Well-known scrapbook industry designer and instructor Emilie Ahern announced over the weekend that she is stepping away from the industry and turning over The Scrap Review site that she founded to assistant editor Ashley Harris. Ahern has also resigned from all of her design team commitments.
The reason that this ambitious designer-on-the-rise is stepping away from the success she has achieved in scrapbooking? Put simply, burnout:
The thing is….as I became published, taught classes, accepted assignments from magazines and Guest Artists spots, I found myself simply “filling an assignment”. I often scrapped other people’s children because some assignments were gender or theme specific. And somewhere along the line I stopped telling my story. After much thought and consideration I have realized that I need to step away.
On her personal website, Ahern indicated that she plans to keep scrapping but that she has gone digital for the most part and will be holding a massive garage sale for disposing of most of her paper supplies.
Ahern’s announcement, paired with a similar one last week by Creating Keepsakes’ Becky Higgins, sparked a lively discussion on this week’s Paperclipping Newsbreak about the high risk of burnout among professionals in the scrapbook industry who have turned their hobby into their job.
I think that a lot of people in the industry feel this way. I recently started a business with my mom & sister & I am worried about losing my “story” as well. Since we started stocking up on our pre-made albums & mini-album kits for our shop opening in Colorado, I haven’t picked up any of my own projects. And, when my sister worked retail in the industry, she was always busy designing for classes & the store that she fell far behind on her story as well.
I think the important thing for any of us is to not get too caught up in the “limelight” of getting our name & designs out there. Pick a goal, like a magazine you really want to see your work in & aim for that. If something intriguing comes along, take it. But none of us should feel that we have to commit our lives to designing for others!
I think that Emilie is extremely brave to be so honest about why she’s leaving & hope that others will be inspired to take a step back as well. I wish her good luck in all her new endeavors!