Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sofia Hill. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sofia, appreciate you joining us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

Overall, I am much happier as a business owner. Many days I have intense imposter syndrome or I can’t see what the future lies ahead and those days can be extremely frustrating and discouraging. Despite those feelings, I don’t want to give this up. When I think about applying for full-time jobs, I feel myself cling tighter to this life I have created for myself because I recognize how much of a blessing it is to own your own business.

December 2022 I needed to make a decision to either launch my freelancing design business or start applying for jobs. I took the risk and started my own freelance graphic design business. In the beginning, work was flowing in more consistently, but recently it has plateaued. The last few months have tested my patience, resilience, and strength to keep walking this path.

In early April I had a call with a potential client. I took this as a time for me to reevaluate what I was going to do with my business. I went in to the call extremely prepped and prepared. I felt so good afterwards and felt like the conversation went so well. Unfortunately, that client fell through. I was devastated. I hadn’t landed anything in over 6 weeks and I didn’t know if I could continue. I highly considered quitting and applying for full-time positions. That same day, I saw one of my favorite studios was looking for a freelance designer and new this was a sign that I needed to apply. I got that gig! It’s a more consistent freelancing opportunity and it came at time when I needed it the most.

Owning your own business is one of the hardest things you can do with your career. Having support from the people you care about most is a crucial part of owning your business. It can be extremely overwhelming and isolating starting from scratch with no one to turn to. My biggest pieces of advice are to join different freelancing networks on Facebook, interact with brands on social media, and keeping asking questions. Owning a business pushes you out of your comfort zone and you will sit in the uncomfortableness for awhile. Eventually that feeling subsides and you will one day feel like you’ve got a handle on things that were once uncharted territory. I wouldn’t call myself successful yet by any means, but I started this journey and that is the hardest part.

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?

Hi! I’m Sofia.

A few fun facts about me: I’m a natural-born thrifter, aspiring Tiktoker, and a Bourbon pecan pie specialist

Alongside those things, I help forward-thinking brands elevate their visual identities through brand and web design. Design isn’t just about making pretty things (even though that’s the fun part) and it’s also not just about functionality. Design marries art with form to make something come alive with meaning and purpose. I try to walk that line – Intentional design tells a story and I create visuals that empower you to tell yours more beautifully.

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

All the answers are at our fingertips, but sometimes we don’t even know what questions to ask to reach those answers.

I Love Creatives is a website I learned about in March and it is so invaluable. I bought their Squarespace Design Course and it has give me so many resources about web design.

Fonts In Use is a great website to look at fonts in use (I know pretty self explanatory), but I feel like this has allowed me to be even more intentional with my typography choices.

White & Salt’s DIMT course has also changed my perspective on freelancing. She teaches how to execute a design intensive that compresses 4 weeks of work down to a single day or week. She has so many tidbits in her course that have changed core foundations of my business outside of Design Intensives. She also posts great informational content on her social media.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I recently read The Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert and I really resonated with the quote “Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you?” For so long, I imagined my creative desires to only live as hobbies, hidden for only myself and maybe a few close friends or family. Design has given me the avenue to show my talents, continue learning, and be of service to others while also filling my creative cup.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sofiahilldesign.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sofiahilldesign/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofia-hill-2021/
• Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sofiaahilldesign