We recently connected with Mariah Danielsen and have shared our conversation below.

Mariah , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?

My junior year of high school, I joined yearbook class because I thought it would be a fun and easy way to hang out with my friends and skip class to take photos, but it quickly turned into a love of designing layouts, choosing color palettes and playing with photos. From then on, I knew I wanted to go into graphic design.

I went to a two-year design school and then went on to get my bachelors in marketing, all while climbing the corporate ladder from design intern to lead graphic designer. At five years in, I was as high as I could go and made the decision to step OFF that ladder and go out on my own.

I started a few different businesses – a wedding blog and styling business and a brick and mortar antique store on top of freelance designing, and the design part of each of those was what stuck.

Once I figured out that I loved to work with creative women, my business took off and I’ve been helping them build confidence and shine in their talents ever since!

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 work with dreamers and doers so they can confidently shine. Through branding, Showit website design, Why Discovery session and mentorship, I help creative women uncover the confidence to put their best foot forward and go for their dreams.

One of the most fulfilling things I offer is a why discovery session where I walk women through the major stories from their past to uncover common themes, then use those themes to form a why statement and filters for making decisions. They walk away with a one-liner that explains who they have been their entire life, who they are now when they are at their best and who they’d be proud to be at the end of the day. This gives them the confidence to go after dreams that align with their true talents and takes the guesswork out of what to do next.

Have you ever had to pivot?

After leaving the corporate world, I knew that I wanted to work from home when I had children. At the time, I was taking on any design client that would come my way and I worked with a variety of different businesses. As soon as I had my first child, I understood the necessity of time management as a work from home mom, but after I had my second child I knew I needed to make a decision on what types of clients I was saying yes to. I was starting to hit a wall and knew that if something didn’t change, I was going to have a breakdown.

Once I uncovered my ideal clients, it was time to say goodbye to the clients who didn’t fit into my picture of who I wanted to work with. This was a terrifying idea – as someone who dislikes confrontation and letting others down, firing clients was something I never wanted to have to do.

I learned, though, that each time I let go of a client, something amazing and new took their place. Something that aligned better with my goals and the lifestyle I was striving for. Good things come from taking those hard steps.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

After finding my why in 2019, I have had that as my driving mission. I’ve always loved being a cheerleader or support person for those in my life, and when I discovered that my why was to build others up so they could confidently shine, that instantly became my mission for those that I help in the creative world.

Some may think that their dreams don’t matter or they don’t have the confidence to go for it – their branding doesn’t tell their story or reach the right people, their website is outdated and doesn’t feel like them or they can’t seem to find their purpose – making them think that they don’t have what it takes.

I like taking all of those pieces and reimagining them so they realize just how amazing they are and that their gifts should be shared with the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.wanderdesignco.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/wanderdesignco
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wanderdesignco
• Other: Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/heywanderdesignco

Image Credits
Photos by Maggie Rechkemmer