Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kirstin Protsman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kirstin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Before we talk about all of your success, let’s start with a story of failure. Can you open up about a time when you’ve failed?
In 2018, I had a been a freelance designer for about 5 years and decided I wanted to experiment with custom t-shirt designs. I figured the best way to get started was to go all in and buy all the equipment I needed.
So that’s what I did, even after my husband who works at a graphics and shirt shop advised me against it.
I moved forward with offering custom shirts from design to final product and found myself hating every project I did. It felt like a huge waste of time because I was mostly doing the output work. I enjoyed the design side more and felt very frustrated with the rest of the process.
This went on for about two years until I finally acknowledged that I hated what I was doing and I decided to make that change and pivot. It hurt to take a loss on all of my equipment, but I’m much happier with what I’m doing now.
Overall, what I learned was I enjoyed the design projects much more than the whole process of creating a physical product.
Looking back now, this lesson has translated into the way I run my business and the services I offer my clients now.
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?
Hey, I’m Kirstin! Brand strategist, designer, + resident weirdo behind Rae Design.
I’ve had a winding road to creating my small business. With my passion for art and creativity, I took a few detours to actually turn my dream of making art my job into a reality.
But I made this dream happen! And now my goal is to help incredible businesses who have done the same. I believe each client deserves brand design and strategy that will help take their business to new heights.
At Rae Design, we are all about embracing your weirdness (whatever that might look like for you) and humanity and turning it into a strategic brand that stands out.
I’m most proud of the results my clients get after implementing their brand strategy. It’s great to be in there and creating the strategy for them but it’s even better when you see success coming from that strategy.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The best source of new clients for me is word of mouth and growing a community on Instagram and LinkedIn.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is watching my designs come to life as businesses implement the brand and strategy we created together.
Because my clients trust me and my process, I have the creative freedom I need to create a truly differentiated brand for them that helps them stand out in their market.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rae.design
- Instagram: @raedsgn
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raedsgn
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstinprotsman/
- Other: https://linktr.ee/raedsgn