We were lucky to catch up with Anna Praegitzer recently and have shared our conversation below.

Anna, appreciate you joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

The biggest risk I have taken was not attending college after high school in 2014 and deciding to go directly into the workforce.

I graduated from Kennedy High School and was on track to attend Iowa State University on a full ride scholarship. Unfortunately, my dad passed away from a rare cancer, B Cell Lymphoma, two months after I graduated. While this was not the main reason I decided to pass up this scholarship to attend Iowa State, it definitely was a factor.

I received feedback that I would not “succeed” in my career. I was criticized and looked down upon for making the decision to not go to college. But, I knew that my decision was right for me and it was not my time to go to school.

I excel in hands-on work, learning from experience and soft skills you cannot teach. That’s what made me take the risk to go directly into the work force and get experience.

So what did I do? Applied to a sales position at Victoria’s Secret! Not the most glamorous job, but I learned how sales work and how to process inventory and stock items. Once I hit my glass celling, I decided to give school another shot.

In 2016 I attended Kirkwood Community college for a Financial Services AA Degree, while working at Veridian Credit Union. I was so close to graduating in 2017, but then made another risky decision to leave and start my first graphic design company.

Out of the hundreds of people I helped while being at Veridian, I met one significant person that ran a printing and marketing company – Casey. He was looking for a graphic designer/print shop production help.

A month or so after leaving Veridian, I started to do freelance design. This only lasted a few weeks, before they hired me on full time to be their in house graphic designer and production assistant. The company was Strategic Print Solutions, Inc. I was there for over 7 years. I worked my way up from in-house designer and production assistant, to lead graphic designer, to Director of Operations then to Vice President. I resigned from SPS as in May of this year to run my own company, “Praegitzer Designs”.

Over all, taking a risk to not go to college immediately after high school was the best decision I have made. I learned the dynamics of a corporation, real life financial situations, and how to run a small business. If I had a chance to do it again, I’d take that “risk” again.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I got into my industry from my previous job at Strategic Print Solutions (SPS).

I’m a freelance graphic designer based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I create and source printing materials while specializing in brand identity and visual storytelling. I am passionate about bringing brands to life through graphic design and turning them into tangible assets.

I set myself apart from others in this industry with my experience, ability to listen, and understanding the usage of what I’m creating.
I love the process of finding out what people are trying to create. I ask fact finding questions and provide a safe space for new ideas. 
I am most proud of how I take care of my customers. No job is too small, and no idea is too far fetched. I have such meaningful relationships with all of my clients and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy, for me is asking people to pass the word along on how they think I did and to mention my name to people needing similar work.

Other people’s voices are louder than yours when it comes to talking about yourself. That’s my personal experience and my point of view. I’m not saying don’t advocate for yourself. That’s very important, too!

For example:
If you email a potential client, “I would love to help you with project X-Y-Z. I’m good at graphic design and I know what I’m doing. Here’s some work I’ve done in the past.” Your work may speak for itself and they will take you on. But more than likely, they’re going to call around or ask people they know if you are as good as you say you are.

Someone else going up to this potential client and saying, “You have to use Anna for X-Y-Z. She was great to work with and completed the project on time. I’d use her again. and so should you” will land you a client every time.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I live on my phone. Whether that’s good or bad, it’s what I have to do to stay on top!
I make myself available to my clients through email, calls and texts.
I create brand loyalty by being honest with my clients and keep my turn-around time frames realistic.
I do my best to give honest evaluations on projects, receive and welcome feedback and I’m transparent with my workload and what I can or not take on.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.praegitzerdesigns.com/
• Instagram: apraegitzer
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-praegitzer-17a97899/

Image Credits

Last Image: Honorees and guests celebrate at the Corridor Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 event on Thursday, Oct. 20, at the DoubleTree by Hilton, Cedar Rapids. CREDIT ANGELA HOLMES