what working on oilrigs taught me about running a quilt business

You might not know this about me… but…

Once upon a time I was a wireline engineer for a global oilfield services company. 

You’ve probably never heard about what that is, so here’s the cliff notes version: 

• Go to a giant floating rig in the middle of the ocean, or a smaller jackup rig in the jungle deltas of Indonesia, spend days or a week logging an oil well, taking measurements of the geological formations underground to see if there is any oil or gas.  
• Go back to base, service tools + create reports.
• Party hard.
• Sleep.
• Repeat.

so what did I learn working as an engineer, running jobs on oilrigs with an operational cost of over a million dollars a day? 
where a mistake or any down time would cost $42,000 an hour?

here’s what I learnt:

☑️SYSTEMS ARE INTEGRAL TO SUCCESS

Preparing, executing and delivering a wireline logging job is a complex process with a lot of moving parts. 

The only way to keep on top of everything and execute with success is to use systems.

I used a TONNE of checklists during my job – tool op-check check lists, unit start up and shutdown checklists, safety checklists, transport and shipping checklists (critical when shipping radioactive sources for your day job!) … 

The (check) list goes on….

On top of the checklists, knowing the steps to take, knowing when to seek help, what channels existed to get help, and integrating people with all of this.

Without systems, I would never have been able to execute my jobs offshore.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS IS KEY

Some of the best jobs, both in terms of the success of the outcome and the enjoyment of the crew were when working with stakeholders who I had built a relationship with.

Geologists, companymen, rig crew, transport crew both on and offshore – the best experiences were always when there was an established relationship.

The worst experiences? 

ALWAYS when there was no relationship – no communication, no understanding between the parties working together.

🤿WORK HARD, PLAY HARD

Working offshore was tough. 

Isolated, in small spaces far from land, or home. Long hours (sometimes 24hrs+ on logging jobs without a second engineer would be the norm). 

Intense periods of preparation for loading out tools and equipment, then working the systems and delivering in a high pressure environment with high stakes. 

Phew. 

When your job is demanding, it’s clear that your ‘play’ time must be full-on too. 

While I should probably own shares in Bintang and Anker by now (Indonesian beer companies), it was the other intense ‘play’ time that helped decompress and drag your attention from the job – scuba diving.

what on earth has this got to do with running a quilting business?

Maybe unsurprisingly, these things have come to serve me now in my life as an entrepreneur. 

Here’s how:

⚡SYSTEMS are integral to running my business

There are A LOT of moving parts and as a solo-preneur I would never be able to accomplish anything without systems.

My training as an engineer has allowed me to build and implement many systems in my business (not to mention my systems for designing, writing and selling quilt patterns).

These are the systems I share in my online programs with my students, because you don’t have to invent things from the ground up. There’s a system for that. 🤓

⚡BUILDING CONNECTIONS is what I live for. 

Meeting and connecting with designers, quilters, and creative people from all over the world is the most exciting thing I get to do as a creative business owner.

Those light bulb moments, those ‘join the dot’ calls, where people come together to share and cross pollinate information and learning are so, so SO cool.

I make it a point to personally connect with every student that joins one of my programs because I value that relationship above everything else in my business.

And yes…

👷‍♀️WORK HARD, PLAY HARD still applies too 

(though with 100% less Bintang than in the past…)

As a creative business owner and entrepreneur, you are ‘on’ most of the time – as in you are always thinking about, working on, or in your business, or connecting with people or thinking about ideas for your business.

And this is 100% one of the awesome things about being a creative entrepreneur. 

That it’s legit my ‘job’ to have ideas, and implement them – amazing.

But, it is intense. 
And in order to ‘switch off’ it’s important that whatever ‘play’ activity is equally as attractive in terms of the intensity and attention you will need to apply.

Quilting is an incredible activity for this (yes, I still count it as my PLAY). 

Nutting out a complex quilt ‘engineering’ problem, or refining a design to its simplest form are intense activities that while they don’t cost $42,000/hr, sure do hold your focus and attention.

Designing and learning new creative skills also take intense mental focus.
Sketching, linocuts, linework, painting, digital media all require an intensity of focus that demand 100% of your bandwidth.

👉How about you? 

what have you learnt in your professional life that you can apply to growing a creative business?

It’s easy to think when starting something new that you have to start from scratch. But that’s not true.

We bring our skills with us wherever we go. It’s about identifying those and finding new ways to implement them in a new context.

Here are some prompts for you to think about (or crack open your journal and write a few lines – or leave a comment below)

❓Think about what aspects of your professional life you enjoy the most. 
Is it working with systems (organisation, checking things off, working out how to get something done…), dealing with people (clients, outreach, meeting, collaborating…) or something else?

❓Which of these skills could you see as useful in your creative business (now or in the future)?

And… importantly…

❓How will you celebrate your hard work? How will you play hard? 
Cut the GOOD fabric? Learn a new skill? Do something crazy like go skydiving or rock climbing?

I’d love to know – drop a comment below and let me know what skill from your professional life you can see being a part of your creative business.