Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jaci Lund. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Jaci thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

Generally yes, I’m happy as a business owner. There is of course the potentially crippling stress of having so many clients under my care plus being responsible for my employees’ livelihoods. That’s a lot.

But the reason I’m an entrepreneur is because I choose that stress over the alternative—not being in control of my own destiny and not having decision-making power. It’s probably my personality type, but pressure and accountability drive me. I’d rather do more—and encounter higher stakes—when knowing I’m the final say than having less outright responsibility but having to report to others who I never got to choose.

Owning a business for almost a decade has also both allowed and required me to learn so much more about myself. I’ve built skills and gained confidence that I don’t think I would have gotten elsewhere as an employee. And I apply what I’ve learned to my whole life, not just at work.

There is a myth about business ownership, though, that I wish I had known earlier. The idea that you can set your own hours and work when you want isn’t really how it works. I’m on the clock all the time. When I had a salaried job and was off the clock or on vacation, I was totally gone. Now, no matter where I am in the world, I’m still plugged in for better or worse.

Jaci , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Jaci Lund and I own Treebird Branding where we cultivate ideas from root to flight. Ie, we create brands, websites, graphics, strategy and social media for restaurants, multi-family, small businesses and non-proffits. We’re coming up on our tenth year!

I moved to Atlanta in 2004, got into a career that wasn’t the right fit and stumbled across The Creative Circus, a portfolio school. With no actual clue as to what I wanted to do, their recruiter placed me in graphic design and the rest is history. I didn’t even know how to turn on my MacBook and had no idea that Adobe had other applications besides Photoshop. I navigated and persevered through the two most intense years of my life, and that experience really set me to be successful as an entrepreneur. But of course I didn’t start that way—I had some debt to pay off! So after working as a designer and eventually creative director of a PR agency, it was time to forge out on my own.

I started Treebird 10 years ago at the kitchen table and thanks to the support of our clients—and my husband, who is a fabulous writer who I work with on a regular basis—was able to grow to a fully formed team within our first three years. And now, because of our incredible team, we’ve been able to expand our services and work for some amazing clients like the Atlanta Beltline, Baton Bob, Star Provisions and Bacchanalia, Merge Home, Lewis & Sheron, Barking Hound Village, and so many others.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

A client of ours, India Leigh, a spiritual coach, described what we do as “bringing businesses into consciousness”. I told India immediately that I was stealing that from her and it’s so true.

We’re literally creating something out of nothing every day and I think we do it really well. And not only are we creating something, we’re building institutions. Our clients are here for the long haul, so we don’t rely on trends when it comes to branding. We never want a client to come to us in five years with a brand that makes them look dated. Ten years, ok, that might happen. Might be time for a refresh.

Giving small businesses what they need to survive is so rewarding. We want their audiences to feel represented when they experience their brand because everyone deserves to be recognizable and seen. So we say at times we’re matchmakers. But to make the match, you need to understand the business and the audience incredibly well to bring them together. And once you see the results, it’s like witnessing a really good relationship you helped build.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

I made so many mistakes while building the team early on. I started at my kitchen table with talent, drive, and hutzpah. But as far as managing and morale goes? Almost nothing.

I’d never been an HR expert in my previous career, so why would I think I could do it on my own? A bit of hubris, and a bit of just the entrepreneurial myth that you have to do it all on your own. You don’t—you’re just the starting point.

So I think creatives often don’t think enough like we’re businesspeople. Just like a lawyer or an accountant, you need to surround your business with all the right protectors. So I brought in an HR team to help. I still am very much involved and make the final decision, but I’m no longer the only one. When you try to be the only one for too long, you tend to fail.

When it comes to managing a team, I still have tons to learn but my main approach is openness and honestly. I keep the team filled in on the goings on and also make sure that they know to come with me with any issue. No matter what. I’m here to back them up, support them and handle any tricky situations that arise.

I’ve also realized that I can be the killer of productivity. I’m a bottleneck, I’m distracting, I’m bad at detail and can’t finish anything to save my life. I’ve built the team around me to fill in those gaps.

I’m also a big believer in creating your own dream job. As a small agency, we have to do across a wide array of roles each day. Many of them overlap. If a teammate comes to me with a desire for something specific they love to do like web design or animation or illustration or reels, we can pivot and make that a large part of their day. We are very fluid and can shift our services and skills to meet the desires of the team.

When employees are getting to do the type of work they want to do, amazing things happen! Just yesterday one of our designers, Mary, showed me a graphic she illustrated for Star Provisions. It was s chicken wearing a scarf going sledding and I welled up. This is a designer truly living her creative life and I was so happy for her!

Contact Info:

• Website: treebirdbranding.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/treebirdbranding
• Facebook: facebook.com/TreebirdBranding
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/treebirdbranding

Image Credits
Brandi Inman