Better: The Brand Designer Podcast

Natalia is a brand designer and the Owner behind By Nat Studio. She's been designing since 2015 as a side hustle and in 2020 she shifted to working on her business full time. She is based out of South Florida but she's often traveling with her husband embracing the 'digital-nomad' lifestyle. In this episode we chat with Nat on how her business changed and evolved during this ti...

Today’s convo is inspired by an inbox question we received: “If you could travel back in time to any point in your career and give yourself a single piece of advice, when would you go back to and what advice would you give yourself?” — Meher Kaur In this episode, we chat about: What the beginning was like Some of the limiting beliefs we had Things that were really tough to work through How we’ve e...

A lot has changed for us since we started using the One Concept Method. (Don’t know what we’re referring to? Check out Season 1 Episode 7 for an overview!) We chat today all about where we started, what we updated, our brand strategy & creative direction process, and how to talk with clients about the One Concept Method (educating them on the benefits, feedback, refinements, and more). All of...

This week Jen chats with the ladies from The Brief Collective - Kenzi Green, Marisa Burgett, and Sammi Reese - all about using creative briefs (or conceptual projects) to attract new leads, flex your creative muscles, and practice creating on a deadline. Our convo covers everything from how to create a conceptual project, to how long you can/should spend on them, the benefits both for new and seas...

Episode Description: Welcome to Better Pod After Dark!! Jk - we’re playing the safe-for-work version of the game “Smash or Pass” today, brand designer edition! We polled you guys on Instagram to see if you liked or disliked certain programs, web platforms, social media, and juicy designer situations, and we play along with you! Special thanks to our producer Jon from Wayfare Recording Co. Connect...

Kenzie is a brand and website designer who fell in love with website design and decided to start her business focusing on brand and website design for small businesses. In this episode we talk about the process of building a website from start to finish, making websites feel like our clients’ digital homes, and the details we think about when putting a site together. Guest Information: Guest Name:...

One of the questions we get asked most often is: how important is a college degree to running a brand design business? We’re here to chat through the things we found most valuable from our college experiences (Esther in Advertising with a Focus in Design and Jen in Journalism) and the things that we didn’t learn as much about (surprise: the technical side of brand and web design!) We’re both incre...

Have you ever wondered when to know it’s time to start outsourcing and building a team as a brand and web designer? Or what type of outsourcing should you look for? Or how you let go of control when outsourcing? These are all JUICY questions! In this episode, Kailyn Sprinkle, an Online Business Manager (and Esther’s previous VA!) shares her knowledge of the Online Service Provider world and her jo...

Are you stuck in the mindset that your schedule has to be 9-5 because that’s what everyone else is doing? Well we’re here to tell you that’s far from the truth! The truth is… you can craft your schedule intentionally to fit your needs! We all have different lifestyles, seasons, and energy shifts. In this episode we’re talking about working with your energy to make your schedule fit your needs and...

In this episode we’re talking about being a being a consciously kind boss to yourself and making your business work on your OWN terms. Daniela from Lunaria Design shares how she has come to understand herself and her human design better, which in turn helps take care of her needs first, set boundaries, and be the best boss for herself. Guest Information: Guest Name: Daniela Marti Guest Business Na...

Five years ago Carli dropped out of design school and started her own business with charging $200 a logo. Today, at 25 years old, She runs a multiple six-figure business that allows her to provide for her growing family, book dream projects at 15k+, all without selling her soul and every hour to her business. Now Carli is teaching other creatives how to charge more while still having more fun in t...

Saying no to clients is tough! We easily can fool ourselves into saying yes to opportunities that might not be right fits for various reasons. The reasons might be niche, vibes, budget, workload, other red flags. Join our conversation to talk about how we filter clients, trusting our intuition, and saying no gracefully. Inbox Question: “How many offerings should you have as a designer?” — Bethany...

Packaging design is a whole other animal - and in our eyes, more complicated than Brand Identity design. There are so many steps, checklists, file types, and terms to understand, let alone legal specifications and printer communications to work through. We invited Lauren Braier, owner of Elby Creative and multipassionate entrepreneur with an emphasis on packaging design, to chat with us about what...

Neurodivergence is the term for those whose brains function differently in one or more ways than is considered standard or typical. In this episode Lea Gucciardi, the Founder and Creative Director of Arq Design Studio, shares about her journey to becoming a multi-6-figure design studio owner, her experience with ADHD and how it impacts her life and business, her coding background, and her newest o...

Do you ever find it hard to be inspired as a designer? Yes, there's the internet - design portfolios, digital magazines, Dribble, and Pinterest (oh, the joys and drool-worthiness of Pinterest!), and yet... sometimes it's hard to really get the juices flowing! In this episode, Esther and Jen talk about what inspires them both within the industry AND outside of it and discuss how to keep b...

Have you ever had a review session with a client and they're just not feeling the work you've created? We've been there! In this episode Jen and Esther talk about some of their experiences with push-back and how they worked through the problems to create better solutions for their clients. Links Mentioned: The Anti-Anxiety Notebook Inbox Question: " How do you present your init...

Welcome to Season 5 of the Better Podcast! We are officially welcoming Esther Knox-Dekoning as our new co-host! In this episode we get to hear Esther's story and her experience as a designer in the corporate advertising world and how she transitioned to owned her own design studio, Sereth Design. Guest Information: Guest Name: Esther Knox-Dekoning Guest Business Name: Sereth Design Guest Webs...

A message from Jen: Hey Better family - I'm honored to post two episodes that Giselle and I recorded together last summer 2020  (episodes 1 and 2) and one episode that I did (episode 3) to comprise a short but very sweet season 4. I encourage you to listen to our memorial episodes, Celebrating Giselle: Podcast Community and Celebrating Giselle: Friends & Family. Enjoy these episodes, I kn...

A message from Jen: Hey Better family - I'm honored to post two episodes that Giselle and I recorded together last summer 2020  (episodes 1 and 2) and one episode that I did (episode 3) to comprise a short but very sweet season 4. I encourage you to listen to our memorial episodes, Celebrating Giselle: Podcast Community and Celebrating Giselle: Friends & Family. Enjoy these episodes, I kn...

A message from Jen: Hey Better family - I'm honored to post two episodes that Giselle and I recorded together last summer 2020  (episodes 1 and 2) and one episode that I did (episode 3) to comprise a short but very sweet season 4. I encourage you to listen to our memorial episodes, Celebrating Giselle: Podcast Community and Celebrating Giselle: Friends & Family. Enjoy these episodes, I kn...

This summer, our design community, and the world, lost an incredible soul too soon during a climbing trip in Peru, our very own co-host, Giselle Field. In the first part of this two-part memorial episode, we heard many incredible things about Giselle from our design and podcast community. Now, in the second part of this two-part episode, we will hear from those who were closest to her - her friend...

This summer, our design community, and the world, lost an incredible soul too soon during a climbing trip in Peru, our very own co-host, Giselle Field. We will hear many incredible things about Giselle from our design and podcast community today, and in the second part of this two-part episode, from those who were closest to her - her friends and family. Because of Giselle, countless designers, an...

In this solo episode, Giselle opens up about why and how she launched a digital course. What seems like a couple of months of preparation for the course was really three years in the making. Giselle spills it all to encourage those that dream about making digital products but hold themselves back for many reasons — just like she did to herself. Giselle covers: product ideation, goal-setting, prela...

And thats a wrap! We’re finishing season 3 off with an episode packed with answers to your inbox questions. Giselle and I talk everything from contracts, whether we pricing on our websites, knowing when to grow teams, (and finding good contractors to work with), communicating value to clients, and more.  We couldn’t be more thankful for our Facebook community and can’t wait to hear your thoughts o...

Today is a very special episode with just Jen Davis! We had some interest in learning more about Jen’s experience having a baby and scaling her business at the same time, and so she recorded an episode about it where she chats through maternity leave, struggles, wins, mistakes, and what she did during the first 6 months of her baby's life as a mom and a business owner. From Jen: I am so beyon...