Laura Brewis
Laura Brewis on making culture
Laura Brewis is the Founder and Project Director at We Make Culture CIC, a Sunderland-based social enterprise that is opening doors into creative industries for young people. Laura explains the growth that stems from art, music and culture, her own pathway into the industry, and how work-life balance and productivity don’t look the same for everyone.
Edited by Ruby Guyler Photographs by Christopher Owens
What does a brief history of you look like?
I come from Sunderland and am very much a product of free arts stuff: libraries, Play for Today on telly, free music lessons, gigs in the upstairs rooms of pubs - lots of ‘doing it yourself’!
I was ill through a lot of my late teens and 20s, which meant I did everything a bit late. That said, I loved cultural things and got involved in everything possible. I discovered a love for working with young people and communities and founded We Make Culture in 2017.
Tell me about We Make Culture. What do you attribute to its success?
We Make Culture CIC is a social enterprise based in Sunderland. We run participatory music activities with children, young people and families, and provide pathways for young people into the creative industries.
It’s success is down to two things: stubbornness (mine) and the people, venues and organisations we work with, who share the same ethos. Sunderland is an amazing place to be!
What do you love most about what you do every day?
I get to work with people who I think are amazing, on a massive variety of different things.
I get to watch music and culture make a difference.
I get to watch people develop and grow.
I get to see and hear amazing art.
Have you had to make sacrifices in your chosen career, and have they been worth it?
It’s hard to view them as sacrifices, as they are choices I’ve consciously made. I’m sure I could earn more money doing something else, just like I’m sure I could have a tidier house if I had more time. But I’m okay with those things!
“I’m sure I could earn more money doing something else, just like I’m sure I could have a tidier house if I had more time.
But I’m okay with those things!
”
What are some of your daily rituals and why are they part of your routine?
Yikes, I’m definitely not a ‘get-up-at-5am, green tea and meditate’ kind of person! My daily routine involves tipping myself and my kids out of bed at an acceptable time and bumbling through the day as best as I can.
I like a takeaway. I like to have a run and read a book, when possible. I like to talk to my friends and husband to stay sane.
What does work/life balance look like for you?
I think my version of work/life balance probably isn’t what other people view as balanced!
My husband’s a musician and so our lives are very much caught up in what we do. We’re lucky that we can skive off for an afternoon to go to a school show or have a bath when we need to. The flip side is the kids have to come to a lot of gigs, workshops and events.
How do you stay focused and productive in a world of distractions?
I love what I do, so it’s reasonably easy to be productive. My work is also incredibly varied, so it’s difficult to get bored - being productive is generally juggling a load of things.
Also, I think distractions are kind of brilliant - sometimes following the ‘distraction’ is the next amazing project (though I can feel WMC director, Hannah, groaning at this answer!).
“I think distractions are kind of brilliant - sometimes following the ‘distraction’ is the next amazing project”
If you had the power to change the world, what would you change?
Crikey, that’s hard. I’d like it best if really rich people didn’t hold all the power and, as a society, we didn’t make scapegoats out of the most vulnerable people.
Oh, and the NHS, social care, libraries, youth centres and the education system would be properly funded.
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