Accountability & community With Ryann Scarfford
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
I chat with Ryann about her accountability group, being a working mum & all things you need to know to be your own boss. This is truly an inspiring read…
Let me introduce..
Ryann Scarfford
from
charlie rowan designs
Ryann, has always been a creative but when she discovered textile design, she immediately fell in love.
Ryann’s background is in retail, specifically ecommerce, where she has done everything from buying, to merchandising, to brand & creative management, to marketing director, and running her own product based business.
Ryann stumbled into surface design when she was pregnant with her first child and unable to find products that she felt represented not only her own individual style but also the hopes and aspirations she had for her little one on the way. Ryann started designing everything from blankets, to crib sheets, to booties, to prints for the walls. You name it, Ryann made it!
Slowly she honed in on her craft, focused on what she loved to design & quit her “real” job.
Ryann took the giant leap of faith and that is how Charlie Rowan Designs was born.
What made you want to start your accountability coaching group?
I love this question, the accountability groups are without a doubt the thing I am most proud of and constantly inspired by. The idea for forming the groups had been on my heart for over a year, but from really early on in my business I knew I needed some sort of external accountability.
I’m 100% a person who meets outer expectations with ease but really struggles to consistently meet inner expectations. In the corporate world I was promoted over and over again because I thrive on crushing expectations but it’s this funny thing when you leave your job and start your own business, it’s just you…and success in reaching our goals is often determined by our consistency and persistence. While it seems easy in theory to show up for our goals day after day, over and over again almost all creative entrepreneurs know how incredibly difficult that can be without having any sort of accountability or support structure along the way.
It becomes even more difficult in the slow beginnings, muddy middle, or expansion stages of our businesses where growth and success aren’t immediately being seen.
I created the accountability groups because I needed them and as a former project manager, and creative service manager this is my wheelhouse, I thrive on ideation and being able to break down big goals and tasks into manageable steps. I didn’t need a life coach, I didn’t even need a business coach, I just needed to keep showing up, I need a community of other creatives to ask questions and bounce ideas off of and the only place I could find that was in high priced courses where eventually the groups fizzled out once the course is over, or worse you got placed in a group that never even started.
So I created my own accountability groups, and they are everything I dreamed of and more! We meet weekly, I host and facilitate the calls providing insight and ideation, while also identifying bling spots, and actionable tasks that are in alignment with group members goals each week. It’s basically the benefits of 1-on-1 coaching at a fraction of the price plus the added benefit of an immediate community and support system provided by the group. It’s magic, truly!
What are the benefits of being apart of an accountability group or having an accountability partner?
The benefits are huge if you are a person who needs accountability, if you are a person who meets outer expectations with ease but struggles prioritizing inner expectations. I know that is not everyone, but it is a lot of people.
For years I felt so much shame that I was such a high achieving person but had a really hard time doing that consistently on my own when no one was watching. Once I was able to identify that I thrive under a boss, under a coach, or even with a peer that I had to tell my goals and priorities too consistently I was able to grow my business substantially.
These groups are about persistence and accountability, encouragement and community. They are not about hustle culture or having a taskmaster. They are small curated accountability groups of creative entrepreneurs that meet weekly to support and encourage one another in making forward progress in their creative careers and lives.
What are your hot tips for staying focused & motivated to achieve those big goals?
Get as clear as you can on your goal, and not just the goal but the “why” which is the emotional component of the goal. The clearer you can get on where you want to be the easier it is to get there. When you hit a goal, reward yourself, however that may look, taking time to acknowledge your wins is incredibly important in staying motivated.
Lastly, I highly recommend doing a brain dump each week of ALL THE THINGS, get them out of your brain and onto paper. Then pick THREE, and only three as your TOP priority for the week. This helps to weed out the busy work and the work that is truly the most important in driving your business forward.
What are the most common things you find people struggle with or need advice on in your groups?
I think the number one thing for creatives is staying focused on where you want to go. Being creative most of us are naturally drawn to ALL the creative outlets and it can be so tempting to see someone do something, or offer something, or sell something and think “I could do that”....and could and should are two very different things. When you are really focused on where you want to go it’s easier to identify the distractions or as I like to call them “shiny objects” from the things that move you forward.
I would say the second thing would be mindset, specifically around selling and valuing the work you create.
What has been the best thing that has come out of your accountability mentorship for you personally?
Community. Without a doubt! There is nothing more inspiring than seeing women crushing goals and being held up, supported, and cheered on, by their peers. I’m also incredibly inspired by what we are capable of when we are persistent in showing up for ourselves week after week. Women in the group have seen such incredible wins over the course of just 3 months and it truly feels like a win for the entire group as we are all in the trenches together each week.
What would be your top tip[s] for focusing on a big business goal and achieving it?
A goal without a plan is just a wish. Get clear on your goal and make a plan with actionable tasks. Then break it down into as tiny of steps as you need to in order to make it manageable. Learn to recognize when to pivot, learn to critique your own work, and figure out quickly what makes you money and what doesn’t. Time is often our scarcest resource and we are incredibly gifted at filling the time we have, so make sure you are filling that time with things that drive your business forward or help you reach your end goals.
Any tips or insights to anyone thinking of starting a membership or coaching group themselves?
Dive in! If you feel pulled to do it, there is probably a reason and a need for it. Keep who you are serving at the heart of your membership and do your absolutely best to go above and beyond in serving them and providing value. Lastly, people will have opinions on how you should run your membership, but always remember it’s your membership and it has to feel right to you so you get to decide what opinions you listen to and what ones you don’t.
How do you gather inspiration for new work & patterns?
A lot of my inspiration comes from the outdoors, we are fortunate to live 10 minutes from the mountains and just a few hours from the desert so a lot of my patterns are influenced by my natural surroundings. I also try to have somewhat of a consistent daily art practice with limited or no boundaries which allows me to be more exploratory with my art, a lot of my jumping off points for collections come from tiny seeds planted within my sketchbooks.
What are 3 things that you wish you knew before starting your own business?
That the road is long and winding, and that’s okay.
Find community, and invest in them. Starting your own business can be incredibly isolating, the sooner you can find a community to support you and share ideas with the better.
Growth is in the uncomfortable, get comfortable being uncomfortable.
And a bonus one….You don’t know what you don’t know. So just dive in and get going, you will figure it out along the way.
What is your top tip for being a working mum & finding balance between work & family life?
Oh this is such a hard one, the push and pull between motherhood and work is such a rollercoaster ride. I think if you’re kids are still young and you have them home with you, my number #1 tip would be to give yourself grace, but also intentionally create space in the cracks of the day to take steps forward no matter how small they may be. My youngest is now 6, and in full time school, but when I look back at all the years of working while they were home I wish in the moment I would have shifted my perspective and seen those years as setting the foundation rather than feeling like I wasn’t moving fast enough in my business. I also think I would have benefited from putting up some blinders and not constantly watching others move at what felt like warp speed in their business. With that said, I am so grateful for all the small steps I took during those years. Now that they are in school I feel like I’m ready to fly, the foundation has been laid, the skills have been learned, and I can confidently get to work with a very clear direction of where I want to go.
When do you get your most creative work done?
I feel most creative first thing in the morning but I do my best creative work in giant time blocks. When I create a collection I usually do it from start to finish in 2-4 days and I work 16+ hours in those days. It’s just the way my creative brain works.
Who are your biggest inspirations & why?
My mom, always, she’s just so effortlessly cool and has a deep appreciation and joy for life.
What does SELF CARE mean to you & what's your go to thing you do that makes you feel rejuvenated again?
Selfcare for me means being okay with prioritizing myself and my career. My selfcare is having space to play but also space to be productive. I do not do well when I go too long without being able to make forward progress, it’s a fine line between both rest and progress for me to feel balanced and grounded.
Anything else you would like to share about yourself & your courses/membership.
If accountability and community are something you have been longing for, I would love for you to join us, it is truly an incredible group of women determined to make their goals a reality and build the life they want to live!
head over to Ryanns page to learn more about her accountability focus group
click the button below to check Ryann OUT ON Instagram
I hope you enjoyed this lovely interview with Ryann & it helps you in some way on your creative journey.
