from the blog

I remember when I first charged $1,000 for a logo design. There was a sense of giddy euphoria - followed by a disturbing dumping of dread. What had I done?! I worried. … And was it about to ruin my business? The answer, in hindsight, was a big, “Hell no.” In fact, I...

"Life isn’t always easy, Anna."   These are the words my mother used to repeat when I was growing up. And as I sat at the dinner table in my freshly mum-washed clothes and waited for her to serve me the meal she’d lovingly made, I didn’t really get it.   Er, of course...

“How are you?”   This was the question I asked eight different lady bosses last week. And you wanna know how they all responded?   “BUSY!” Yep, I get it. We’re all super fricken busy. And sure, we could go into a debate about how busy we really are and how this is all...

Three designers walk into a bar.   (And no, this isn’t a joke … or is it? Keep reading to find out,) Each of them has a paper bag on their head with a price written on it in black marker.  In front of them, their dream client must choose just one designer to go ahead...

If you’re anything like me, you’re not willing to rest on your laurels iMac: You want to constantly grow and get better as a graphic designer. Still here? High-five. You’re my kinda lady. Now, I know I’m not the best designer in the world… but after 20 years of...

Tired of wrestling with two choice ‘f’ words? No, I’m not talking about FUDGE … but yes, please, if you have some. And no, I don’t mean FUN … but yes, please, go ahead and have some. Instead, I’m talking about the infamous two ‘f’ words fuelling your entrepreneurial...

I get it: You want to be the business that bends over backwards to make their clients happy.   But … at what cost to you?   Last week, we celebrated International Women’s Day. Seeing all of the positive posts on social media made me feel even luckier than normal to be...

I may not be Kim Kardashian (thank god), but all signs suggest that I did break the internet last week. No, not with my ass. Not with my sass. But with some innocent insights into how I run my six-figure graphic design biz. You see, I thought it would be fun and...

Ten years ago, I’d have honestly preferred to wrangle a chicken* than get my anxious arse on a phone call with a client.   *And I'm crazy shit scared of chickens.     Me + speaking to an actual human = epic cosmic failure. You see, after a lifetime of red-faced,...

She’s an amazing designer and has the type of pure, unadulterated talent that makes even rainbow unicorns jealous. She’s got her own biz, she’s acing design briefs and winning clients all from the comfort of her own home.   But … that’s the thing. She doesn’t ever let...

Ever had a carefree stroll through social media turn into the depressing discovery that your design work has been copied? I feel you, lady. It sucks. But … You’re not alone. There must be something in the water, because I’ve seen a lot of posts in our Designer...

Far out. Where did this year go? I know we all say it, but seriously, was 2018 the fastest year in history? I cannot believe I actually had a baby this year, it still blows my mind haha  So how was your year? Did you take steps forward in your business? Did your...

One of the biggest lessons I have learnt over my ten years in business is that there will always be assholes. No matter how wonderful you are, no matter how brilliant your systems are, no matter how nurturing your processes are, there will always be that ONE client...

She was adorable.  Curly black ringlets. Big brown eyes. An ice-cream in one hand. Leaning down to tie her shoelace with her other hand. It was a disaster waiting to happen. And I knew, without any fortune-telling skills whatsoever, that shit was gonna go south really...