We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amanda Walsh. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amanda below.

Amanda , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

I never thought I would be where I am now – don’t all of us business owners say that. Prior to this business I had another one along with my full-time job which was working with postpartum mothers. When I started that business I did everything on my own including building my website which I actually loved. Anyone remember the MySpace days?? I used to love changing the layout of my page and being creative with that.

After awhile I had other colleagues that were also looking for website design and I got the courage to ask one of them to allow me to do it for them – one I wanted to see if I enjoyed it as much as I thought I did AND second if I could actually do it. I was completely honest with her by letting her know I was just winging it but she allowed me to do it anyways!

From there I decided that I wanted to give this creative business a shot. The other business that I had limited me to people who were local but this I was able to work with anyone anywhere.

I started out thinking that I wanted to work with Wedding Creatives – I loved the elegant look and feel to a wedding and that’s what I wanted to do. I got involved into instagram heavy and making connections with other business owners who were local to me which helped me tremendously in the beginning stages of business.

From there I quickly learned that I in fact did not only want to work with wedding creatives and I wanted to expand my audience – so I did. I invested in a local business coach who gave me lots of great advice and was my starting point as she referred a lot of people to me.

I started out just winging everything that I did and knew – I am self taught so I used a lot of google and YouTube back then!

After about 6 months I made my first really big investment on an online coach who worked with designers specifically and I was SCARED but it was the best decision I have made. She taught my how to structure my business, deliver to my clients, taking payments, literally everything that I needed she helped me with. I truly dont believe if I would not have made that decision I would still be here today.

Since then I was able to leave my full time job only after 9 months and go full time with by design business – that was in 2018 and I am still here kicking ass today.

I am continously growing and investing in my business. My audience has changed a lot since then but I am finally at a place where I know who I am and what I have to offer!

Amanda , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a branding and website designer for other small business owners. I like to work with the bold and the badass – the people who are not afraid to break the rules and go against industry standards.

I LOVE to work with them because they are me – I followed all of the “rules” and things that they gurus said you are supposed to do in business but I didn’t like it and it wasn’t until I decided to show up as my authentic self I started attracting my people and the type of work that I love. Which is bold – minimal – and edgy designs.

My clients come to me when they are at a season of up-level., They have been in business they understand what it takes to run a business, they are getting clients and making money and doing the damn thing and now it is time to upgrade their online presence.

I help my clients find their unique edge what is going to help them stand out from the crowd. I have been told on numerous occasions I am great at taking peoples words and creating something that they love and that they just went able to explain fully but have envisioned!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

There was a time in business when I invested in a coach who told me that I HAD to have a specific niche I had to work with one type of person and target them specifically. Before this I was working with a wide variety of female entrepreneurs successfully and was reluctant to change that but did so because I thought I had to.

I went from being booked out to not getting one inquiry for months on end because I made this change in my business. For the longest time I could not pinpoint the issue – until I did and I knew I had to pivot back!

I do. not believe that you need to focus on ONE specific type of person to work with as long as you have a specific WHAT that you can help them with!

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Client experience has definitely been my most effective strategy. A LOT of my business comes from client referrals because I honestly try to take care of my clients the best that I can making sure that the experience that they are getting from me is top notch.

This took me a long time to get a hold of and even now it can still get hard when you are trying to juggle all of the things that come along with being a business owner BUT your client experience is something you should spend a lot of time looking at and perfecting.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thelaunchhive.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelaunch_hive/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP839VdTmI17BTcpTTzCh_g
• Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thelaunchhivecreative/

Image Credits
Shelby Dubin Photography