Emma Hoy and Caroline Wallace are the Directors of Signal Creative, one of the businesses in The Mill House Social Enterprise Accelerator 2018.

What are you working on?
We have been facilitating the creation of original art in regional and remote areas with groups of young women. We recently presented one of these works – NEON CAVES at the Enlighten festival in Canberra which was an incredible opportunity for the artists we were working with to travel and perform their creation in front of a big audience! We are also about to start 2 brand new projects with young women located in Warren and Walgett N.S.W, we can’t wait.

Why is innovation important to you?
The inspiration and the way that communities and individuals express themselves is unique. As Signal Creative we create customised programs for every community so each pathway and process is immediately different. By supporting new ideas and concepts, collaborating, cooperating and ensuring the artists always have creative ownership and control the young artists involved are presenting music and art in unexpected ways. Innovation allows us to use the resources around us, the (sometimes very limited) time we have to work on the ground, and to successfully bring people together throughout the creative process. Innovation manifests as the artist is free to express themselves in ways have have not done so before.

What drives you to make a difference?
There is nothing more motivating than empowering other women to tell their stories – we are inspired by the passion and creativity of the people we meet. We create safe, supportive female only spaces and find that ideas, expression, creativity, self confidence and mutual respect flourish in these environments. We are driven to support women in regional and remote locations where there is often limited access to the resources and skill-set that Signal can offer, activities like Music, Sound recording, Podcasting, Photography, Craft and Sculpture, Set design, Costume making and performance art. When all participants are welcomed into a space where they are the most important element, when a space is created from the input and efforts of its community- it’s a beautiful thing to be a part of.

Do you have any advice for getting more women into the innovation ecosystem?
Believe in yourself! Believe in your work! If you’re doing something new or different, it’s not an easy path, you’ll have to deal with knock-backs and even criticism. Take these challenges as a learning experience and try and make your project better from it. You don’t have to completely change your approach based on all feedback, but is there something could be explained better, tweaked or presented differently? Keep moving, keep innovating!