We are so excited to jump into the fray with all of you creative entrepreneurs, startups and especially those established businesses whose shoulders we stand on. The road to launching Uncommon Cartography has not been a straight one, it has been filled with stops and starts and more detours than I can count. Recently, I listened to a Creative Morning Podcast in which Casey Gerald shares why “Purpose is the new bottom line”. During this podcast Casey opens up about how his Mom was always his dream defender:
“I’d sit on the floor of the bathroom while she put on her makeup and tell about my big ideas. I’d say, mom, I want to be a firefighter. She’s say, sure, baby. You can do that. I’d come back a few months later and say, mom, I want to be a chef like Julia Child. And she’d say, yeah, baby. You can do that too. Then, a few months later I’d come back. I’d say, momma, I want to be Martin Luther King. And she’d say, well, baby, that’s not a job. But I’m sure you can do it.”
Rather than following a popular path to specialization, I have flip-flopped between wanting to be a lawyer, a counselor, a writer, a bookstore owner, a fashion stylist, a wedding planner, and countless other dreams. Some of these ideas died before being tested, others I pursued for a bit before growing increasingly dissatisfied and unchallenged. Throughout the years, I have been blessed to have family, friends and mentors who have supported my many aspirations. In 2012, along with some friends, I launched Uncommon Collective, a community of artists that became a seedbed for Uncommon Cartography.
Uncommon Cartography is made up of creative entrepreneurs I have had the privilege of collaborating with on a variety of projects. The goal of Uncommon Cartography is to help support you, our fellow creatives and entrepreneurs, whether you are on the path to launching your own business, seeking to refine your business, or if your business is stagnant and in need of a creative infusion. I have been incredibly lucky to have mentors and collaborators who have helped me get to this point and would feel privileged to help you in a similar capacity.
We all need dream D E F E N D E R S. We all need environments that can provide a safe place for our ideas to grow. We all need people who will collaborate with us to take our ideas from the abstract to a concrete reality.
Uncommon Cartography looks forward to the opportunity to partner with you as you pursue making your dreams a reality.
Esther Maria Swaty Uncommon Cartography Chief Strategist + Coach