We recently connected with Dorey Kronick and have shared our conversation below.
Dorey, 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?
Yes!
I’ve been freelancing full-time as a Creative Director, Graphic Designer, Photographer, and Mixed Media Artist for 9+ years. I raise my rates every year, adding new projects to my calendar, and new clients to my roster. Although I’m not exactly living a life of “luxury” (yet!), I typically bring in more cash flow each year, without needing to sell my soul.
After leaving my salary job as the Style & Design Manager for a healthy restaurant chain in Chicago, IL towards the end of 2014, I searched, applied, and interviewed for several jobs, but quickly realized that my “dream job” didn’t exist. So, I decided that it was up to me to create my own dream job.
By January 2015, I officially started working for myself and hit the ground running. Using social media, email, and word of mouth, I shared the news that I was available for creative projects, which lead me to take on a lot of random design, production, photography, and art gigs the first few of years of self-employment. All of those experiences and clients helped me learn, grow, and expand as a creative professional, allowing me to figure out what kinds of projects I liked to do, who I liked to work with, and how I could best use my talents and abilities to serve others, while simultaneously fulfilling my heart’s desires.
Early on, I teamed up with a variety of creative staffing agencies and marketing teams who helped me line up with larger projects, bigger budgets, and higher profile clients.
I hired an accountant / CPA, which was a huge part of getting my shit together when it came to being a “business owner,” and I wish I’d done that sooner!
For a couple of years, I spent many hours listening to the “Being Boss” podcast, which was life-altering in helping me understand how to be a better creative entrepreneur and connecting with other creative small businesses owned by all kinds of badass women.
I somewhat accidentally became a Squarespace Website Designer, which has taken me a whole lot farther in my career than I ever would have guessed.
I’ve basically just tried to remain open to possibilities in the creative field, connecting with anyone and everyone who wants to try to work with me, and sometimes biting off more than I can chew, so to speak.
I don’t know that I could’ve sped up the process to get to where I’m at now, but I do wish that I had more confidence in my knowledge, expertise, and abilities all of this time! I wish that I’d been willing to invest more money into my business, education, tools, and resources earlier on in my career. I wish I didn’t second guess myself so much or let imposter syndrome eat me up inside at times.
And above all else, I definitely wish that I’d raised my rates sooner!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I help high-vibe businesses and individuals look AMAZINGGG digitally and in print. Combining graphic design, photography, and mixed media art, I turn dreamy ideas into visual realities, creating valuable impressions that last, intriguing audiences both new and established. These days, I specialize in creative direction, branding, logos, and Squarespace websites — as well as other fun projects like album cover and poster art (for bands, musicians, festivals, venues), labels and packaging (for products, food, and beverages), menus (for restaurants, cafes, and bars), photography (portraits, elopements, engagements, nature, travel, lifestyle, etc), and abstract expressionist paintings.
In 2024 (and beyond!), I’m focusing on more creatively oriented work that involves color, expression, artistry, illustration, energy, and other magical, imaginative things that light me up inside.
INDUSTRIES, BUSINESSES, & HUMANS I LIKE TO SERVE:
— Small Businesses / Entrepreneurs
— Therapists / Astrologers
— Creatives / Artists / Photographers / Interior Designers
— Health & Wellness
— Environmental / Sustainable / Farms / Nature
— Non-profits / Education
— Bands / Musicians / Festivals / Venues / Record Labels
— Cannabis / Breweries / Liquor / Spirits
— Restaurants / Bars / Cafés / Food / Beverage
— Weddings / Elopements / Engagements / Events
— Fashion / Apparel / Beauty / Retail / Boutique
— LGBQTIA+ / BIPOC
— Anyone / Everyone doing great things in the world
I have a strong background in branding, marketing, and visual arts, so I understand that having a stunning identity matters more than ever in our rapidly changing world. That’s why regardless of if it’s the look and feel of a logo, the layout of text on a website, the lighting in a photo, or anything else that involves aesthetics — I approach each detail in the projects that I touch with an artistic expertise informed by a passion for design.
Whether you’re a large organization, small business, or simply striking out on your own — my creative work helps my clients look authentically professional, make more money, and expand in allllllll the best ways. I’ve been working professionally in the creative industry for 15+ years, freelancing full-time for 9+ years, and received my BA in Graphic Design + Minor in Studio Arts from San Jose State University of California in 2009.
Originally from California (Santa Cruz / San Francisco / San Gregorio / San Jose / Thousand Oaks / Westlake / San Diego +), I moved to Portland, Oregon in the spring of 2022 after living in Chicago, IL from 2012 to 2020, and roadtripping the USA for all of 2021 (and the first quarter of 2022).
I’ve moved a lot in my life, but it’s made me a well-rounded, adventurous, and adaptable human with the ability to gather inspiration from anywhere. I love connecting with new people, visiting new places, and trying new things.
Aside from geeking out creatively, I love traveling our beautiful planet, exploring nature, practicing yoga, listening to / watching (and sometimes making) weird music, spending time with my dearest friends, and drinking craft beverages of all kinds (juice / kombucha / tea / coffee / cocktails / wine / beer). If you know anything about my last name, I’m into that kind of thing too ;) I’m a HSP, a hint psychic, Type 2 (The Helper) on the Enneagram, and a Generator in regards to Human Design.
So, if you’re interested in intuitive and collaborative artistic services catered to your unique situation in the modern world, contact me via doreykronick.com and let’s make magic happen together!
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist / creative is that I get to use my wild imagination. Every. Single. Day.
I’ve built a unique life where I mostly get to choose the time(s) of day / night that I can shut out the world and focus solely on the process of creation. I get to use my talents, skills, passions, abilities, and intuition to both help and inspire other people — bringing visions out of minds and into real life. I get to use art, design, photography, and creativity as forms of self expression, but also as tools to connect with others, and as opportunities to share my wisdom, knowledge, and expertise with everyone around me. I get to find and do whatever fills me up with light and energy, but I literally don’t know any other way to exist.
My “job” and daily life doesn’t look like anybody else’s — I’ve worked extremely hard to get to where I’m at and I’ve chosen my own special path.
I get to share my magic with the world.
I get to be myself.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I’ve been forced to pivot in life and business MANY times.
I graduated from college / university during the recession in 2009. At the time, I thought that going to college meant I’d get a job somewhat easily upon graduating (that’s what everyone used to tell us, right?) — but that definitely didn’t turn out to be the case.
I paid my way through school myself by working my ass off in the food, beverage, arts, and hospitality industries the entire time, in addition to a handful of grants, scholarships, and financial aid that I had to apply for.
I tried to get a design internship after graduating, which was a shit show. Every employer wanted me to work for free or $10/hour — neither of which was enough for me to be able to afford rent, bills, food, or other basic survival needs. I ended up sticking with working in the restaurant, entertainment, and service industries for several years after graduating so that I could pay for life in the expensive state of California, while freelancing doing graphic design, photography, and art on the side.
It wasn’t until I moved to Chicago in 2012, and spent 3+ months applying for jobs like it was my job, that I was finally able to find a full-time graphic design and production art position for a marketing company with health benefits in the suburbs, and that’s when my career trajectory slowly began to change for the better. Within about 4 months, I left that soul-sucking job to take another job as Graphic Designer, Photographer, and eventually, Style Manager, for a healthy restaurant chain in downtown Chicago, and I stuck with that until the company was bought out by investors. The new investors changed the company in ways that didn’t align with my values or interests, so I left. This was a huge pivot moment for me because while looking, applying, and interviewing for other creative industry jobs, I quickly discovered that my dream job didn’t exist. I decided that it was up to me to create my own dream job — and I did!
I focused on a mix of graphic design, photography, and mixed media art projects for the first few years of self-employment, eventually stumbling my way into website design, and then wedding photography. During my slower work phases, I would focus on creating personal art of various kinds, and ultimately found myself doing such a wide array of creative services and commissions for clients that I finally felt like I had “made it.”
Years later, in 2020, the pandemic pushed me out of wedding photography when all of my pre-booked clients had to cancel or reschedule their weddings for the unforeseen future, and I ended up refunding thousands of dollars to all of my engaged couples. I applied for grants to help recoup said funds, and received a few of them (thank goddess!). By the time people began to realize that the pandemic wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, my graphic design work was suddenly in high demand, and I somewhat seamlessly pivoted into full-time logo, branding, presentation, and website design mode. I was so slammed with client design projects from late spring 2020 until the end of 2023, that I was exhausted and have been in a process this year (2024) of healing, resting, recalibrating, resetting, and envisioning what comes next for me.
Like many others, a lot of my life burned to the ground during the pandemic. Aside from all of the career changes, my long-term partner and I left the city of Chicago to travel the USA as digital nomads for all of 2021, until we ultimately broke up after a series of traumatic events. I spent the last three to four years in therapy, working and focusing on myself, amidst everything else going on in my life, and moved to Portland, Oregon in the spring of 2022, in hopes to start a “new life” back on the West Coast — this time, on my own terms.
These instances are just a few of the pivots I’ve made in life and business throughout the last 15 years, but there have definitely been an array of others too… Life is a series of constant and endless changes after all anyway, isn’t it?
Contact Info:
- Website: https://doreykronick.com
- Instagram: @doreykronick
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoreyKronickArtDesign/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doreykronick
- Other: Society6 Print Shop: https://society6.com/doreykronick
Creative Market Design & Photo Shop: https://creativemarket.com/dorey.kronick
Stock Photo Shop: https://elements.envato.com/user/dorey_kronick
