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

Justin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

This is a tough one, and I think most creatives could agree. I have been a creative all of my life, but didn’t start getting paid for it until later into my career in retail management where my positions weren’t 100% creative, but I started to be recruited and sought after due to my skills & talents. Still, I was being paid a salary for much more work than I could humanly sustain, so I left and started my own business so I could manage my own life-work balance, and finally focus on what I love: creating!

Of course, starting a business isn’t cheap or easy. I kind of just jumped in, not sure I would recommend that for everyone, but I had built some of my own network, reputation and portfolio so I wasn’t starting at ground zero. I made thus jump at a time in my life where I could afford to make the change, and I also have a partner who is successful and very supportive which was a tremendous help in not feeling like I had to try and equate my new earnings to my old salary.

I started out with the foundation that I wanted to be an affordable designer for people who may not have thought they would be able to hire a designer, and I want to keep it that way. But still, the bills have to get paid and I think we all need to feel like we are growing.

Creativity is such a hard thing to put a price tag on, this is what I meant when I said “most creatives could agree”. And specifically, in design, there are so many variable factors around your time and energy that go into play. Many charge by the hour, but then that can also be limiting to the creative feeling as though you have to pull back on your creative flow because of budget. So I started out low, like silly low. I wish I had known-of or used a higher base to start off on that was similar to what other “Professional Services” used. But I gradually increased my rates each year as I got busier, obtained more projects, referrals, and found my groove so-to-say. Actually, I think I am still finding my groove, but when I find that one side of my business’ services may not be performing as well as I would like, I explore some new directions I can take to bring up the slack. Some established designers out there would warn against this, but they aren’t paying my bills. Everyone will have a suggestion for how you should do things.

I think, as a creative, you have to find what works for you so that you are getting paid what you are worth, and what you need to not only survive but grow. What seems right and fair for your efforts and your work. They don’t say “starving artists” for nothing! It seems it is getting harder and harder, when there are so many more of us getting into business for ourselves and someone else will always be offering things faster or cheaper. Big corporate “next day delivery” companies have just spoiled us and our expectations of almost everything.

As consumers, we must remember, “you pay for what you get”. And as a creative, if you can make or do something that others find value in, and will pay you for it, then you’ve got something.

Justin, 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 grew up with a single, working mother where I often found myself home alone a lot, or even when others were around I was often on my own making something, or learning about something, trying new things. I was really into art & design from a young age. I remember cutting out furniture I liked from the IKEA catalogs we would get and I would tape them to a larger sheet of paper and create design schemes. I would get floor plans from apartments or model homes and space-plan all of our existing furniture to imagine what it would be like to live there. I would make up clients with my imagination and then design them a house with my Legos. I was that kid. And now I have my own business as a designer and artist, so look at that. Ha!

I worked off and on in our then family furniture business, but I started working on my own at 15, again with my independence, in the food & hospitality industries – which I suggest to any young person starting out in the workforce. By age 19, I was over smelling like food all day and got a second, part-time job in retail to make more money and explore something new. My first retail position was as a ‘sales associate’ at “Illuminations” – remember them? I absolutely loved it. I got to light, smell and play with candles all day. Then leadership started to see that I was good at making displays and organizing the store, and they promoted but then the management team form the new Pottery Barn across the way came in and recruited me for themselves and that started my retail sales & creative management career. I jumped around a bit and eventually focused on the creative side of the business getting “Visual Manager” positions with various brands like Anthropologie, West Elm and Saks Fifth Avenue – which is where I was until the end of my retail career and the start of my own business. I had worked on the Visual team at Saks Las Vegas when I was younger, then went back a decade later here in Phoenix. I had always told myself I wanted to be a “Visual Manager at Saks Fifth Avenue”, it was my dream. Well, I did it and now I have new dreams.

As I said previously, I wanted to be able to really focus on my creativity. See how far it could take me without all of that other corporate mumbo-jumbo – it really can be stifling. But I always said that retail (merchandising and display) “is part art, part math and part science”. My favorite subjects actually. And this is exactly what I find myself doing for my clients today.

Many of my clients come to me needing help with selecting colors, space planning within their homes or offices, fading the right materials or furnishings for their lifestyles, organizing those hard-to-maintain places we all struggle with, or for an overall environment refresh. And these are many of the tasks I love and have since I was a kid so it’s almost perfect. But these days, I am also finding that I want to push my creativity a little further than just design projects and am working on invigorating not only myself but my business with my artist/maker side. I have always loved to paint, but my canvases have become walls and larger scale projects. I love creating and painting large-scale geometric layered murals like the one you see behind me in my photo, that was actually my first. I have done a number of these in my own home as well as in an Airbnb, and am hoping to expand this side as I just have so much fun doing them and they are always grabbing attention. But not everyone is so brave as to have an entire wall painted as-so in their home, so I am working on making some wall-hanging versions, even custom headboards of the sort. I am currently also working on making some of my own accessories and occasional furniture using my own hand-drawn, patterned fabrics.

I call myself a “chronic DIY-er”, I just love to make things!

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

I think about this one a lot actually. Creatives can be really intimidating at times. To non-creatives, they often seem to have this mystical other insight that they just don’t understand – I hear it all of the time. I always say, “we all have our something” because someone who can do taxes, wow – you have a mystical power I will never have!

I think for me, I always struggled with my confidence. Not to say I don’t have any, and it has grown over the years, but I think that is one of the ways I built my reputation because people aren’t afraid to work with me. Shoot, I have met other creatives I am afraid to work with. But that isn’t a bad thing, we all have our one energies and visions and ways of doing things. A strong-minded and bull-headed creative can go really far and do amazing things, we hear about them all of the time. That just isn’t me. Not that I don’t want to go far, I just seem to play it a little differently. Where I am at in life right now, is designing things for other people, and often in their most intimate environments. I mean, I have been in a lot of people’s bedrooms and selected what they sleep on every night. I want people to be able to confide in me, trust me, know that I am helping them make the best decisions for them vs. me just pushing them to buy what I say for the look that I want. I think personal design is the best design, and I am there with them to fully realize that. And that’s how I go about it.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

One that comes to mind is one of my first clients in my first year of business. My partner and I had just bought/built our new home before I made the career change, and we decided to rent out our guest bedroom/bathroom on Airbnb for awhile to supplement my income change.

Our home had the perfect layout for it, working from home made it super easy to manage AND…new design project! We were actually very successful and were almost booked solidly for a year and a half up until the pandemic when we decided it was time to stop. But about six months in, we had a guest stay with us who, like many (not to brag), just loved our home and how I had designed and decorated it. She liked it so much, that she asked if I would be interested in designing another if she bought a property here for short-term renting as well.

“Ummm, yeah!” I met with her real estate agent and we selected the best place for her, and then it was off and running. She really gave me carte-blanche on the design scheme and furnishing selections since she knew that I knew what I was doing. It was so much fun, and SO much work, but the place was a hit with the guests who just raved in their reviews about the design, details and thought I put into it every part of the home. I was already elated by the project, but knowing I made a bunch of people’s vacations a little extra special, just made me feel like I really found what I am supposed to do.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinmckayandco/
• Facebook: https://business.facebook.com/justinmckayandco/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/justin-mckay-co-phoenix?osq=Justin+McKay

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