by Carly Schorman
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This year we’ve been getting a lot of questions as we’re transitioning from happy hobbyists to full-time hustlers in the temperamental industry that is ART. And, if we’re being totally honest, these questions have ranged from honest curiosity from colleagues looking to make the same transition to outright impertinent requests for information that sometimes pissed us off but usually just made us laugh.
Rather than getting too put out, we saw an opportunity to embrace our guiding principles of transparency and cooperation over competition. Soooo we’re just going to pull back the curtain and share with all of you what this undertaking is actually like for us as we take our publication from Hobby to Business.
First things first, the aforementioned “we” I keep repeating is to me and my partner in all things, Mark. I started the website way back in 2009 as a way of encouraging connectivity within the local music scene and, over the years, the publication has expanded in both size and scope. Mark joined the YabYum team just six short months into our operation and quickly redefined our visual presentation.
Fast forward through eight years, four redesigns, three radio shows, one rocknroll wedding, and we were faced with a difficult decision: meet YabYum’s growth head-on (and full-time) or abandon the venture in the name of other pursuits. There was no halfway.
Since that decision was made, there have been both victories and setbacks. And, in the interest of oversharing, we’re going to be offering up those stories so that others made learn from some of our hard lessons.
Success, after all, is a journey and not a destination so we’re inviting everyone along as we continue on our path toward changing the art industry (and financial solvency).
We have a committed team of volunteers and affiliates (which I’m sure we’ll get more detailed about in this series) that work with us on a variety of projects (which we’ll definitely dive into in this series) and a serious commitment to the notion that a business, in any industry, should be guided by ethical principles over increased profit margins.
If you have specific questions or topics you would like us to address, don’t hesitate to drop us a line (or comment below). No matter how impertinent.
