We recently connected with Pam Brown and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Pam thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

Yes, during the past two years, as I have tried to bounce back from client loss due to Covid, going back to a full-time job has weighed heavily on my mind. Trying to win new client pitches or even freelance gigs has been more challenging than prior to the Pandemic. Times have changed, a lot.

I never had any intentions of being a solo-creative or a design studio owner for that matter. My plan was to continue being a Senior Designer and level up to
a Design Director at an agency/studio. When I moved to San Diego 20 years ago, coming from ad agencies in both Tampa and Milwaukee, the market here was different. There were only a handful of agencies, and a lot of small design studios and independent creatives.
I was either over or under-qualified. Go figure.

So I freelanced. At first through talent recruiters, and then as I built my sphere of influence. I fell in love with working from home, running my own business, networking and marketing. I got involved with local organizations, like AIGA and AMA, to build my community further. It was going great!

Fast forward to after my business was hit hard by the Pandemic, I am questioning where I fit in again for the remainder of my career. Technology has also changed, and rapidly. And, owning a business is a lot of work, wearing all the hats. I can’t seem to get my pipeline back to where it was in 2019.

But, can I go back to a full-time job? After all these years of freedom and flexibility with my schedule, making the decisions, designing what I love, working directly with my own clients… to then go back to that kind of environment? I don’t know.

What I do know is that I love to design for lifestyle brands. I love working with my clients one-on-one and being the strategic design leader for them. Work still does come in, it hasn’t dried up, but it’s not at the levels as before. And when I am working on these projects, I am happy and fulfilled. It reinforces my purpose as a solo creative; it’s where my heart and joy is.

But I am leaving myself open to all possibilities.

Pam, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I always like to say I came out of my mother’s womb with a box of crayons in my hand. Throughout my childhood and teenage angst, I loved to draw and paint – mostly animals and nature – later on people. My dream was to become an illustrator. However, God had other plans for me. My career began early as a Layout Artist Intern during college at my best friend’s parent’s ad agency in Milwaukee. They hired me after I graduated, and I quickly fell in love with layout design. How lucky was I?

I moved onto Kohl’s Department Stores in-house creative department and other design studios prior to my big move to Tampa. There I landed a dream job, an fabulous and large ad agency with major brands as clients. For 6 years I designed catalogs, menus, logos, print collateral – all for Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruiselines! The people there became like family. We traveled overseas for press checks. I have to say it was the best part of my career But California was calling, another dream of mine. And I followed that dream. You know the rest of that story.

Over the years as a solo-creative and with the help of creative business coaches, I found my niche as a lifestyle branding designer. It came naturally, I excelled at it, and thrived from it. Designing for lifestyle brands became my passion.

My clients are always thrilled to see that I could translate their vision into visuals, spot on. That I just “get it”. You could call me a Design Whisperer :)
I’m intuitive because I’ve been designing for a long, long time. It has become innate. While I am able to visualize quickly, I still take time for discovery, research, and thinking things through first. So my design becomes strategic, what’s best for my client’s
business, not just what I conjure in my head. It works!

One of my proudest moments during my solo creative experience was branding a restaurant from scratch in Canada, named Plow & Harvest. It included everything you can think of that a restaurant would need: logo, business cards, rack cards, handouts, outdoor sign, menus for print, website and TVs, uniforms, to-go labels, water bottles, website and social media design, plus food photoshoots! Fun! I even attended the soft opening where the Alberta Mayor made a speech welcoming the restaurant.

My next big break was redesigning the menus for the Ritz-Carlton in Rancho Mirage, CA. Their main restaurant was open for every meal; there was a bar lounge, swimming pool, spa, plus in-room dining. Every quarter they would update the menu items; plus I designed menus for several holidays over the years.

My style tends to be colorful, but clean and minimal, refined, and tailored to each unique brand. It’s not a one-size-fits-all. You won’t see the same look for
every brand I work on. But you can get a sense of me in there.

I may be old school, but there’s a willingness and eagerness to stay relevant with the design industry technology and trends, an openness to learn new skills,
apps, and tools. There’s still a lot of fresh ideas percolating in my brain. And I love to work with and learn from younger folks because I value their fresh perspective of the world.

People ask if I will ever retire. I don’t see how I could ever stop designing, unless I was physically not able to. And if that does happen, mentoring and teaching is a great alternative.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish the Universities with Art & Design programs required students to take business and marketing classes. Maybe they do now? Even if you become an employee, to gain an understanding of how companies need to run and operate a creative business is quite valuable.

When I started freelancing, I had no clue, no idea, what it took to run a business or work directly with clients. In the beginning it wasn’t all that complex
as I had a couple of companies I freelanced for. But I knew I needed to learn about the business side of creativity – how to market and sell, and pitch to clients
and in networking groups, in order to grow my business.

Also, after being involved with AIGA (the professional association for design) for the last two decades, I realized how valuable it would have been to have this organization around while I was in college, even high school. AIGA provides so much information and education for emerging designers that I wish I had known back when I was graduating. And the community I have built through AIGA over the years continues to help me today.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

You can ask any design studio owner or freelancer and they will all say the same thing: referrals are the best source for new clients and where we get most of our clientele. However, also being involved with AIGA and AMA has led me to new clients and projects as well. It truly is who you know.

Social media and my online presence has been a good source as well, but, it takes much longer for followers to know you, like you and trust you, than a referral would. There have been a few organic leads that turned into long-term clients, so I don’t discount that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.joiebrand.design
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joie.brand.design/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joiebranddesign/
• Other: https://www.behance.net/joiebranddesign