When did you realise you wanted to be a designer?

After studying art at school and thinking I wanted to be a photographer I went and did an art foundation course and there I discovered graphic design (I don’t really think I had considered it as a career option before then). I really enjoyed all sorts of disciplines when I studied art and the reason I fell in love with design is that I realised that I could bring so many of them together in my designs. So I could include photography, illustration, typography, animation. I’ve always struggled to choose a niche and always want to learn new things and try everything so I think design really allowed (and still does allow) me to do that. I now specialise in branding for small businesses but still dabble and experiment with all sorts of different types of design.

How did you get started and what was the biggest hurdle you overcame?

I studied Graphic Design at university and as soon as I finished started looking for opportunities. I started off with a 3 month internship in New York and then got my first design job at a small studio in London. I think for me a big thing that I have had to overcome is lack of confidence. At various points in my career I have experienced sexism in the industry and I think that coupled with taking a break in my career (or at least it slowing down considerably) when I had kids knocked my confidence and left me feeling behind. I have gradually been building it up over the last few years and while I still find it scary to put my work and self out there online, I’m determined to keep doing it and to push myself out of my comfort zone. 

What’s been your most successful way of getting clients?

I think for me it has been a mix of word of mouth and social media (in particular instagram), I have been quite fortunate that since working for myself I haven’t had to try too hard to find clients and have really noticed that as I have got better at marketing myself over the last few years I have really been attracting clients that are a really good fit for how I like to work and my style. That has been really encouraging. Another way I think clients find me is from me being more visible online, so I have a podcast called Building your Brand and have also spoken at the virtual Adobe MAX conference the last two years, and various other conferences. I think it’s hard to track how many new clients have found me through those things but It has definitely helped new people to find me and learn more about my work. 

How do you get clients to stay with you and use you for more work?

This is definitely something that I need to work on as I don’t think I have been very intentional about it. I do have a few clients that I have built great long term relationships with and who keep coming back to me with more work, but I think I could definitely make an effort to encourage that with more of my clients! My plan for 2024 is to have a regular schedule for getting in touch with clients and seeing how they are doing after the projects are completed and also sending thoughtful gifts and levelling up my client experience so that I surprise and delight them every step of the way. 

Do you ever have issues with clients paying late? How do you manage that?

So far I have been really fortunate with this and it hasn’t been too much of an issue, but I do have certain tools in place to help. I make sure that I have a contract which states my payment terms, I take a deposit before even starting a project, and I also use invoicing software that makes it really easy to send reminders if they are late paying.

Another thing that I try to do is save up a pot of cash in my business account so that I have a buffer if an invoice doesn’t come in on time. It’s definitely a constant juggling act, but as I said, so far I haven’t had any issues beyond having to send the odd reminder. 

What does your typical work day look like?

I usually wake up at around 6.30 and doze for another hour while my husband gives our kids breakfast (he is much more of a morning person than me). I am then up and take over getting the kids ready for school and dropping them off. I am usually at my desk by around 9.15. I don’t work on particular tasks at particular times of the day but I usually have a to do list for each day that I start tackling. One thing I love about the business I’ve built is that the work I do can be really varied, so it could be recording a virtual talk, interviewing a guest for my podcast, working on new branding for a client, designing patterns.

Every day is different and I love that. I tend to break for lunch at about 12. My husband and I are both self employed and work from home. We work in different parts of the house but usually catch up at lunchtime and chat about what we are working on. Then back to work for a few hours in the afternoon. Some days I work until the kids need picking up from school and other days I have a longer day. I really like the balance of being able to fit my work around spending time with my kids while they are still quite young.

Any piece of advice/wisdom that you’d like to give the readers at This Design Life?

There are two bits of advice that have helped me loads. The first up is to be nice to work with. Yes being an amazing designer is great and important, but if people don’t enjoy working with you then ultimately they won’t come back or recommend you however good your design skills are. I think while we don’t have to be perfect and we are allowed to make mistakes you need to be the whole package as much as you can be. 

Second, be really careful whose feedback you take on board. I think one of the issues with social media is there are lots of faceless accounts out there who are desperate to share their thoughts on you, or your work. But something that really helped me with this is something Brene Brown said in one of her books, about how she is only interested in hearing feedback from people who are also in the arena getting their arse kicked. It’s from her book Rising Strong and I have heard her talk about it in talks she has given too and it has honestly helped me so much. So now I try to be really careful about whose feedback I let impact me.

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Photography by Marie Palbom: https://www.mariepalbomphotography.com/