Facilitating R|7.0: Returning to The Refinery
It was an incredible feeling to be invited to return as facilitator of R|7.0 — The Refinery’s Creative Business Incubator for 2025. I can't believe we're already in Week 2!
Last year reminded me just how powerful and integral the arts are in our communities. I was floored by the 2024 cohort's journeys of growth and their passion and commitment, culminating in one brilliant Showcase.
It is now my greatest joy and an absolute honour to be walking alongside a brand new group of daring, creative entrepreneurs.
About R|7.0
R|7.0 is a 10-week creative business incubator designed to help artists and innovators turn ideas into sustainable enterprises. With weekly workshops, mentoring, (and a whole lot of reflection and grit), participants build entrepreneurial confidence, sharpen their value proposition, prepare their pitch, and take their businesses to the next level.
Our values centre growth, equity, leadership, and the essential contribution of First Nations creatives. The program is delivered under the wisdom and guidance of our Elder-in-Residence, Aunty Helena Gulash.
Meet the 2025 Cohort
Our new cohort offers a rich diversity of disciplines and stages of business growth:
• Roisin Clark – Ro Clark Art
• Spencer Davids – Tiny Mountains
• Mia Gimenez – Gimenez Voice Academy
• Kerrie Harth – Kerrie Harth Creative
• Georgia Haupt – G Docs
• Sara Ingram – Sara Ingram Art
• Edwina Masson – Grapevine Collective
• Mary McGilvray – Mary McGilvray Photography
• Jenny Wynter – The Creative GreenHouse
The Story so far...
Week 1
Week 1 welcomed back a familiar face from last year – Alis Anagnostakis, founder of the Vertical Development Institute.
Together we explored vertical development, which is all about how we see, think and navigate with greater complexity, maturity and wisdom.
This lays the foundation for each participant's journey of personal and professional growth, to consider not just what we do, but who we are becoming as creative leaders.
Week 2
We've just emerged from Week 2, an exploration into the heart and soul of each creative business, and our relationship to Country.
Aunty Helena Gulash, the Kabi Kabi Gubbi Gubbi Traditional Custodian and Elder, took us for a walk at the Maroochy Arts and Ecology Centre sharing with us some of her stories behind her artwork displayed within the sculpture garden.
This experience is key for our creative entrepreneurs as we cultivate a regenerative mindset.
Regenerative Leadership is a powerful framework for creative leaders, acknowledging the role the arts play in re-imagining, remaking, and reconnecting systems.
Regeneration isn’t about fixing systems out there. It’s about seeing clearly how we’ve been part of the damage, and then shifting how we relate: to land, to time, to each other. It begins in our intention, in our relationships, in our creative choices. We can either replicate broken systems or participate in new, living ones.
This week, participants shared the heart of their creative practice through personal artefacts that reflect the vision and values at the centre of their business, and we also welcomed some of the program mentors.
There’s so much more to come as this group continues to stretch into their leadership, test bold ideas, and shape their creative businesses, culminating in the R|7.0 Showcase this September.
Stay tuned!
R|7.0 is part of The Refinery, SCCA’s platform for professional development supporting creatives at the intersection of art, technology, environment and design.
Supported by:
Queensland Government (Arts Queensland)
Sunshine Coast Council (RADF)
UniSC Creative Ecologies
Hello Sunshine & IN Noosa Magazine
Photos by Jamie Davidson courtesy of The Refinery.