Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Heather Bryan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Heather, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
For me, discovering my purpose has been a lifetime journey of getting to know myself more deeply, to where I can say for certain. This is who I am, and who I want to present this version to the world.
Naturally, I am an artistic person who is passionate about various types of artistic endeavors.
My challenge has always been how to stay focused on just one area. This focus that I needed came about because of a personal traumatic experience. During this time, I consciously came to a place where everything came into focus and l could see more clearly.
Deeply reflecting, I gained a complete sense of purpose for the person I am today based on my faith in God, my values, my creative skills, and my commitments to those whom I love and cherish.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My name is Heather Bryan. I am a Fashion Designer by profession and the new author of a young adult book. I am also a self-taught artist who finds inspirational ideas in nature and folk culture and expresses them through acrylic paintings.
From the age of seven, fashion designing has always been my greatest passion, and it is something that I was fortunate to do as a profession. I manufactured ladies’ leisure wear and featured a one-of-a-kind, hand-painted, art-to-wear collection that has a distinctive mix of cultural and exotic essence.
I started writing poems and plays from my elementary school days. During my adult years, I wrote children’s stories for my local church that were presented in the children’s segment. Within the last two years, my imagination has become more focused on writing captivating short stories and doing art paintings.
My first book is called “A Boonoonoonoos Time” Boo-noo-noo-noos is a Jamaican word that means wonderful. The story captures this wonderful time in my childhood spending holidays in a rural community that was void of modern-day convenience.
The ever-changing technologies and competitiveness of today’s world cause a lot of stress in our daily lives just to keep up. Children encounter a wide range of violence on social media devices. Our world was never a perfect place, but my personal experience as a child spending holidays in the country was an endless day of playing outdoors in the sun. Childhood obesity and ADHD in children were unheard of. We have lost so much in our changing world; one-third of our forest, good habits, and traditional ethics and values, but most of all our children lost their born-free innocence to be children.
The aim of my book, “A Boonoonoonoos Time” is to put a smile on the reader’s face as I take them to an era where a self-sustaining community lived ‘the simply stress-free life’ void of most of our modern-day conveniences. The characters are hilarious. My target readers are the Caribbean diaspora who can relate to it as well as other readers who are interested in an easy-to-read and fun childhood story.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I believe that my three strongest qualities are believing in myself, believing in my ideas, and developing my vision over time of how my ideas can come into being.
My advice for folks who are early in their journey is to believe in yourself, trust your ideas, and learn how to develop your vision.
Believing in yourself is foundational to your journey. Others can believe in you and see that your ideas are good and can be successful, but until you believe in yourself and your ideas, you will struggle to bring those ideas to life. Developing your vision of who you are is your journey towards maturity. For some folks, this comes naturally, but for others, it will take time, but by believing in yourself and your ideas, with time, you will grow into your vision.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
My current project is creating inventories for an arts and crafts project that I am planning to launch in the coming year. Conceptually, this project would be in the virtual space, but eventually, it would be truly great if down the road it would turn into a physical space where both artists and those who appreciate different art can interact in the same space. I would love it to be a collective experience where others with a creative passion can bring their ideas, talents, and work into a holistic community that is more supportive than competitive. My idea for this space is one where we can support and showcase different aspects of our artistic personalities in our journey and our continued growth. This is a project that I am really interested in seeing come to life.
The place to connect with me for this project is @ my facebook page @ Heather Bryan
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.heatherbryan.ca
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heather.a_bryan
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heather.bryan.108
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/heather-bryan-34a5432a7
