For years, well always, my social media has been a highlight reel of hobbies, travels, and life outside of work. It was never a place where I actively sought out clients or promoted my design business. But as I stepped into full-time freelance, I knew I had to get comfortable with putting myself out there—not just in the work itself, but in letting people know I am available for hire.

Enter imposter syndrome.

A month into this freelance thing and man am I surprised. Before making the leap, the always present fear of being able to sell/get work and projects was nagging at me. Luckily I knew this was a big change I had never done before. Getting my ducks in a row needed to be the priority. As I sat at my desk setting up my website, contact channels, updating portfolios and services, I realized this was the first time I had designed and worked without being on the clock since my first job at Lakeview Golf Course in 7th grade (holler if you need a new site haha). I’ve always been a worker. These hands can’t idle. They work for the money. That said, it was a strange new feeling to be putting these hours in and not be getting paid to do so. I wasn’t camping on a salary check. I wasn’t milking the clock for those extra bucks since working 40 hours a week in any state in the country barely covers rent. I digress. It was still work that needed to be done. I didn’t have any work lined up. I had some leads but if I wanted to take on the work I knew I wanted, this unpaid work was mandatory.

There’s a couple of ways I could go about addressing that title. I could go into the depths of how a logo is just a piece of the puzzle and utilizing quality graphic designers and services will put the rest of the puzzle together for you. OR I could walk you through the process of what you get when we work on a brand identity package together. I think I’ll go that route and save the other for a later time.

SO when we start working together, it’s a collaboration.

This year began with a bang. After spending the last couple years under the tutelage of Ampersand Studios and the previous 10 years in-house at Page One Power as their anything design one-man show, I either had an existential crisis and hit the panic button or I felt like an art school student and the only way forward was to drop out and see how I could use the tools I’ve learned over the years as a freelance designer.