Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ashley Ruark. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Ashley thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Innovation comes in all shapes, sizes and across all industries, so we’d love to hear about something you’ve done that you feel was particularly innovative.

With spending habits changing, my large brand packages seemed to be out of reach for most of my target audience. With my primary leads coming from Instagram, I decided to offer customized GIF stickers to small business owners to utilize their branding in a fun, new way. Many people were starting to use stickers on Instagram stories, and one day it just clicked – create branded stickers.

I taught myself everything there was to know about GIF stickers. How to create them, best practices, where to upload them, how to get them viewed…everything. I had no idea if it would work, and I needed a free way for me to get the word out. In an attempt to find more people in my niche, I messaged photographers who did branding photography and asked them if they would want to be a GIF Ambassador. In exchange for free GIFS, they would advertise about my new offering in hope that their brand clients (small business owners!) would now become my clients. It worked.

I then offered my services to an influencer with over 800K followers. She graciously tagged me several times, and before I knew it, other influencers started reaching out. I had clients with hundreds of thousands of followers sharing their GIFS and tagging my profile. I gained new followers, new GIF clients, and even more exciting was gaining new brand clients who purchased brand packages.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I specialize in creating a “thoughtful brand.” Too many times the graphic design industry can feel stuffy, intimidating, and out of reach for small business owners. My purpose is to become your friend in the process, listen to your story, and thoughtfully craft a brand that feels like you and will reach your target audience.

At the end of our time together, I want you to have 1) Enjoyed the process 2) Feel like you’ve gained a friend 3) Have a brand that “feels like you” and that you’re so proud of.

As for what I’m proud of, it’s when I see my brand step off the screen and into my client’s life in a tangible way. For instance, one client hired me to for a mural design that she DIY’ed herself onto the side of her home. I put so much thought and love into each part of that design and now she lives with it in her home with her family. That’s special. This design became so important to her, that she’s decided to create a product with that mural image.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Everyone gives the advice to “be yourself” but before I could do that, I had to learn exactly and truly who I was. When I decided to trust my gut on what I liked, what I thought was funny, what I believed in, and how I wanted to be remembered, I truly found myself. And because of that, I was able to do a rebrand on my business that still feels exactly true to who I am. Everytime I look at my website, or my social media posts, I see myself. That’s important because I know my followers and clients actually know me. They get a sense of who I am before we ever work together. I’m so proud when people tell me “I just love your vibe!” They get it, before they even meet me, because I continue to stay true to who I am. When you stay true to who you are, your niche will find you.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal started out at being an accessible graphic designer. To take the stuffiness away, and bring in friendship into the mix. My social tagline is “I’m your fun, graphic designer friend.” I wanted to brand myself in that way b/c it makes people feel comfortable and allows them to keep coming back to me when they have a job to get done. They will automatically think of their friend Ashley, who does graphic design.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sunshineandbo.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/sunshineandbo

Image Credits
Headshot Photos, Heather Dodge Photography