We were lucky to catch up with Regina Collins recently and have shared our conversation below.

Regina, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?

As a business owner, I honestly feel like your family & friends aren’t always going to be your target audience. So the only support I mainly look forward to are the shares & recommendations to others. I’ve been blessed with a supportive family & friend group. I’ve never had to beg for any support I announced my business & posted my work & they’ve just shared & recommended my services to whoever is in need of a design. If you necessarily have to ask your family/friends for support, I just feel a simple request to share your info with whoever is in need of what you offer is fine. You have to have the mindset that not everyone will support, including family. You can’t take that to the heart. I’ve always been told strangers are the ones who will make you rich.

Regina, 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 graphic designer that works with small businesses, building their brand on the visual side. I offer logo development, marketing material, and website design. While in high school, I started my craft with creating PowerPoints for different events like birthday celebrations, graduations, etc. I honestly wasn’t sure where creating PowerPoints would lead me, but it pushed me to learn more about things dealing with design. I eventually started creating different items for events such as water bottle labels, bookmarks, & other party favor items.

When it was time for me to go to college & figure out what I wanted to major in, I researched to see what these type of skills would fall under & found out about graphic design. Choosing this major opened new opportunities and skills to learn. I started learning about Adobe programs, and the ins and outs of graphic design. After graduating, with my BA in Graphic Design, I started researching and learning more about the design side of working with businesses & started perfecting my craft with logos and other design options that a business would need, such as business cards, websites, & other marketing materials. I’ve been working with small businesses since around 2016, when I graduated college & have been continuing to build my skills with designing.

I strive to provide the best quality designs for my clients, as I state in my tagline, I’m painting their brand’s masterpiece. With any business there’s a lot of thought & work that’s put into it. Being a graphic designer, I aim to take the stress away from any business owner, that I work with when it comes to their brand’s visuals. I advise them to just give me their vision and I’ll do the rest of the hard work with bringing it to life.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Yes. I wish I would’ve reached out to other experienced graphic designers earlier in my journey. Although I did go to college for Graphic Design, I feel like I’ve learned so much more from actually working & speaking with other designers that’s been in the field longer than I have.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

When I first started out as a business owner, I had to realize I couldn’t expect everyone to have the same heart as me. I had to learn how to stand my ground as a business owner to avoid potential clients and even other businesses to take my kindness for weakness. I took several falls, which I take accountability of, because I would choose to let different matters slide. This is why a policy is definitely needed when starting a business, and this is something that I stress to new businesses when I work with them. I feel setting a strong policy & standing on it in the beginning would help your business from facing too many unnecessary challenges.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rbecklesdesigns.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/rbecklesdesigns
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/rbecklesdesigns
• Other: Email: [email protected]

Image Credits

My personal photo was taken by JaVaya Trimble – The VayaDee