Modish Biz Tips

Do What you Love: An Interview with Patricia Zapata

Our next interviewee up in the Do What You Love series is the lovely Patricia Zapata. She is a graphic designer who also wrote the book on paper crafting (literally- it's coming out this summer!) She was one of the first indie business owners I "met" years ago when I opened my first little jewelry shop and she's been a constant source of inspiration, both in how she conducts herself and how she manages her business. I think she's also our first mom in the series, so you'll be able to get a little insight into how she runs a family and a home based business at the same time! Let's meet her!

What do you do for a living?

I am an independent graphic designer and I own two businesses. I design corporate identity and collateral materials for small to mid-sized businesses for my Zapata Design clients. Through A Little Hut, I sell paper illustrations, wall art, design stationery, printable PDFs and block printed note cards. I’m also the author of Home, Paper, Scissors, a papercraft book, which will be published in August of this year.

How long have you been self-employed?  What made you decide to take the leap?

I left my design job when I had our first child. It was a leap of faith and a choice purely inspired by the fact that I was a new mom. After being a full-time Mom for a year, I realized I needed to work creatively again. I felt my artsy neurons demanding some exercise again. I’ve been self-employed since 2001 and I haven’t looked back since.

Do you work from home or have a studio/office elsewhere? 

Baking Business with the BAKERY girls

I'm sure you've heard of BAKERY by now, a new business run by Jaime Derringer of Design Milk and Erin Loechner of Design for Mankind to help you, yep you, run your indie business better! I thought it'd be nice to learn a little more about what exactly it is they're cooking up over there, to help you decide if you need some business baking services of your own. So, let's meet the dynamic duo, shall we?

 

As two girls who are used to running their own show, what made you decide to go into business together?

Jaime: Great question! We both have independent spirits, but we work fabulously as a team because we both have different strengths. For example, Erin makes everything I say sound pretty.

Erin: Ha! You are crazy, Jaime. That's totally not true. It's funny--- Jaime's the professional one, and I'm the bubbly one. Our clients will meet us on the phone and will laugh at how different we are. Anyway, I'm rambling... It was totally Jaime's idea. She twittered me one day about a project she wanted to start [she has like a million and one projects!], and I was on board from the get-go. We both get so many emails a day asking us how we do what we do, so it seemed natural that we start offering our services to everyone!

How did you come up with the name BAKERY?

Jaime: We spent a lot of time thinking about the right name, but we kept coming back to BAKERY. We wanted a name that was descriptive, yet fun and creative. We're not your average internet marketing company, so we didn't want to scare people off by using a name like "So-and-So Consulting". It also reflects our personalities fairly well: we're both kind of silly.

Erin: AMEN! Plus, I like to wear an apron when I work...
Kidding. That's a lie.

What sort of services do you offer to independent businesses?

Do What you Love: An Interview with Abigail Percy

Today I'm so pleased to bring you another installment of our do what you love series, featuring one of the first jewelry designers whose work I ever truly fell in love with, Abigail Percy. She creates her mind-bogglingly stunning creations out of her home in Glasgow, Scotland and has been successfully living off her creativity and talent for almost 4 years now. Let's read a little more about how she got started and how she makes it all work, shall we? 

What do you do for a living?

I am a Designer Jeweller, and so I make and sell my jewellery, in addition to some prints and drawings on occasion too...

How long have you been self-employed?  What made you decide to take the leap?

I have been self-employed for just shy of 4 years now. I decided to take the leap straight out of art school, after graduating, because I wanted to get stuck straight in and knew that if I got used to the security of a job, it would be a much harder leap to take later on in my 20's, 30's etc...I had also made some money at my degree show from sales and awards, so I could invest in some equipment to help get the workshop established.

Do you work from home or have a studio/office elsewhere?

Do What You Love: An interview with Karin Eriksson

Today we have an interview with the successfully self-employed artist, Swedish ceramist Karin Eriksson. I've been absolutely enamored with her work for years- it's stunning and is featured frequently on favorite design blogs like decor8, oh joy, design*sponge and many more. Not to mention, she has her own long running design and style blog and impeccable taste to boot!

Let's get a little glimpse into how she works and her tips on how to make a living doing what you love.

 

What do you do for a living?

I work as a ceramic designer / maker, I produce and sell my work to shops and galleries in all parts of the world. I also have my own shop manos here in Stockholm, where I sell my ceramics and other things that I love.

How long have you been self-employed?  What made you decide to take the leap?

I’ve had my own business for nine years. Before that I worked as a project manager for an advertising agency here in Stockholm. Although I liked working there, I always felt I wanted to do something more ”grounded” or meaningful perhaps. That’s why I decided to go through a second education and make a career out of my hobby.

Do you work from home or have a studio/office elsewhere?

Do What You Love: An interview with Grace Bonney

Our first interview in the Do What You Love series is with design blogger wonder woman, Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge. Her blog is read by over 40,000 people daily and was one of the first I found that inspired me to start Modish. I've always wondered what life is like for her behind the scenes of running such a successful website and happily, she's given us a little glimpse!

What do you do for a living?

I run Design*Sponge, which takes up most of my 24 hours a day. Until two weeks ago I was a contributing editor at Domino and Craft Magazines, but they both closed within a week of each other so now it's all D*S all the time. 

How long have you been self-employed?  What made you decide to take the leap?

I left my full-time job in 2006 and haven't looked back- I've always kept a few freelancing jobs on the side because it's fun to do something different every once in awhile (especially if it requires me to get out of the house- which I need help with sometimes).

The decision to leave was a scary one, but I was fundamentally unhappy in my day job and knew that if I was ever going to try to do the site full-time, that was the time. It was new, a good time to try to make a living from a blog (as opposed to say, our current economic climate), and I was excited to see if I could make it happen. So I made an economic plan, met with someone at my bank to see if I could do it and then made the jump. Basically, I like to look before I leap.

Do you work from home or have a studio/office elsewhere?