‘I love this cold!’ exclaims Katrine Ejby Bidstrup on her way up from a dip in the Baltic Sea.
Moments earlier, she was enveloped in the warmth of the sauna at Snogebæk bathing and sauna club. Now she’s revelling in the chill while the wind creates ripples on the water.

Katrine Ejby Bidstrup is part of De Kreatives Forretning. A cooperative that offers coaching, mentoring and group programmes for creative and artistic creatives. I caught up with her to get her best tips on how craft artists and designers can get off the ground and make a business out of their art so that the outside world can enjoy what they create.

Katrine Ejby Bidstrup has responded with an invitation to Bornholm, where she lives. Together we visit three places that form the framework of her working life as a coach and ceramic sculptor.

We start here in the sauna, because it’s a place where Katrine Ejby Bidstrup comes to connect with her body. And that’s important because:

‘If we don’t thrive and feel good, we can’t run our business and develop our artistic practice in the long run.’

So when we talk about developing a sustainable business, that’s where we start. With wellbeing.

Job satisfaction and well-being are fundamental to a strong business

Katrine Ejby Bidstrup’s first piece of advice to craft artists and designers who want to share their work with the world is to look after their own wellbeing.

It may sound like a platitude, but in her coaching sessions she sees it over and over again:

That her clients treat themselves in ways that they would never accept a boss in a more conventional organisation doing.

That’s why it’s such an important piece of advice for her to pass on. To remember to look after your employee, i.e. yourself. Many people who are passionate about creating forget this and set unreasonable or unrealistic demands on themselves. Forgetting to take a break, even to take time off, to take care of mind and body.

‘Recently, a ceramicist friend told me about an incident. She had been casting all day and had achieved everything she had set out to do. She proudly told her colleague, who replied ‘you’ve been moulding all day? That’s stupid!’ because it’s so hard on the body to handle the moulds,’

Good working conditions are important. This could be nutritious meals, avoiding too much noise – and ensuring good seating comfort:

‘Buy the good chair!’ Katrine Ejby Bidstrup says with a tone of voice that signals that this is advice she has given many times. ‘You have to sit on it many times!’

Leave the cave and get some reactions

The ceramic sculptor understands glazes, but also business models.

‘Just as the artist may have stereotypical ideas about the businessman, I have a bit of an outsider’s perspective on being a creative artist,’ says Katrine Ejby Bidstrup, now in the sauna heat.

She graduated from the Royal Danish Academy’s programme for craft artists. But before that, she attended Copenhagen Business School (CBS), from which she holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and psychology.

At first glance, it might sound like two completely different worlds. But Katrine Ejby Bidstrup sees it the other way round. It is the combination of the two that holds the potential for change. Both in terms of individual well-being – and in our society.

‘I have no desire to change any artist, craft artist or designer. But what I sometimes experience, and what I think is a shame, is when people who are really talented lack the knowledge of how to translate some of their passion for their craft so that the outside world can also benefit from it.’

Being passionate about your craft can drive you to create. But what makes others take an interest in your work can be something else entirely.

‘How you translate your value into something that others can enjoy is all about understanding your audience,’ explains Katrine Ejby Bidstrup.

‘Not everyone is interested in buying your work, but what do those who are interested have in common? If you understand that, it will be easier for you to get over the threshold.’

Therefore, this is her call to action:

‘Get out of the cave and get some reactions. Go to markets, visit some retailers. Put your product in people’s hands and get them to tell you what they think. Or even better: Get them to talk about your work with others without you interfering.’

Artists are value ambassadors

After a few dips in the water, we get dressed, pack up our wet towels and walk from the jetty back towards the harbour. Although it’s her job to teach artistic creatives about business tricks, it’s not that Katrine Ejby Bidstrup thinks they should suppress their artistic side in exchange for a business mindset. Quite the opposite:

‘Artists can contribute a completely different perspective on what has value in our society. And there is a need for that,’ says Katrine Ejby Bidstrup.

Craft artists and designers are what she calls ‘value ambassadors.’ Through their work, they spread knowledge about materials and consumption and remind the world of the value of the slow, the unique and the sensual in a digitalised world.

‘This knowledge sharing happens, for example, when the creative freelancer organises exhibitions, talks and is on social media,’ explains Katrine Ejby Bidstrup.

‘In addition, the creative creative space creates a free space for many. So when you offer courses or other things where people can experience the effect of the craft artist, it helps to move people.’

We get into her car and head towards her workshop.

Communities lift the individual

We have arrived at the workshop on the harbour in Nexø, which Katrine Ejby Bidstrup shares with three other craft artists and a lot of boats that are stored for the winter.

Here she practices the advice that she now passes on. Namely, that it’s important to seek out communities.

‘When you’re an independent artist, you’re on your own for a lot of things. That’s why it’s so important not to be alone all the time.’

So remember to prioritise coffee breaks with peers or sparring partners who understand your situation and can support you.

If you want to get out there as a craft artist and designer, seeking out communities can be an important first step towards reaching further with your art.

‘When you talk to other people about your work, suddenly someone knows a place that might be right for you to exhibit, a person who might be good for you to reach out to, or a grant that you would be just right to apply for,’ explains Katrine Ejby Bidstrup.

The question is then how to find a community to take part in if you haven’t just been given a network in the form of an education or a workplace.

Katrine Ejby Bidstrup knows all about that. When she started her company Bidstrup Bodies, she was still at Copenhagen Business School. Here she was able to do an internship in her own company. With her slightly unusual business idea, she learnt how to put theory into practice, but also how much there is to learn from people who see the world in a slightly different way than you do.

‘The most important thing is actually not to be picky. But remember to see potential in the people you meet.’

‘The people who can help you move forward are not necessarily like you. And those you can help are not necessarily doing the same thing as you,’ emphasises Katrine Ejby Bidstrup.

‘I think the best way to create a networking group that’s just right for you is to reach out to those you want to be in community with,’ says Katrine Ejby Bidstrup, emphasising the “you”. ‘In it, you can set expectations about format, commitments and engagement, and let it stand the test of time before you start something bigger.’

In her practice, Katrine Ejby Bidstrup works with the so-called errors, i.e. chips and cracks that can occur when working with the material, and questions when something is broken.

Katrine Ejby Bidstrup doesn’t believe in perfection, nor in perfect communities, and certainly not that they come to us without protecting them.

‘You have to be willing to set aside time to actually show up and contribute to the shared space.’

Being part of communities is not just about getting something from others.

‘It’s also very meaningful to be able to help others.’

Create realisable goals

‘Yes, you can keep eating oatmeal. But you have to ask yourself how long,’ says Katrine Ejby Bidstrup. We are sitting at the dining table in the annex of the house where she lives with her boyfriend and her 1-year-old daughter, whom she calls ‘the marshmallow’.

They bought the house when Katrine Ejby Bidstrup was accepted at the Royal Academy. If she was going to study here, she wanted to settle here too. The starting point was not to be temporary, she wanted to do it right. So she moved.

Her third piece of advice for craft artists and designers who want to give the world the opportunity to enjoy their work is to make decisions that will last in the long run. Using oatmeal as a metaphor, Katrine Ejby Bidstrup explains why this is important:

‘Very few people want to eat oatmeal for a lifetime. At some point, some blueberries should be added to that porridge. So it’s important to realise how long you can and want to do it. And not least why you do what you do.’

When planning your working life as a craft artist and designer, Katrine Ejby Bidstrup advises you to remember to set goals that you can act on. For example, if you have a stand at a trade fair, you can’t single-handedly determine how much you sell. But you can control to a greater extent whether you get to talk to new, potential business partners.

Thinking long-term takes practice, even for a ceramicist specialising in business psychology.

‘One of the things I continue to struggle with in my own business is pricing.’

But she readily admits this.

‘Because really, it just confirms to me that we are needed in the Creative Business.’

Katrine’s tips for further reading

The book ‘Pause Power’ by Pia Hauge makes us wiser about the value of pauses. Read more here

In ‘The Creative Business Podcast’, host Signe Sylvester and guests give advice and guidance to artists and creatives. The podcast series can be found here

On the Creative Business website, the co-operative’s members and guests blog about everything from artist economics, the value of art and tips and tricks for sharing your art on social media. Follow along here