Pursue Your Design Career: No Professional Training Required

Do you wish you had more time to pursue a design career that makes your heart sing?

We talked to Skillshare Teacher & Designer, Jane Snedden, to learn how she pursued a career in design without going back to school. We also learned how teaching provided her with the financial freedom to take risks and pursue projects that excite her.

Given that Jane’s Skillshare classes range from Creating Hand Drawn Mandalas to Hand Lettering, you may think she’s been a designer all her life. In fact, Jane studied commerce in university and originally imagined she would work in accounting. However, upon graduating she decided to open up her own shop.

“I experimented with drawing from “how-to” books and watched “how-to” videos... the rest came from practice and experimenting…I started to share my drawings on social media with others and we inspired each other. This soon caught the eye of some clients and it evolved into drawing posters for coloring companies and being contracted for a series of coloring books for worldwide distribution.”

Having worked as a yoga teacher, Jane loved the experience of being a part of a collaborative community. She began to look for this same sense of community in the design world.

“The energy of learning in a group is so inspiring.  My online teaching started a year ago with Skillshare’s Teacher Challenge.  I was ready for something new and this was an exciting new way to connect with and share with...like minded people.”

Teaching on Skillshare have not only given Jane access to a larger community, she has over 6,000 followers, but also provided her with creative freedom.

““With a steady monthly income from Skillshare I can now take risks to grow my business without letting the money or lack of, make my decisions for me.” ”

Jane believes that a lack of professional training is no longer a barrier to becoming a designer. She has several ideas for those looking to transition to a new field.  

“Learn as much as you can from the resources out there...Find your passion and make it your daily practice. Put yourself out there and learn from others. Don’t be scared to ask questions and let people see what you are doing.”

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