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

Andrea, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

I was diagnosed with cancer when I was only 24. Having got the devastating news one month before my wedding, I had just gotten into the groove of young adulthood—working hard, making big life decisions, and planning for the future with my then-fiancé, now husband.

I was only a few months into a new job, and while I kept working full time throughout my treatment for Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, I had busy coworkers make time every single day to eat lunch with me, another that set up a meal train so that other coworkers, friends, and family could bring us meals, and others that sent cards, gift cards, cleaned our apartment, and so much more. We moved our wedding up immediately so that I could begin chemo immediately after our I-dos, and the love outpoured to us throughout my treatment and the radiation that followed shaped our outlook and set the tone for our attitude of gratitude.

Life owed us nothing, but the kindness of individuals added to our faith and helped shape our path forward.

Andrea, 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 cancer survivor.

And while that alone does not define me, it helped shape who I am today. My experience pushed me to prioritize my faith and the important things in life, and while I will always work hard, I have a mission-driven focus on doing meaningful work that takes small steps to make the world a better, more intentional place.

I always knew that I wanted to pursue a career as a creative professional, and decided long before I left high school that I would be a designer. With the encouragement of my parents and teachers, I started painting at the age of five and went on to cover a wide range of artistic endeavors through formal art and design training, music education, and even writing.

With a BFA in Visual Communication and 17+ years of professional design and marketing experience, I’m thankful to be known as an award-winning creative professional, recognized for strengths in strategic thinking, tactical planning, and design thought leadership. I’ve worked with numerous Fortune 500 corporations, taking a design and data-based approach to optimize their campaigns to improve brand recognition and capture life-long customers. Diving headfirst in entrepreneurship and the world of freelance, I’ve also worked with small businesses to help tell their stories and create brands that can stand the test of time.

Today, I am thankful to thrive as a working artist and business owner of the 7th & Palm brand. Since 2015, I’ve built an art, graphic design, and stationery studio from scratch. Based in Bluffton, SC, 7th & Palm is an eco-friendly collection of greeting cards, 
gifts & goods that gives back. In addition to my paper goods and gifts line, I occasionally take on select custom branding and design work for clients. Vibrantly modern with a coastal flair, I loved creating new artwork to showcase on quality recycled and sustainable materials.

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

Social media is a necessary evil. The rules are always changing, but I’ve found that consistency is the key to making these channels part of my long-game strategy. I don’t love social media—I’m not an influencer and didn’t gain hundreds of followers overnight, but I post when possible, letting fans and followers in behind the scenes of what makes me tick, how I create, and what new work is available. We talk about authenticity in marketing a lot, and it’s important to show who you really are within reason, not just a perfectly curated version of your life’s highlight reel.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

I’m beginning my ninth year in business, and I’m still learning and pivoting. The first five years were brutal both mentally and financially, but I’ve learned that everything worth having takes time and perseverance. I chose not to take on business debt or investors, as I wanted to build my brand from scratch, slow and steady, and made the choice to take on a fair amount of freelance design work to pay the bills while I slowly built my art and paper goods catalog. Most people keep their day job while starting out, but going it alone as a solopreneur gave me a sense of urgency to succeed, freedom to make mistakes have control over my schedule, and make sure that I did the things I took on well. Ethics and quality are really important to me, and this helped me focus on building a brand that I could be proud of.

In terms of milestones, I did my first trade show at the beginning of 2020, which was also the start of year six of the business. The pandemic hit immediately after, but I invested in ongoing education and outsourcing small things that year, and took on more strategic coaching, also hiring my first contractor at the end of year seven.

My income is based on multiple revenue streams within the freelance, art, and design world, and I’m always evaluating where best to spend my time and invest for future growth. I don’t have it all figured out and make plenty of mistakes, but I love trying new things and staying nimble enough to course-correct.

Contact Info:

• Website: 7thandpalm.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/7thandpalm
• Facebook: facebook.com/7thandpalm
• Other: tiktok.com/@7thandpalm

Image Credits
Personal photo/headshot only – credit to photographer Kristen Scott, The 2654 Project (the2654project.com) All other photos are mine (Andrea Smith).