We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sophie Taylor a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Sophie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of being an entrepreneur or creative is the kind of crazy stuff that happens from time to time. It could be anything from a disgruntled client attacking an employee or waking up to find out a celebrity gave you a shoutout on TikTok – the sudden, unexpected hits (both positive and negative) make the profession both exhilarating and exhausting. Can you share one of your craziest stories?
To this day, one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had was seeing my lettering on network television. I’d signed up for a listing with a popular vendor site and was “discovered” by a wonderful man over at NCIS. The episode he was working on centered around a series of hand written letters and he needed someone to write those letters.
At first I thought it was a prank. I mean, who was I? Just a nobody learning calligraphy in the corner of my bedroom. But it wasn’t a prank. I was invited to meet him to learn more about the project so I could provide pricing and was given a set tour during that same meeting. I had been a fan of the show for a long time so “seeing behind the curtain” was outrageously cool to me.
The following week was a blur of exciting events. Receiving the script, being shown how, where, and with whom the letters would be featured in the episode, sending in work for approval and receiving that approval…I was humbled and amazed and excited and star struck all at the same time.
But most of all I was grateful. Not only was I grateful to God for bringing this opportunity into my life (and the biggest paycheck I had ever received in my whole life to that point), but I was grateful for the people with whom I had the honor of interacting. They were all so nice, so encouraging, such hard workers, so incredibly skilled – I was in awe the whole time! Here were these people that had every right to be dismissive but they weren’t. They treated me with such kindness and dignity; I’ll never forget it as long as I live!
Then came the day when I saw my lettering, my work on network tv, on a show I had been watching for years. To say I was excited is an understatement. I sat at the edge of my seat and jumped for joy every time one of the letters I’d written showed up on screen. It was surreal, something I’d never expected in a million years but it was really happening!
I’ve been able to do a lot of cool things in my business, but writing letters for NCIS (S17, E16) is way up near the top of the list.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
It is my joy and honor to have been able to found Taylor Design Studio, a custom stationery and event details boutique specializing in wedding invitations and day-of paper goods. My journey with TDS began when I took a lettering course and others started to notice my work. At first I took on small commissions for family and friends, but the Lord quickly showed me that He intended to bless and grow my business so when opportunities arose to create pieces for both the wedding and production industries, I jumped in with both feet and never looked back.
In those early months, I really tried to determine my priorities. I was (and still am) a wife and a mother whom God had blessed with creativity, curiosity, and a love of learning. I knew I wanted to start a small business because I was committed to living out the model of faithful femininity (displayed in Proverbs 31), which includes a willingness to pursue some sort of enterprise for the benefit of her family. But I also knew that I struggled with an ambitious bent toward achievement that could prove damaging to my family if I didn’t keep it in check. I wanted to build a business but not at the expense of my marriage or my children.
So I prayed.
I prayed that the Lord would guide me and give me wisdom. I prayed that He would show me what pace I should pursue and bring clients to me according to His will for my life. I prayed that He would enable me to be a faithful wife and mother and that He would bless my business only insofar as I could remain committed to my marriage and parenting my children, never at the expense of those things. I prayed that my pride and ambitions would never overshadow my calling to lovingly serve my family and that the Lord would increase my client load gradually to ensure my marriage and my children were preserved at all times.
The Lord answered my prayers and continues to do so!
It is a tremendous joy to be able to make beautiful things for precious clients who rely on me to bring their vision to life. Most of my clients are on the verge of a big life change and/or orchestrating a major event and they want to work with someone who is genuinely committed to ensuring that the pieces they are commissioning are exquisite. I think that’s what sets me apart. I love what I do and my clients can feel that. They want to be able to trust that the things that matter to them matter to me and they do. They want to know that I will create their pieces as if I were making them for myself and they do.
I’ve worked hard to hone my skills, grow as an artist, and develop systems that ensure the client process is clear, concise, and enjoyable. As a result, my clients and I walk the path from design to execution as kind and invested collaborators. It’s such a rewarding process and I feel so blessed every time I book a new client because I know we’re going to have such a great time together!
It’s not an exaggeration to say that sometimes I can’t believe I get to live my life. My husband and children mean everything to me AND I get to pursue my creative and entrepreneurial passions – what more could a girl ask for?!
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
One lesson I had to unlearn is that social media is NOT what it seems. Like many artists, I got caught up in the comparison game and was riddled with imposter syndrome early in my creative journey. I convinced myself that if I could just figure out how to get more followers, I would magically be making bundles and bundles of cash without having to take the slow road like everyone else. I honestly have no idea where I learned to think like that, but it is 100% not accurate.
Some creatives do have large followings and some of them do make a lot of money, but the fact of the matter is that monetizing creativity is a double-edged sword. You’d be surprised by how many creatives with large followings have a hard time selling courses or filling classes or off-loading products. That’s because our social media following is just one aspect of our business. There is so much more to small business ownership than how many people follow us on our socials.
If I could have a do-over, I would refocus entirely. I would prioritize learning how to bring value to my intended audience and pick a posting schedule that realistically worked within the overall structure of my life rather than running myself ragged trying to post 1-2 times a day without any direction or focus. I would tell myself the truth about social media and remind myself that what other people post is a highlight reel that doesn’t show the hard work, exhaustion, discouragement, and mistakes that all business owners face. I would tell myself that comparing my work and bookings to others’ is a cancerous approach to creative entrepreneurship and not to waste my time trying to be anything other than who God made me to be.
We all have strengths and we all have weaknesses, and that’s ok! We can’t all be good at everything all the time and that’s ok too! There’s nothing wrong with being the worst at something or having a first (or second or third) attempt be absolute crap. There isn’t a race and we aren’t losing it. If I could tell my younger artist self anything, it would be to focus on the blessing God has given me instead of the ones other people have. I would tell my younger self to take my time growing into my skills and not compare my journey to anyone else’s. I would tell my younger self to enjoy the growth process instead of trying to skip through it. I would tell my younger self to narrow focus and build a strong foundation for the business side of things and spend less time focusing on my “image” so that I could achieve balance sooner rather than later.
Hindsight is 20/20 and there are many things I would do differently, but at the end of the day, I am just so thankful that I get to live my life. God has blessed me so richly and I can’t thank Him enough for creating me the way He did!
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My mission as an artist on a creative journey is to make things that highlight the beauty and majesty of God. When we look at nature, we can so much symmetry, balance, harmony, and color – it’s truly inspiring!
When I work, my goal is to create everything to the very best of my ability. I want to ensure that anything I create is excellent, lovely, encouraging, and a joy to behold. I want my craftsmanship to make an impression on the people receiving it, and I want clients to feel like their vision and preferences were carried out faithfully. I want to have a reputation for being meticulously thoughtful, for taking great care, and treating every client and every project like it’s being made for royalty.
One of the coolest things about being an artist is being able to bring pieces to life in the same way it has been modeled in Creation. Being able to inspire that same sense of wonder, that same appreciation for the way colors and textures harmoniously interact with one another, that same recognition that God’s handiwork is breathtakingly majestic – what an honor it is to be an artist after God’s own heart!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.taylordesignstudio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylor_design_studio
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@taylordesignstudio
- Other: info@taylordesignstudio.com
Image Credits
Sarah Katie Photography