Funny you should ask.

It was 2009. My webcomics were breaking the internet, listed as #1 as the Top Web Comics in the world for weeks straight. My adoring fans submitted fanart, emails, and if I googled my pen name, I could find people gossiping about me and shipping my characters on forums. While it all seemed super cool, something deep down was missing. I didn’t quite feel like I was making an impact and changing lives. Dramatic, I know. Cue to me applying to NYU’s School of Social Work in 2010, looking to fill this hole in my heart.

But I didn’t realize that later that year I would start getting graphic design work. It happened on a whim while I was in college, and professors asked for design work. Then their friends. I freelanced for fun, because after the market crash I was eager to take on ANY job, but I didn’t think of myself as a graphic designer…yet. So I ditched my fancy NYU scholarship and rolled my sleeves up and got working.

Freelancing quickly turned into a full-time job and it took a decade of being a graphic designer to finally admit that I was one. But it wasn’t all dandy and wonderful. When I was expecting my second child, I found myself in a rut. I took it for granted that I had a steady flow of clients for years, but I never thought of what I was doing as a business. I wasn’t earning a lot and I was working day and night with little to no time for my family.

Just three years ago, I set a goal to earn more and work less. Want to know what the secret to achieving this is? Stellar branding. I rebranded myself; restructured my business, reworded my marketing, updated my website, and changed my mindset. Within a few months my income doubled and my work hours halved allowing me to be part-time branding strategist and hands-on mom. I’m still in this journey, but the results continue to amaze me. And I get to watch each client go through this same amazing process and growth! I am so proud of what my clients can achieve with just a little strategy and mindset shift. It’s true magic.