Sarah Francis
Artist Curator / Founder & Creative Director of Aire Place Studios CIC
BA Art, 2011
"Always find you within your work, lead with self authenticity and be honest and speak your mind. You can say no, and sometimes saying no lead to better and more exciting things!"
Sarah talks about imposter syndrome and the barriers she has faced in the creative industries:
"I'm working in a world that's not set up for me, a system that's not designed for people with ADHD and learning difficulties, which leaves our CV empty, our confidence low, and our access to education limited! It takes so much longer to develop that most other people. The world has a trail of so much 'failure' but it's designed failure as the field to compete within is skewed - add in being a women in business, add in being queer and leaving school through section 28. I felt most of my life, I was hiding who I am, feeling like an imposter - I feel this will always be here as the world changing is slow and it is hard to realise that it was never my failure that builds this trauma, it is the system.
My main barrier [when trying to get ahead in the creative and cultural industries] was my learning difficulties as I struggled to apply for jobs and get interviews, even though I had a First Class honours, then went on to get a Distinction Master (as people were like 'if you do this you will get a job') - this did not help. I applied for all sorts of jobs from entry level, jobs at my level and job within my degree level fields and did not even get to interview stages. After so much depression and struggle I ended up starting my own Gallery, Studios and my OWN job as I knew I was bright, clever and could do anything if I was given a chance."