Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ansley Kane Oberkofler. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Ansley, appreciate you joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
If you were to go back in time 6 years ago and tell me I would own my own business and freelance full-time, I’m not sure I would have believed you.
It all started my first year out of college, when I worked for a church doing logistics. I loved my job and my team… but I felt an artistic pull in my heart. I went to school for design and would always find ways to bring art to my day-to-day projects. My boss saw that I loved graphic design, and would give me any opportunity he could to let me be creative on our team– like running our social media, designing shirts, and creating graphics and signage for series & events. Eventually, people at my job started to notice my work, and I landed my first freelance job designing shirts.
Over the year, I slowly started taking on more and more side projects and building a brand for myself. I finally felt like I had a creative outlet to use my artistic talents. It wasn’t until that winter that a friend said “Would you ever quit your job and do design full time?” I started thinking… could I do it?
There were so many questions in my head: Would I make enough money? What if I couldn’t find clients? What if this is more of a hobby and not meant to be my full time job? It sounded risky, but I was curious to see if I could actually do it.
That next week I went home and started creating a business plan. I calculated how much I was making on side projects a month, what my hourly rate would need to be, and how many hours I’d need to land. I wrote down all the supplies I’d need (like a new computer, Adobe software, a monitor) and how long it would take me to save up and buy them.
After weeks of research and talking to other freelancers, my business plan was done. That was the easy part… the hard part, was deciding if I actually wanted to make the jump. With my plan B and plan C in place, just in case, I officially quit my job in 2019 and have been freelancing ever since.
Ansley, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Ansley Kane Oberkofler! I’m a graphic designer from Atlanta, GA currently living and working in London, UK. Since I was a little girl, I’ve always been a lover of art and creativity – drawing with chalk, playing with play-doh, sewing pillowcases and outfits, and playing make believe outside. It followed me as I got older and eventually led me to go to The Lamar Dodd School of Art & Design at the University of Georgia. After college, I worked at North Point Ministries as a graphic designer and started my own Graphic Design business after that, focusing on branding, apparel, and social media that reflects who they are.
How did you build your audience on social media?
There’s a quote from a book I love called The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. It says…
“Very often audacity, not talent, makes one person an artist and another a shadow artist – hiding in the shadows, afraid to step out and expose the dream to the light, fearful that it will disintegrate to the torch.”
When I first started posting my art on social media regularly, I had so much fear. What would people think? What if someone’s more talented than me? What if someone sees my work and thinks it’s bad?
It’s not my talent that will set me apart. It’s my audacity to step out of my comfort zone and put my designs out into the world that will make someone want to follow.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
The goal of my creative journey is to continually keep growing these two things: my skills and my style.
The world is moving fast, and new technologies keep coming out that push limits and boundaries. These new skills may be hard to learn, but it’s my goal to continually keep adapting and finding new ways to make art.
The art I made in my early twenties are nothing like what I’m making now in my thirties. My goal is to let myself change and let my art reflect where I’m at in my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: ansleyko.com
- Instagram: @ansleyko
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ansleyko/
Image Credits
Vivian Kim Skapa Company Austin Hall