Reflecting on 2019: Studio Year in Review

2019 was W-I-L-D. Wild! There is so much to reflect on, but let’s start with some nitty gritty studio stats. Things were a little different this year because of the birth of my daughter which meant that I was on leave for four months from May–September. I crammed a lot of fun projects into eight months and am really, really proud of the work I did this year.

A few 2019 Studio Stats:

Inquiries: 295
Projects: 52

Highlights:

Refined My Process
I took a deeper look at my process this year to determine where there were areas for improvement. I did this by asking clients if there were pain points in the process, studying it myself, and making small but deliberate tweaks. From the client side – how can we make things easier? What questions can we answer so our clients never even have to ask? From the studio side – how can I spend less time in the trenches and more time in a creative mode? I delegated more to my studio manager and updated our internal workflows. Things changed and it was absolutely for the better.

Healthy Separation From Work
I had this thought creep up in my head a few years ago and it bugged me from about 2017 until June of this year. I saw a narrative unfolding in front of me – people preaching the value of turning your deepest passions into your career. Promising that you’d never work a day in your life if you love what you do. And it really, really bothered me. I love what I do. I am 100% satisfied with my career in every way. This is without a doubt my calling in life. But – it’s my job. I have a healthy separation from work and I wholeheartedly believe that it makes me a better designer and business owner. I am not emotionally entangled in my business – I bring a level-headed, passionate perspective to the work each day. I can receive and embrace criticism and feedback. I see myself as a problem solver for my clients. I am here to serve them, not the other way around. As soon as I just gave into embracing design as my job – the strange, gray, blurry area between my life and work became clear and everything improved dramatically.

Callaway Masters Headcovers
This project was a dream. come. true! I had the privilege of being commissioned by Callaway to design custom headcovers for the 2019 Masters tournament. I designed five total pieces – driver, wood, hybrid, mallet, blade – which were used by their staff players. Seeing photos of Phil Mickelson holding my headcovers was legitimately one of the happiest moments of my life. (Keep in mind there are 17 years of me playing competitive amateur golf leading up to this moment!) The team at Callaway was a joy to work with and my friends at Seamus constructed the most beautiful leather headcovers with an incredible attention to detail. They released the headcovers on callawaygolf.com and sold out in 15 seconds! This was basically a dream come true for me. My favorite sport, my favorite equipment brand, my favorite major – so much gratitude for this experience.

Goal Digger Podcast Interview
Another highlight was being interviewed by one of my clients, Jenna Kutcher. It was so wonderful to get to chat with her about my process, my design philosophy, my background, and some of my not-so-standard theories on business. I may or may not have recorded the episode in my closet (which is not a walk in closet) with my iPhone headphones taped to my sweater so they wouldn’t make noise. I was Episode 242 – The Secret to Happy Clients. Have a listen here!

Marriage Journal
I worked with Jeremy and Audrey Roloff to design their Marriage Journal which is a beautiful resource for couples to work through together. Jer and Auj are great – working with them was a blast and if you can believe it, they are even sweeter than they seem online and their love for each other and their family really shines through in all that they do.

All in all, it was a wonderful year with clients across the country and globe to be grateful for. My curiosity, love, and appreciation for my clients seems to grow each year. I am truly fascinated by every person I work with. Their story, perspective, background – it’s such a joy to get to know so many diverse people and businesses and have the honor of solving their visual problems.

And it wouldn’t be a year without a lowlight:

Postpartum Depression
It’s hard to really reflect on this year without talking briefly about my postpartum experience. I am an Enneagram 7, so I did a lot of dreaming about what my postpartum life would look like. Of course – it was going to be *super* great. I am naturally an incredibly upbeat, energetic, passionate, spirited, optimistic person and while I was well aware that some women struggle with postpartum depression it was definitely in the “that is not the kind of thing that will happen to me” category. I had actual lists of all the different things I would accomplish on my maternity leave (that did not include raising a human). I literally remember telling people that I didn’t want to watch any TV, I was only going to read books. And that I would activate my two month free Skillshare membership so I could take classes while my daughter slept. These are both giant LOLs to me now, after having survived around four months of postpartum depression that rendered me pretty much useless. I spent nearly all of my time in bed or watching the Office and Parks and Rec on repeat. A quick shoutout to my mom, who kept me safe and fed after my husband went back to work when I was 2 weeks PP. I share this with you because it truly never occurred to me that PPD can happen to anyone. I am grateful that my experience was brief and that I was surrounded by family and friends who offered unconditional love and support.

So, what’s next?
2020 is here and we are ready for it! January is already off to a quick start with some big projects kicking off this week. I am working on my 10th beer/wine can design this afternoon and prepping for some more heavy design work in the coming days. One project I am particularly excited for in 2020 is a large restaurant launch in Napa Valley – the packaging work is wrapping up and we are moving onto the rest of the buildout in the coming month!

Also on the list for this year – continue to refine our client experience, market our quick turn services better, share more real work on social, release my first mini course (which is called Creative on Command and focuses on harnessing the power of creative practice so you are able to produce high quality work on command, rather than waiting idly for creative inspiration to strike), and I would also like to take a vacation without my computer at some point this year. A girl can dream!

My hope for this year is to keep growing and evolving and to do so with an open mind and wide open heart. I am so eager to serve our clients in bigger and better ways in 2020. Cheers to the new year!