by Robbi James

Creative Plus Business advisors and mentors are known for their passion and expertise in guiding creatives and businesses toward sustainable, and personally fulfilling, success. But you might not know that every advisor is a practicing creative, artist, entrepreneur, or all of the above. Each month we’ll be introducing you to a member of our advisor network, sharing their insights, journey, and what they love about mentoring creatives. 

This month, we’re profiling Felicity Blake, a creative industry specialist with a wealth of experience and an unwavering commitment to fostering growth and innovation.

A Career Rooted in Creativity and Purpose

Felicity is a documentarian, field producer, and social impact campaign strategist based in New South Wales. With a strong connection to Gadigal/Sydney and Bundjalung/Byron Lismore regions, her career spans advertising, talent management, feature film development, and factual production. She founded The Dove Media in 2007, where her work as a documentary researcher, writer, field producer, director and impact campaign producer has contributed to acclaimed documentaries including Whiteley, Dying to Live, and The Burning Season. Beyond her work in film, Felicity has a parallel career in event production, including her 13-year tenure with the Supanova Pop Culture Expo, where she managed national tours by countless celebrities from film, TV, games and publishing; and her specialisation in medal ceremonies for the Olympics, Paralympics, and Special Olympics.

Her expertise extends across film, television, social impact communications, and more, enabling her to support clients across the creative spectrum.

“I’ve been fortunate to travel extensively and collaborate on projects that merge creativity with meaningful impact.”

The Power of Vision and Praxis

Felicity’s approach to business advising is shaped by her ability to integrate broad, complex strategic perspectives with attention to detail. Her unique mix of international and local production & humanitarian experience has resulted in a brain like Google Maps: from high-altitude concepts, she can zoom in to authentic personal minutiae.

A sensitive and attentive thought leader in her sector, Felicity strives to be at the vanguard of best practice, ethical praxis, and creative innovation. She meets her diverse clients ‘where they are’ and helps them navigate to where they want to be… and beyond.

Her workplace philosophy is inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words: “We must combine the toughness of the serpent and the softness of the dove: a tough mind and a tender heart.” 

Advocating for Culture and Creative Sustainability

Felicity’s passion as a business advisor is working to support the sustainable practices and rights of creatives as a professional class who produce a vital output: culture. “Culture is our shared idea of who ‘we’ are and what we value,” she notes. “It contributes to quality of life and is the basis of social cohesion, which is essential for a prosperous and peaceful society. But culture, creativity and the arts  can be difficult to price because their value is often subjective. That doesn’t mean they don’t have value; it means they may well be priceless.”

One of Felicity’s most memorable and formidable clients was  Joan, who, in her 80s, published multiple books  (including her own memoir), developed a remarkable small business as a Crone Influencer (hosting a meaningful rite of passage for menopausal women), and became an intriguing public speaker on topics from ageism to fashion waste.

Ingenuity, Imagination, and Resilience

“How do we, as producers of culture, survive and thrive in economic and political systems that don’t understand where we fit?”

“In economically unpredictable and socially tense times — even as our chronically undervalued impact is being stolen, faked and automated — how do we shape our authentic art into a ‘product’ form that’s easy to explain and to exchange money for? How do we make good choices about compromise? How do we build an audience, a community of supporters, and persuade them to pay for our work?”

These are all questions that Felicity loves to solve with her clients. It’s in shaping the answers that Felicity and her clients find ways to maintain their creative ingenuity, build authentic connections, and develop their own ways to not just remain resilient, but to thrive.

Advice for Aspiring Creative Entrepreneurs

For those embarking on their entrepreneurial journey, Felicity shares these two ‘hacks’:

“Understand ‘The Beautiful Lie’: creative sector workers all have quiet ways of making cash that don’t compromise the integrity of their artistic practice. Learn more about Arts worker tips and hacks that aren’t your grandparents’ “Just get a trade to fall back on, luv.”

“The adage it’s not what you know, it’s who you know’ is only partly true. I enjoy sharing advice on how to crack into established industrial relationship networks and understand marketplace realities.”

Keen to know more about how you could book up to 8 hours of free advice, guidance, and mentoring with Felicity? If you’re based in NSW you can do this now through Service NSW Business Connect.

Visit our Business Connect page to learn more about the program or get in touch with Creative Plus Business team for tailored help.