We were lucky to catch up with Eric W. Lee recently and have shared our conversation below.

Eric W., 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?

In 2019, I left a full time job to freelance full time. Even though I had always imagined working for myself, it was no easy decision. I knew that I needed to save at least a few months of rent and living expenses. I needed to build a presence online, so that people would know my work or could easily find examples of it. I also knew that everything would fall on me. I would be the sole decision maker, business person, and creative mind and that was a lot to prepare for. But this was all worth it for what I was envisioning for myself.

I also knew all of this because back in 2008 I attempted to freelance full-time and it ended up being a complete failure. I just was not prepared mentally or financially and didn’t have the work and experience to be on my own at the time. After one year, I retreated to long term contract gigs and eventually returned to full time work. This set me back about a decade.

In the time between then and now, I looked for well paying and flexible jobs, so I could focus on playing music, traveling and making art. In 2017, the opportunity came to move to New York City and I knew it was a chance to start preparing to freelance again. I put in countless hours finding and refining my design style and sharing my work on social media while also starting to take on small freelance jobs again.

In the last 4 years, I’ve been presented with a lot of great opportunities that I don’t think would have came had I not been constantly putting myself out there. Things started off a bit slow for me but have been gradually building over the years as I am regularly evaluating how I do business and the kind of projects and opportunities I want to take on.

Currently, I am earning a living taking on the jobs and projects I want to do, working with the people and companies I want to work with, and having the time and job flexibility I’ve always wanted. Even though I feel like I took the long route to get to where I am, I’m glad I had the missteps and time to allow myself to really figure out what I wanted to do.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a graphic designer and illustrator living and working in Brooklyn, NY. I specialize in brand identity/logo design, and illustration for packaging, apparel, print design and much more. I love working with small businesses and brands but also work with larger companies and agencies in all industries. My ideal client is patient and has some knowledge of the design process or are happy to learn. They also know everything about their business and love what they do and the product or service they provide.

Lastly, I run an online shop called Alone Time Co. where I make and sell apparel, prints, stickers and anything else that I feel like making.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

To stay on people’s minds and attract potential clients, you must constantly put yourself and your work out into the world. I try to share what I’m working on regularly via Instagram and Dribbble. I realize this is not possible for everyone, but I’ve done this consistently for the last 5 years and have had to do almost no outreach or send out any cold emails in that time.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

There’s no shortage of competition as a designer and that alone keeps me on my toes.

I’ve lost out on what could have been career changing projects, to other designers, and it’s always a bit disheartening to see that work come out in the world and knowing that you too were up for the challenge but just didn’t get the opportunity. It’s kind of what fuels you as a creative person.

I think it’s important to be realistic. Things don’t work out for a reason but sometimes a new opportunity comes in it’s place.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ericwlee.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/ericwleedesign
• Other: Dribbble: https://dribbble.com/ericwlee Online Shop: http://www.alonetime.co