How it all started
Abbie Cooke, co founder of Gig-Arts has had a diverse career – as a an artist and artist's agent, a marketing manager, a captain in the territorial army and a motivational speaker. Phew!
In 2005 Abbie decided to take a break from business and went back to college. During the course of her studies for an MSc in Entrepreneurship she rediscovered what she always knew was true – creative people (with a few exceptions) are not naturally entrepreneurial. They generally love what they do so much, that often they happily give their work away for free!
This got Abbie thinking. Could artists learn how to be more entrepreneurial?
During the writing of her thesis on how artists become entrepreneurs she developed the Gig-Arts concept – creative interactive workshops that would teach students of the visual arts, music and drama how to make a living and make a difference.
She trialled her concept at University for the Creative Arts in Farnham. It was a huge success and won Abbie UK Business Student of the Year for CSR and a British Female Inventors and Innovators Award the following year.
The twist in the Gig-Arts concept is not just about helping students develop their enterprise skills and the benefit of working with others, but also the value of giving back and helping others with their time and talent.
Navigation
