small c turns one:
What I’ve learned as a first-time founder

I founded small c with a vision of using my creative skills to support people, organizations and ideas that are making the world a better place. While I’d long dreamed of starting my own business, I never felt ready. It took a major career reckoning to realize that I might never feel ready — and that it was time to do it anyway. Let’s rewind.

Four years ago, I was a successful art director. I earned raises and promotions, steadily building my reputation as a designer and a marketer. I hired and led my company’s first content design team. I became a mom. It all felt great. In theory.

In reality, I was descending into burnout. The more senior I became, the more I spent my days in service of business objectives that didn’t feel meaningful. I designed beautiful things to appease faceless algorithms, chased KPIs prescribed by executives, and convinced people to buy things that wouldn’t make them happier or healthier.

Ultimately, I turned to full-time freelancing as a way to recover from burnout, spend more time with my family and rebuild my confidence.

In addition to a renewed sense of agency, freelancing gave me the opportunity to reestablish a link between my work and my values. I became more selective about the types of clients and projects I accepted, prioritizing those whose missions would help people and the planet. For the first time in years, I was working towards a vision. And for the first time ever, I was ready to build a business based on that vision.

Today, small c studio turns one — but this birthday has been a long time coming. Even as the daughter of two small business owners, I could not have imagined how much personal and professional growth was in store for me. Nothing about the process of launching a business was one-dimensional; it was scary and rewarding. Stressful and exhilarating. Demanding and healing.

Here are a few things I’ve learned in this first trip around the sun.

Get organized to get creative

Imagine the difference between an orderly art studio and a messy one. In the first studio, you can start creating right away because you know where to find the paints and the brushes. In the second, you have to turn drawers upside down to find what you need. By the time you’ve located your materials, you have less time and energy than you did before.

This is why I’ve spent as much time designing my process as I have building my client base. Efficient, sustainable and practical ways of working mean that my clients and I can spend more time on the work itself and less time litigating logistics.

For instance, I created (and refined) systems and templates to streamline my non-creative work. When I did creative work, I evaluated how I did that work. Sometimes that meant sacrificing speed — which gave me pause. Was I making an intentional business decision or letting perfectionism slow me down?

But as the business scaled and my efficiency improved, I became dependent on these systems — and they worked! Instead of wondering if I had time to take on a new project, I developed hourly calculations of my weekly tasks. Rather than improvising with new clients, I created an onboarding program with checklists and templates. The math was simple: The less time I spent managing administrative tasks, the more energy I had for fulfilling creative work.

Clients have reaped the benefits, too. One of the best pieces of feedback I’ve received this year came from a client whose website we’d just redesigned: “You made this so easy.”

The takeaway: Invest in your systems and processes upfront. Stress-test them. Evaluate them. Tweak them. Be honest with yourself about which systems and processes will make your job easier as your business expands.

Forget what you know (sort of)

There’s a part of me that loves being a beginner. I find it deeply rewarding to learn and practice new skills. But because the stakes felt so high in starting a business, it was hard to enjoy the process of learning as much as I usually do. I needed to embrace learning as a professional imperative, not just something I did for fun, and trust that confidence would follow.

I immersed myself in books and case studies about running a creative studio. I networked with other founders and entrepreneurs. I researched other agencies’ processes to understand how they operated. I didn’t use everything I uncovered, but exploring new ideas and diverse perspectives was useful: it either helped me improve my process, or validated what I was already doing.

Along the way, I realized something critical: I’d have to remain open to the idea that my business could be improved by changing something in which I’d already invested a ton of resources. Sometimes learning is the process of unlearning things you got wrong in the past or dismantling your preconceived notions about How Things Work.

The takeaway: Find balance between trusting your decisions and being open to change. You have to be flexible and accept the fact that you may feel like a dummy sometimes. Otherwise, you simply won’t move.

Learn how to respond to mistakes

A couple months after launching small c, I shared with my dad — a successful small business owner himself — that I was nervous about losing money.

“You will,” he said.

His response caught me off-guard. I knew that first-time business owners made mistakes, of course, but if I worked hard enough and learned enough and anticipated enough, maybe I could be the exception.

Not long after this conversation, I severely underestimated a project budget and charged the client way less than I should have. Rather than beat myself up over it, though, I reflected on my dad’s words and gave myself a pep talk. I had loved working on this project and the client had been thrilled with the outcome.

My mistake cost me in the short term, but my response to that mistake was what mattered in the end. The success of that first project led to more projects, and the client ended up being my biggest of the year. And because I’d tracked my hours throughout that first engagement, I had a better reference for estimating future deliverables.

The takeaway: No amount of fastidiousness or type-A energy will shield you from the realities of business ownership. The sooner you recognize that you (yes, you, fellow perfectionist!) will make mistakes, the sooner you’ll be able to approach them as learning opportunities — and make better mistakes in the future.

Compare yourself to yourself

Most of the time, researching other creative businesses was inspiring; other times, though, it made me incredibly insecure. It was easy to fall into the trap of comparing small c to more established businesses. I knew it wasn’t logical — how could I have as many clients, followers, or case studies as a business that was older than mine? — but that didn’t change the feeling in the pit of my stomach.

My husband offered me some simple advice that stuck: Compare yourself to yourself. Instead of poring over another company’s Instagram profile, I turned my attention to my own to-do lists, projects and proposals. Turns out, I’d gotten a lot done — and become more efficient, productive and self-assured in a matter of months.

Has the urge to compare myself to others disappeared? Of course not. But when it crops up, I redirect it. I reflect on where I started and imagine how I’ll feel a month or a year from now.

The takeaway: Instead of focusing on what you have yet to accomplish, reflect on how you’ve grown. (Consider this another plug for organization: Because I’d kept detailed notes and records over those first few months, I had a tangible body of work to reflect on when self-doubt crept in.)

Don’t do it alone

We’re all better when we’re part of a community — business owners included.

small c works with a wide range of clients with varying levels of resources. To make sure we’re able to support those clients and their communities, I’ve spent the last year continuously building a functionally diverse network of collaborators. In addition to the support of my family, I turned to friends, former colleagues and new connections for support.

Here are a few of the collaborators that made this year possible:

• Copywriter Annie Johnson, one of our core collaborators, created small c’s verbal identity and wrote much of our website content. She continues to provide expert writing services to our clients.
• Brand and marketing strategist Julie Potyraj, one of small c’s biggest cheerleaders, helped develop our signature Brand Lab offering, an immersive strategy workshop designed to help clients kick off rebrands.
• Designer and illustrator Allison Bowen designed gorgeous illustrations for our first project with The Well at Oxon Run.
• Copy professionals Betsy Plowman and Emily Newhook provided editing services, brand strategy guidance and moral support that helped shape the small c website.
• Copywriter Mary Scott Manning wrote our first blog post about small c signing the Clean Creatives pledge and helped shape our social content marketing strategy.
• Content marketer and data journalist Amanda Smith allowed us to support one of our biggest clients with data science and storytelling support.
• Iris Creative founder Beth Brodovsky — who also happens to be my cousin! — has been a wise and gregarious mentor.
• Executive coach Nick Gould offered compassionate, reflective guidance in the early days of small c — when I needed support most.

Don’t underestimate the power of vulnerability

Being vulnerable — as a first-time business owner, as a creative, as a woman — is scary. But in my experience, it’s essential if you want to connect with people and opportunities that inspire you to grow.

Asking for help, even when you don’t feel like you need it, opens you up to learning more than you could have anticipated. Being vulnerable can also look like offering support — writing recommendations, responding to community questions in a Slack channel, mentoring other professionals, etc. — not just asking for it.

The takeaway: There are so many ways to give and receive the help you need. Sometimes that looks like a standard business transaction, but more often than not, it looks like sharing your time, knowledge and insecurities. When you’re generous with those things, others feel comfortable opening up to you — and you both feel less alone.

Parting thoughts

Starting small c has been the greatest professional challenge of my life. It’s also been an incredible privilege.

For the first time in my career, my work and my values are in lockstep. I’ve been able to focus on doing the best work possible for clients who do the best work possible for their communities. I’ve built relationships with people I admire. I’ve created ways of working that call attention to my strengths and make the most of my time.

I’m incredibly grateful for all of the things I’ve learned and experienced this year. If this post resonated with you, follow small c’s journey on social or drop me a note. Whether you’d like to collaborate, share business insights or simply start a conversation with another creative, I’d love to hear from you.