Female Social Entrepreneur Success Story

Club Art.Dia.Net

Lucille, a diabetic, created an Art Therapy club for persons with diabetes. She overcame 3 entrepreneurial challenges on the way.

   

   

 

 

Diabetes results in over 4 million deaths annually. The global annual economic cost of diabetes related health expenditure is estimated at US$800 billion.

 

 

 

 

Social Entrepreneurship Success Story

 
 

 

Club Art.Dia.Net

   

 

Lucille, a young theater and film artist and Illustrator, works as a Freelance Artist. Lucille wanted to help people with type 1 diabetes live without devastating emotional experiences, without depression, and be optimistic about life. Art is the best medicine in the art therapy.

Having studied in the school of Diabetes, Lucille started making drawings for an Art Diary of a Diabetic. She came up with the idea of counting art calories and draw emotions. Lucille began giving master classes and teaching people with type 1 diabetes to draw emotions. She started playing in the Family Theatre (3-in-1 theatre) «TreATr». All these helped Lucille to make her life easier and turn the disease into a "lifestyle" built on a healthy diet, physical excersise, and creativity.

Yet, Lucille was not entrepreneurial enough to commercialize her invention and apply it all over the world. To solve the problem, Lucille established a startup "Club Art.Dia.Net" jointly with her FAMILY TEAM "Russia Creators" as co-investors.

CHALLENGE #1

Fishing Rod - KoRe 10 Innovative Thinking Tool The startup needed advertising to convince its target customers to participate in its master classes. Lucille illustrated a book about emotional stress relief, the ABC of emotions-emoengrams, and drew people with type 1 diabetes with a pump, blood glucose meters, and other items they needed. It was quite a good start, but there were few customers.

SOLUTION

Innovative Thinking Tools - Flashlight Kore 10 Lucille found that it was easier for people to buy her "Diabetic Art Diary" than to sign up for her master class. Lucille took part in the international INOCTOBER with drawings and attracted attention of people with diabetes to her work.

Revenue from orders after a contest with drawings about the life of a diabetic helped "Club Art.Dia.Net" get new clients for master classes. There were orders for a play and a set of dolls for the Family Theatre (3-in-1 theatre) «TreATr».


CHALLENGE #2

Kore 10 Innovative Thinking Tools: KNIFE The pandemic forced Lucille to discontinue workshops and art therapy for people with type 1 diabetes who were at risk of death due to the virus. They were forced to stay at home in isolation. Social startup club «Art. Dia. Net» was under threat of closure.

SOLUTION

Kore 10 Innovative Thinking Tools: HEADSET Lucille came up with the idea to make a video with diabetic friends while in quarantine in isolation to support people and the startup. FAMILY TEAM "Russia Creators" came up with the idea to launch a video channel for master classes and chat support for people with type 1 diabetes isolated due to the pandemic.

In one month, Lucille run four Art-marathons for self-isolated diabetics who were to create one drawing for the "Art Diary-diabetic" (autumn) daily: play characters for the Family theater (3-in-1 theater) "TreATr" (winter), characters from animated films\commercials of the art school of Diabetes (spring), emotional stress relief "ABC of emotions-emoengrams" (summer).

Advertising in social networks and Instagram helped "Club Art.Dia.Net" to gain more clients and survive the pandemic.


CHALLENGE #3

Kore 10 Innovative Thinking Tool: Balloon Lucille wanted  her "Club Art.Dia.Net" startup to go global in order to help people with type 1 diabetes all over the world during the pandemic and beyond.

SOLUTION

Fishing Rod - KoRe 10 Innovative Thinking Tool Lucille created "Club Art.Dia.Net" in English to help people with diabetes to keep an "Art diary-Diabetic" worldwide. She placed the Club on the Patreon site to provide additional content for its subscribers, called "patrons".

Financial support from Patreon's sponsors helped the Club to create a revenue stream from sales of the diary and enabled "Club Art.Dia.Net" expand globally, and to franchise Club Art.Dia.Net iout to local leaders in other countries who started running Art-marathons in their native language.


Lucille's dream of becoming an Art social entrepreneur and helping people with the autoimmune disease type 1 diabetes live a full, joyful and creative life came true!

 

 

Olga Shabatura, Russia

Art therapy powered holistic creativity
produces amazing results.

Olga Shabatura

 

 

 

 

Mark given by Jury: 9.0