R|7.0: Halfway Through & Hitting Our Stride
We’ve just crossed the halfway mark of R|7.0, The Refinery’s Creative Business Incubator for 2025.
Six weeks in and there's a buzz in the air.
The conversations are sharper. The questions go deeper. Ideas that started as tentative sketches are now taking shape in the word.
This is the point in R|7.0 where the cohort shifts gears from imagining their creative business to stepping forward and taking the reins.
There's a thrilling sense of “it’s really happening.”
Here are the highlights since our last R|7.0 update...
From Blueprint to Build
Over the past month, we’ve been busy turning early foundations into something far more alive.
Tanja Hall, SCCA Board Member and Founder of JOLT, introduced the Business Model Canvas: a living map to visualise value moving through a business and build business models that are dynamic, adaptable and values-aligned.
I carried this energy into a Generative Leadership exploration through somatic practice, moving and locating ourselves in relation to place, purpose and potential.
Adam Brunes, Co-founder of Aruga, The Little Red Company, dropped in with a deep dive into his extensive career in the arts. His candour, humour and one-on-one chats left everyone walking a little taller.
The Power of Brand & Structure
Creative Director and Design Director, Jaime Kiss, and Deb Caruso, Founder of IN Publishing, cracked open the idea of brand as something far more expansive than a logo, but as a living relationship between you, your work, and the communities you serve.
Deb's own story of launching a print magazine against a tide of digital media was fuel to the fire of entrepreneurial spirit. A masterclass in conviction, courage and creativity.
Fiona Killackey of My Daily Business shifted our gaze to systems and processes, and the art of making your business run as smoothly as your ideas flow. A private tour from Megan Williams, Director of UniSC Art Gallery, gave us an equally valuable lesson, peeking behind the curtain of curating. That curation, like business, is about what you choose to hold and why, and how you frame that which you value.
Partnering with Purpose
With Carly Forrest of The Dreaming Collective, we explored partnerships that are built to last — in business, in community, and in First Nations contexts. We mapped the networks that matter, identifying stakeholders and collaborators who will help carry each business forward.
Value Creation & Perception
Money may not be the why, but cash flow keeps creative visions thriving.
Fiona Killackey returned to de-mystify the art of money making with a hands-on workshop to get to know the numbers side of running a creative business.
Tanja Hall returned for a deep dive into value propositions and digital presence, testing how each pitch might resonate with the people we most want to reach.
Eyes on The Showcase
The next two weeks are a deliberate pause - a space for participants to ready themselves for the final sprint: preparation for The Showcase on the 10th September. This is a chance to stand in front of industry partners and peers, and share not just what they’ve built, but to pitch for investment, support or collaboration.
As always, it’s a joy to walk beside these budding entrepreneurs. To see those first tentative steps turn into emphatic leaps. I can't wait to share their stories with you all soon.
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 courtesy of The Refinery and Jamie Davidson