We recently connected with Grant Emerson and have shared our conversation below.
Grant, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?
If I were starting my professional career over today, I would advise my younger self to not try to “win the lottery” with my projects or businesses. Stories of entrepreneur’s success tend to lean towards high risk, high reward stories. As a people I think we love hearing stories like this where someone almost lost everything only to stick out the pain a little longer to create a paradigm shift. I’d advise myself to simply put in the work and try to improve 1% everyday. This concept seems digestible and also highly achievable. If I got 1% better every day at playing music, recording music, marketing, the compounding effect of this becomes very powerful. In 1 year you’d be 3.5x better than you were at the start. The progress can be hard to notice, but when you do it reinforces the process.
I’d also advise my younger self to diversify my focus and skillset. So much of creative work involves a computer, which was not the case for me when I picked up a bass guitar in 1996 (I’m almost 40). Play bass, play guitar, practice singing, take a songwriting class, make friends with people you view that are more skilled. Surround yourself with people that challenge you. This last point can be painful. I don’t particularly like being the “worst” musician in the room, but I absolutely love having my mind opened to a new concept that helps me gain a deeper understanding.
Since the pandemic I have transitioned to web development. I discovered I liked being at home instead of spending 200+ days on the road. I love problem solving and especially circumstances where the solution involves creative / unconventional thinking, a la “art” where the “right” answer is subjective. Hunting down solutions in these circumstances always involve growth and learning on my end, and I am grateful, and energized by that.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Grant Emerson, I am from Raleigh, North Carolina and I got into the Web Development industry during the initial COVID-19 lockdown. At the time my other business, Delta Rae, an independent Americana band, was slated to have our breakout year with new records that were financed by our amazing fans through our Kickstarter campaign where we raised over $400k. The entertainment industry was shuddered due to COVID precautions and I needed to pivot quickly to another career/revenue stream to support my family. A friend of mine recommended a coding bootcamp and I signed up the next day. I’ve always loved solving puzzles and using creative thinking to find solutions to problems. Coding felt similar to music. Both are at a fundamental level are based on logic and pattern recognition. I utilized my work ethic that I developed in high school from running cross-country to stay focused and driven amidst the chaos of life during the pandemic. No lottery winning a 5k race. You either put in the work and level up or you get left behind, no way in hell are you gonna win a 5k if you can run 1 mile.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
The most effective strategy for growing my clientele is being committed to delivering a solution that they love. In a perfect world the client loves the solution and I do as well. That’s not always the case. Sometimes I have to sideline my personal opinions about features or design because at the end of the day I am building something for a client that they are happy with and will help their business grow. I maintain a very personal work relationship with the majority of my clients. The digital landscape is always changing and sometimes things break for no reason and I get called in to fix those things. I try to maintain a “calm under fire” mentality to reassure my client that they are in good hands and I will complete the task. Clients recognize my dedication and hold on to that for whatever need may come down the road.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
Hope y’all are ready for my recommendations?! I draw inspiration from a wide array of places.
Youtube:
These are all focused on design, and specifically in Webflow
https://www.youtube.com/@Webflow
https://www.youtube.com/@FluxAcademy
https://www.youtube.com/@pixelgeek
Podcasts:
These are design based podcasts
https://thecsspodcast.libsyn.com/
https://syntax.fm/
https://webflow.com/community/overflow
Contact Info:
- Website: humangoodkinddesigns.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/humangoodkinddesigns/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grant-emerson-14893831/
Image Credits
Images are all screenshots of websites I built