By Business & Finance 
Louise Allen is the Director of Creative Futures Academy, a Higher Education Authority (HCI project) and partnership between the National College of Art and Design, University College Dublin, and the Institute of Art Design + Technology – offering courses for practicing artists and creative professionals looking to upskill in arts, media and design.
By Héloïse Chaudot
What was your first job?
My first job after college was at a start-up called Paintworks. It tapped into the booming Irish pub franchise that became a global sensation in the 1990s. I cut my teeth at an early stage as an entrepreneur; it was a massive learning curve and a rapid shift from being a fine art student in NCAD to dealing with profit margins and overall business management.
What pushed you to pursue a career in this field?
Culture and creativity have always been integral to how I learn, work, and understand the world. After Paintworks, I pursued my own career as an artist and picked up a part-time job as an education curator in a contemporary art gallery. I experienced first-hand the power of creativity as a tool for learning and as a way of making sense of the world, particularly for young people.
Everyone is creative, it’s an essential part of all businesses and Creative Futures Academy (CFA) now works with a broad spectrum, from artists to scientists, filmmakers to bankers.
What would you regard as your greatest achievement to date?
Developing CFA from concept to reality. Working across three higher education institutions, multiple partners, and stakeholders has taken a lot of tenacity. Witnessing first-hand the impact CFA has had on artists and creative practitioners makes it all worthwhile.
We are currently working on the Creative Boardroom, which is an exciting cross-border creative initiative that has kicked off again this summer. It is a partnership project between the CFA, the Institute of Directors in Ireland, and the Institute of Directors in Northern Ireland. It’s funded by Creative Ireland’s Climate Action and Shared Island Fund, and it promotes the use of design thinking to bring together chartered directors and students from the National College of Art and Design and the Institute of Art, Design and Technology to generate creative solutions to environmental and social challenges related to climate change.
Career-wise, would you do anything differently?
Not now, but given the opportunity, I’d go back in time to remind my younger self that a career is our life experience, so make brave, bold, life-expanding choices.
In one sentence, how would you define success?
Never be afraid to take risks and learn from your mistakes.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
There is nothing you cannot do.
How do you motivate yourself and your staff?
Celebrate big and small wins. Observe and listen, be aware of the bigger life picture that’s going on for everyone. Be flexible and laugh often.
How do you handle adversity?
With a smile and an understanding that there is generally more going on than meets the eye.
How do you relax?
I love heat, so saunas, sweat lodges and sunshine help to melt tensions away. Being completely absorbed in my creative work is an important escape from the day-to-day.
What are your aspirations for the future of the business?
Creative Futures Academy is young and it’s a new approach to learning at masters and undergraduate level that makes education more accessible, adaptive, and inclusive. Our focus is on supporting talent, nurturing creativity and helping people to adapt to the big transitions – digital, green and social – while juggling work and life commitments.
Beyond this, we are championing the broader role of creativity and culture in Ireland’s future. CFA has already engaged with 1,300 enterprises in Phase 1 to develop industry-led courses, and Phase 2 is kicking off this Autumn.
Creativity and culture make a vast contribution to our society and it’s crucially important to be reminded of this and to continue this work.
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