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

Hi Kevin & Caro, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

We’ve always dreamed of owning our own business and knew it would be creative. Creativity and design are built into our DNA. Kevin has always had a passion for graphic design and has worked in the field for about 10 years. Throughout his career, he always took on side projects that would come his way just from people (friends + family), knowing he did design. This was the start of the business.

We had been running our business as a side hustle, always dreaming of doing it full-time one day. The idea of having a design business together brought us great joy. Being able to do what we loved every day, working with people to create brands that they were proud of and that others could also enjoy, was what kept that slight fire burning. We knew it was what we were meant to do, but at the time, projects were far in between as we had full-time jobs and didn’t market our services.

Fast forward a couple of years of having 9 to 5 jobs and running our business on the side, we finally felt that the time to make the leap had arrived. We were hesitant for a while, fearful of not having the steady income of our 9 to 5 jobs. We did a lot of calculating our finances and building up our savings for worst-case scenarios. Still, that constant fear always had us pushing the decision to commit a little farther and farther each time. Doubt can keep you in limbo sometimes. Finally, after all the planning and prolonging, we said to each other, either we keep stringing it along as a side hustle and always wonder what could be, or we go for it, take a risk and know for sure if it will work, or not. We knew that it would come down to taking action. So, in 2020 (amidst a pandemic and having our first child), we decided to take it seriously and work the business full-time together. It was hard, and the uncertainty of the success and profitability of our business was scary. Still, it also motivated us to make things work. We knew what we wanted and believed in what we do, so we’ve been giving it our all and making it happen. A quick thank you to everyone who has helped us along the way and to the great people who trust and work with us!

Kevin & Caro, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We are Kevin and Caro Rostran. We run and own Rostran Design Co., a design studio providing brand identity for food businesses. Our vision is to help food businesses create crave-able, brand-forward experiences that keep their customers coming back time and time again. We want their branding to be as appetizing as the food they serve.

We like to think of branding as a big soup. Soup is made of many ingredients that, combined and put together, make up a delicious, balanced experience… the soup. You can look at branding as a soup where all the elements, like logos, typography, color palettes, illustrations, environmental design, etc., are the ingredients that make it up. This branded experience, alongside their delicious foods, creates an environment their customers keep returning to enjoy.

To us, branding is a way to communicate with customers. It’s a way to set yourself apart and tell your story so others can connect. We use design to translate who you are into a visual representation. We mainly focus on food businesses because we love food culture. There is much creativity, richness, and joy in making food for others. It so closely resembles how we feel when we create designs for people. We focus on getting to know our clients and extracting the meat and potatoes of what their businesses are about. This allows us to deliver branding they love, and their customers crave.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Throughout the journey of building our business, there have been some vital resources we have used and continue to use to better our business. The Futur has been a stable learning platform for creative companies that we feed from. We can speak for many creatives when we say that even though we went to school to learn our crafts, little is taught to creatives about running a creative business. We have also worked with an incredible business coach for creatives (Ivy Malik) that has provided valuable information and clarity on how to run our business. She helped us learn how to sell better from a place of curiosity and purpose. She taught us that selling our service is about getting to know people and seeing how we can help them with our services. The mindset shifts she has helped us accomplish have significantly impacted our business to run smoother, more efficiently, and more profitable. Hoodzpah has a fantastic course for creatives on running a company jam-packed with business gems. Through our coach and Hoodzpahs course, we are part of two communities that are great assets. Having a community of creatives in similar industries that are going through the same things together is helpful. We are constantly asking each other for advice. A community with a great range of participants can be so beneficial not only in the information provided but also in the connections and relationships that can lead to opportunities. These have been our primary sources, but we try to keep a learning mindset to always be learning and growing. Moral of the story: Keep learning and searching for ways to become who you want to be.

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

For us, the most rewarding aspect of being artists and creatives is being a part of something that helps others and makes them feel proud and confident. We love that our work derives mainly from getting to know our clients and their businesses on a deeper level to translate that into the design. We don’t just design for the sake of designing. We believe in the design’s purpose and see our services as a tool our clients use to communicate with their audiences. As artists who provide a service, much of our joy comes from serving others. Serving them by solving a problem their facing with their business and helping them by taking their ideas and dreams and bringing them to life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rostrandesign.co/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rostrandesign.co/