We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mardi Miskit a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Mardi thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?
In my previous career as a marketing and brand manager, I had an incredible boss who taught me something invaluable: how to set boundaries, particularly with my time. She was the kind of boss who would encourage you to leave your laptop at home when you went on vacation so you could truly disconnect. She also supported me when I would speak up and voice my thoughts on something that needed to change—whether it was design-related or how workflows functioned within a team structure. It’s something I’ve taken with me into my solo career, especially as a website designer. The beauty of working for myself is that I get to set my own schedule, allowing me to make space for my other creative endeavors: cooking and reiki.
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?
I really fell into web design accidentally. At a former job I learned a bit of CSS working in email marketing and and just started nerding out on learning more. Eventually I decided I needed a website, so I designed one using Squarespace and later designed a Squarespace site for a small business I was working with. That really gave me the opportunity to play around with CSS and make a site that felt less like a standard template. I loved it, so from there, I built my small food blog and then started offering to build websites for friends in order to build out a portfolio. Before I knew it, I was invited into the Squarespace Marketplace of designers. When the pandemic hit, I left that small business I was working with and dived into freelance web design.
I’ve sort of been riding a wave for the past many years, doing a bit of cooking, a bit of reiki, and, more recently, a lot of web design. I think cooking was always in my blood—my mom is a former chef and was working in restaurant kitchens when she was pregnant with me. And I like to say that reiki found me. It found me over and over again until I finally decided to pursue my path as an energy worker. I love it when these crafts overlap, be it designing a site for a chef or a wellness practitioner, or teaching a cooking class and offering mini reiki sessions at a day retreat.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Throughout my journey with cooking, reiki, and web design, I’ve found myself pausing from all of these things when an opportunity for a safe, full-time job came knocking at my door. It’s happened several times and I always choose the full-time opportunity strictly out of financial fear—worry that there’s no guarantee my next clients will come. And every time I make that decision, I wind up leaving the full-time job soon after starting and leaping back into my freelance career. I quickly realize that I’d rather have a slow month freelancing than be stressed out working a job I have no true passion for. Every time I’ve leaped towards doing what I love, the work comes.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Word of mouth! Outside of Linkedin and Squarespace Marketplace and a few other channels, many of my clients come to me through word of mouth from past clients, which is always a wonderful feeling. Sometimes it’s a web design client who recommends me to a friend or sometimes it’s a reiki client who needs a new website for their side hustle.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mardimiskit.com
- Instagram: mardikins
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mardimiskit/