We were lucky to catch up with Kristie Innis recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kristie, appreciate you joining us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?
Hi, I’m Kristie and this is my backstory. November 2023, this was when I started the NCB Level Up Programme. Being in this programme gave me the jump start I desperately needed to launch my business. Yes, I am working full time, have been for a number of years but I wouldn’t say it’s something I love and doing design is what I love. Getting the opportunity to be trained and learn how to better benefit from my skills made me happy. I must thank my aunt for introducing me to this programme. I was able to start my business Innis Creations. The support I’ve been getting from friends and family has been tremendous and getting international clients tops it off. I’m so glad I finally took that step to put myself out there. Do I wish I started sooner? Yes! I would’ve had a more decorated brand, I’m sure of it. Knowing myself I wouldn’t have failed if I gave my all. If I started earlier, I think I would be fully working for myself, even employing others at this point. Still I’m grateful for where I am now that I can still support my self doing what I love when I clock out from my full time job. If I started later, I would’ve missed several opportunities that I received and I wouldn’t have the joy I have now. Honestly, I believe my experience is what made me grow into who I am now and has helped my outlook on entrepreneurship.
Kristie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’ve always loved the art of design. From a tender age, I had a passion of drawing – hah, I lost that skill though since I wasn’t using it. Overtime I came to love graphic design and it’s creatives on a whole. Poem writing was my outlet in primary school and by I got to my teens I was getting into video and photo editing, creative design and web design. I loved it so much that I just did it as fun and would offer my services willingly without compensation. My peers and those who knew of my skills would make use of my services and of course word would spread. I still was just glad I could help others. By the time I graduated, I was encouraged to sign up on online platforms like Fiverr and Upwork to maximize my talent by offering my services on a broader scale. I did but I had no success; to be honest, I was hesitant and never promoted myself as I could. Making that first step to advertise was harder than I imagined. Years passed and I still just offered my services for free. In some ways I held back because I was afraid of my work being critiqued professionally. Fast forward to 2023 and I put myself out there; currently I offer Logo design, flyer creation /brochures/invitations/business cards – all the online designs you need. Also, I do Resume Writing, Data Entry and more. What sets me apart is my dedication and passion. My passion allows me to give my best and as such you’ll get all you expect and even more. I value my clients and want them to feel happy when they get their desired results.
I am most proud of the support I’ve been getting. My friends and family are putting in overtime to help my business grow and I get a bit emotional thinking about this. This moves me to give back and help them out in any way I can. I try to give them discounted deals or just create something for them as a gift for their efforts, if they have businesses I try to support. I believe each one helps one and that’s how we all grow. My brand is still new but the work I produce will make you want to come back for more services. I am confident in my brand and you can be confident in it too.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Yes! The goal to be my own boss. This is mainly because of TIME. Having a full time job takes away all your time from family and just having fun. Being my own boss means I’ll love my job and like Mark Twain says “Find a job you love doing and you’ll never wok a day in your life”. In addition, I’ll have more time to do the other things I love and venture off into exploring the world and enjoying a bit more of my youth.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The best source so far has been from social media – WhatsApp especially. I keep promoting and others are promoting and so the clients roll in.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @inniscreations
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristie-i-654b1a121/
- Twitter: @inniscreations