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

Dorie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear your thoughts about making remote work effective.

Before covid, we already had a partially remote work set-up. Due to the nature of creative work, I feel that it is important to have solo work time where you are deeply focused without distraction from other people. Working from home has always been a part of our process because it can be much more focused and more comfortable, both of which help with creativity.

Before the pandemic, we were working in-house together Tuesday and Thursdays. That is when we would have brainstorming meetings, socialize, and work collaboratively. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, we would work from home and use our software tools as-needed for internal communications. When the pandemic struck and we had to start working remotely full-time, it was a pretty natural transition, although we really missed seeing each other socially. It was hard on our team to not be together at all in person. Now we are getting back to our hybrid model and trying to make sure we have time together socially as much as possible. Introducing Slack has been great for our team to be able to connect more while we are virtual – it allows for more casual interactions and not just limited to work conversations like our project management software tools. Having the right tools in place has been key.

I’ve always been a big believer in work-life balance. If people’s work ethic, social needs, and time management skills are up for it, working from home can provide such a great balance because you can manage parts of your personal life while still being super productive.

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 started CreativePickle just over 21 years ago. My first job out of college was with a start-up in the DotCom boom here in Austin, Texas, in the late nineties, which was a really crazy time with tons of IPOs and a huge rush to the dot com marketplace. I was a project manager and training in graphic design. Through the dot com bust, the original partners and I transitioned the company into a general web services consulting firm called 1215 Media. Soon after that, we merged with the Ellott Group and created a new company together called nFusion Group, which combined our web services with the EG’s more traditional ad services. I mentored under our inspiring Art Director, Jessica Phillips, as a graphic designer and learned all about graphic design through hands-on client work. But, I wanted more autonomy over my future, and I knew that I wanted to have my own shop one day. I started CreativePickle in the summer of 2001, and it has grown slowly and organically since then.

In the years to follow, my husband joined as our lead web developer, we added another two designers, plus we hired a project manager to help divide my role so it could be more manageable and sustainable. This allowed us to expand our services and continue to grow. We now provide a full suite of services including new business naming, branding and custom logo design, marketing asset design, print design including magazine layout, custom web design & development, plus ongoing social media and digital marketing support. We also love designing wall graphics, tradeshow booths, truck wraps and other large-scale designs.

I have learned something new every day we have been in business. Each and every day has its challenges and is a learning opportunity. Running a business definitely has so many different variables and hurdles to it, and I am so grateful to everyone on my team, my vendors and support contractors, and to our clients who have helped make this business succeed over the years.

One of the things that I am most proud of is the team and the culture we have built. A lot of design shops pit their designers against each other in a competitive environment. We intentionally do not do that. We are collaborative and supportive. I try to keep the team engaged and inspired, and I try to nurture a culture that promotes collaborative thinking, creativity and innovation.

Creativity doesn’t just happen on demand. It has to build and evolve naturally, with the right soil in which to grow. I encourage our creatives to take time off, pursue personal creative hobbies, and having healthy work / life boundaries. We do not work or check our email in the evenings and weekends, which helps people come to work fresh and ready to focus in the morning.

To stay inspired and engage in creative work on a regular basis, we have to build time and space into our lives for allowing our brains to relax, time to replenish and escaping the daily grind. I believe that everyone is creative, but with our on-demand lifestyles, we have to seek it out and do things that intentionally foster creativity. In our work, in our home lives, in our grief and in our joy, I believe creativity can be a powerful and healing force.

I personally stay creatively engaged through art, music, and writing. In fact, I have a book coming out soon about my mom called “Dawn” https://dawnthebook.com/. Staying engaged creatively in my personal life helps keep me focused when I’m working on my business and helps me keep the creative spark going that started the whole journey in the first place.

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

First and foremost, responsiveness. In our industry and in the world in general, there are so many people who just simply don’t respond to inquiries and requests in an appropriate timeframe or manner. We call those people “jokers” They just aren’t taking business seriously. Responsiveness is half of the battle!

Also, integrity. No matter what the situation (and we have had PLENTY of tricky situations), we try to do the right thing, even if it means a refund to a client or referring a client to another shop. If we mess up, because we are humans after all, we will admit it and do what we can to fix it. I strive to run an honest business that is truly trustworthy.

And, great quality. We try our best to provide high quality through and through. 100% of our business is referral related, and that comes from keeping our quality high. Having high standards for our services and products has always helped fuel one client leading to the next. We assure our clients that we will do our best, and we always deliver.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

Yes! My business partner is my spouse actually! It can be tricky obviously!

At first it was very awkward. But, he was always a consultant to my business from the very beginning. In 2007, he joined as a full time 50/50 partner, just after our first son was born. It’s challenging at times to work with your spouse, but we have developed a lot of strategies that make it work. We have totally separate jobs – each of which the other simply could not do, so there is a lot of mutual respect for the other’s work. We also make sure to build in separate overnight alone time at least once a month just to give each other some individual space. We also prioritize our communication with each other. If there is an issue, we discuss it straight away. Of course, sometimes it’s complicated. But, we have made it work for the past 15 years and have enjoyed it for the most part. We are going on 25 years together, so we must be doing something right!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.creativepickle.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativepickleatx/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CreativePickle/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/creativepickle

Image Credits
Kim Maguire