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

Hi Amanda, thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

Well to start, they are the best parents. They’ve done so much for my sisters and I growing up and still do. They’re always the first people to help you with anything you may need. Growing up, I didn’t have many interests. I never thought twice about my future or wondered what it would look like. I was just living in the moment, being a teenager. I truthfully don’t know what my parents thought of who I was or what I was doing at that moment in time, but I do think the key to “what they did right” was that they trusted me to figure it out. After graduating college and landing my first few jobs, I realized it wasn’t fulfilling and that I was being pulled in another direction, which was graphic design. It was a leap of faith to quit my job and jump into an immersive graphic design program, but I did it and with so much love, encouragement and trust from my parents. A couple of months after graduating from design school, I accepted a position as a web designer at Victoria’s Secret PINK and shortly after opened my small business. I truly credit my accomplishments to my parents’ love and their belief in me.

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

My name is Amanda. I’m a graphic designer & lettering artist located on Long Island, New York. I went to college for Media Studies & Production, but quickly realized that wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. In 2019, I decided to go back to school for graphic design. That’s also where I learned about lettering. I was so fascinated that people could craft such beautiful letters into gorgeous pieces of art. After graduating, I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go next. The possibilities seemed endless. I applied to a bunch of different jobs, but eventually accepted an offer as a web designer at Victoria’s Secret PINK. In my free time, I was on my iPad for hours on end learning different lettering styles and doodling. Eventually my passion for lettering lead me to open my own small business, Sometime in January. There, I focus on normalizing mental health struggles through relatable artwork and products.

I think what sets my business aside from others is the fact that I share a lot of my own personal struggles, stories and remind people they aren’t alone. I think that’s also one of the things I am most proud of. A lot of social media is a facade and a hi-light reel, but I try to do the exact opposite. It’s very easy to go online and pretend you’re someone else who has it all together, but I want to showcase that we’re all human, we all have good days & bad days, and that’s normal. Since I share my genuine thoughts & feelings, it makes it easy to connect with such amazing people all over the world. So I’m also proud of just being myself and that being enough. I hope to inspire others to do the same.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I built my social media originally by word of mouth letting my friends, family, coworkers etc. know that I just made a new art Instagram account that features graphic design, doodles and lettering. I also began following a lot of people and trying to make as many connections as possible. My advice for those just getting starting building a social media presence is doing the same as I mentioned and just being consistent. It doesn’t need to be a post every single day or even every week, but definitely showing up on a consistent basis so people see your work and what you’re capable of. You never know who may see your design and where that might lead you. Another big tip is making reels. I understand that social media can be discouraging from time to time, but from my experience and what I’ve read, video is huge right now. Some ideas for reels may be behind the scenes of you sketching a graphic and then turning that into a product, sharing your story of why you decided to become an artist/business owner/creative, or jump on a trend- usually those get the most views if you’re looking to build a specific audience/niche.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

As I mentioned earlier, social media is tough. I can’t lie, I’ve definitely gone down the comparison rabbit hole. It never ends up pretty. If you’re not careful to take a step back once in a while, you may find yourself in a bad place. It’s very easy to compare follower counts, reel/tiktok views but that doesn’t define who you are or how successful you’ll be. For a while I did believe that, but you have to keep pushing through the negative self talk. Remember that you are creative, you are smart, you are talented. Things will happen for you if you keep putting in the work. Trust yourself and be resilient.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.amandaturano.com
• Instagram: sometimeinjanuary
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/amandaturano

Image Credits
Photography Credit: Amanda Turano