We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amanda Freeman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amanda below.
Hi Amanda, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Mixie Design Co. is all about harnessing the power of good humans and working together to leave the world a little bit better than how we found it. When it comes down to it, I am a hype girl at heart and live to cheer on the people around me. Watching my clients take big leaps and see the fruits of their labor has been what keeps me motivated every single day. Like a good small town citizen, I buy local every chance I get and use whatever platform I can to lift others up as they pursue their dreams. There is something truly magical about passion. Seeing it in others is where my motivation blooms. I am always on board with good humans making big changes in the world. Fortunately, my days are now filled to the brim with exactly that.
Twenty-two years of entrepreneurship has had a lot of ups and downs. Things never fail to stop me in my tracks from time to time. Owning a business is not for the faint of heart, but if what I do can impact even one person, then every single failure and success has been worth it.
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
Since the age of 19, I have been a small business owner. In retrospect, and with some age and experience added on, that just seems like such a crazy concept to grasp. Who pays a naïve 19 year old to manage anything? Luckily, I had a lot of support from my community and a few mentors in those early days. As a budding event planner, who was pursuing a degree in psychology, the last thing I ever thought I’d do is help others build their own businesses. But, here we are.
The road to my success has had a lot of twists and turns, but what entrepreneur journey doesn’t? My road is one about trusting your gut and diving in. At the age of 18, fresh out of high school and working toward a Psychology degree, I applied for an internship at a small wedding planning company. None of it made sense. The position was unpaid at first and I was a starving college student. Something inside me told me that this opportunity would lead to something big, though. After a little over a year, I purchased that business with money I had made by bartending, and started to make it my own. It was a massive leap into unknown territory, and the hours were long, but that little business went on to serve me and my community well for almost 15 years.
After the birth of my second son in 2014, I began to see how precious time really was. As an event planner, I had to work when others didn’t. I was on the clock late into the night, most weekends, and pretty much every minute in between. It was a fun job that was filled with many rewards, but the pace and the conditions proved to be too much for this exhausted mom to handle. The industry began to leave me feeling jaded. Families would spend tens of thousands of dollars on one day of their lives. An important day in my clients’ lives for sure, but after all was said and done, the hundreds of flowers would wilt and the world kept on spinning like nothing had changed. I started to reevaluate my career choice and after time came to one very definite conclusion. My joy wasn’t in the events themselves. My real excitement was coming from the other vendors that I had the honor of working with and the people that I had met along the way. I loved to see their businesses and lives change over time. Their growth was something exciting to celebrate, it was making my community better, and I wanted to be involved in any way I could. So, at the age of 34, I went back to school with that goal in mind.
Starting over is always intimidating, especially as a 30-something mother of two in a sea of 18 year old college kids. Not to mention I knew absolutely nothing about web design or branding. It was almost comical, at first. However, I knew in my soul that I was on the right track. I started my business that first year, without having even two full semesters of learning under my belt. Normally, I am not a dive-right-in kind of woman, but I had a professor who saw something in me and encouraged me not to give it a second thought. With her vote of confidence, I was officially and whole-heartedly invested. In that moment, Mixie Design Co. was born. I went home from class and immediately got my domain, LLC, and started to put my ducks in a row.
Since that day in 2015, I have been the owner and lead designer at Mixie Design Co., a boutique branding and web design studio rooted in the small and beautiful town of Milford, Michigan. Over the past 7 years of owning this company, I have made it my mission to help others navigate the path of small business ownership in the digital realm. My focus is mainly on a 360 degree digital marketing strategy for local businesses that includes web design, copywriting, graphic design, photography, and brand management, but I help businesses around the globe with marketing projects of all sizes. Each of my clients may be different in industry, years of experience, and general goals, but their successes all boil down to one thing; They are all making a positive impact within their communities.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Business is all about community. Early on, I spent my days obsessing over the latest social media trends and algorithms like anyone else, but I gave that all up to build something that felt true to me. I am not built to be a social media influencer or someone who shares absolutely everything on a public forum. Major growth came once I realized that I am driven by the people who surround me. Where we invest our time, we see reward. My main behind-the-scenes focus is on networking. Not the cheesy hand out your business card and shake hands kind of networking, but really showing up in the places that inspire me. My advice to anyone who is just starting out or who is not seeing a return on their investment of time in whatever platform that they use, is to go out in the real world for a bit. Find a group or two that resonate with you. Try new ones regularly. I show up in a few small business organizations and can safely say that nothing else has brought me as many sales or as much support. The people I have met along the way have proven to be the best resources, sales people, mentors, clients, and friends I could have ever asked for.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Above all else, being a good person will take you far in this world. It may not feel like it all the time, but in the end it is all that matters. We all make mistakes. Balls get dropped, timelines get missed, we overbook our schedules, miscommunication happens, but being a genuine, empathetic, and kind person can make a world of difference. By committing to my community and being involved wherever I can, not only do I feel good at the end of the day, but more people trust me to handle big parts of their businesses. That trust is key. Clients want to know that they can depend on you for the big things and that you are in their corner no matter what. If they can do that, then everything else falls into place.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wearemixie.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/wearemixie
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wearemixie
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandasfreeman/
Image Credits
Dear Fern Photography, Looking Glass Photography, Mixie Design Co.