Hobby to home business: NuForms
Creativity is a catalyst for change. NuForms, a creative consultancy founded in Manchester by former art teacher Andrea Ainsworth, offers a powerful appeal to the commercial sector. Activities that encourage professionals to embrace their creative side can foster a culture in which thinking outside of the box becomes the norm.
Corporates aren’t the only clients to benefit from NuForms’ artistic approach to problem-solving, team building and wellbeing, however. Community organisations and medical scientists have also gained fresh perspectives from Andrea, whose previous career has equipped her with pastoral skills as well as the practical, organisational and motivational necessities of teaching.
“It was a case of, ‘How can I make my working life still be about all the things I did as a teacher?’ NuForms gives me that sense of helping people to engage with a side of themselves that perhaps they haven’t explored before. That’s really exciting, knowing how important creativity is for everybody and how that could benefit companies and organisations who put time aside to do that,” she says.
Creativity is a powerful force. The breakthroughs, discoveries and innovations that improve our daily lives rely on energy, vision and a willingness to see things differently. A creative mindset is one we associate most readily with artists, but any successful organisation will attest to the link between change and growth.
Career crossroads
Andrea says artistic expression and creativity are in her DNA and describes having parents who encouraged her passion as “a massive privilege”; one that provided a launch pad for academic studies, qualifications including a master’s degree in art and education from Manchester Metropolitan University, and an 18-year career in teaching.
Long and frequent holidays are considered a perk in an otherwise demanding profession, but, increasingly, Andrea found the rhythms of the academic year misaligned with her own ambitions. After nearly two decades educating young people in Greater Manchester, she found herself at a career crossroads. NuForms offered a new direction.
A minor health scare prompted her to resign after the Easter holidays of 2022. She admits that leaving teaching with no definite plan was “scary”, but NuForms has provided new contexts and fresh challenges for her existing skills. Remaining true to herself has resulted in enjoyable sessions and satisfied clients.
“I am who I am, and I go into those environments because of who I am and what I have to offer. There’s no point putting on a mask and pretending I’m part of the corporate set-up because I’m not, and I think that’s part of the joy of it,” she says.
“I go in with a different energy perhaps to what is already in the boardroom, providing a service that they don’t experience on a day-to-day basis, and that’s where the fun and enjoyment and the connection that teams and individuals can make within businesses comes from.”
Levelling up
While creativity is not limited to artistic endeavour, activities like drawing, painting, printing and collage encourage a mode of thinking, which, if not entirely new, most of Andrea’s clients left in a classroom many years ago. In the digital age, re-engaging with pens, pencils and paper can be especially liberating.
She describes NuForms’ creative proposition as “a great leveller". Engaging senior leaders and junior colleagues in the same artistic project can be a valuable aid to team building. Its power lies in the unfamiliarity of the challenge. Collaborating on enjoyable and stimulating activities can remove barriers common in corporate hierarchies.
“No matter what you do in the company, when you find yourself doing something that’s perhaps outside of your comfort zone, but you’re doing it with others, it can really bring people together in a new way, and people can find new skills as well,” Andrea says.
Enjoyment is another powerful aspect, she adds, and groups tend to have the most fun when things go wrong. Experimentation is the essence of creativity, and change lives in the process of trial and error. A return to the drawing board, literally as well as figuratively, is no bad thing.
The world made tangible
Arguably, NuForms’ most important commission to date has been a “creative away day” with staff from the Manchester Cancer Research Centre. For people engaged in work of the greatest importance – literally searching for a cure to a life-threatening illness – engaging creatively outside of the workplace proved especially valuable.
Andrea began the day by presenting a film she’d made about the natural world, focussing the group’s thoughts on nature, the environment and a world beyond laboratory tests. Her goal was to encourage them to disconnect from the workplace, creating a blank canvas, physically and emotionally, for their creative expressions.
“It acted as a reminder that even in the important work they’re doing, they can take moments in those stressful days to step back and remember that they are part of something bigger. Your place in the world becomes more tangible when you start to connect with it,” she says.
The group used Andrea’s film as stimulus for painting, printing and collages, later repurposed as affirmative statements. The session was well received. Testimonials from group members tell of a cathartic, therapeutic day, stepping outside of comfort zones to create something tangible and even using a different area of the brain.
Lockdown and longevity
Andrea connects creativity with wellbeing. Leaving aside daily stresses is good for personal longevity, she says. She cites lockdown as a period in which people disconnected, recharged and reassessed their priorities but which has been quickly forgotten. NuForms’ sessions provide a valuable reminder of the human need for creative stimulation.
For people considering a career change or turning their passion into a business, Andrea recommends recruiting a team of “champions”: people to provide support and guidance. She cites husband Greg, whom she met on their first day at high school, 31 years ago, and her sister Kirsty Perez, a bookkeeper.
“I went all-in, and it’s worked out for me, but I’ve got a team around me. I didn’t feel like I was doing it on my own, but I’ve got friends in education, particularly females, who feel that they can’t come out of teaching because it feels too big, and they feel too much pressure and too much responsibility,” she says.
“I would say do something small first. It’s ok if you don’t know everything yet; you probably never will. Don’t be put off because there’s always someone else who does, and you can always find out.”
Repurposing an existing skillset to move forwards when a cherished career no longer aligns with personal goals takes courage and imagination. Andrea’s founding of NuForms demonstrates both of these admirable qualities. With sessions that encourage clients to explore their creativity, she provides an art class that benefits organisations and individuals.
