Over the last few months I’ve been featured in several online magazines. It was such fun talking about how I started my business and some of the things I’ve learned along the way. Below are a few of my favorite questions, and links to the full articles are at the end of this post.
Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I am a photographer and graphic designer based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I started my business, Bree Rose Creative, in 2022 when I was looking for a way to combine my design and photography experience with my love of books. I had been working in the book publishing industry for several years, and was ready for a change and a new challenge.
Becoming a freelancer has given me the flexibility to build a unique business that offers a variety of design and photography services to authors and publishers. Since starting my business, I’ve worked with independent authors and several publishing houses to design books, create illustrations, and build author brands with creative photography and website design.
I couldn’t decide what I wanted to be when I grew up, so I settled on multi-passionate creative professional! Using my skills to help authors bring their words and ideas into the visual space is a joy and a privilege.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Embarking on a new business venture is never easy, especially in the book world. It can be difficult to build a business whose main clientele are often the ‘starving artist’ writers or publishers with a limited marketing budget.
A challenge I face daily is balancing the needs of running a business with a desire to help writers bring their books and ideas to life. I straddle the line of business and art regularly, and managing that tension can be difficult.
Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
My business journey began with a big risk. I had been working the same job at a publishing company for 6 years, and though I loved the people I worked with, I was restless. I had taken the first steps in job searching a year earlier, but then COVID hit. During the pandemic I was working from home and grateful for a job, but by June 2021 the restlessness was back.
I had been complaining for months, falling into the trap most of us do sometimes in assuming my life would change when someone or something else came along. I was talking to my sister one night, running through the usual complaints about not knowing what jobs I wanted to apply for, when she interrupted me and said “Why don’t you quit, and take some time to decide?”
Quit? And do what? The idea of quitting a job without another one lined up felt anti-adult. But I did it. Within three weeks of that conversation I had left my traditional job to take a 6-month creative sabbatical. That experience gave me the courage and time to start my freelance business. Embracing one big risk made it easier to take other risks.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Original lesson: the client is always right.
Revised Lesson: the client has hired you because you are the expert. It’s ok to push back or offer alternatives to their requests.
In the first few months of starting my business I was hired by a client to design the interior of a book he planned to self-publish. I way undercharged him, but the main lesson I took away was to speak up. This client had a very specific vision for the design. I knew it wouldn’t work, but this was one of my first clients and I wanted to make him happy. I did what he wanted and turned in the first draft of the design. He wasn’t happy, it was very cluttered and difficult for a reader to navigate. But he didn’t know why he wasn’t happy. I had, after all, done as he requested.
I then offered suggestions on where we could improve the design, and explained why. He was happier with the revised design, even though it was different from his original vision. By offering my expertise and skills while still involving him in the decisions, we were able to create something that was well-designed and that he was happy with. Lesson learned!
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
Saying yes to new types of requests. When I first started my business I had a vague direction I wanted to take it. That gave me a good starting point, but it was a bit like aiming in the dark. As I started growing, potential clients started reaching out and asking if I did specific kinds of work.
That’s how I started designing and hosting landing pages for book launches. It wasn’t something I initially advertised on my website, but when a friend at a larger publishing house reached out and asked if I did landing pages, I was open to learning. She hired me, and is now a regular client.
Word people are looking for designers to fill specific needs, and that’s what I want my business to do. If someone asks about a new type of project that I know I am capable of, I consider if it will add value to my business. If it’s something that adds value, aligns with my business goals, and is something I am interested in learning, I say yes.
Saying yes, and being willing to learn, has led to a more robust portfolio and a service list that offers work authors and publishers are actively looking for.