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

Alright, Allie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Tilt Creative was born out of a desire to fuel the dreams of others. The dreams of entrepreneurs and small business owners that are following their passions and providing important products and services to their communities. Above all else, I do this work to help others succeed and live a fulfilling life.

Community is a significant driving force for me. My business manager (and best friend of over 10 years) jokes that I want to be able to buy my pottery from a ceramicist down the street and get my eggs from the neighborhood, family owned market. But those human connections are what makes me feel the sense of belonging in my own community and what sparks my own creativity and happiness.

So, to be able to support those independent makers and business owners that are bettering their own communities makes it all worth it for me. My clients range from local farms to nurse practitioners to plumbers and everything in between. But the commonality amongst them all is community.

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

Tilt Creative launched in the spring of 2020 when the world was turning upside-down. My business partner and long-time best friend, Isaac Hunter, and I were both feeling aimless in our careers. We had been joking since college that we needed to start a business together and that’s exactly what happened during that fateful, first week of quarantine. Since then, I have taken over full ownership of Tilt Creative as Isaac found (another) dream job, but I’m lucky to have him still on the team as Tilt’s business manager.

Tilt Creative provide graphic design services for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and non-profits. Branding and print design are our specialities, but we are also known to whip out some custom illustrations and websites from time to time. Most importantly, we are here to help you visually tell your story.

A huge part of being a designer and being able to help you tell your story comes down to the communication with clients. It takes a certain skillset to truly listen to what a client needs and then bring that vision to life. I often feel like I am attempting to read people’s minds! But with collaboration and communication, we can help that process along and nail down what route to take to effectively portray who you are to your audience. That’s the key!

I am known to bring a hand-drawn style to my work. That typically means exploring hand-lettered logos, illustrating icons or graphics for your brand, or adding a little custom flourish to your marketing materials. I find that incorporating hand-drawn elements brings a level of individuality and uniqueness to your brand that is hard to come by otherwise.

At the end of the day, I just want to do good work for good humans.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Two things come to mind when I think of what I wish I knew earlier in my journey: the logistics behind setting up and running a business, and the power of investing in yourself.

Having my cofounder, Isaac, around to help with the business logistics has been an absolute game changer. I have always felt confident in my abilities as a designer, but I cannot say the same when it comes to managing the ins and outs of running a business! I would advise anyone starting a business to spend the time and energy on figuring out the foundations of your business first. Things like registering as an LLC, opening business bank accounts, knowing how much to set aside for taxes, etc. Look up your local Small Business Administration (SBA) as a source for knowledge and guidance, find a mentor, ask friends or family that have done it before — the information is out there!

The other resource I’ve found is the power of hiring a business coach. I invested in a group coaching course for women entrepreneurs at a time when I was feeling discouraged and stuck. I can honestly say that finding a community of fellow entrepreneurs that I could learn alongside of, rely on, and grow with has been so empowering. The 3 month course initiated a mindset shift for me that has allowed me to truly be confident in who I am and therefore, what my business is.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I met my cofounder, Isaac, way back during our freshman year of college at Montana State University. We were both in the hiring process to try and be RAs and were paired up for an assignment. We ended up on the same residence hall staff and spent 1.5 years as RAs together. And we’ve never looked back!

Nowadays, he lives in Seattle and I’m here in Denver so we spend a lot of time on FaceTime. And racking up airline miles with our business credit card so we can visit each other. I was even the best woman in his wedding last summer!

It hasn’t always been easy working alongside someone you’re so close with, but we are good about keeping business and personal feelings separate when needed. Knowing that I have someone I can trust completely and who understands my values and communication style (and when I just need to take a minute to breathe and then come back to the conversation) makes it all worth it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tiltmade.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tiltmade/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tiltmade/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tiltmade/about/

Image Credits
Madeline Sweeney