What happens when a coach and a creative come together to co-develop each other’s businesses over a period of three months?
Written by:
Mariann Nagatsu – Organisational Coach and Learning Designer (LinkedIn)
Anders Tallvik – Design Advisor and Art Director (LinkedIn)
What you’re reading is a brief case study of an experimental skill sharing collaboration, written in the hopes of opening doors to new ways of working together as solopreneurs, and as a tool to summarize what we, Mariann and Anders, learned during the process. This collaboration came out of Creative Space, where we connected during planning calls and decided to test what it means to mutually skill share as solopreneurs within that group, since it is specifically created for coaches and creatives to do just that. We began by investigating what each of us needed.
Mariann was about to have a new start in her solopreneur career, building up her coaching business and focusing on new clients, so it would be fitting to have Anders use his “advisor” skills in brand design and visual systems to help her set a tone of voice for her brand and communication.
Anders needed career clarity and an intentional direction with his creative studio, so it made sense to have Mariann use her skills in organizational- and leadership coaching to help him clarify where he wanted to go and how to get there.
How Did it Work in Practice?
Having clarified our needs and expectations, we agreed to meet for one hour twice a week. Each meeting would have one of us in focus, meaning that in one session, Mariann would coach Anders, and in the other session, Anders would advise Mariann. Although we had clear intentions for desired outcomes, we also agreed that this was a chance for both of us to go for a more experimental and flexible approach to create a chance to hone our own coach and advisor skills and try new approaches. This allowed for a playful lightness that let the process evolve naturally. We also agreed that this was an exchange of skills, meaning there was no exchange of money involved.
In the next two sections, each of us writes from our own perspective about our experience working on our goals with the other person.
Hear more from Mariann & Anders at our next "Success Stories" Creative Space Event on Monday 6th May, 12-13 CET. — REGISTER here, and visit us at www.getcreativespace.com
Mariann, what was it like working with Anders?
I was starting as a fresh solopreneur with a concept wanting to get out and get its shape.
It felt like I had a naked idea sitting on the shelf, afraid to come out as it didn’t have the right clothes to put on. Working with Anders has dressed it up and also clarified and deepened my identity as a coach and solopreneur.
As a solopreneur, working with your visual identity feels very personal. I wanted to play an active part in the process to have an outcome that fits me as a person. Anders’s approach fully supported that.
I really appreciated Anders’s “bottom up” approach and explorative style - getting clarity around the core issues and then playfully testing my style preferences. I never felt rushed, rather it was the exploration lens that opened doors to new ways of thinking and presenting myself and my business.
I felt that working with Anders also developed my own eye and way of thinking. The process didn’t make me a designer, but developed the way I can approach my visual identity and develop it further
Mariann's visual identity shows movement and hope
Anders, what was it like working with Mariann?
Before our collaboration, I was in a frustrated headspace because I had lost my direction for my business and creative career at large. This made it difficult for me to attract meaningful new work. I just wasn’t excited about my job, and that showed up as stress, procrastination, and lack of action. I needed to get out of that mindset.
Mariann asked me what would be most helpful for me in our collaboration, and I found that the answer was “to find a direction” and working out how to move in that direction. We set a theme for the sessions: Exploring the Action.
With Mariann’s approach to inquiry, I found that I’m driven by learning and trying new things, then bringing those influences to my client work, which is something I was automatically doing in all my projects. Our conversations helped me see that I was already off to a great start in a new direction, leaning into the role of design advisor.
I was fascinated by how Mariann’s questions and reflections helped me look at my work in a new way. I was able to let go of old ideas of what kind of creative I should be, and to really own the skills and qualities I have. I used to hold the identity of “craftsman” tightly and pushed away the identity of “educator,” but through our conversations, I was able to admit that I get more fulfillment out of guiding, troubleshooting, advising, and educating. How exciting is that!
Mariann helped me find the why behind my career without rushing the process, and was helpful in setting specific tasks to lean into that with a new sense of direction. Instead of procrastinating on tasks that didn’t feel like they fit, I found ways to take action on tasks that felt attuned to my new goal of focusing on the role of design advisor.
As for guiding Mariann in the visual identity work, I got to workshop new methods of working, and I’m already using a more conversation-based approach with other clients.
Anders's notes from a session
What We Found
This mutual skill share experiment was evidently quite successful for both of us! Below is a summary of key insights from our collaboration, together with some thoughts that are worth considering for anyone interested in a similar type of collaboration.
An overlap between coaching and design: our approach to work is similar, especially the style of inquiry that involves reflecting back what the other person has said, in what we referred to as a ping-pong style of conversation. A sounding board, if you will!
Anders was unexpectedly more of a coach than consultant in approach, making Mariann self-aware about wishes for the business, leading to insights about both why her brand exists and how it would present itself.
We found that the framework of taking turns really gives you an insight into how the other person is thinking and strengthens your trust in their expertise.
As a designer, Anders doesn’t always get to use the service or product his clients offer, but skill sharing really gave an insight into Mariann’s work, approach, and spirit, which made his design work more intuitive and free flowing.
As a coach, it was an interesting additional layer to experience one’s own coachee in action - Mariann got a better grip of Anders’s style and it supported the common vocabulary.
This process made us think about skill sharing and how many skills we could possibly share in a similar way, which we are both open to doing.
What difference does the absence of money exchanged make? For us, it allowed for a playfulness that isn’t always there when you’re calculating cost and benefit. We also felt that it added a different kind of excitement in helping each other forward.
The success of this kind of collaboration depends on trust, and we could see how that isn’t always so easy to establish.
In this kind of skill exchange, personal factors like chemistry and working style might have a bigger impact than in normal cases of buying a service.
It can be tempting to go off topic with this kind of exchange, like switching to talking about your own business as you get ideas while discussing the other’s, and vice versa. That’s why it’s important to set a framework to focus on one person at a time.
In the end, we both want to continue working together – we trust each other’s business capabilities and have really enjoyed the time spent together.
Hear more from Mariann & Anders at our next "Success Stories" Creative Space Event on Monday 6th May, 12-13 CET. — REGISTER here, and visit us at www.getcreativespace.com
Collaborative moodboarding in action
Three tips for starting a collaboration like this
Agree on a desired outcome for each participant. Have occasional check-ins to reflect on the process: how is it supporting you and what would be good to change?
Really allow full focus on one participant per meeting, that way you stay focused.
Be mindful that it might not be the fastest way to get to the results, but it has many additional values (see above) that may lead to more satisfactory results. Celebrate the bonus learnings you are picking up from your collaboration. 🎉
Hear more from Mariann & Anders at our next "Success Stories" Creative Space Event on Monday 6th May, 12-13 CET. — REGISTER here, and visit us at www.getcreativespace.com
stronger together
