We were lucky to catch up with Colin Simpson recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Colin, thanks for joining us today. Have you been 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? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
For most creatives, the idea of earning a living doing what they love is both inspiring and terrifying. Owning a business is not something I suggest for people who are afraid of hard work, but it’s very satisfying and freeing when you get it right. Being my own boss suits me well because I’m very motivated by the success of our company. It supports our family and lets my wife and I have the life we want.
My path to entrepreneurship isn’t linear, and it took me a while to find it. I tried a lot of different design jobs from in-house, to creative agency, to startup. I ended up really liking working with startups and learned a lot about business along the way. At a small startup, especially in the beginning, you wear lots of hats. Sometimes individual contributor, sometimes manager, sometimes salesperson, you have to step in where needed to help the business succeed.
When I finally decided to start my company Campground with my wife, we had built up a solid network of 10+ years in the design industry. This was the most important aspect of starting from scratch. We’ve been able to keep a strong through word of mouth by doing great work.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m Colin. Co-founder and Design Director of Campground. Our origin story started as a dream born around a fire. We were a group of six designers celebrating our college graduation. We spoke about our dreams and the kind of workplace we’d imagine we would thrive in. We made a promise that ten years from then if we weren’t satisfied, we’d come together and start our own studio.
10 years later… my wife and I decided to follow through with that dream and create a studio that would allow a network of talented creatives to come together and produce top-notch strategy and design for our clients.
We are a versatile design studio, specializing in branding and experience design. We thrive on solving complex problems by creating simple solutions.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
I met my Co-founder Dewi in the design department of San Diego State University. I sat next to her, quickly striking up a conversation about design. A first date led to many more. 13 years later, we’ve created a life, a family, and a business together that is completely our own.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
Early in my career, I wish I would have known how much of a resource personal relationships can be. For us, it’s not only about the work but also about the people we work with. Whether it’s our clients, partners, or team, the relationships are the most important thing. Good communication skills are also an skill to help projects move smoothly and ensure we are delivering quality work for our clients.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wearecampground.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearecampground/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearecampground/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/wearecampground
- Other: https://dribbble.com/campground
Image Credits
Photography by Studio Luniste.