate to Artist and Entrepreneur

“When I graduated, my biggest goal was to establish myself as a professional artist but I also realised that I need to make a living and I did have some ideas for products. I went to careers advice and they referred me to Propeller.”

“My first meeting went really well. I learned a lot about the process that I could follow. I booked onto some more Propeller sessions and got help with filtering my ideas to those best suited to starting my own business. I felt like there would be help and guidance and I was hopeful that someone would be there to guide me and I wouldn’t be alone. I was reassured.

I became self-employed and Propeller helped me with the paperwork. We agreed that I had a product that could be sold. I’ve never dealt with business finance before so the whole process was new to me but thanks to things like the business start-up and finance solutions workshop I feel like I’m getting better at this.

During this time, I was contacted by one of the directors at The Royal Standard Gallery in Liverpool, who was following my practice on social media. I was invited to take part in a paid commission to provide a sculpture in the theme of sculpture in motion for the exhibition ‘And Yet It Moves’. This finished on the 18th May during the Liverpool ‘Light Night’ festival. The exhibition gave me very good exposure and has allowed me to expand my network. That has led to me having my work sold in the gallery’s online shop.

I didn’t know about the Propeller competitions but I had taken out a lease on my first business premises and they encouraged me to apply. Applying was easier than I thought and, because I already had a business plan, it wasn’t too difficult to prepare a presentation. Also, I had come up with a new idea the night before but due to travel and other commitments I was uncertain I had prepared enough for the presentation. I needn’t have worried. The panel were very friendly and made me feel comfortable to speak to them. I am absolutely delighted that I won a financial award; it will really help my business plans. I now intend to create a separate commercial brand so as to keep a division between my art and my business work and the money will help me to buy some of the equipment I need to help make the business grow.

Thanks Propeller, you’ve always been there to support me and made it much easier than it would have been to get through the whole self-employment process and to secure a studio space at the best price. I really appreciate your help.”

Anne Newman, Student Enterprise and Incubation Manager said: “Beata has made fantastic progress. She was very deserving of the Propeller Award because she has seen a way to balance her artistic integrity whilst creating products that she can sell so that the profit can support her artistic ambitions. She is a really good example of how a combination of support and funding can give our graduates a great start. ”

Find out about current projects at Beata’s website.