We were lucky to catch up with Kelsey Van Horn recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kelsey, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
Success can be defined in so many ways, and there are a million roads to get there. My personal version of success has meant daydreaming vividly and without limit… Then following through on those aspirations.
The ability to find comfort in risk-taking is #1 for me. I had to take leaps where I was unsure of the outcome in order to move the needle forward. This meant quitting my day job, leaving my long term partner, joining business groups that were “out of my league”, trusting others, and investing in myself.
But I wouldn’t have made it anywhere without persistence. Every time I fell on my butt, I had to get back up and try again. I consider myself a sort of advocate for failure. Failure is a crucial part of any process if you want to create a mind-blowing final product.
In order to have failure, you must invite in play. At least that’s how I re-frame things to take the pressure off of failing. I’m not “working” or creating anything grand, I’m “playing”. You can’t fail when you’re playing. Plus, playing is fun. And if you aren’t having fun, is the success even worth it to you? For me, the answer is no.
Lastly, I am forever indebted to my community. I believe that having a community is critical to anyone – small business owner, creative, or otherwise. These are your support people. The ones you can call on the phone mid-day. Those who lift you up, who tell you to “keep going” and “you’re doing great” and “don’t be nervous” when you start to feel the butterflies rise up in your stomach. Sometimes you need others to believe in you when you don’t believe in yourself, and that’s exactly what these people do.
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 background and context?
My freshman year of high school, I joined a film photography class. I really thought I wanted to be a photographer for quite some time, but this film photography class was actually part of a bigger graphic arts studio. So I started to use software to design things like restaurant menus, t-shirts and stickers, fake cereal brands and made-up juice boxes. I learned all about different methods of printing and letterpress and color mixing. This is the first time I can remember feeling passionate about something.
When it came time to apply for college, I knew I wanted to go into graphic arts, but that was a Fine Arts degree and my parents were a bit nervous about the career prospect for artists. So I started off my college career majoring in Ad PR, since that was “close enough”…. But I knew it wasn’t the same. After a year and a half, I switched majors, and I did study fine arts – drawing and sculpture and painting and art principles. I got better at computer design programs. I realized that all good design hinged on concept and asking good questions. I loved every second of it.
After school, I traveled to hike and rock climb and worked intermittently with different people and various agencies. Some in-person and some remote. I realized very quickly that agencies have a bottom line they need to meet. This means you have to work fast, you don’t get to ask a lot of questions, and in turn, clients were not actually getting my best work. And personally, my conceptual ideas didn’t get to see the light of day.
I got the opportunity for more remote work and I took it. It wouldn’t replace my income of my 9-5, but it would get me started. I slowly built up more and more freelance work with small businesses. I learned from the remote agency I was working with the best practices of website building, and taught myself what I didn’t know. Honestly, website design and development really excited me. The rest is kind of history…
I’ve been freelancing for almost 8 years now, working for myself full time for 3. I focus on brand strategy that stands out, because it has a concept behind it. I typically avoid “trends”, as in I want my logo designs to be timeless. Likewise, I collaborate with my clients and ask a million and one questions, so I can ensure they also LOVE it. I firmly believe that if my client doesn’t love their brand, they won’t show up for it as often and as confidently as they would otherwise. I am also a website designer. Aside from custom design, I work with my clients on copy writing, layout strategy, usability, and implementing the strategies required to reach their specific goals.
Again, to me the most exciting part about fresh branding and a professionally-designed website isn’t how amazing it looks or how well it performs – of course those are important too – but it’s about the way the client transforms. Their confidence in their business increases. They’re proud to showcase their services and accomplishments. They want to be seen.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
YES. In one of my very last college classes, the professor sat my class down around a small table – there were only about 7 of us – and gave us advice for the “real world”… During this, she recommended we all read “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. This book isn’t a traditional book. It’s interactive. You journal. You draw. You complete creative exercises. It’s intended to get you out of whatever funk you are in… And the best part is it’s not just for artist’s. Anyone can do it.
A couple of years after I got out of school, I tried it for the first time and all I can say is wow. It is so worth it. This year, I’m planning to do it again and I’m excited for what I can learn about myself this time around.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
Sometimes I feel “less than” or not as good as other small business owners, because I don’t have a social media strategy. I don’t have an email newsletter. I don’t even have a good website. I am working on those things, but they’ve been put on the back burner because I haven’t had a need for them yet.
The way I get new clients is through referral and referral only. I think the core of this is creating a very robust and solid relationship. Honestly, I feel like a lot of my clients are my friends. I’ve sent engagement gifts and texted congratulations and very real how are you?’s outside of my normal business hours. I genuinely interact with them, I follow them on social and I support them! That might mean sharing their post on LinkedIn, commenting on their Instagram story, or asking them about a life event – not because I have to, but because I want to.
I pride myself on the relationships and community I’ve built through my business and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. I’d be lying if I said the people weren’t my favorite thing about my job.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kelseyvanhorn.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelseyvanhorndesign/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelsey-van-horn/
Image Credits
Bob Sanchuk