Inside/Out | Beata Heuman

I had the pleasure of hosting the first lecture of the year with Beata Heuman. This year, there are five of us myself, Mauricio, Alex, Phoebe and Evgeniya that curate and organise bi-weekly lectures where we invite internationally renowned practices to discuss their work. Inside/Out is proudly the RCA’s only student-led lecture series. The aim is to use the conversations at lectures to incite, enliven and cross-fertilize ideas from many design disciplines. This year, we really try to differentiate this series from other lectures by shifting the content from something polished, to a discussion platform that confronts the ebbs and flows, glamour, glitz and grit of being in industry. We encourage designers to talk candidly about their career decisions - pitfalls and all. Our guests are asked to share advice and personal experience about getting started in the field, valuable lessons learned and share any professional insight. 

In the lecture, Beata shared insights on making a career as an interior designer drawing on her own experiences. She focused on finding your creative eye, unlocking the imagination and sources of inspiration as well as practical and less glamorous elements such as getting a job, taking risks and dealing with difficult clients. I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you Beata for accepting my invitation to speak at Inside/Out. I so admired her taking the time to speak with us weeks before the lecture, to ask about what students really wanted to hear. She gave anecdotes about a project manager from hell, and the importance of cover letters, not emphasizing your own personal development, but how you can support the business. She talked about how and why she started her product line - and why it was a profitable growth strategy for the business. It was rare to have someone so established being so gracious with her insight and career journey…with so much sincerity and authenticity. I am feeling inspired, empowered, and a bit starstruck. Thank you Beata.