The Inside Word with Frances Derham
Image rights: Frances Derham / The Wensley
Frances Derham’s creative career has had many exciting chapters, from working in a photography studio to producing films, and recently, creating The Wensley: a bespoke timber architectural accommodation home in the hinterland of Victoria’s surf coast.
In our conversation on Imprint, Frances shares the importance of hard work, asking the right questions and getting to the heart what you want to achieve, and noticing the through lines in your journey that have led you to where you are today.
→ Click here to listen to Fran’s interview on the Imprint podcast
Which words best describe you?
Passion, energy, fun, honest, dedicated
What’s the best lesson you’ve learned?
It's 99% survival. Basically, don’t stop. Never give up. If you fall, get back up and try the same thing again and try not to be too embarrassed about it. That’s the biggest thing.
What’s your proudest achievement?
My kids. I think it has given me great perspective. I was someone that overanalyzed, was quite anxious, was in my head way too much. I think as a young person, we have so much time on our hands, and then you become a mother and you realise that you just have to get quicker at things and it gets you out of your head.
What’s been your best decision?
To move to the coast. Moving coastally has been the biggest change in my life for the better in every single way. I think being part of a small community is what I needed.
Who inspires you?
Everyone. To my detriment, I always look left and I always look right, and I think I'm getting to a period of my life where I just need to look ahead. But so many people.
What are you passionate about?
I'm passionate about learning. I think always evolving and affecting change no matter in what context or form. I think anything you do should have purpose and have a positive impact. Generally it seemed to be quite female focused, because I found myself in such a male dominated industry. I want to give other women the confidence to go out and achieve what they want from whatever age that they want to do it.
What dream do you still want to fulfil?
Oh, so many. On one hand I want to live a quiet, peaceful life, but on the other hand, I want to make an award-winning TV series or a few of them. I want to write a series of books. And I wouldn't mind doing an art exhibition at some point. They're all the three things that are always floating around in my head. And I want to help my husband achieve his dreams and help my kids achieve theirs.
What are you reading? What, what books do you like to have on your bedside table or on your coffee table?
I'm reading Maus by Art Spiegelman. It’s a book that a girlfriend had handed to me and it's pretty remarkable, I could highly recommend it. I want to read All My Mothers, which looks incredible… and I also just am obsessed with James Clear [author of Atomic Habits].
What are you listening to?
I've been listening to your podcast (Imprint) a bit. Also, my girlfriend Celeste contributes to something called [SIC] Weekly, a really cool newsletter on Substack, so that's almost my podcast at the moment. I used to listen to Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb a fair bit. I like Dave Prodan’s surfing podcast The Lineup, and also Lauren Hill and Dave Rastovich’s Waterpeople Podcast.
What piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
Relax, it all works out in the end. I spent a lot of time stressing about what I was going to do in the future. And also, life doesn't end when you have kids. For all those women out there who are younger, it just gets better… I thought I had to get everything done in my life before I had kids. And then I realised that that was a false deadline, and to let that go. You can only achieve more, and the older you get, the better you get at things. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
You can catch my full conversation with Fran on the Imprint podcast here.