If there was one thing you think society should talk more about, what would it be?

“Your genius is what comes naturally to you.”

“I was once driven by the idea that you should strive to learn new skills and improve on the things that haven't come naturally. After some time, I have learnt that although you can do anything, you can't do everything at the same time. Do the things you’re good at."

Valerie Khoo is a writer, artist and business owner based in Sydney. She is CEO of the Australian Writers' Centre, the country’s leading centre for writing courses which has helped more than 75,000 students. She’s also owner of Story Art Studios, where she creates original art, sculptures and designs that are licensed all over the world on products such as stationery, wallpaper, fabric, upholstery, art prints and more.

Valerie hosts two weekly podcasts, ‘So you want to be a writer’ and ‘So you want to be a photographer’, is author of several books including ‘Power Stories: The 8 Stories You MUST Tell to Build an Epic Business’ and ‘So you want to be a writer’. She started her career in finance with PwC before transitioning in to publishing and journalism where she was deputy editor of CLEO magazine and a writer for Fairfax for 15 years. She founded the Australian Writers' Centre in 2005.

Valerie is a winner of the Telstra Business Awards and was recently the City of Sydney’s Curator of the Sydney Lunar Festival for 2019 and 2020, a 10-day event featuring artists, galleries, and events all over the city. She is one dynamic lady and I felt so lucky to get to sit down (in person over a cuppa) and have a great chat. Please enjoy this wonderful conversation with the incredibly multi-talented Valerie Khoo.

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Connect and find out more about Valerie here;-

For those interested in writing, they have a great newsletter at the Australian Writers’ Centre. You can find it at https://www.writerscentre.com.au/

For those interested in art and creativity, follow Valerie on Instagram: @valeriekhoo

Website: valeriekhoo.com

Social handles:

Check out her Podcasts:

So you want to be a writer:- -https://www.writerscentre.com.au/blog/category/podcasts/so-you-want-to-be-a-writer-podcast/

So you want to be a photographer:-

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/so-you-want-to-be-photographer-transform-your-skills/id957592464

And for more information about the Wabi Sabi Series, please find us here:-

If you have a burning topic you’d love society to talk more about, or know someone who’d be great to come on our podcast, drop us a line at [email protected]