Art Saves • by Jeanne Lewis

Creativebug was a project that I had to do. I had no choice. My passion for it was so strong that I felt I'd boarded a train I couldn't get leap off, even if I wanted to. It is quite possibly the hardest and most terrifying thing I've done -- and am still doing.

I started working on Creativebug at night and on the weekends in April 2011. Go to work, come home, spend two hours with kids, then down in the basement to work on a site I didn't know would ever see the light of day. I had a friend Sam, from New Zealand who was a freelance developer/designer. He happened to be in San Francisco when I called, so we met for tea at the Ferry building and brainstormed for hours. He was on board. One small detail...he needed a place to live . So the conversation with my husband went like this "Hey, so you've never met Sam, my handsome 25-year-old developer friend from New Zealand....but he wants to help with Creativebug and...well...could he live in our basement?" Silent long pause, strange look, then....wait for it...."Sure."

Best husband EVER.

I had watched as an amazing community of female designers and artists created a tight-knit community based on admiration and respect. Many of them offered e-courses and I thought, "What if they all got together in one place and could support each other on a much bigger level and everyone would benefit?" This was my sticking point. If we were going to build something, it had to be something where everyone wins. We started to map it out and realized that each of these instructors could potentially extend their reach by bringing all of their audiences together. AND the audience would benefit because they would get access to this group of top talent at a price point they could never find otherwise.

Natalie Chanin told a story in her Physics of Sewing workshop about her grandfather asking each grandchild to grab a twig and try and snap it. It easily breaks. But if you gather a bundle of twigs, it’s almost impossible to break them. When I heard her tell this story, it struck a deep chord. That is what we are trying to accomplish on Creativebug—a platform for these amazing instructors to share their talent and continue to support each other in the same way they already do in their daily lives. On Creativebug, you don't have to choose to take one person's class over the other, which appeals to our instructors because the alternative puts them in direct competition with each other. They have made brave decisions in their lives to walk the path of their passions because they are led by their hearts, and not by money. On Creativebug, everyone is elevated by the power of the group . That was my hunch when I set out to start Creativebug and I’m proud that is has been validated by these woman I have long admired.

Starting this company has been one of the scariest things I have ever done. But twig by twig, instructor by instructor, we are building something that is resilient and inspiring and more gratifying than I ever could have imagined.

To learn more about Jeanne Lewis, visit creativebug.com or www.facebook.com/pages/Creativebug/356129344439441?ref=hl.