We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sara Noto a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sara, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Since I started my creative job journey, I’ve always sort of worked for myself. Freelancing on the side, working up comped designs for small companies while in college, and generally accepting any project or client that came my way. That latter way of working is really not ideal – not even for a startup.

Taking the leap to work for myself full-time was definitely a leap of some sort of faith. It was probably more of a leap in early 20’s recklessness if I’m honest. In 2006 I was working for a company creating website designs and doing magazine layouts. It was satisfying enough and very stable. But, mid-2006 it took a turn. The upper management became increasingly micromanaging and the department management became increasingly disengaged. I was miserable. At the end of 2006 (mid-October) – after I got married and returned from a honeymoon in Italy – I decided enough was enough and I was going to quit my full-time, well-paying, good-benefit-providing job and make a go at working for myself full-time.

During my time freelancing I had garnered a small handful of good clients and, through a referral, I was in the midst of signing a contract for a wedding magazine franchise with 3 publications. That surely would be enough to sustain me. And it was. As I continued working and fine-tuning my own design aesthetic with the needs of my clients I got word-of-mouth referrals and expanded my client base and knowledge base as well. Print design has always been my passion, but web design was a need for clients across the board. So, I took what I knew about print design and creatives and taught myself how to code and build responsive websites that looked good and functioned well.

Earning a living from being self-employed was (and still is) nerve-wracking. If I had to do it all over again, I would have built a bigger, more stable client base before quitting my job; I was lucky that it just happened to work out for me during the time that it did. Also, I definitely would not have taken every client and project that came my way. While that definitely helped get my name out there, build a portfolio, and hone my creative skills, it took a toll on my mental health, and the feast-or-famine was felt in my bank account. Long-term contracts are ideal and I’m still learning how to get and maintain those – I don’t think when you work for yourself, you ever stop learning what works and what doesn’t or what did and what will.

Sara, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I like to say I’m the secret to the universe… but that’s only because I’m currently 42 and a giant dork.

When I was in high school, I thought I would major in business and be very serious about everything. Then I took art to fill a gap in my schedule. I fell in love with it. I had always been mildly creative, but never considered creating a career out of that. My love of color, art, and crochet opened the doors to discovering graphic design. I dove in. I started working in high school as a paginator at a local newspaper, I was the editor of my senior yearbook, and I was dual-enrolled taking some beginner marketing courses.

Once I got to college, I focused on physical art and then digital art. I enjoyed learning about paste-up as it pertained to graphic design because you still got your hands dirty. My freelance journey started with newspaper and small magazine layout. In college, I would develop brand materials for small companies that had no real brand – or recognition. I was hired occasionally to develop websites for small clients – this was before WordPress and responsive design, so I taught myself HTML/CSS to get a leg up. I’ve always been willing to go above and beyond and learn and grow. I think that’s what has sustained me the most – I adapt, like slime. HA!

Today, my tagline is “yeah, I do that…”, because I do! I do pretty much everything from brand development, to print design (big and small – think business cards, magazines, advertisements, billboards), website design, social media design, e-newsletter design, and more. There’s literally so much to do in this industry so when a client comes to me and says, “hey, can you do this…”, I usually do. And if I don’t know how I learn. Being a jill-of-all-trades isn’t always easy. It comes with a lot of assumed know-how. I know just enough to do what I need for my clients and stay out of trouble and learn just enough to stay relevant. Specialized services I will outsource like social-media management, programming/development, SEO and analytics.

I like to think that my clients enjoy my quirky sense of humor, transparency, quick turn-around, design sense, and multi-faceted skills. I always say having items in my inbox gives me anxiety and cuts into my nap time. That’s mostly true. But also, I’m a one-woman show and a lot of my clients are also one-women shows, so being efficient is important. I’ve built a client list of 100+ clients over the last 20 years through word-of-mouth alone. My brand is ME, I am my brand. When someone comes to me organically, or is referred to me, they know what they are getting right away: 4+ hair colors, 2+ animal photos, and 20+ years of experience designing specifically for them!

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think, as technology grows and evolves, non-creatives and those seeking creative works will continue to be enamored with and try out quick solutions, like AI-generated brands, graphics, and artwork.

Quick solutions can be great tools for no-budget, single-solution businesses or projects. But the human element is important. I have, in the past, attended business conferences to get my name out in the community. I sell my service and myself by letting potential clients know that their business and brand should be a little more THEM.

AI is learning from humans, but it lacks the experience and actual humanity necessary to develop unique solutions to creative prompts. If we haven’t designed it yet then the AI doesn’t know it. It’s a great place to start, to get an idea of what you might want, but you’ll want to consult with a living, breathing, creative person to bring it to life.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I love working in a creative field. It taps into my need to make things and forces me to do something creative even when I don’t feel I have the energy to do it after working hours. I think when you’re an artist – no matter what kind of artist – you take inspiration from everything you do in the world of art.

My design work inspires my crochet projects inspires my home decor inspires my personal art inspires my event hosting and etc…

I enjoy getting to share my ideas, inspirations, and thought processes of creation. And the best part is when my client gets excited about their new creative item. I love when they bring me new ideas and creative prompts and we get to explore the potential outcomes together.

Art – in any form – should be exciting, however you define that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://notobelladesigns.com/
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• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/notobelladesigns