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

Julia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about how you got your first non-friend, non-family client. Paint the picture for us so we can feel the same excitement you felt on that day.

I started out by finding a non-profit organization that I was interested in donating my graphic design skills to and from there I met many business owners and entrepreneurs who saw my work and instantly wanted to work with me. This is a great and positive way to make business connections. I’ve invested a lot in non-profit work and it’s brought me so much business. When you give from your heart, it’s amazing the blessings that come your way. I connected with a lot of speakers, coaches and business owners from the start and they have referred me out and that’s how I built my client base.

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 proud mama and wife living the country life in South Texas. I’m fully remote & I homeschool my daughter who is on the autism spectrum. I’ve been designing and branding for 17 years. Right after high school, I had 1 month of Summer and went right into art school for 3.5 years. This is where I learned the very basics of graphic design. I’m talking, sketching fonts with pencil to paper. Learning about color theory, serifs, san serifs & ad design. The list goes on. I worked in award winning advertising agencies in Phoenix, Arizona. I worked on big brands like American Express & McDonalds. Nissan, Chevrolet & Honda advertisements. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t want to keep making billionaires richer, I wanted to help the small business/entrepreneur successful with my experience. I always had a passion for small businesses. Currently, I provide professional branding for entrepreneurs and small business owners. I create their logos, color schemes, websites & everything else that goes along with branding their business. Business cards, flyers, web banners & social media graphics.

I’m most proud of the relationships I create with my clients and the heart and professionalism I put into the work that I do. I take very well care of each person I design for. I’m very patient and understanding. I know investing in your business is a scary thing, but it’s also extremely rewarding. I love taking the burden of branding and design off my clients plate, so they can focus on the other parts of their business. I’m a graphic design problem solver. Each client that hits my mailbox is exciting to me! That’s confirmation that I’m doing what I was meant to do.

What truly sets me a part from other designers is that I truly care for my clients. I take them under my wing and remove all worry and doubt when it comes to branding and design. They aren’t just a number to me. What I truly enjoy is learning their “why” in starting their business and their goals on where they want to go with it. I love being a part of their dreams. It’s always an honor and I’m so grateful to be able to share my skills and talent with passionate business owners.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a graphic designer is seeing the final project. Whether it’s a t-shirt design, logo displayed on a banner or a huge billboard displayed near a freeway. I always get the wow factor when I see it completed and displayed. I think I get almost as excited as my clients! A lot goes into each design, time, thought & strategy. What I also love is when my clients talk with me and tell me how their peers love their logo or flyer I designed for them. Most, if not all my clients come from referral.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

If you can invest in your business, do it. You wouldn’t pay a plumber to do an electricians job. If you don’t have the background of graphic design, please hire a professional. I can’t tell you how much time you will save and money if you do it right the first time.

Do your research with your designer. Check their references. There have been so many clients that have came to me to redo what they spent hundreds of dollars on. Don’t cut corners. Designers are not all created equal. Just because they know how to use paint or create a flyer in word, doesn’t mean they are a designer. There is the cheap and quick way to do something, but it doesn’t make it the right way. Your business deserves professional and quality design. Hire someone who is blunt and to the point. That has been in the industry for awhile. I’ve always been very respectfully forward with my clients. I guess you can call me an advocate in a sense. I will represent my clients in the best way possible. I want to make sure their business is represented in the highest standard possible.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.designscottsdale.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/designscottsdale/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DesignScottsdale
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/designscottsdale/