We were lucky to catch up with Kiersten Davison recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Kiersten thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?
When I first started my business I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do. I am self taught so I wasn’t sure I was good enough. But, I was living in the Chicago area and I needed some extra cash. My business went through three name changes until I thought I found the perfect one. I took this process VERY seriously. I would spend weeks moving around certain words just until the right one fit. Then, I would spend even more time saying it a million times to hear it. See how it sounded, how I liked it, etc. When I finally thought I found the perfect name, I was ecstatic. I flipped the R in the first word and put an accent above the o in the last word. These small changes had meaning to me. I capitalize all of my R’s for some reason. I like the way it looks with my hand writing. I can’t do that in regular so flipping the R backwards in the word just made it fit. The o had an accent because I’ve taken Japanese twice, I have a tattoo in Japanese, and I love the culture. So, in the end creative pro was going to set the world on fire. I finally felt like I was coming into my own as a business. I was feelings on top of the world, confident. I was teaching myself new techniques, getting clients, and people were even remembering my business. I’ll never forget the first time I met a new person at a store and they said, “oh you’re Kiersten. You own creative pro right?” I cried! I was so excited! My hardwork was taking off! I had an Instagram live show. I couldn’t afford a neon sign so I designed a printed sign that hung in the background of all my videos and video calls. I truly believe I this was the start of something great.
So, when I opened an email one night you can image how earth shattering it was. I guess some might not get it but I was devasted. I opened an email from a nice man who informed me he was the owner of Creative Pro and it had been trademarked for some years. He found me because they were starting a magazine and came across an Instagram handle I had claimed for my upcoming magazine, Creative Pro Magazine. He was kind enough to explain the process and how with trademarks, I could not have a business in the Marketing realm and use their name. He gave me sometime to change my name, switch my handles, change my website, and rebrand.
When I tell you it was Earth-shattering… I cried. I sat silently. Then, I cried again. Someone had just finally said my business name to me in person. A stranger!! And now, I have to rebrand. I didn’t even know where to start and I had a limited amount of time to do so.
Nonetheless, I let myself be sad for the night of finding out then I got back to it. I restarted my process all over again. I found words I new I did and did not want, I mixed them around, added some, subtracted others, and completed the process. All was going as best it could when I realized a second obstacle. My current business needed split into two separate ones. What I was offering just didn’t make sense together. It was confusing to explain and confusing for my clients to understand.
In the end, a rebrand was exactly what I needed. It helped me flush out both of my businesses and what they offer, as well as giving me a name that isn’t trademarked by someone else.
Moral to the story: Check for trademarks!
Kiersten, 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?
I use creative outlets to escape. I love numbers and analytics but I need some sort of creativity in my day-to-day. That’s why I own both businesses. created by kierst sellings your favorite everyday accessories (stickers, magnets, keychains, encouragement cards, and more). I am extremely excited to launch cbk HOME this November. I went to art school and interoir decorating was always an interest of mine. Being able to draw designs, no matter what the medium will end up as, is much needed for me.
Designing Business is a creative agency with one goal, advance the online presence of other businesses. I offer social media management, content creation, graphic design, web design, email marketing, and branding. I get to do all the creativeness I did but add the analytics stance behind it. It’s perfect.
My Bachelor’s degree is in Public Relations with a minor in Arts Management. I spent my first year of higher ed at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design). For the first time ever, I was accelling at school. Not because I am dumb but because I was bored and didn’t care. To this day, I couldn’t care less to learn but I’ll spend hours researching new trends, educating myself on social media platforms, and watching tutorials on Adobe products. Humans love to study what we’re good at and what we know. I am no different. I am just blessed I get to do this everyday. The other perk is my full time job entails all of what my businesses do. I manage social media accounts for a medical association, along with maintaining and building their webistes and graphic desing work. I guess you could truly say, I love what I do.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
A tried and true – word of mouth. I am extremely transparent and honest with anyone I work with. I will never gaurantee a specific follower count or Reach percentage. That doesn’t mean I am not confident in my capabilities, it means I’m not selling a lie. I am also willing to give information and teach others how to do this. The truth is, there is room at the table for everyone. There are too many people in this world to be able to hoard all the clients. If I can assist or teach something, I absolutely will. I believe business owners should have the right to know what’s going on, how it’s done, and how to create things themselves.
Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?
I currently use Etsy. I think there are definitely perks to the platforms but they come at a cost. If you offer free shipping on orders over $35USD, then they put your shop in preference for searchs and customers to find. However, I took mine out of preferred because I had some items that could not ship for free, I would have had to double the cost of them and it was not realistic to do so. When I took my account out of that, I have seen my numbers plummet. I have done extensive research and will be transitioning onto my own ecommerce site. However, if you are starting out, may not have the funds to hire a developer, or offer products that can ship for a low amount I believe Etsy is a great place to start.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://createdbykierst.com
- Instagram: createdbykierst
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/createdbykierst/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/designing-business/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/designing_biz
- Other: I also have Designing Business Instagram – (https://www.instagram.com/designingbiz/ ) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/designingbiz)
Image Credits
I took all of them or shared a digital version of my design.