You started a business to do the work you love, but does that mean you now have to become a content creator too? And how much of yourself are you actually expected to share?

This week I’m chatting with Hannah Seycell, founder of creative marketing agency Social Folk, about building a personal brand when being visible doesn’t always come naturally.

If you’ve ever thought, “Can I just get on with my work without having to put myself out there?”, there’s plenty in this conversation you’ll recognise.

Connect with Hannah

Instagram and TikTok: @hannahsocialfolk
LinkedIn: Hannah Seycell
Website: socialfolkdigital.com

Chapters

00:11 Meet Hannah and how Social Folk began
01:30 How COVID changed our career paths
02:54 How influencer marketing has changed
06:12 Do businesses need a personal brand?
08:51 Moving away from perfect content
15:30 What makes people connect with you?
17:30 Showing more of yourself online
22:52 Juggling client work and your own content
28:34 Sharing your journey without sharing everything
34:45 Deciding what you’re comfortable talking about
35:56 Grief and keeping a business going
38:38 What people don’t see behind the content
40:54 Sharing the good things when life is difficult
44:56 Dealing with criticism and trolls
48:20 Getting started with your personal brand

If this conversation sounds familiar, I’d love to hear your thoughts DM me on IG @thehonestdesignerdiaries. And if you’re enjoying The Honest Designer Diaries, please leave a rating or review, it helps other people find the podcast.

Juls

You can go to an event knowing exactly who you want to meet, but sometimes the conversation that leads to something brilliant is with the person you hadn’t expected to speak to at all.

This week I’m chatting with graphic designer, instructor, speaker and author of 'How do I do that in InDesign' Dave Clayton about the creative connections that have shaped his career, including an awkward moment at Adobe MAX that eventually led to him creating tutorials for Adobe Learn.

Dave says his last ten years, between 50 and 60, have been the most exciting of his career, and he’s now gone freelance for the first time. We chat about finding your people, getting work through relationships and why being an introvert doesn’t mean you can’t make those connections.

Have you ever had a chance conversation that led to work or something completely unexpected? I’d love to hear about it in the comments or send me a DM on Insta. Instagram.com/thehonestdesignerdiaries

Connect with Dave:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsdaveclayton/
Website: https://www.itsdaveclayton.com/

And if you’re enjoying The Honest Designer Diaries, please leave a rating and review on your podcast app, or subscribe on YouTube so you can join me for the next chat.

Juls x

Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m just not creative”? In this episode, I’m chatting with Scott Gordon, a brand designer who also teaches in secondary school, about whether creativity is something you’re born with or something you can learn.

We talk about what happens when a student is convinced they can’t come up with ideas, why being brilliant with design software doesn’t necessarily mean the ideas will follow, and how much of brand design starts with being curious enough to really listen to a client.

Scott also shares what it’s been like building Pure Good Graphics alongside teaching. If you’ve ever wondered where other designers get their ideas, or worried that yours aren’t coming quickly enough, come and join us for this one.

Find Scott and his work at Pure Good Graphics or search for Scott Gordon on LinkedIn.

If you enjoy the episode, I’d love to hear what you think, you can drop me a message on IG - instagram.com/thehonestdesignerdiaries

And if you have a moment to leave a rating or review on your podcast app, it really helps more designers find The Honest Designer Diaries.

Juls

Courtney started designing £5 logos on her phone during lockdown, while still thinking graphic design would probably remain something she did at weekends alongside her retail job.

Six years later, she’s running Funky Enough, working with branding and website clients around the world, building a small freelance team and creating the bold, colourful work she’s now known for.

In this episode, we chat about becoming a self-taught designer, learning as you go and why not having a design degree doesn’t make you any less legitimate. We also get into the snobbery that still exists around Canva, Adobe Express and the software designers are “supposed” to use.

You can find Courtney on Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest at @funkyenoughh.

I’d love to hear what you think of this episode, send me a message on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/thehonestdesignerdiaries/.

Till next time
Juls

In this episode, I’m chatting with brand designer Abi Lee about something we don’t hear discussed very often, how you keep a freelance business going when you’re grieving.

Two years ago, Abi lost her dad very suddenly. While trying to process what had happened and support her family, she was also dealing with the reality of working for herself, where there’s no compassionate leave and nobody else automatically steps in to manage the clients, deadlines and bills.

We chat about the guilt of trying to be everywhere at once, how Abi slowly found her way back into work and the impact the experience had on the way she now thinks about her business and what she wants from it.

It’s a very open and personal conversation about grief, freelancing and trying to keep going when life changes overnight.

You can find Abi and see more of her work on Instagram at @abileedesigns.

Please be aware that this episode includes a conversation about the sudden illness and death of a parent, intensive care and bereavement.

I’d love to hear what you think of this episode. If you’ve listened and any part of Abi's chat resonated with you, send me a message on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/designerinyourpocket_juls/ or https://www.instagram.com/thehonestdesignerdiaries/.

Take care

Juls

This week I’m chatting with editorial designer, speaker, host and Adobe mentor Kieron Lewis about all the different skills that can shape a creative career. We talk about why being a great designer will only take you so far, how important it is to communicate your ideas and why Kieron considers his people skills to be one of his biggest strengths.

We also get into some of the more difficult parts of the design industry, from bullying and hierarchy in creative workplaces to imposter syndrome and being the only person in the room who looks or sounds like you. Kieron shares how voluntary work helped build his confidence, why junior designers need better support and how he created new opportunities for himself, including taking a chance and asking D&AD if he could host one of their events.

And because we’re both print designers at heart, we finish with a very serious discussion about the correct way to greet a newly delivered book, which obviously includes inspecting the binding and smelling the paper.

Connect with Kieron on IG:

www.instagram.com/kieronanthonyl

I’d love to hear what you think of this episode. If you’ve listened and any part of Hannah’s story resonated with you, send me a message on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/designerinyourpocket_juls/ or https://www.instagram.com/thehonestdesignerdiaries/.

I really hope you enjoy the chat.

Juls

Chloe from The Chatty Freelancer and I have a habit of sitting in the car talking for ages whenever we meet up, usually after one of us has offered the other a lift home. We always end up saying we should have recorded the conversation, so this time we actually did.

So we've set ourselves some big audacious goals we want to reach in the next few months and sharing our progress in this bonus series the Chatty Diaries.

Follow along with us as we keep each other accountable where we'll be meeting up again to find out whether either of us has actually done what we said we would, which may be exactly why making this public was a terrible idea.

Listen to Chloe's podcast on Spotify

Connect with Chloe on IG

I’d love to hear what you think of this episode. Send me a message on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/designerinyourpocket_juls/ or https://www.instagram.com/thehonestdesignerdiaries/ .

I really hope you enjoy the chat.

Juls

When you’re good at listening, asking the right questions and understanding what really matters to a client, it usually makes you a better designer. It can also mean that somewhere between the brand strategy and the logo concepts, you accidentally become their therapist as well.

This week, I’m chatting with art director, brand designer and content creator Wayne Fick about the client relationships that become far more personal than either of you expected.

In this episode, we chat about:

• How designers can unintentionally become emotional support for their clients
• Why being sensitive and intuitive can be both useful and exhausting
• What happens when you introduce a boundary after a client has become used to constant access
• Why skills swaps need an agreed value on both sides
• Pricing work when you’re worried about where the next project is coming from
• Dealing with micromanagement and clients who question every design decision
• Becoming a content creator and YouTuber later in your career
• Staying open to new technology without pretending every new tool is wonderful
• Finding thoughtful, practical uses for AI while still questioning its effect on creative work

You can find Wayne under Created by Wayne on
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@createdbywayne
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/createdbywayne/

visit createdbywayne.com, and subscribe to his weekly Meaningful Creationist newsletter.