Finding alignment
In this episode of The Kindling Project, we have the pleasure of interviewing Lisa Samartino. Alignment and balance are the themes of our time with Lisa. Lisa shares her creative spirit while she describes how she makes it all work.
Balance is fleeting as she navigates family, teenagers, full-time work, and freelancing. Lisa Samartino Design was founded in 2001 and is based in the Detroit-Metro area. Lisa walks us through how she develops and brands for retail and lifestyle markets for clients and agencies. We are in awe of how she maintains an enviable elegance and artistic integrity! Lisa has created fashion, pattern to production, award-winning stationery, housewares, and fine art. She teaches us how today’s world offers many opportunities to showcase your skills and talents as an artist and designer. Learn more about her many talents and projects at: https://www.lisasamartino.com/
Learn more about The Kindling Project at our website: https://www.thekindlingproject.com/ and join our Facebook group for women looking for that extra kindling to start their subsequent big fire! The Kindling Project - Ignite. The Kindling Project is sponsored by Memora, an experience design agency that creates memorable brand experiences. Memora is offering our listeners a FREE 30-minute brand consultation. Schedule yours now.
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Melissa: Welcome to the Kindling podcast, today our guest is Lisa Samartino of Lisa Samartino design. And she is my friend of, oh God, I don't even know. 25, 30 years. She's a creative director. She's a graphic designer by trade, but she also has a series of kindling projects that she produces out of her personal design agency Lisa Samartino Design and those things take place on Etsy, they take place in her Instagram, she sells greeting cards through local boutiques and plum market. And so, welcome, Lisa.
Lisa: Thank you. So nice to be here.
Melissa: So nice to have you.
I think you have a lot to share with The Kindling Project listeners and the Igniters in our group, and people just dreaming about a creative outlet and how do I balance that with, having a full-time job or having a family, or even if you want it to be your replacement for your full-time job, what does that look like?
Lisa: Sure. So I mainly do graphic design and I have through the years, worked on different types of projects and have different avenues of creative outlet for myself. And I'm a mom, I have two teenage boys, so I know what it's like to juggle. And I would say that in the beginning, it was just like a passion to have these different products and outlets for me. And as the years have gone by, I found a way to just juggle being a mom, working full time, having these side projects for my business. And I'm glad to be here to tell you the pros and cons and what I've learned along the way to hopefully help somebody out there who's got that spark or that idea that they haven't maybe fleshed out yet.
Or maybe just feel I don't know if I can do this. Is this possible? I have so much on my plate already. I really feel like I've through the years have learned how to adjust and maneuver through that to make it work for my life and to really continue to enjoy the creative outlet that I have had, through most of my life.
Melissa: You make it look so easy. you make it look so easy and you make me feel like every day can be like art school again. if Lisa can do it-
Lisa: I am happy to hear that, but behind the scenes, there are obviously a lot of challenges and, you just have to go with the flow and, tap into some other people when you need them and just kinda work through whatever.
Challenges you're having find the solutions because really at the end of the day, you wanna, get like gratification from it and really enjoy it. If it was such a challenge where it was causing like strife in your life, then maybe that's not a good idea, but for me, I've just been able to juggle it so I can tell you more about that this morning.
Amy: Lisa, I, first of all, thank you so much. I love getting to know Melissa's all of Melissa's creative friends because I am a creative person, but in such a different context, , and but someone like you is, you seem almost magical in some ways, because you have the way that you seem to create your creative process or the way that you freelance, the way that you channel that energy.
It's inspiring for someone like me, who knows I have creativity inside, but actually tapping into that and how it looks. So I have a question for you and that. Have you always been a creative person? If we're talking about kindling project if we're talking about having that spark inside, what is a memory that you have of I've always been an artist or I've always liked to have this creative outlet. Help us understand what that's looked like for you? Sure.
Lisa: I remember when I was young, I always was into fashion and when it comes to stationary, I remember my Ma used to go grocery shopping and there was like a little hallmark in the same shopping Plaza. So while she would go grocery shopping, I would go down to the hallmark and I would check out the hello kitty, the San Rio. And I would always look at the little note cards with the notepad and the pens and all that stuff to me was like so beautiful and well packaged. And I think through the years, I just have always really enjoyed that. Whether, it's fashion, the stationary, anything creative was really something I truly enjoyed.
And I remember my babysitter when we were younger. She taught me how to make notebooks out of vintage wallpaper, chipboard, and just glue. And then we would staple in the pages inside of it. And that summer we, I must have made 20 of them. It was like, I just thoroughly enjoyed it. And I remember even in like seventh grade, we had a like a leaf book project for science class and where I lived there was like a huge forest in the back.
So I would collect all these leaves and I put them in the. The album and I did so many, I had three albums. I got triple a plus, but this is I'm dating myself, but it was in the eighties. So there were those, those sort of vintage, everything was like orange and yellow from the seventies and the cover had a forest, but it was a very seventies feel. And I found three of them. Identical. And those are the ones I put the leaves in. And each leaf had note card with a little explanation of what type of leaf it was. And I remember, taking the crayons with the onion paper and drawing it over so you get the texture of it. So I really spent a lot of time in the execution of the album to this day. I wish I, I still had them because I put so much work into them. I was so proud of my grade, but I really enjoyed. Like the artistic and the aesthetics of that. So every time I got any project from school, I would always try to put my own spin on it. And when I graduated from college, my first job was in Chicago and I worked at a magazine and we needed illustrators to do the illustrations, for the editorial pages. And I would do them on the side to help out cause we had a small budget. So on the weekends, I would be working on the illustrations and we would use those in the magazine. So I think always had something on the side, other than my full-time job, that kinda helped tap into the creative process and things that I really enjoyed. And that's why I think now I do a little bit of everything between the stationary, the fashion websites, logos, the whole gamut of the creative spectrum.
Melissa: I feel like what you're describing is alignment. It's those moments where. It's the execution or the process. That just you lose yourself in it.
Lisa: Yeah. And I would find it so like satisfying while I was working on it. I just really enjoyed it. But I also don't think that you have to do that from a young age. For example, you could be 20 and find something that you enjoy. I don't think it has to be something that you're like born with or something that starts off at a young age. I think you can be 40 and find something that you enjoy. Cause life is a process and you learn things throughout it. You learn what you like and what you don't like. And I think we gravitate, especially when we get older to the things that we enjoy most.
Melissa: Right, right.
Lisa: And wanna spend our time doing those things that we enjoy. And this time is so valuable. So I don't want people to think oh wow. I'm 30 and I've got this great idea, but I really never thought about it before now and it's not something that's been on my mind since I was a young child. So I don't wanna say that you have to do it. Think of it starting off at a young age that, there's no age to start something. If you have a fire inside of you, there's no reason why you can't do it at the age of 60.
Melissa: I agree with that a hundred percent.
Amy: Did you- and I love that you brought that up about the age, because I know with the way that the world works and with ageism and things like that, oftentimes people will think, well, I'm too old for that. Or I can't do that anymore because my time is up or I don't have the education or I don't have the experience.
So I'm curious with your freelancing and with the other things. Cause honestly, I don't know a lot about mint. Is it minted? It's minted.com. Yeah. Maybe I need to learn a little bit about it.
Lisa: It's okay. It's a greeting card company based out of San Francisco and it's basically all designers.
So all their cards that they sell are it's a community of designers. And we have a lot of like good relationships with each other. We all support each other. It's just a wonderful for me personally, if I don't have time to design my own, invitations or party invitations for my kids, Valentine's what have you, I always go to them and order they have wonderful design.
Amy: Okay. And it does sound familiar. Tell us about how you actually started to make this more of freelancing in terms of what were those first kindling projects for you? Was it wedding invitations? Was it stationary? Was it fashion? Tell us a little bit about.
Lisa: Yeah. So I would say the start with it would be the stationary because once I had one first place in that contest, I felt like I had the self confidence that I could do it on my own. And that's when I set up on my Etsy store, I had. Wedding invitations on there.
And I was approached from plum market to do the greeting card line for them. So they, they like to use a lot of local Michigan based vendors. And so that's when I did that. And that greeting card is with them, the greeting card line and other stores. So basically that was the initiation of it. And I planned, that's the other thing is planning and time is so important. If you have an idea, if you research, let's say the packaging for me, it was picking out, who's gonna print them. What paper am I going to use? What are the sort of the trends in greeting cards and stationary right now and make sure that I'm on top of that. So once I had my plan, I just executed. Sent the designs had them printed, packaged them up. It's just once you have that passion, the research and planning and then the execution, it's really just like a three part. And once you get the ball rolling, it really comes easy when you plan it out and like who you're going to use to print what sizes are available, especially when it comes to stationary.
You wanna make sure that the note card is gonna fit in the right. And know your sizes. I became very well knowledgeable about paper, weights and sizes. What's a five versus a seven size. And once you just start executing, everything just falls into place, but you definitely have to use that time up front to research what you're gonna do, because if not, and you make quick decisions without having a plan or having those vendors picked out, I think in the back end, you're using a lot of time to sort.
Make up for those hiccups, or let's say you decide to go down a path with the size. It's not gonna work to make it up on the back end is killing some of that time. So use a lot of time up front. You may have an idea today and say, wow, I really wanna get this going spend a couple months researching and getting all your ducks aligned so that when you execute, you really aren't gonna run into any issues. It's if you hop into it without knowing that industry or without knowing. The plan is I think in the end, you lose more time because you have to sometimes do. Twice, duplicated.
Melissa: Right. And I, for me personally, I find a plan, very reassuring. It just gives me that extra bit of confidence of, okay, this is, these are the steps.
Lisa: Yeah. Once you see it on paper, I feel it doesn't seem so daunting. And I also put like a timeframe, I work full-time obviously, and I have, my business. So I might say, okay, this week I'm gonna plan out what I'm gonna do. And then next week I'm gonna, make some calls and get some things going or order some supplies, and I chunk it out in weeks, in time so that I can see what's expected of me. So it doesn't feel so daunting because this week it might just be researching. A paper vendor to print and that's just one element of it, but it doesn't seem so heavy when I know that I've got five weeks and each week has a separate task to do.
Melissa: I think Amy, this is like a really important conversation, I think, for any kindling project, because if you think of our podcast as being one of our kindling projects, when we started during COVID in my bedroom, it felt like it was just gonna be us talking into a microphone, but there's all those other execution things like the social media and the brand, and I think what Lisa's describing really applies. Way more than graphic design. It just really applies to anything you start out is that there's usually a bunch of logistics.
Lisa: That's the part that's, you don't think about when you own a business, but there's a lot of behind the scenes that it's not glamorous, like in social media, you might see someone who owns a jewelry business. And they're like, always having these wonderful photo shoots and it all looks so glamorous. What they don't see is the behind the scenes of maybe she was staying up all night packaging, cause she had a deadline to fill or there's a lot of behind the scenes that's, not presented.
Melissa: In the final product.
Lisa: Exactly. But we know as business owners that it, it is a lot of hard work. And once you just plan it out and execute it, you're, it'll all come fall into place. Just have that plan.
Melissa: That's a good- that's really good advice.
Amy: It is. But what if you're a perfectionist? What if you're a perfectionist and we have the plan, we have the bullet points, we have the deadlines, but we know all as women, all of women in business and successful women that the, we have the plan a, but then there's always the plan B, C, D.
Lisa: Sure.
Amy: Right? So what have you done when those plans don't fall into place and you do have that perfectionism and I don't know if you have that.
Lisa: Yeah.
Amy: Perfectionism in you. I know a lot of successful women seem to really have it.
Lisa: Yeah.
Amy: Tell us a little bit about that.
Lisa: Sure Amy, I do have the perfectionism. It is sometimes challenging, cause I feel like it is at times it's a benefit because I feel like I am focused on getting things done and doing them well, but I also feel like sometimes it's a burden because it does sometimes cause a little anxiety, just, wanting to make sure that it's perfect and sometimes perfect isn't the way it should be. Maybe it should just be good or just done well, but perfectionism is just, I think a challenge in. It's just challenging in itself. But times that I've had to pivot, obviously the last couple years we know with logistics and the world with COVID there's delays sometimes you have to ask people for help, if I get in a challenge with a printing project, I may need to. Talk to another printer and say, Hey, what have you done for this? Or are you able to print this special, I'm in a time bind. So I think asking for help and. Calling on other professionals other mentors to help explain maybe what they would do or what their suggestion is really helpful. I can give you one example. So the captains that I did and anyone that knows me knows I love to travel and it usually involves sun and water. And actually just got back from the Hamptons last week. And it was wonderful, but I love like beach wear and resort wear. So I had started a captain line. Three years ago.
And right- they had sold out. So I was ready to make like a new batch and this is just when COVID started happening and I get the embroidery done overseas. So I had to pause on that just because with the logistics. And my gut, which is another important piece for your viewers is always trust your gut. My gut was telling me that something wasn't right, things were going slower than the first time.
And I wasn't in love with my fabric options. Like I love cotton for me. A lot of captains and beach coverups are like polyester, which isn't really conducive to like being around water. So I always wanted to make a hundred percent cotton. And so my fabrics that choices were not as vibrant and the style that I wanted, so I was like going back and forth with the fabric vendor to see what I could use and then COVID happened. So I had to put that on the back burner. And in times like that, where it's oh, this is the perfect time. I'm ready to do like another line. I really couldn't because of the logistics and I was afraid that once they were finished shipping back, would there be an issue with logistics? Would it be stuck in customs for two months? So for me, in those instances, I trust my gut. Sometimes I do believe that when you plan and there's a challenge, is that sort of God's way of saying the. Way of saying maybe to take a pause and say, is this the best time to do it?
I feel like that, that made me pause and looking back, I didn't know COVID was starting, but where I get my embroidery, it was hitting harder and looking back, it was best for all. I know I could still have them stuck in customs now. And so I'm glad I trusted my gut and said, something's not right, it's taking longer than normal. Maybe there's a reason. And then. Obviously, unfortunately, we had a pandemic and that was it would've affected me. Yeah.
Melissa: Even if your gut is telling you this doesn't feel right. , it is hard to let go, especially, I know I also suffer from some perfectionism.
Lisa: Yeah.
Melissa: Just admitting defeat and then being able to reframe it. Amy can speak this better than me as the therapist, but just being able to reframe it is it's not a defeat. It's just a lesson. It's important lesson.
Amy: I'm so glad you said that I'm like, girl, we've done a lot of work together. It's not failure. It is. And you say the word gut, but I say the word instinct, and for women, we have strong instincts. There's been research that's been done that says if your instinct is telling you something is not right, it's not and that can be not to take it like super dramatic but that can be life or death decisions on, do I walk down the street by myself or do I trust this potential business partner or do I invest with this fabrics? Those are our instincts and I think as women, so often we are condition not to listen to that instinct. And to really, that is the most pure, authentic emotion. This is me just saying this because this is what I know to be true is that no one can tell us what our instinct is telling us. It's something that only we have to interpret, right? So if we have that plan, if we have that agenda, if we have this idea of how things should go, and then it doesn't, it's well, do I just throw it all in the bag and say it didn't work. And it's just not meant to be. And I'm just a big failure or, okay, I'm gonna go down this path. We're just gonna take a little bit of a detour. And I think, again, as women, that's something we get better at over time. Because we've experienced so many plan B's and plan C's and plan D's and things like that, because this is how life goes. Right.
Melissa: And I think lisa mentioned mentoring or mentor, and it's important, we're all three getting at a age where we're becoming mentors and it's important to let other people know that those things happen to you.
Amy: Yes.
Lisa: Yeah. And the best part about being, a business owner is it's it's for me it's my choice. So if, for example, in that situation, It's on the back burner. It may come up in another year. I may try it in two years, but for right now, the only person that it's affecting is like me. Like it was my choice and my business so I'm okay with it. But it's really my choice. So as a business owner, you can really maneuver where you want and if it didn't work out, the only person that's really on the, on the hook is myself and like I had a customer. Recently reach out and say, oh, are you making more of those captains? I really love them. And it was like hard to say, unfortunately at the moment I'm not, but I will let if anything changes, but the reality is that, I'm not doing them, but. , it was hard to write the email, but then I also am a very honest person. So I just, told her that the, with the world, everything going on in the world with logistics is just not possible. So I had to take a pause on it, and I was just honest with her and it was hard, cause it's like obviously people are interested or they might wanna order more. But in reality it's just not possible at this time.
Amy: Yes. Yes. And that's where I say, no is a full sentence and oftentimes we have to say that to ourselves because okay, obviously you're not gonna be like to a customer. No is a full sentence.
Lisa: Yeah.
Amy: To ourselves. We have to be okay with saying no, even though we're really passionate about it. And it's something that we want and it's something that we wanna see right now into fruition, but being okay with saying no, not right now, not just as a business owner or freelancer or all the hats that we wear but really with our, with ourselves saying no, Not right now, we don't know maybe when, but just that now.
And I think that's tough for a lot of us.
Lisa: Right. And there's only so many things you can control within your. You know what I mean? It's I can only control so many things that I'm responsible for, but like the outside world, the COVID the, all that stuff. You have no control over, even like paper prices rising or-
Melissa: Right. Oh, that all the time now.
Lisa: Yes. Maybe like your favorite shipper. Like I use different places I ship from depending on what time of day I need to. Ship them out from, and maybe my favorite local, small shipping store. Maybe there's not enough employees working there. So maybe I remember going there one day during COVID and they were closed, they didn't open until eleven that day. So it's you just have to go with the flow, but there's so many things outside your control. And in other instances, I've had friends like get upset about things that come up and it's. You know what, accept that it didn't work out and you just have to move on because there's gonna be something else coming down the pipeline and you just have to let it roll it's, didn't work out this time. I tried my best. I worked hard. I gave it 200%. It's just not the right time.
Amy: Yeah. Yeah. So Lisa do you have, it sounds like you have a handful of kindling projects that that burn within in terms of the avenues that you direct those, do you have something that's burning within that you haven't done yet, or that we can be excited for you about what's new. What's gonna happen? What's on the agenda here.
Lisa: Sure. I do have some things that are, I'm like just thinking out and processing, letting time let it settle to where it is. I haven't really mentioned them yet. I'd like, Keep them to myself until I can flush them out. But I find that the more it comes up when I'm thinking about it, or just like that feeling in my gut as wow, I really wanna do this. It really pushes me to spend time to think about how I'm gonna go about that process. But obviously I've had successes and defeats, in the last 12 years I've been doing it. So I always let it marinate and see how I feel. Is this the time to get it going? Or is it still something on the back burner? I might need to flush out a little bit more of the details for it. I mean it's every day things and learn things about yourself or just find different interests. So I think, as time goes by, I'll be able to get those more ironed out, but nothing that I'd like to share at the moment, but I think you always have to keep your eyes open and, like I said, trust your gut in terms of is this the right time, or is it something that I need to let you know marinate a little bit more until it is the right time.
Amy: So will you promise us when you are ready to reveal that you will come back and we will be cheering you on? I do have I do have just a few more quick questions and sure. I know you do, but regarding paper and I grew up. I think all of us from the seventies to and eighties, it was all about writing, writing notes. We didn't text. We wrote notes in class, passed them on. I grew up having to write. Thank you notes. Still do still ringing out of the boys. And I love stationary. I love paper products. I was just at the Gwen frost stick home up north. And I just, Ugh, I just love all that. Tell us about what your thoughts are on that in terms of, are people still looking for new designs? Are people still wanting to connect more on an authentic cellular level with others through paper and through writing?
Lisa: Sure. Well, I think etiquette wise, I think always writing a thank you note is super important. Obviously in the day of texting and now everything's becoming so digital, I think that it really is important to, I guess I'm a little bit old fashioned, but I do believe if a neighbor gives you something, return it with a handwritten note. When you have a, obviously a wedding, you should write handwritten notes, thinking the guests, it shouldn't be an email. It shouldn't be a text. Maybe in that moment, you're like, oh, thank you so much. And you sent a text that etiquette wise it's best to send a handwritten note. And I believe there's so many. Wonderful designers out there. It's a multi-billion dollar industry, so there's enough business for everybody, but there's so many beautiful designs out there and you just have to tap into what your style is. There's definitely like traditional styles and then there's very vibrant, bright, modern type looks. It really just depends on what your style is, but it's really important. I think to spend the time, to write those notes and really make somebody feel. Special and more personal, I think a lot of times now, because we type so much that all of our penmanship's a little bit bad. I don't know about you, but when I write notes or whatever, to, the teachers at school, I'm like writing it out, thinking, oh my goodness, my hand penmanship is not as good as it used to be. In the eighties when we'd learn cursive in elementary school, but it's it may not look good, but at least the thought, the thought is there, that you're making the effort to personalize a note, and I think that's really important to not let that process go away with the whole digital age.
Melissa: There's something so tangible and so tactile about paper craft and having something to hold when the person's gone. Sure. Really, even on a very sort of spiritual level, I have cards and notes from people that aren't here anymore or friends in other states that I can't really talk to very often, but I can hold that thing. And right there is beyond the artistry of it. There's some other kind of spiritual level to it in my mind. I mean in the past, I've framed some greeting cards and invitations and had them on a wall as artwork or had them on a desk.
So if we have an aspiring graphic designer or an aspiring paper craft artist listening, what about some practical things? I know that we've skimmed over the different avenues and channels that you've delivered your work through, but do you have any suggestions of, should it be an Etsy store or should it be an Instagram or what kind of contest should I enter? I think your experience is probably really valuable and I might not even be asking the right questions, but what are some of those practical things you might share?
Lisa: Sure. Well, I think if you have a product, I think the best thing is to open up like an Etsy store because it's really easy to use. Also it's open 24 7. People from all over the world are on there and you can test out products to see if they sell well, you have to give it some time because if it's a new store, it needs time to get traction. And also, people wanna see that. They've bought stuff and that it's actually been delivered and that they're happy with it. So it takes a while to get people to review it and also having an Instagram presence, because you wanna make sure that people like, for me, I was not really into social media before my business, but I knew that I had to do that so that people would, if they see a car, they say, oh, what's this company and they would go and they would see that I'm an actual designer and that, it's legitimate. So I just use Instagram for my business, to just give some, not authority, but just, to support the fact that yes, this is a business and that they can learn a little bit about me. I don't know, I'm into brands. And I like to know, who's making it, the people behind the brand and what their process is. Creative process. So I definitely would maybe start a store on Etsy and have an Instagram account that bounces off that so that they can see what style, you have, what other products are coming down the pipeline. If it's a product, if it's graphic design. Sure. There's a lot of contests that they can you know, enter like the minted.com has great design challenges for stationary. Also for arts, they have large format, large scale format art, so it can be a painting. It can be. Photograph any of those watercolor and get an idea of if your style is, if people are interested in it and doing stuff like that, I think you can like process of elimination, see what the best avenue is for you.
It really just depends on what type of product, but you definitely need to. I wouldn't say have a focus group, but starting to sell on Etsy, seeing how quickly it sells, seeing about the customers that have purchased it. Do they have suggestions? Are they saying, oh, this would be a better size, or if you get requests for a different size, a different, surface stuff like that is gonna lead you to what is really. Specific item or process that's gonna work best for you. And there's nothing wrong with trying it. It doesn't cost much. It's, if you're a watercolor artist, do some watercolors, put them up there, see what the feedback is.
I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
Melissa: Right. And be able to accept if it, if it doesn't take, move on, don't let it defeat you,
Lisa: Right. Yeah, exactly. You're not gonna please everybody. Everyone's got different interests. Don't let it dull your sparkle, I guess, because you really wanna just- you're doing it because you enjoy it. And maybe it is something that you need for extra income. You wanna, just make sure that it's something that other people enjoy. You may enjoy it and think it's the greatest thing, but other people may not, and you may need to adjust a little bit of the style or texture or, surface that it's on to see what more of a mass. A mass-
Melissa: I definitely think both of us like being creative directors over 20 years, we've gotten used to so much critical feedback, yeah, that we can adjust.
Lisa: Right.
Melissa: I know when I was younger and obviously more sensitive, sometimes it's hard to take. Right?
Lisa: Sure.
Melissa: Sometimes it's hard to take, even when somebody asks me now at 50 years old can that purple be red?
Sometimes I'm mad for 24 hours, but just sit with it and just realize like you said, everybody has different tastes and different perspectives and there's no reason to take it personally or let it take you down.
Lisa: Right. And we're like a lot different than when we were 20, I feel like I've definitely developed a thicker skin. Yeah 20, what great years, huh? Definitely developed a thicker skin, but then also you realize that sometimes people just have their opinions. It's like, when you are having a baby, you don't wanna give the name out because someone could say, oh, I went to school with someone with that name and did not like them.
I've had, clients say I don't like that color because I don't like ice cream that has that color, just odd, strange reasonings of why they prefer a certain color, a certain shape, or, and that's just like a personal, that's something personal, don't take it personal to yourself. Obviously, we have the skill set to pick the best typography, the best colors, we know the color wheel and what works, compliments each other. And some people just, don't have. It's interesting. Sometimes you hear things and you think, oh, wow. That's, that's an odd choice or there's, you always have to, as an artist to stick to what you know, and have conviction and like why you chose that, what you thought would work best. If it's a logo, why did you pick that logo? We should always be able to defend our designs because we're the ones who design them. And for the most part. Whether it's, tying in something, let's say a product in the logo. Maybe you made an embellishment that has to do with what industry the logo's in, but there's always like a reasoning of why you designed it and you just always have to stick to your guns and, and what you design and be very confident in that.
It's like when you're presenting and when you work at an advertising agency, you have to really be strong in what your choices are and to be able to explain them. And sometimes, in the end you have to merge and, bend a little bit, but you should be able to defend those choices.
Amy: Yeah. That's I love that. That's really profound thinking because the product so many times is yourself when you're an artist and , it's hard not to take it personal. Sure. Not, but over time we learned. Everybody has an ego ourselves included and nobody wants to have their ego bruised. It- we wanna be liked by everybody and we want everybody to like what we do, but that's just not the reality. And that's okay too. That's okay, too. So Lisa, is there anything that you would like to share that we haven't brought up or asked you or any last minute?
Lisa: I think just overall, I would just, say that if there's something that you really have a strong urge to do it, there's so many things that out there, like on the internet, you can research and figure out how to get something made. It's like it's at our fingertips, maybe 50 years ago. I wouldn't know how to get a pattern maker to help me with a garment, but. When I was working on the captains, I found a pattern maker who has a ton of experience has a special machine that knocks out like every size. I didn't even know that existed, but through the process, you learn to ask questions, find the experts, but everything out there you really can find. As long as you ask questions. So don't ever feel like it's something that is out of your expertise or that you have no idea. I hear a lot of this, like, I have no idea where to begin or, Hey, I'm thinking of a product. Could you help me? I have no idea where to begin. Well, if you just kinda go down that path and ask those questions, you will get the resources that you need to get it done. and that's all you need to do, really it's like we have all those options are out there because everything's on the internet and their businesses too so they're gonna wanna help you. Yeah, just to always feel, not to feel like it's impossible. And to know that there are avenues to go, to get to what you need to get it done. And there's no nothing wrong with asking questions. I think any artist would like to help out another artist and life is short.
I know Amy and Melissa, we all know this, but life is short and it's if you really have a passion to do. Do it, the worst thing that can happen is it fails, but really did it fail if you finally did what you wanted to do, and it was something that was burning in you to accomplish then actually, it didn't fail maybe on the larger scale, but for your heart and for your passion you actually did what you wanted to do, and that should be celebrated in itself.
Melissa: I had seen a, I had seen a quote recently that I wrote down and it was something to the effect of, we have more regrets about what we didn't do than what we did do. Yes. And I think that's so true. When you look back at your life, it's usually what you held yourself back from that feels more, not that I'm all about regrets, but that, that you might have a tinge of regret of like, why didn't I just do it.
Amy: Right. And you know what I would just like to add on to that what you said, Lisa, that maybe in our mind it was a failure, but usually when something like that happens, another door is opening that we didn't even know was there. Sure. It's gonna start to take us down this path that. We didn't even know that path was there. It's taking that risk. It's believing that our talent, our skills, our voice, our dreams have merit. And so that's really what I'm hearing from you, Lisa I wanna say that first of all, thank you so much for sharing with us. Your, some of a little. Sprinkle of your journey because it's really inspiring. And I know we could spend a lot of time learning more from you and please come back when you're ready to launch your next exciting endeavor. But 1, 1, 1 of the things that Melissa and I like to end our podcast with is to give our listeners something to really think. For the week and I don't know about Melissa, you said it, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna go with it. I'm gonna go with the word alignment. And that's a powerful word because it's not just with art or with any industry, but alignment has to really come from within, on so many levels because ladies, how often has our lives not felt aligned? Are we talking daily here? This minute by minute alignment should be the word balance, because it's almost like we have to really become unaligned to get aligned. . And so I really want us all to think about what alignment, what that really looks like for us. And I know at least for me, it means really taking on, I call it trimming the fat. I have to trim the fat from the things that I didn't say no to, or the things that I thought was a great idea. Or maybe the things I thought was gonna. Or the things that did work, that don't work anymore. How do I start to align things that are more really cohesive with igniting my flame, keeping it lit and not letting it burn out. So that's really how I'd like to end it. If everybody's good with that is really thinking about how alignment looks for us and, really putting that more in the forefront of our daily mindset. How can I align things better? Because you, you don't become a successful freelance creative person by being a swirling dervish and going, oh, let me just wait for everything to fall in a place. No, you have to really align things. And that's what you did. And that's how you've become so successful. And I know we really breezed over that contest, but you said you won out of 700 people you won this contest and you got money. Or not money, but like a grant or something to put you on this trajectory. So the point is how do we align ourselves more? that's what I want. I want everybody to think about. So-
Melissa: I think she did a really beautiful job of describing it. And for me alignment often, it's that space. Where you lose time, where everything just, the pressure falls away and you're in the moment of making or you're creating or you're planning and everything else just falls away, and that I think is if you listen for that, we all have those moments. We just don't stay in them long enough, or as long as we'd like to.
Lisa: Yeah, Melissa, I was thinking the same thing about time. It's time is so valuable. You only have so much in a day, and you have to spend it with the people and doing the things that you wanna do. And when it comes to alignment, like owning a business, I juggle a full-time job and I've got teenage boys, a husband, it's I have a lot to juggle and I just make sure that I chunk out my time appropriately. For example, on the weekends, I obviously wanna spend time with my family so I may need to get up a little early before everyone gets up for me to finish packaging, a card order or finishing a logo. So I just try to align time is just super important to spend it, aligning. The time of my day and of my week to make sure that every bucket gets full, it's of my work, my family, all that stuff that goes into, my life, but just the alignment is so important to make sure because when it gets off, get off Keester and it's Things will fall by the wayside, you'll forget something. You won't spend as much time with the kids and you feel guilty when you're at work like, oh, I haven't spent that much time with my kids this week. I've been so busy working just to try to spend, as much time. To plan better and also surround yourself with like family and friends that are supportive. It's- I wouldn't talk about my projects or work around certain people that I feel like aren't as supportive. And, my friends usually ask me, so I feel like having that supportive support group is really helpful. To help you stay on track and being aligned and not, getting you off track. I have a lot of friends who are like, oh, let's get a drink Thursday night. Well, let's say Thursday night was the night I was gonna finish up a project or, had a logo to finish. I have to say no to some things. because I know in the long run, it's gonna keep me on this path.
Melissa: Well, I'm super glad to have you in my friend circle, and then Amy and I are just super glad to have you in our kindling project circle because that's really what we're trying to create.
Lisa: Yes. Well, thank you for your time you guys are so lovely. I love you guys to death. And I think when I had originally heard about this kindling project, I thought, wow, that's a great idea. There's so many people, I think that would benefit from this podcast. I think it's just really great that us women all stick together and support each other. And they say when you rise, you should help people, pick people up and bring you up with them. So I'm glad hopefully your viewers got a little bit out of it today for me, but I just think what you guys are doing is great. I'm gonna continue to listen and it's been wonderful. I love your energy and all your experience. It's just wonderful.
Amy: Thanks. Thank you so much. And we're so glad you're here and we'll look forward to hearing more about your adventures and you enjoy the rest of your day. And we will talk to you again.
Melissa: Okay, sounds good. Thank you. You guys.