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

Kate, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know.

I’m really grateful for the path that has led to me to where I am today. The good and the bad are what shaped my success. There’s just one thing I’d go back and change if I could start over: I wouldn’t have ever worked for free. And I wouldn’t have worked for clients didn’t want to pay me. For the first 10 years of owning my business, I gave my clients discounts, left hard-worked hours off of invoices, and volunteered my design services to help small businesses get off the ground. It made me feel good to help them, but that work almost always fell beyond the initial scope of our projects. I was essentially working overtime without getting paid. The advice that I give to designers today, and would have given to my younger self: know your worth and charge it. Don’t forget to increase your wages as your skills grow, and create a business that motivates you to work hard every day!

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?

Yes! I own a one-person design business that I started when I moved to Denver in 2011. I created an LLC with no clients or projects; only a plan to have a company ready when I did find my first one. I put a ton of work into my website and portfolio. I applied for freelance and full-time jobs for months before I found a client who took a chance on me. That patience and dedication paid off, and I was pumped when I finally did land my first real gig. Back then, I worked on a lot of branding and small print jobs. Today I mostly take on web design projects, but I also own a greeting card line and illustrate children’s books.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

I operate my business solely on word-of-mouth; I’m a little shy when it comes to talking about myself or advertising my business. It has worked best for me to build great relationships with my current clients and say “Yes!” to every new opportunity. The friend of a friend could land you your next big project.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is to never stop exploring new outlets for creativity. I focus mostly on graphic and web design, but I’ve also tapped into calligraphy, branding, pottery, weaving, painting, motion graphics, paper art, illustration and, more recently, sculpting with textiles. You never know what you’re good at until you try!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.katehansoncreative.com
• Instagram: @katewillcreate
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-hanson-mcdermott-69a2813/
• Twitter: https://www.instagram.com/katewillcreate/?hl=en
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/katehansoncreative