Do What You Love and Make Money. Running a Successful Business as a Creative.

Self Development

woman working at home with her laptop — Photo by Vlada Karpovich on Pexels.com

Let's be honest. Traditionally creativity and skills that follow it aren't considered those that "make you money" in adults' lives. Yes, most parents encouraged us as kids to draw, dance, and have a creative hobby. But the moment we grew up and started thinking about careers, they dreamed of us becoming doctors, lawyers, or bankers.

Creative professions weren't supposed to be the ones that "make good money," maybe except for interior design and architecture. And yet, in today's day and age, graphic design, writing, and imagination at large are in high demand for successful marketing and growth of any business online.

The proof can be found in many thriving creative businesses, especially the ones run by women 😊. I've had the privilege of talking to 5 of them and am sharing their stories with you below.

Finding yourself can lead you to a successful business.

Kailee Nauman lives near Denver, Colorado. Since childhood, she loved everything creative. Her parents run a small screen-printing business, and Kailee grew up in a shop seeing all sorts of beautiful designs come to life on T-shirts, snowboards, or billboards.

However, when she grew up, the traditional world's expectation pushed Kailee to study architectural engineering in a small-town college in Wyoming. It wasn't a good fit. Kailee hated the courses and missed the vibe of a big city. To the point that she got sick and had to go back home.

She took a year off to reconnect with herself, find balance, go back to painting and other creative hobbies she loved doing. This was when Kailee discovered the Art Institute of Colorado and graphic design. She signed up and loved it. It felt home.

During school, Kailee did free-lance photography to help with tuition. After graduation, she worked as a graphic and web designer in several companies from different industries.

She was learning a lot, but her entrepreneurial spirit was calling.

That's why, at first part-time, Kailee started her own business, Eclectic Designs. CO. When the COVID pandemic started, like many others, she lost her corporate position. With it, Kailee decided it was the perfect opportunity to focus on growing Eclectic Design full time.

Through web and other design services, she helps other creatives and lifestyle enthusiasts build unique brands, feel confident about who they are, and shine in their industry.

Kailee's vision is to create a community for creatives where they feel supported, help each other and never feel alone. She's already started that through a podcast, and down the line, she wants to open a physical co-op space for collaboration, connection, and coffee time.

There's always going to be challenges. No one is successful without them. Hide your pride and ask for help. You'll realize you're not alone.

Kailee Nauman

You can be successful in anything you set your mind to, even if others don't believe in you.

Karina Schwarzenböck comes from Canada, Quebec, the French province. But she lives in southern Germany with her husband. She speaks English, French, and German fluently and works with entrepreneurs all over the world.

She spent many years in corporate marketing before a life-changing event pushed her to rethink what she'd do with her life going forward. She decided to become an entrepreneur. The moment was tough because Karina didn't have the support even from her own closest family. Instead of letting that break her, she decided she will use it as fuel to show everyone what she can create herself.

She started her marketing business 4 years ago.

At first, she focused on helping small family-owned business to get visibility online. She gained clients fast. A year and a half later, she realized that many of her clients were not SME's but actually women solopreneurs working around their passions. As they were hiring Karina, they all had the same problem when creating a website or figuring out how to market better. It was always the branding issue.

This realization helped Karina to niche down, and in 2018 Personal Brand Architect was born. She is now assisting entrepreneurs in creating a brand that will allow them to grow and scale by defining what they are all about and what makes them stand out.

Her vision is to help thousands of entrepreneurs create their own visions and gain clarity on how they want to translate them to their ideal audience. Karina helps her clients to define how people feel when they come in contact with their brands.

Don't spend all kinds of time being busy doing things that don't move you forward. You don't need to be an expert in everything but need to understand what you are looking for when asking for help.

Karina Schwarzenböck

More creative than Broadway?

Yes, you read that right. Jessica's roots are dug deep in Broadway, where she worked as a prop master for one of the theater companies. But in-person entrainment industry suffers probably the most because of COVID. Even Broadway has been closed for a while, and who knows when it will reopen.

And Jessica Lee is not the one to sit around and wait for her faith to be decided by others. Of course, she loves interior décor. For a while, her long-term career goal was to complete certification in interior design, and COVID closures seemed to be perfect timing to actually do it.

Since October 2020, Jessica is a certified interior designer with Broadway theatre experience. How cool is that!

That's also when Jessica opened her business, Interiors by Jessica Lee. She helps her clients decorate their brand-new homes or refresh existing spaces. She does it in a way that's beautiful for the eye and at the same time creates a peaceful flow and "zen-like" feeling.

Jessica enjoys working with client's existing pieces. Homes are our safe places, where we want to relax and be happy. And lately, we're spending soo much more time inside. They are our sanctuaries, and that's the feeling Jessica wants to help her clients create.

So how does Jessica manage COVID restrictions in her business? She offers virtual consultations and in-person done for you services, in all safety with masks on.

Jessica's business is new. She experienced first hand that creating one from scratch can be pretty daunting. What helped her overcome the early fears and frustrations was planning. Planning helps you not lose sight of the big picture as well as focus on the small tasks that get you there without feeling overwhelmed.

It is so easy to get overwhelmed. So, take the time to plan things. Plan for peace.

Jessica Pritchard

Accepting yourself for who you are is the first step to your success.

Not far from Jessica, in New York, lives Haylee LaRose.

Unlike Karina's story, it was Haylee's mom who suggested she started her own business. Haylee's mom is a health coach, and her family has always been entrepreneurial, including Haylee's both her parents and grandfather.

Before starting her first VA business, Haylee worked as a school photographer. The job taught her how to build relationships and be flexible. After taking a VA course in 2017, Haylee officially opened for business loved what she was doing right away.

She was helping clients mostly in health and wellness pace. And after some time, Haylee realized she was always gravitating towards creative projects for her clients. It's because that's where her passion and genius zone was. That lead her to slowly transition the VA business to web design and branding. It took Haylee 6-8 months to fully make the switch to Seek Balance Design. She is happy that she did.

She loves the creative process she goes through with her clients before the actual design happens. The process allows them to realize and accept who they truly are with all the quirks that go along with their personalities. Haylee helps them express all that through their websites and visual branding. Because all this reflects you, it attracts the right type of people, your ideal clients, and repels those who are not.

Learn to find stillness and listen to yourself. You can be you and find success your way.

Haylee LaRose

Entrepreneurship is even for those who never thought they could do it.

We're back in Canada, Ontario.

Jess Drury was a teacher. Never even thought of becoming an entrepreneur and owning her business until she somewhat fell into it through life circumstances.

Jess realized she was brunt out of teaching after her kids were born and didn't want to go back to it. She wanted to stay at home with her kids but at the same time needed an income to support her family. As she looked around at her mom-friends and what they were doing, she realized that selling products through house parties or beautiful baking cakes was not what she could do.

One day she came across a writing course at the University of Toronto. She always loved writing and decided to take it. This course led her to start a branding copywriting business in 2015.

Jess is shy. She started Heartlines Copywriting Studio at a time when her marriage was not going well. As she helped other conscious women entrepreneurs find their voice through copy, express themselves, and courageously make a stand, Jess rediscovered her voice and courage.

Her business unexpectedly became the biggest catalyst to personal growth. She worked through many mindset blockages as she was getting in her own way; perfectionism and the fear of failure being the first two.

Through her business, Jess found her voice and a place to belong.

She continues to help her clients express their vulnerability through copy and show their ideal audience who they are. Just like Kailee, Jess is big on community and mutual support, and that's where her vision is as well.

Owning a business is the biggest catalyst to personal growth. You have a voice. Find it and show it to the world.

Jess Drury

Running a successful business can be daunting and has a lot of challenges. All of this can be overcome if you invest in yourself strategically. All the women I interviewed over the past 3 weeks have been doing that. Because your business is a great way to grow as a person, do what you love and are passionate about, connect with others, have fun and make good money.