We were lucky to catch up with Samara Bortz recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Samara, thanks for joining us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I’ve been earning a full-time living as a self-employed creative entrepreneur for the past seven years and now I help other women do the same.

In 2017, I was in grad school studying choral conducting and was asked to take over a small community women’s choir with 25 members. Our Wednesday night rehearsals quickly became the highlight of my week – we laughed, made music, and grew into a family. This was very much a side gig. For the first year, I paid myself $50/month and I poured a lot of energy into learning the foundations of marketing and sales.

By 2019, our little choir had explored into a full-blown arts organization with six different ensembles and more than 150 members. My husband and I were able to quit our teaching jobs to run the choirs full-time. We would look at each other at least once a week and say how lucky we were to spend each day doing what we love.

When Covid hit, things took a turn. Even though we swiftly pivoted and our choir community rallied hard, online Zoom rehearsals just weren’t the same. My husband and I realized that we needed to think about the next chapter of our lives. I took a web design course and decided to officially launch my design business. I wanted a flexible job to let me work remotely, be my own boss, and flex different creative muscles.

My design business was slow at first. I chased any hint of a lead and quoted a whopping $500 for custom websites to convince less-than-dreamy clients to hire me (spoiler, they usually didn’t). My process felt rushed, misaligned, and was the exact same as every other designer who took the same ‘how to launch your website business’ course I did.

Investing in private mentorship (even when it didn’t make sense yet) changed the game. Mastering tried-and-true growth strategies transformed my business. I figured out how to market myself and make selling feel good. I leaned into my strengths and magic: when my website clients raved about how valuable our strategy calls were, I incorporated one-on-one coaching into my process. Within a matter of months, I went from barely scraping by to being booked months in advance with $6000+ brand and website packages.

When I launched 1:1 coaching as a standalone offer, everything in my business finally clicked into place. My clients experienced the most beautiful transformations. And, my own business made more money than I had ever imagined was possible as a creative solopreneur.

Samara, 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?

Today, I run In Tandem Studios with my co-founder, Isobel Griffin. We bring copywriting and design together to create websites that make your clients hit the brakes (and the ‘book now’ button!). We offer a signature Website In A Week service, as well as landing pages, sales pages, and custom website projects.

I also offer group programs and private mentorship for creative solopreneurs looking to grow and scale their businesses. My approach blends intuition with strategy and focuses on building sustainable and profitable offers, content plans, and sales practices to attract and spark sales from target clients.

In addition to running my online businesses, I’m the conductor of the Edmonton Youth Choir, a award-winning ensemble for singers ages 13–18.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I met my co-founder Isobel through a mutual friend. We were both running our own businesses separately – Isobel with copywriting and me with design – and finding the same challenges: beautiful designs with copy that fell flat, strategic copy squeezed into limiting templates, clients stuck managing multiple experts, and projects that took twice as long as they should.

But when we teamed up as freelancers? Everything flowed. Our clients raved about working with both of us together. So, we officially joined forces in August 2024 and launched In Tandem Studios.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Instagram and referrals.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://intandemstudios.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samara.bortz