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For some people, it seems as though their life’s calling is clear from their very first cry into the world.
They have natural abilities and personality traits that become the foundation of future success. Adding on learned skills sets them on a course that’s destined for greatness.
At the risk of sounding like I’m buttering my own bread, when it comes to creativity, design, business, and marketing, it’s truly what I was born to do.
I burst into the world with three key attributes; a love for all things creative, a curiosity for how things work, and the ability to talk to almost anyone, a trait that drives my now husband crazy whenever we go basically anywhere together #sorrynotsorry.
These three ingredients became the perfect base for who I am today; a passionate creative who builds innovative solutions as a design superwoman, and teaches the art of pricing for freelance creatives who are hungry to learn.
As a child, I had enough connector pens, paint, puffy pens, and sidewalk chalk to open my own shop. My mum nurtured that side of me, filling school holidays with calligraphy worksheets and scrapbooking layouts. I truly loved the fact that as a creative, I could make something that didn’t exist yesterday.
Time continued as it does, and adolescent Jaz became more and more intertwined with the power of creativity. After school hours in the design lab eventually led to a three-year advanced diploma in graphic design after graduation.. I was never satisfied with just passing my subjects. For every hypothetical scenario I had to solve for my studies, I found real-life clients with similar needs. By the time I graduated, I was already working as a signwriter.
One of my lecturers was profoundly influential on me. He placed great importance on solving problems in the right way. I was taught to always look at the finish line and then map the project from the end to the beginning. This method means I can anticipate potential setbacks before they arise and create solutions accordingly.
Signwriting led to print room management, which then led to aged care marketing (sexy, I know). While I liked various aspects of each role, my hunger somehow wasn’t satisfied.
As many creatives end up doing, I took a hard detour in my career. The paint brushes were replaced with tap shoes and vocal warm-ups as I began a course in musical theatre.
I’ll be honest with you, this wasn’t an easy time for me. I was in the same classes as people who’d been singing and dancing their entire lives, and it destroyed my confidence. After a year of kick ball changes and ill-fitting ballet leotards, I ran back into the loving arms of graphic design.
Some might say I failed as a performer to become a freelancer, but I prefer to think that I learned how to perform for a client rather than an audition panel. For the next three years I danced to a different tune between creative studios, recruitment placements and freelance, tasting all the flavours of creative business and slowly building that confidence I had lost. Things were feeling back on track after way too long, I could feel it.
The next career stop was the one that truly changed the trajectory of my life.
I was employed in a studio that burned my soul to a crisp. I was smack bang in the middle of a truly toxic work environment with every classic trait; in-fighting between management, unrealistic expectations, shady deals, and a healthy dose of male toxicity. I probably should have detected that this wasn’t going to be my oasis when, during the second interview, they tried to reduce my prospective salary by $10k. Then there was the fact that the employees who played video games and then stayed back until 2:00am where the ones who got the applause.
This place didn’t deserve my genius, and I sure as hell wasn’t being paid fairly.
It was at this point that I took the leap and went out on my own as a freelance graphic designer. My many years in the industry had comprehensively prepared me for the freelance life, and I was determined to be a success.
While I knew I’d found my crème de la crème, there was still a lot of learning to do.
Figuring out how and what to charge for my services was enough to render me into a ball of panic, and there were brand new business challenges I’d never encountered in my career. I’ll never forget the time I had a client disappear on an $8k invoice, or when I priced a website build completely wrong and missed out on thousands of dollars.
I’ve since taken the deepest dive into the psychology and strategy behind pricing, and I don’t mind saying that I’ve created the perfect recipe. After 14 years in the game, the proof is definitely in the pudding.
You’ve probably observed my love of food-related metaphors. In my family, food was important. It was about sharing, connecting, and celebrating. My dad, a great businessman in his own right, taught me that in business…
“you need to be big enough to serve someone, small enough to know them.”
This has become the perfect metaphor for my role as The Design Superwoman to my clients, and The Pricing Queen for my students. Through sharing, connecting, serving, knowing, and celebrating, we can achieve true greatness.
I have no doubt that your life has been full of nay-sayers who tell you to ‘get a real job’ and that ‘doodling doesn’t pay the bills’. While there are creatives out there who fight their whole life to barely scrape by financially, I’m definitely not one of them. 2022 was the year my sole-trading-freelancing-butt cracked $1mil. It may seem as though I’m the exception to the rule, but I want you to know that I don’t have to be.
Now, I serve my wares to two different groups of hungry humans.
Businesses who need a design superwoman, and freelance creatives who thirst for the knowledge on how to turn their “doodling” (😉) into a steaming hot, perfectly cooked, profitable business.
I’m glad you’re here! Let’s get into this creative kitchen and whip up the crowd-pleaser that changes your life forever.
Jaz Xx
