Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Wong.

Hi Brittany, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
At the end of high school, I wasn’t sure what kind of career path I wanted to take. I have always been creative, since I was a little kid, and for whatever reason, my mom suggested I pursue graphic design. It sounded fun, so I gave it a shot.

Turns out I loved it!

I went to college and got my degree in design studies with an emphasis in graphic design, and a minor in photography. I started my career before I even graduated by working in the advertising office at the campus bookstore, which is where I learned a lot of the basic, foundational things about working with a creative team.

After graduation I got a job working as a designer in-house at a church. I mostly designed their weekly bulletins for Sunday mornings, and it was good experience in layout design and production.

After working at the church for a couple of years, I received an offer through my online portfolio to apply for a junior design position at a remote agency. It was a great opportunity and felt like my first “real” job. I landed the job and moved up quickly, first to graphic designer, then to art director. I learned a lot at that job about website design, working with a team, time management, and client interaction. I worked there for six years and absolutely loved that job and the people I worked with.

But after some time, the company started changing, people started leaving and I started day dreaming about something else. I started to apply for other jobs but it was a fruitless effort. After a year of applying for other jobs and not even getting an interview, I started to wonder what was next for me.

Then, one day while I was visiting a friend (and former co-worker) in New York City, I had a vision. I don’t know if it was because we had spent time talking about work and the changes within the company, or if it was just being in a new place where I was surrounded by creative possibilities and potential, but one day while we were climbing the stairs out of a subway station a vision flashed into my mind like lightning. I saw it all at once and as if it had already happened.

I would open a creative studio called Happyland. I saw what the logo would look like, what the colors would be, the kind of clients we would have, and the type of projects we would work on. I saw it all, and I wish I had written it down. I had never had an experience like that prior to that moment, nor have I had once since.

I followed that vision without question and got right to work. On my flight home I started sketching up the logo. When I got home I registered my LLC, over the next couple of months I made appointments with accountants, got a PO Box and opened a bank account in my business’ name.

It was around that same time that I learned I was expecting a baby. I thought that meant the end of this plan for Happyland. It didn’t seem like a good idea to start a business at the same time I was having a baby. I needed stability, right?

But one day, while out on a walk, I was listening to a podcast (I wish I could remember which one), and the person on the podcast said there is more security working for yourself than there is in employment for someone else. When you work for someone else, think of that job like your one client. You may wake up one day and that client doesn’t need you anymore. Suddenly, you lose your job and have no money coming in. But when you work for yourself, you have multiple clients. If you wake up one day and lose a client, you still have other clients and you have systems in place to help you get more clients.

It made so much sense to me and felt so clear that I decided to keep going with my plan of opening Happyland Creative even though it seemed a little crazy.

I left my job at the remote agency a month before having my son and I’ve been raising my business right along side my son ever since.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been a lot of struggles.

Before I even got my business off the ground I was running in to hurdles. I had just put in my notice with my boss that I was going to be leaving my job and the next day my husband found out that he was losing his job. I was terrified. I thought about calling my boss up and saying, “Just kidding!” I didn’t know what to do. I had put so much of my heart and mind into opening Happyland that it felt disheartening not to be able to see it through, and I was growing more and more uncomfortable at my job so it felt disheartening to stay there.

After talking it over with my Husband, we decided I should keep moving forward with my business anyway, despite everything else going on around us.

It put a lot of pressure on me to make money and get clients right from the jump, which was also made more difficult by having a new born and navigating new parenthood. I don’t know how, but somehow I did it.

I’ve also run into struggles regularly throughout my years in business. From bad hiring decisions to miscommunications with clients, and seasons of being overbooked to seasons of having no work.

I’m becoming more and more convinced that there is no such thing as a “smooth road” when you own a business. It’s just a series of problems that you have to solve in order to keep going forward. That’s why it’s so important to have determination and a meaningful reason that you’re doing it from the very beginning. Because without that North Star, you won’t have anything to anchor yourself to during the hard times.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I knew from the beginning that Happyland Creative would be a branding studio. That vision has become more and more refined over the years and we’ve gone from working with anyone who needed a logo to specializing in brands for small, e-commerce businesses.

Our wheelhouse is creating visual identities that reflect the core essence of a brand and attract customers who will love their products. We also help bring a brand’s visual identity to life through their website and online shopping experience.

We love working with bold brands who aren’t afraid of color and having fun. That’s part of our core foundation at Happyland—we believe that being professional and running a business doesn’t mean you have to be boring. You can have fun and use color in unique and creative ways that help you stand out from your competition and etch your brand into the memory of your customers. People are attracted to things that are unique and different, and that’s what we try to bring out through a business’ branding. We want to highlight the unique aspects of a business in a way that makes it irresistible to their customers.

What makes you happy?
A lot of things make me happy. I love taking vacations with my family and going to Disneyland. I love being able to just have fun and not worry about all the responsibilities waiting for me back at home. But I also love small, simple things. Making my iced coffee everyday makes me happy. I’m also really happy when I see a new episode of my favorite podcast or TV show has dropped.

Sometimes, when business is hard, we may not have the money to take a nice vacation, or life circumstances may not allow it, so it’s important to find joy in the smaller things and in your surroundings.

Pricing:

• Brad Audits $150
• Tailor Your Template (web intensive service) $2500
• Custom Brand Design starts at $3500
• Custom Websites start at $4500

Contact Info:

• Website: www.happylandcreative.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/happylandcreative/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/happylandcreative
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/happylandcreative/
• Other: https://www.threads.net/@happylandcreative

Image Credits
Group photo by Marilla Kay Photography.