7 Years + A New Studio Office
Photography by Emilie Iggiotti
Next week marks seven years in business! It started off with just myself, as one independent freelancer taking almost any work I could get. Over the years, I’ve grown our clientele, moved our studio, had a family, grown the team, worked through a pandemic, refocused our service offerings and built a new studio. It has been one wild ride and I couldn’t have done it without the support of our clients, family, and friends. In light of our 7 year bizaversary, I thought it would be a great idea to tell you the back story of how our 7 year journey began.
Where I started
7 years ago I started as an independent freelancer. Prior to this, I had been thinking about going out on my own but could never take the leap. I always worried about consistent income, that I wasn’t good enough (aka imposter syndrome) and that I couldn’t make it as a business. I was working as a brand lead for a large corporate company and then as a senior designer at a small boutique agency. I was also freelancing a bit on the side. Before I knew it, I was pretty much working two full time jobs; working evenings and weekends to keep up with the freelancing projects.
Taking the Leap
After two years of convincing myself and saving up a little extra money, I took the leap.. but only part time! See my boss at the time was generous enough to let me work part-time at the agency. I’m a baby steps kind of person so this was the IDEAL situation for me! In reality, I didn’t need the baby step. It only took one Facebook announcement and two months of freelance work to have enough work to be able to go full-time. It was then that I wondered why I hadn’t taken the leap sooner!
I first started off working from home and taking on independent work from agencies and working full-time as a freelance art director for a local magazine. Eventually, past colleagues and friends started referring me for work and I built my clientele from there. 95% of my work came from referrals and I quickly learned that this business is very much about who you know and the quality of work and service you put out there (in order to get more referrals!).
My First Hire
After 2.5 years of solopreneurship, I decided to hire a part-time Junior Graphic Designer and move into a studio office just off of Whyte Ave. The new office was needed as my home office was getting a bit too cramped for me. The new hire had been strategically planned to coincide with the impending expansion of mine and Dagan’s (my partner) family. I knew I needed the extra help while I was eventually going to be on a “semi-maternity leave”. For the timing being, having an extra designer and an official studio space gave my business more credibility and we were able to take on some of the larger projects that were coming my way. We stayed in the studio office for nearly a year until I became pregnant with my son Remi. It was then that I decided to move my office back in to my home to be able to be there for my son while also project managing my designer.
Photography by Jillian Schecher
A Child + A Pandemic
Fast forward many months, and I was comfortable at home with my designer and a baby who had just turned 8 months old… And then the pandemic happened.. The job of a freelancer is already tough enough let alone adding the challenge of a global pandemic, being on “maternity leave” and a complete halt to all client work. As challenging as it was to lose work during that time of uncertainty (especially while I was only working 1/3 of the time), I have to admit it had kind of worked in my favour. My designer had moved on to other ventures and it gave me some time with my son and to re-evaluate where I wanted to take my business. I was starting to get tired of just doing the work for a pay cheque. I wanted to do work I was proud of and passionate about so I started the Branded Good – my side gig. The Branded Good is a non-profit apparel company that designs quality garments for a charitable cause with 100% of net profits being donated to the charity of choice. I did this over the summer of 2020 to stay creative and to do some good with my skillset.
Photo by Andrea Hanki
The New Trio
As word got out about The Branded Good, the work for Lianne Charlene Creative had also unintentionally increased! In August of 2020, I hired Shaylyn our current full-time designer. Her and I became quite the team during the pandemic; during both the highs and lows. I had an intern (Bernie) for 6 months to help out with some small projects here and there. It was also a test for myself to see if I could manage another designer at the studio.
Pretty soon I was on the hunt for another designer – I felt ready to take on the task and the work just kept on coming! This past fall, I hired Michaela, our second full-time designer. Admittingly, I did this (again) strategically because I knew Dagan and I would eventually be having our second child and that I would be needing more manpower at the studio to keep business going. At the time, we had also been in the process of renovating our home to build a new studio office over the garage. It had always been a dream of mine to have my own studio office for my business, but it had also been a dream of mine to work from home and to be close to my family. Combine the two together and you get the new studio office for Lianne Charlene Creative!
Photography by Emilie Iggiotti
Another Child + A New Studio Office
In March of this year, Elliza (Elli) my daughter was born and then in April my studio office was complete. My two designers and I moved into the office and here we are today – I work when I can inside the house while being home with my daughter and then I also get to project manage and keep the business going and have my designers in a space that isn’t directly inside my home. I get my privacy and they get a true working environment. Eventually when I head back to work full time, I will also be working out of the studio office. For now, I’m happy walking through the yard to visit with Shaylyn and Michaela every once in a while ;)
The new studio office was a beast of a project. Dagan and I went through so many challenges in this project but we are better for it. The office has a massive live edge desk for my two designers, and then a separate office space for myself. There’s a custom kitchenette / coffee bar, a bathroom, and even a storage space! Eventually, when I get back to work and things settle down, we’ll bring clients in for meetings and brainstorming sessions.
What are the next steps for our little studio? Well, the past 7 years has been an incredible ride with many challenges and milestones along the way. We wouldn’t be here without those challenges and I’m incredibly proud of how far we’ve come. I don’t have any more plans to add more designers to the team as I’d like to keep LCC as a small shop. Where I’d like to focus our energy moving forward is to enjoy my “mat-leave” with Elli and then in March, head back to work full time. At that time, I’ve got some exciting plans to grow the business; we’ll be honing in on the work we’re good at and the work we’re passionate about. We love working with small businesses to help them realize their vision and bring their branding and packaging to life. We want to be able to help small businesses on a more one on one basis so we have a plan to introduce studio days for our clients as well as build a whole other *secret* side of the business! Stay tuned.