If I could go back in time I would tell my younger self to be more confident in my skillset and to have faith that I have all the tools/skills I need to be a successful business owner. I do believe the start of my business came at the right time for me. I had wanted to take the leap from my corporate job to an independent freelance business for years but I was always to afraid that I wouldn’t have enough work coming in to sustain a good living. I had been at my corporate job (as a graphic designer and art director) for 17 years and took the leap 1 year ago to work as a freelancer. Prior to that I had been freelancing at night and on weekends while at my day job trying to build a client list and gain confidence as a solo creative. I was working ALL THE TIME and gaining ground but I always had a bit of nervousness around leaving my job. My husband has been running his own business for the past 10 years so I carried all the benefits for our family which includes our teenage son and daughter. Taking the leap and leaving the security of regular pay and benefits was a little scary but I was at a place where I was turning freelance work away so it was the right time for me. Today, I now know that if I had started sooner I would have been successful just as I am now. It has been a great experience! The lasting relationships I have formed with my clients is a testament to my skill and the business I have built. I have no regrets on how my journey has unfolded. If you have the passion, I say go for it, you may surprise yourself!

Hello! My name is Lisa Pease and I am a creative at heart, wife, mother of two teenage kids, animal/outdoor/nature lover working as a freelance graphic designer, illustrator and art director. I have always had a great love for traditional art. Painting and drawing is an activity I have been drawn to since I was a young child. When I discovered graphic design in college I knew immediately this was the career path for me. I saw it as a way for me to be artistic and fulfill that need while making a living. I completed college with a degree in technical illustration and graphic design. I have always loved this industry and feel that there are so many opportunities to learn and create. After years of working in the corporate space as a graphic designer and art director I decided to start my own design boutique called, Design Flock Studio. I help business owners with their creative needs and projects that range from brand development, logo design, print marketing materials, package design, book cover design, social media graphics, email design, surface design, photo art direction and illustration. If your looking for custom graphics and or illustration incorporated into design this is my sweet spot! I enjoy working with my clients and collaborating with them to elevate their creative needs. What sets me apart is my ability to work in a partnership that not only fulfills their creative needs but includes them in the journey to co-create and build the best tools to strategically serve their business. What I am most proud of is my range of creative skills and ability to work side by side with my clients. I care about the work I create and my clients success, this is not a job for me but a passion to help others.

A lesson I had to unlearn is to not take creative feedback personal. Being an artist at heart I would associate negative creative feedback as a message that I was not skilled at my work. I believe that many young creatives experience this when first starting out. I know now as a seasoned creative that not all feedback is created equal and really has nothing to do with me or my skillset. Working for as long as I did in the corporate space there were experiences where the person delivering the feedback was either lacking communication skills or was dealing with their own personal issues. In this business you need to be able to recognize when someone is giving constructive feedback vs destructive and not tie your worth to subjective feedback.