Stories from the Field: An Artist and Entrepreneurs Experience with the Canvas

Flourishing Business Community
Speakers Series: Stories from the Field #14

An Artist and Entrepreneur’s Experience with the Canvas with Anouk Natalya Willy

Date: Tuesday June 11

Time: 15h00 UTC – 08h00 PST, 11h00 EST, 16h00 BST, 17h00 CEST, 00h00 JST (+1 day).  To convert UTC to your timezone click here

Duration: 1 hour

Registration: Required via Eventbrite at bit.ly/SFF14-Register

For our fourteenth monthly flourishing business community speaker series: stories from the field, the community is delighted to welcome Anouk Natalya Willy from Word to the Craft, in Toronto, Canada.

Anouk Willy is a Multidisciplinary Textile Artist, Educator and Community Activist whose practice sits at the intersection of heritage craft and digital technology.  She is an Art and Design professor at George Brown College and The Fashion Exchange. She is a resident mentor for the Toronto Fashion Incubator and The Ryerson Fashion Zone. 

Anouk is the owner and creative director of Word To The Craft (WTC), a non-profit organization that collaborates closely with marginalized communities through customized art programming and mentorships. WTC works with local artists, art and community institutes, to deliver youth and adult programming that focuses on heritage textile craft with the integration of digital technology. The organization aims to build a thriving entrepreneurial artistic community that empowers the individual’s social cultural identity through the act of making. 

During a period of growth of WTC’s operations, the Flourishing Business Canvas (FBC) was encountered during an entrepreneurial workshop which applied the FBC as its core methodology. The FBC was used to validate existing programming and prepare for the launch of youth programming with art museums and entrepreneurship programming with refugee and newcomer women. The canvas provided a holistic approach to a previously inaccessible business language, allowing for flexibility in creative exploration and journey. It cultivated a sustainable approach to the business model, flushing out the surprises and tensions within the model while encouraging a greater symbiosis and nourishment of all parts.

Talk Highlights:

• What methodology was used to understand the canvas and customize the language for accessible learning
• How the flexibility of the Flourishing Business Canvas allows for creative exploration and an authentic journey
• Capitalizing on the canvas to validate, ground and heightening the entrepreneurs voice, while sharpening your storytelling
• Why it is important to be vulnerable through the conversations with stakeholders, and how that can shape your canvas  
• What results were achieved through encountering the canvas and how has her thinking and approach changed towards her business model and beyond. 

At the end of her talk Anouk will take questions from members of the community.

After the event, a video of the talk plus slides will be shared in the “Speaker Series” space of the Flourishing Business Community. Please join other flourishing business leaders and become a full member to access.