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

Alright, Evie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with 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?

I’ve been able to make a full time living from my creative work. Did I make money from day one? Absolutely not lol! In 2009 I was laid off from my corporate job as an Information Systems Team Lead. It was at that moment I no longer wanted to deal with corporate politics, be held captive to long hours that prevented me from spending quality time with my children or someone putting a cap on the amount of money I could make. I looked at this as an opportunity to venture into entrepreneurship and as a result Evielutions Design was born.

I was fortunate enough to receive unemployment when I was laid off which allowed me more time to figure things out. Because I was going from working in IT/Help Desk I wanted to get some experience working in an actual Web Design/Branding company so I reached out to local web design companies to see if they needed an intern. I was willing to work for free just to get the hands on experience.

I finally received a response from a local company and began assisting them with their clients and projects. I learned a lot and began to feel more confident in my skills. I discovered processes and techniques that I wanted to and didn’t want to implement into my own business.

I worked with that company for about 2 years while I worked on my own brand. I joined the Cy-Fair Chamber of Commerce in 2011 and this is when things started to get real. Looking back on it, this was one of the best decisions I made for my business. Becoming a member of the Chamber taught me how to network and it helped me develop my leadership skills all while getting more involved in my community. My first client was a Chamber member whom purchased a website for $800!

As I continued to be active within the Chamber and other networking groups my business started to grow. I grinded for 2 years, being at every networking meeting possible to get my name out there and it paid off. I became recognized as one of Houston’s Top 100 Young Professionals and won Business of Year in 2013. I was able to finally keep consistent work all while continuing to grow as a business owner.

Looking back on it and knowing what I know now I would have joined the Chamber a lot sooner. Coming from Corporate world and not having the knowledge of marketing or certain business skills I thought I could just start a business and the clients would come. That is so far from the truth lol, you have to go out and get the business.

Evie, 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?

I’m on a mission to support entrepreneurs and women founders chasing their dreams. Because I’ve been in their shoes, I have a strong passion to help them cross that threshold into being their own boss.

At Evielutions Design we become your partner in all things branding & design, so you can focus on what you do best—running your business! We want you to feel like you have the right team in your corner as you work towards your goals. We really take the time to get to know the client and how their business operates. Why? Because when you’re a business owner, processes are what help propel you to that next level. We find tasks we can take off your hands or assist with such as automation, booking systems, etc… and implement them into a well-designed and mobile-optimized website. We like to think of your business website as a top employee—but without the hassle of payroll and daily task management.

We also offer high quality and engaging Logo & Graphic Design. Brand visibility and success are highly reliant on the visuals you use to promote your brand. We design strong concepts for all your marketing collateral such as business cards, flyers, brochures, and more.

In addition to creating visual art, our team at Evielutions Design can print it for you, too! No matter your print design needs, we can create a stunning product for you.

Last but not least, we understand when starting a business you sometimes have limited resources. So we created a Digital Studio which offers pre-made and DIY digital and physical products. We provide you the tools to create your own marketing collateral from our unique library of design templates. We offer pre-made WordPress themes, business cards, branding kits and more that you can put your own personal touch on.

With almost 20 years of industry experience in Information Technology and entrepreneurship, I’m dedicated to supporting my fellow entrepreneurs.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

In my line of work people not only do business with people they know but they also do business with people who genuinely care. I built my reputation by hitting the pavement hard early on by networking and getting involved in my community. This gave me an opportunity to meet local business owners, see what my local area was missing economically and pivot accordingly.

Being an ambassador with the Chamber allowed me to connect with business owners one on one and learn about their goals and struggles. I loved connecting them with others and/or resources that could assist them in their business journey. In return, they wanted to learn more about me and what services I offered.

As I continued to gain clients, they would always tell me how much I’ve helped their business. Whether I helped brick and mortar boutiques add an additional stream of revenue by developing an ecommerce website or implemented HR portals into websites for small businesses to help them manage their employees. Because I not only created a beautiful online presence for them but a presence that helped them grow they naturally became raving fans. 90% of our business comes from referrals and as we all know word of mouth is the best referral you can have.

I can’t stress enough that as long as you are doing what you love that it won’t feel like work. When you do what you love, it is easily recognizable to others and makes them want to work with you because they no longer feel like a dollar sign. They see that you truly hear them and want them to succeed.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I particularly love this question! My creative journey is driven by 3 things.

1) My strong daily desire to “be creative” and help other small businesses succeed.
2) Making a comfortable living that sustains my needs and some of my wants
3) The FREEDOM to truly enjoy my family and travel as I please

With our world so digital now and focused on social media we all fall prone to comparing ourselves to others and setting goals that align with what’s hot or with what someone else is doing. A key thing I’ve learned is to not let others define “my” success . Success is different for everyone and it may not look like “I want to be a millionaire” and thats ok.

I’ve learned to peel back the layers and focus on what’s really most important!

Contact Info:

• Website: evielutions.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evielutions/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Evielutions
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eviedross/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6tC4auW19MI4lqY0ZFFE3g