We recently connected with Lauren Muth and have shared our conversation below.

Lauren, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Any advice for creating a more inclusive workplace?

Ever since I began my own work, I’ve prioritized not only working with social organizations on their communications, but strategically and mindfully leaning into opportunities for growth in DEI & Accessibility. This inclusivity is the center of the work we do in our design, while also highlighting the impact these organizations are making in new and creative ways.

That being said, I’ve also made a point to create a diverse culture in my own business, allowing my studio to become something bigger than myself and working with a variety of extremely talented individuals who thrive in their own creative work. Creating an inclusive workspace is not simply about being diverse (although we should hold more organizations to that a lot stronger than we do), but also thinking about what is accessible to all persons in your company, both in compensation, mental health awareness, healthcare, and more.

When we start to recognize, as well as prioritize our own internal communities as much as we do externally, we’re creating the most valuable form of growth and opportunity, shaping the world we strive to live in every day.

Lauren, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a storyteller and journalist at heart, but have always wanted to take my vision for meaningful communication and use that to help elevate social causes. Now close to four years in my freelance work full-time, I’ve been blessed to work with some of the more incredible individuals and organizations to amplify their voices.

Our studio offers website templates for grassroots startups, “Website in a Week” for growing nonprofits, and custom website design for elevated organizations. This allows us to help any brand where they’re at in their social journey in order to help them communicate their story and increase their fundraising tenfold.

We’re also launching a fully-inclusive website template shop for the modern nonprofit this fall 2022. We are so thrilled about this new opportunity for outreach and supporting new missions at a rate accessible to them while never forgoing strategy or professional design. This will touch on many different categories including human rights, environment, education, healthcare, social enterprise, and community development. Follow along at https://humankindsites.com for the latest updates!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

We all see so much negativity and sadness in the news on daily basis. As someone who cares a lot about dignified storytelling, it’s been my mission to always think about the positive stories that most of us don’t often hear. Some of the most incredible stories are ones often overlooked in favor of the terrifying things happening in our society. Through Studio Humankind, as well as in my personal life, I look to learning about the good things people are doing in our world to take care of others, the environment, and so much more. In all of the work I do, I think first to how to share these stories with respect and even take something very negative and provide it with even the smallest of silver linings to provide hope to the world.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

My work began by thriving off of word-of-mouth, which has still been my most profitable form of outreach to this day. I think there’s something so powerful about the way your run your business as a creative that provides your clients to either have a very negative feeling around the work, or a positive and inspiring one. I strive for the latter in that our team keeps all projects organized with a task list, constant communication, and opportunity for our clients to think creatively alongside our team. I believe there is so much more benefit to a collaborative community, especially with your clients and their projects than closing off to them just trusting your own internal process. They’re able to understand a lot more of how you work, how much time it takes in all design and revisions, as well as produces a result they are extremely proud of. From this curated experience, so many of my past clients have been willing (and excited!) to share my work as a recommendation to others looking for the same kind of engagement in their creative process.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://studiohumankind.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/studiohumankind
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/studiohumankind
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/laurenpaynemuth
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/studiohumankind
• Other: https://humankindsites.com

Image Credits
Portrait: Among the Pines Photography