By her own admission, Harriet has had an unusual career trajectory. With a degree in English and an MA in Shakespeare Studies, Harriet spent her formative years at Routledge, working on one of its most innovative digital projects. As Head of Commercial Licensing and Digitisation at UCL, Harriet was invited to join the Senior Women in Leadership programme. She’s now a freelance consultant, teaching senior arts professionals how to future-proof their organisations and keep the money coming in in order to sustain their creative practices.
“I want to give people permission to think commercially. It’s not about chasing profit – it’s about being able to pay yourself a fair wage and give your creativity the time and space it needs to thrive”
“I’m not an artist, but I love the arts. So I’ve always worked alongside creative organisations and artists, but my own work is more on the strategic side. My focus as a consultant is all about helping people in the arts future-proof their organisations, keep their creative practice alive, and keep the money coming in.
I want to breakdown the idea that money, strategy and commercial are ‘dirty words’. If you’re creating great work, you need to value what you do, pay yourself a fair wage and give your creative practice a chance to thrive.
Making the arts more open and accessible is something that’s really important to me. So MUTI’s grassroots approach, creating opportunities for people who might not otherwise get a way in, really speaks to me.
I love working with people and can’t imagine doing anything else now. Unless I could afford to build my own eco-house with a studio for a writers’ retreat and a space for collaboration and community! Until then, I’ll settle for the day job, creating a space on my bootcamps where people can feel confident, capable and inspired to make things happen.”
