One of the biggest lessons I learned from Urban Lowdown was that working alone was not sustainable.
When I think about the enormous amounts of time spent designing, coding, marketing, editing, recruiting and so on, I really wonder what I was thinking.
Of course, when you are working on something you feel passionate about, it’s imperative to find people who share that drive. And when you have no money to pay anyone, that passion becomes even more important.
So I swore to myself that next time, I wouldn’t go it alone.
Well, I’m going it alone. What’s funny is that I am surrounded by really talented people who could make this project so much easier. Designers, coders, strategy people, creatives. But it’s the same old problem - how do you get people willing to give their time and efforts to an idea?
When I first approached UCLA about Urban Lowdown, the director of the Education Abroad Program at the time was a lovely woman who got it immediately. As soon as I started explaining to her what I wanted to do, she was coming up with ideas. Good ideas. She knew what I was trying to achieve, and why it was important. It was amazing.
I left her office an hour later completely stunned. Someone understood what had started out as a seed of an idea, and had given so much energy back to that idea through their enthusiasm.
She was of course never going to work for me, given she was the director of the program, but she was an important ally as the project started coming together.
A shared passion working towards a common goal is extremely important when working on something like this. No money, just your time. It’s very difficult to sustain, and the more people involved who truly get it is an invaluable source of inspiration.
Anyway, I’ve got a few people in mind this time. Fingers crossed.