Anette Bodén

MAGAZINE

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pecial edition: Beautiful creatures of the creative industry

HOW TO SURVIVE AS A: Hairdresser Dancer Make up artist Interview:

Lena Widman, med student with dancing dreams

Freelancing: pros and cons

freelancing

Te x t a n d p h o t o : Anette Bodén

“With the world as your workplace”

I

t is becoming increasingly difficult for young people to find jobs in the creative field, even with a university degree. To freelance is an alternative, but rumors of the hardships discourage many. Here are the voices of a dancer and a make up artist who both have made it in the freelance jungle. ”It is tough, there is no denying”, says Karin Adam, a 34-year-old professional dancer and dance teacher who has been freelancing for the past 10 years.

Despite of the hard business, she made the choice on her own as she sometimes found it hard to cooperate with leaders in the dance world. ”I prefer being my own boss and I’m proud of being able to make it on my own. The hardest part about the dance business is that it’s not a constant flow of work. During three months in the summer I hardly have anything at all, but during the school semesters I am overbooked with dance classes. It’s easy to get burnt out because you feel like you can’t afford saying no to stuff ”.

Karin is currently based in Uppsala, but she travels a lot to give workshops, not only in Sweden. Her favorite destination is Los Angeles where the dance scene is explosively big. But although the best job opportunities are in the states, she says it is extremely hard getting a work permit. A bit more like next door, she is regularly booked to Norway. ”The pay in Norway is great! I can have two days of teaching in Oslo

and then I’m basically set for the whole month. I wish Sweden had the same kind of appreciation of a quality dancer, it’s much tougher here”.

A big problem in the creative businesses is expectations of free work. Karin says she lost track of how many times a nice job offer appeared but when negotiations of pay come up, the employer asks

her to do it for free and thinks it is just a nice opportunity for her to market herself.

“But it’s like any other job, really.

Would you ask a person with any other profession to work without pay? No. It’s a problem specific to creative jobs and it’s something we have to fight to change”.

M

ake up artist Jenny Hellström, 27, tells of similar experiences but she also highlights that there are benefits of working for free at an initial stage of the career. She has at many occasions worked together with both photographers and models for free just to build on her portfolio, which later has led to well-paid work.

Jenny has been based in Stockholm, Oslo and London and travels around Europe, mostly to work with fashion weeks and music videos. Last week she came back from Copenhagen fashion week, and she emphasizes the uniqueness of the fashion industry in both its good and bad sides.

“The world of fashion and makeup looks the same everywhere you go, at least in Europe and the US. So I always feel at home when I go to a big event like a fashion week.

It’s like I have the world as a workplace, which is an amazing feeling”.

Jenny also tells of the dark sides, the shallowness and harshness of the industry, but says it is a price that comes with the most fun and creative job she can imagine.

“I’m an artist, people forget that sometimes and think it’s all about shallowness. I make the world a little bit more beautiful”, she proudly proclaims.

She says that it is a satisfactory feeling to be able to choose the work she wants, a proof of her talents in the field and that she has succeeded with her self-marketing.

“The trick with freelancing is to work really, really hard in the beginning. If you’re good at what you do, it will pay off. The more you put in, the more you get back.”

From time to time Jenny is combining freelancing with a regular day job in a make up store, but she likes the life as a freelancer better. ”Working on your own schedule and being able to sleep as long as you want in the mornings, are some of the many perks of being a freelancer”, she says and laughs.

i n it e : m r a st o K t eb ss.c u o e w re b a t h dp e r or on . wo m ny n d a Je n o d e e R d eb an e tt an

The dancing doctor

Being a doctor is one of the most demanding professions, a fact that holds throughout the world.

Amongst the hardest med schools are the ones in the US, with a several years longer process to be a doctor than in Sweden. the lovely dance maniac Lena Widman studies in detroit, michigan.

It seems many higher educated are gifted in fields of art, such as music and dance and research actually show that arts, especially dance, helps against stress and it builds confidence.

Lena Widman is a half Swedish, half American girl who studies to become a doctor in Michigan.

She used to be a professional basketball player, she has danced in front of the Swedish king, and when she’s not studying, she goes salsa dancing.

How do you combine your love for dancing with a medical career? ”The study tempo is insanely high and I spend most hours of the day sitting down, reading.

I found that I need to reload in some way to keep my focus.

Dancing is my favourite thing to do and it has become the perfect way for me to get my mind off of things and at the same time I get a physical workout and meet other people than the ones in my class - I spend enough hours with them as it is”, she says and laughs.

Do you ever wish you pursued a career as a dancer instead of a doctor? ”Believe me, sometimes I do.

Especially when studying for an exam and I’m about to go crazy

with stress. But in the end, being a doctor, helping people, is the one thing I really want to with my life. Dancing is something I will do forever, at every chance I get, whether it’s taking a hip hop class, going out clubbing with

my friends or shining in a wedding waltz. Dance is my one true love. Medicine is my passion.”

Te x t a n d p h o t o : Anette Bodén

“If I didn’t work with my passion, I would never have the strength to have kids”

Sandra Svensson is a successful hairdresser, happily married to her high school sweetheart and now mother of two little boys, age 3 and 1. She lets us in on the professions career secrets.

Research show that hairdressers have one of the most uncomfortable workplaces. One problem is the ergonomic, standing all day in awkward arm positions. The other

is the toxic, hair colours are believed to cause cancer.

What is it that you love about the job?

Doesn’t this scare you off?

”Making people pretty and happy.

It’s one of the most grateful professions, almost everyone you meet are happier when they leave. You also get to talk to so many different people, it really boosts my days.

Honestly, if I didn’t work with my passion, I would never have the strength to have kids”, she laughs.

”It doesn’t. I love my job, it’s absolutely the only thing I want to work with. I believe you have to find your own solutions on these problems. I work out a lot to have a strong back to support me through the long days.”

What are your best tips to be successful hairdresser?

Listen to the customer, become their friend.

If they like to talk to you and they trust you to make them pretty, they will come back more and more often. They will also tell all their friends about you. You must be able to be personal with the costumers, talk about your private life and they will love you.

Te x t a n d p h o t o : Anette BodĂŠn

Next issue: Summer fashion Photography special MAGAZINE

Interview: Tina Johansson