Writing courses was not in my game plan, to be perfectly honest.

I had taken the leap to do my design business full time and after more drama than I could ever imagine, I had got things going.

After the drama calmed down I was talking to a Facebook expert about how to get my business to the next stage and she started talking to me about doing something completely different, she suggested I start looking at sharing my expertise and the lessons I'd learnt along my journey to help others like me.

To be frank, that conversation felt like I was being hit by a 10 tonne truck.

I was going in one direction and she was suggesting I go along a totally different direction. It took a few days to take on board. I have taught art classes in the past in the classroom, so teaching isn't something totally new for me, but it wasn't the direction I was planning to take at this point in time.

But after I'd spent some time considering our conversation I started to think about what I could do. I had already had a number of times when chatting with other designers I had shared the things that had helped me. Even things that I thought were completely obvious, I found that many other designers and artists never took on board.

I also thought about the drama of my journey and how other designers and artists could get stuck in the same expensive and time consuming issues I did – ones that nearly made me throw in the towel.

So, after a while I started jotting down my ideas on what could help others, or what I would say to myself years ago to make my own journey smoother. I then asked other designers and artists whether my ideas would be of interest and relevance and that helped me formulate how to go forward.

Several months on I am at the beginning stages of launching this school.

I am learning on the go and making amendments in the process.

You can see the school here.

After several months of learning and developing I have created my first course. This was supposed to be a free course but when my friend Annie, a photographer, watched it, she said she would pay £100 for the course - how encouraging was that!

 So I have decided to charge for this course and the next one will be free.

You can click on this link to see the video preview.

I did design it with Designers and Artists in mind, but this course is helpful for anyone that uses social media is part of their everyday life for publicity or simply for fun. I had a great time putting it all together - I learnt a lot myself in the process! 

Annie was the first person to complete the course. Here is her testimony: 

"As a photographer, social media is an integral part of my work. It can be seriously challenging and overwhelming to find all the best tools to utilise the social space in the best way for my business.

I found the Amanya courses to be an absolute fountain of knowledge, they have helped me get a good grip on where to look and what to use. They are very well researched, written, recorded and presented in an easy to use format, and at affordable prices too. Thank you Amanya!"

Annie Lloyd, Photographer

This is my second course:

Know Yourself as a Creative Person

This course is designed to help you get to know yourself better and enable you to excel in your creativity. It is using some of the best tools out there that enable you to get to know things you don't already know about yourself, and use them to translate into being more effective in your creative journey.

The next course I am developing is all about Intellectual Property of Designers and Artists, so that's next to be working on.

If you know people that might be interested in seeing the school, please feel free to pass it on. 

Over coming days please stay safe!

Love Anna