We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jessie Shokler a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jessie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Most of those starting out in their careers roll their eyes when established people in the workforce throw out the line, you have to “pay your dues.” I know I did… However, when I began my first full-time job as a graphic designer, I realized that’s exactly what I had to do.

I made my 40-minute commute each morning and night and most days, ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the office late at night being the last one there. I wasn’t sure what my long-term goals were at the time, but I knew if I put in the hours and hard work, I could get to where I wanted to be.

Between networking events, office get-togethers, and spending time learning about all facets of the company that I worked for, I gathered valuable knowledge and connections. Even though I was on the graphic design team, I was always curious as to what it took to run a company. Asking questions and learning from mentors and leaders gave me an inside look at the other factions of the company I worked for. I sat in on PR pitch meetings, new business presentations, sales calls, invoice building, web development sprints, and much more. I picked up skills that eventually made me realize I could start my own company one day.

I learned, I made mistakes and I grew. After almost 10 years, I finally felt ready to take the experiences that I’ve gained and run with them. I turned my full-time job into my first retainer client and haven’t looked back. Between the knowledge I collected and the connections from all the long hours of being around like-minded industry leaders, the clients came pouring in with no business outreach to this day.

Success. It depends on how a person defines that word. For myself, success is bolstering the relationships that were built over time and knowing that individuals and companies seek my business out and refer my skills to their network. To get to that level of success, it took those difficult and long hours in and out of the office learning. It took cultivating connections with extraordinary people and carrying on a lasting bond with them. I had to “pay my dues,” but now I am a thriving business owner with an incredible network and outstanding clients.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Have you ever heard of The Sims? 13-year-old Jessie was OBSESSED with building houses on that computer game. After each house was built, I would begin a newer and bigger piece of architecture. I thought, that’s it – I’ll go to school to be an architect! After realizing the math involved in that career field, I thought it best to check out interior design. In my junior year of high school, I went to a summer program at the Art Institute. I learned about all the different areas of design, and again, I changed my mind from interior to graphic design. That was the beginning of what would inevitably become my passion and livelihood.

I graduated from Ohio University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Visual and Strategic Communications. Shortly after, I began working as a graphic designer for a full-service ad agency. I worked with high-end clients in various industries and had an interesting start to that job. My boss had her own set of clients that she worked on exclusively. She worked remotely and I was in an office filled with designers who didn’t have anything to do with what she and I did on a daily basis. She was 6 months pregnant at the time, so I had 3 months of an intense design boot camp before I took over for her while she was out on maternity leave. This was the best and worst thing to happen in my very very infant career. She taught me how to communicate with printers, speak with clients, create quotes, project manage, and simply how to design. It was stressful and uncomfortable, but I made it through those months and was overjoyed when she returned. She was the catalyst to becoming my own boss almost 10 years later. I thank her every chance I get.

Due to that extreme circumstance as well as other experiences, I now know how to communicate with clients and plan with them on how to take a project from A to Z. Whether it is a new company wanting to establish their brand with logos, typography, and colors, or a large corporation who wants to generate email campaigns and gain awareness by printing large banners around their office buildings. I help my network create effective and beautiful pieces of design, both in print and in the digital space. I use what I’ve learned in my career to help businesses grow their enterprise.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

My side hustle was the same as my full-time job, but I enjoyed it more because I got to choose the clients and projects myself. I would complete my 9-5 work and then move on to my freelance after work and on the weekends.

There were many points in my career when my freelance became almost a second full-time job. It drowned me, but I didn’t feel ready to take the leap to owning my own design agency. Eventually, I felt like it was a “now or never” point in my life and I went for it.

I put together a presentation for the company I worked for and they agreed to become my first retainer client. Due to the network I had cultivated throughout my years of hard work in the industry, clients were referred to me at a comfortably steady rate. At this point in my business, I have hired freelancers to help with projects that I am unable to properly focus on and have turned down numerous project requests and new clients due to a lack of resources. I do not look at that as a good thing but will rectify that pain point once I am in a place to hire my first full-time employee. That is how I intend to scale up.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Leveraging my network has been invaluable. I have so many amazing friends and colleagues that share my company with their contacts. I have yet to cold call or do any sales outreach for my company and I feel so lucky that that is the case. It is luck, but also the hard work and long hours that I put in at the beginning of my career to make those connections with like-minded industry leaders.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shoklercreative.com
• Instagram: @shoklercreative
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shoklercreative/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/shokler-creative