We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alison Baggett a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Alison thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

Building a legacy is the best way to live on after we are gone. Before I am a business owner, I am a wife and mom. The legacy I am working to build and one day leave behind is that I loved my family and friends well and helped them grow to be world changers. As a follower of Christ that is my first priority. My hope is that they see Jesus in my actions and words on a daily basis and carry that on long after I’m gone.

As far as my business legacy, I hope to be able to leave my mark on small businesses in a way that they feel encouraged, uplifted, and ready to take action on growing their business. With being able to be a part of their business in such a creative way, I want them to remember me as someone who cared as much about them and their business as they do, more than just having a transaction take place.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a firm believer in things are put in our path for a reason. We may not know that reason for years down the road, but I do my best not to take opportunities and situations for granted because it may come back around later on. Where I am today is due to many paths crossing over time.

What started out as an opportunity to serve on our church staff as a children’s director led us to starting a fund to adopt a child. We had three biological children, but felt led to complete our family through adoption, though we didn’t know how or when. It was during that fundraising process that I began a side quest of creating art pieces (mostly large cut out letters that I painted on) and teaching art classes around my kitchen table. I named it Projects with a Purpose, because it had three main purposes. 1. to share the gospel and glorify God with the gifts and skills He had given me, 2. to fund our adoption, and 3. to allow us to be generous and help out in our community when we saw a need. Fast forward a couple of years, and we had adopted our daughter through the foster care system, at which time I looked at my husband and said, “We’ve accomplished our goals with this adventure, but I’m really enjoying this and would like to see where it can take us.” With his incredible support, and the mentorship of a friend from high school/college who was running a successful art business, I opened my first art studio in our neighboring city in 2017. From that venture I learned how to create websites, marketing material, run memberships, do graphic design, and branding for myself out of necessity. Online classes were just becoming a thing, and I dove deep into educating myself in the areas I needed help as well putting those skills to work in my business.

I made a successful move with my studio to the city I live in in 2019, and was gearing up for growth when covid hit in 2020. I like so many other businesses had to change direction (I despise the word pivot after that year). I had already done the prep work to host online classes from my studio, and thankfully was in a position to quickly video my classes for the kids who were coming to see me on a weekly basis. This led to me building out a brand for a subscription style membership of art boxes and classes that I marketed to homeschool families. I had already dipped my toes in teaching adults online, but quickly realized the experience of coming to my studio was a better selling point than online classes for them. However, homeschool families all over the country were participating in our monthly art classes and it was going well.

In 2022, with overhead costs rising, and in person classes not coming back like I’d hoped, I made the decision to close the doors of my studio. I thoroughly enjoyed the marketing side of my business, but it was almost like having 2 full time jobs between all of the planning, prepping, and teaching at the studio and then the marketing, and I figured that if I had a hard time keeping up with everything, then there had to be other business owners out there in the same boat. I started brainstorming what I enjoyed and could offer to other business owners based on the skills I had grown in my own business, but I also had a wealth of knowledge about running a brick and mortar business, which is extremely helpful in marketing.

I started with social media management and subscription box setup, and have shifted my services more toward web design and branding for small businesses. My goal is to help small businesses who have been DIY-ing their way through their website and brand and are ready to take things up a notch. They are not looking to spend $10,000, but don’t want to keep their look and vibe where it is. I now offer branding packages and have a website in a week package so that they can be up and running quickly.

I love being able to help other business owners create a brand for their business that they are proud to show off to their audience and grow their reach and profits, therefore making a bigger impact on their families and employees.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

This is such a great question, and it really boils down to having great communication. As a creative, I am a very visual person and love to be able to see what my clients are thinking. If I have a client who is not of a creative mindset, I am probably going to seem like I ask way too many questions, but when someone says to just do whatever I feel like, that is not really helpful and is not going to set their project up for success.

When we dive deeper into who their target audience is, and what their goals are for their website and/or branding, it helps establish a solid foundation for the creative side. Even my husband, who is also a creative has said I ask a lot of questions when it comes to creating a website and branding suite! My goal is not to annoy you with all the questions, but unless I have been in your business for a long period of time, or am very familiar with your audience, it is the best way for me to help you take things to the next level.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I believe that the most rewarding part of being and artist and creative is seeing my work and thought processes work for another business owner, in taking things off their plate that they either don’t feel comfortable tackling on their own, or they don’t have the time to work on.

If I can relieve them of some projects on their to-do list, then it is a win-win for everyone involved. The business owner has things they are able to use in their marketing that are professional looking, but fit the vibe they need, I accomplish my goals both creatively and financially, and their audience gets the information they need with an experience that is super pleasant and makes them want to come back for more.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alisonbaggett.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alisonbaggettcreativedesign/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alisonbaggettcreativedesign
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisonbaggettcreativedesign

Image Credits

Avery Lawley