I’d like you to imagine that you’re sat at your bench. You are making beautiful collections, stunning bespoke pieces, thinking about the future and how much you are going to grow but also how successful you already are. You’re excited because you’re about to embark on a professional development course learning with some of the best tutors. Your talent is about to be guided through ten months of intense learning, honing your craft. Sound fabulous?

Of course it does! And it is… but that’s not nearly all.

Creative business powerhouse Rachael Brown with some of our 2023 INKers.

The Vanilla Ink Programme is about so much more than learning the skills of your craft. It’s about giving you the skills to help you succeed in our industry. Which is no mean feat, if we are being completely honest.

As well as dedicated professional classes lead by our own master goldsmith [or as we like to call him, just plain old Scott], as an INKer you will be guided through a myriad of business essentials designed to help you ensure you have an understanding of what is needed to make sure your work reaches the right audience, is priced appropriately, that you are able to talk about your practice and your work in various settings and that you have the right signposts to find information and additional support needed to start and run your own practice.

But what does all that actually mean? Well, from the get-go we are tailoring the Programme to the needs of the individuals on the course. So, during our weekend away we will be working together to understand a little bit more about our new students. During the weekend we are looking to start to figure out what you want from the course, what the important issues are in your practice, what drives you and how you best learn. We will also have been working from the interview stage to pair you up with one of our inspirational team of mentors. Your personal mentor will work with you throughout the course to give you additional support and help you to focus on the things that are important to you.

Our mentors come from both with in and outside of the jewellery industry with the pairings being specifically designed to support and challenge you.

Peer support and opportunities to work through the challenges we all face running small creative businesses plays an important part in the INKubator experience.

Alongside mentoring, we have a structured set of business development classes scheduled throughout the course arranged to help you to focus on different aspects of your business, and to build your understanding of what is needed to run your practice successfully. Our inspirational tutors on this side of the course include creative entrepreneur and powerhouse in the Scottish creative industries, Rachael Brown, who talks all things financial. Creative marketing guru, Laura McHard, will help to inspire your branding and marketing, Dr Karen Westland talks passionately about ethical practice and Jen Fisher from the fabulous Toasty Type shares her experience of setting up and running a small business.

In addition, our own Ellie will guide you though the maze of business challenges, from how to talk and write about your work, how to face the challenges of pricing for value and profit, planning for growth and managing change and challenge. Journaling to support this journey and to understand your development is a key factor in helping you to understand and focus your learning.

The use of the Critical Response Process is also key to helping you to develop strong skills in both providing and receiving feedback and to working as a collective. The support you will receive from your fellow INKers and the rest of the community at Vanilla Ink CIC will play no small part in your development and experience.

We link the practical making challenges with practical business focus, giving you real experiences and working examples to help you to understand and work through the issues and problems we all face in business.

So close your eyes and imagine how you want your practice and business to look in 12 months time...

If the answer is a strong understanding of the business practices you need to support your practice as well as refined and honed technical skills, then consider applying for the 2024 INKubator Programme!

Want to become a 2024 INKer? Apply here.

Need some more information? Download our INKubator Guide.

Want to visit our studios to see what it’s all about? Get in touch!

All-INKlusive -The Business End of Professional Development