Episode 5: The Importance of Brand Design and Community for Women Business Owners with Lindsay Williams
Brands hold a special place in our hearts. At an early age, brand imagery evokes emotion and recognition.
As business owners, we have brand imagery that we are hoping evokes emotion and recognition as well.
Today, we welcome Lindsay Williams of Lindsay Williams Design. Lindsay Williams is an intuitive brand strategist and visual problem solver. She elevates women-owned brands in a way that beautifully reflects and authentically connects them to their customers. She has a BFA and MFA in visual communications and absolutely loves her job. She's a military spouse and mama to the best tiny human and a circus of animals.
During this episode, we talk about:
Brand design process and balancing creativity and being clever (4:43)
Using your brand to educate your potential customers (12:24)
Importance of community for women business owners (21:48)
Being an artist and business owner (28:12)
Design Like a Pro in Canva course (34:36)
Visit Lindsay’s Site - https://www.lindsaywilliamsdesign.com/
Are you ready to Design Like a Pro in Canva? Join the waitlist for Lindsay’s course - https://www.lindsaywilliamsdesign.com/courses
You can also connect with Lindsay on:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/lindsaywilliamsdesign/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/lindsaywilliamsdesign
Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Collab with Kiva. Kiva is a certified Director of Operations and Online Business Manager who creates business operating systems for owners who want to grow their revenue and impact without investing more time in their business.
>> Every good team has a playbook. Does yours? Ready to build out your business playbook to not only take things off of your plate but help your business scale? Book a call with Kiva
Join The Collab: A Community for Female Business Owners on FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/collabcommunity
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kivaslade/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kivaslade/
Website: https://www.the516collaborative.com/
Podcast Transcript:
Kiva Slade 0:02
Hello and welcome to collab with Kiva. I'm your host Kiva, Slade. From the marbled halls of the US Congress to my racing-themed office chair. I've learned that there is no perfect path to the life of your dreams. My journey over the past 20 years has included being a legislative director for a member of Congress, policy director for a nonprofit, stay-at-home mom, homeschooling mom, jewelry biz owner, and now the owner of a service-based business. Whether your journey has been a straight line, or follow zigs and zags. Join me and my guest as we share insights Pope's and lessons learned from our female entrepreneurship journeys. May the collaborative sharing of our stories be the tide that lifts your boat? Let's dive in. Alright, so hello, everyone, and welcome to this episode of Collab with Kiva. I'm your host, Kiva Slade, and today I am super excited to share with you my guest, Lindsey Williams. Lindsey is an intuitive brand strategist and visual problem solver. She elevates women on brands in a way that beautifully reflects in authentically connects them to their customers. She has a BFA and MFA in Visual Communications and absolutely loves her job. She's a military spouse and Mama to the best tiny human and a circus of animals. Welcome to Collab with Kiva. Lindsey, how are you?
Lindsay Williams 1:33
I am so good. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you so much for having me on the podcast.
Kiva Slade 1:39
Yes, I am super excited. And just so everyone knows. Lindsay and I have worked together before. She's my brand designer and I cannot say enough things about her working with her the quality of her work the product that she produces, like literally I can girl crush on her all day, every day. So I will tell you that ahead of time. So Lindsay, let's talk about that alphabet soup for a minute and BFA MFA, talk to us about this background that you obviously have in this field of visual communications.
Lindsay Williams 2:13
Yeah, no problem. So I went to undergrad and I got my Bachelor's of Fine Arts in visual communications as a graphic design program. But I also really thought I was going to be a medical illustrator. So I did a double major in the biology department. And then the military happened, I met my husband. And we got married, like two weeks after I graduated and moved directly to Alaska. So I never really got to explore the medical illustration side of things. But I landed a great job with an amazing designer in Alaska, which I never thought I was super panicked when I was like, I will have no job opportunities whatsoever. And so luckily, I found an amazing designer, she was actually out of DC and had gone to Alaska to volunteer with sled dog races, and fell in love and just stayed. So we had a great, we had a great time together. So one of my favorite jobs, and she's an amazing human it's to sprinkle is in Fairbanks, Alaska, but she's just awesome. So yeah, I get that. Yeah. And then during one of the deployments that my husband did, I just went back and got my Masters of Fine Arts, which was really nice. It went through a lot more of what I go through with my clients like doing your ideal client avatars and kind of like coming up with personas. And just going through that process. Like it helps solidify my process now with my clients. So that was really helpful. I really enjoyed that.
Kiva Slade 3:45
Oh my gosh, I love that. Because who would have thought like, Hey, I'm going to Alaska. Wait, there's an amazing designer and actually get to do what I love to do here and live in this beautiful, amazing place that is Alaska. So I absolutely love that. Alright, so this is great. Talking about your process, because obviously I've gone through it and I still am. I think I sit in shock and awe it many times where I'm like, how did you get that out of that that I gave you because what I felt like as a client that I presented you with was like an absolute mess. And you were able to pull out of that something with so much clarity that formed the brand that I was like I'm in love with and that people constantly say, oh my goodness, that looks exactly like you, you know, feels like you, it looks like you all the different things. So talk to us about your process. And then what are some of the pitfalls that you see happen with clients?
Lindsay Williams 4:43
I can definitely do that. Um, so my writing process is not all designers branding process. So I just recommend if you're working with a designer, you have like tough on a discovery call with them. Ask them about their process because it may or may not be a good fit. I'm a designer that I like as much information as I can think of it as a funnel to get to your final brand design. So I like all the information I can possibly find. And I think the thing was branding that can get a little bit confusing is that you're holding space to like, honor your own, because they work with service providers. So that tends to be a little bit more of a personal business. So you're holding space to honor your own services, your own business, your own like values. But then you're also holding space for your ideal client, which they might not be the same as you as far as their design aesthetics, or what they're looking at or what they want. And so you're kind of trying to come to a balance of honoring yourself, obviously, but then making sure that you're attracting your ideal clients. So I go through a process of asking my clients to tell me what their mission vision and values are. And that's actually a pitfall that I see too if you haven't spent time in your own business, figuring out what your mission, vision, and values are, what your ideal client is. And I'm not saying you have to have that entirely nailed down. Because I think especially when you're starting out, you're not even going to know that. So you get 1015 20 clients under your belt. And I've actually worked with some horrible people, like you kind of need to have those experiences to figure out where you want to be. But I think if you can constantly be assessing that part of your business is only going to help your brand designer, whoever you choose, be able to like hone in on something that's going to be good for you. So I take people through a pretty extensive questionnaire at this point. And they tell me all the things about their business, and then they tell me all the things that they know about their potential clients. And so I just kind of visually, I mean, I'm doing like weird internet research and found like rabbit holes of like, the speaker went to this both went to this thing. And so I'm looking at all the things that their ideal client kind of use in the world to make sure that whatever I do for them, makes them feel like they're in this space that their ideal client is looking at. So the ideal client feels welcome but still sets them apart from whatever their competitors are doing. So it's like a tricky balancing act. And so I like to have as much information as possible going forward. So I see problems, like I said, when people are not spending time, like almost jumping the gun, I'm doing brand design. Firstly, I honestly just like to use the font you just administer to get you started if you need to. Just something super simple and take the time to work on that part of your business before you invest in branding, I think that that's a better way to do it, it's really easy to feel like, I have like this signing pretty awesome brand. It's super easy, I get it. I'm a small business owner to like I got it. Because you want to look good when you're presenting yourself to your clients. But I think taking the time to work on those hard questions for yourself is gonna set you up better when you finally make an investment in a brand. So I actually think your brand shouldn't come first, like your visuals shouldn't come first, like necessarily. Another thing is, I think that people can also get really attached to their ideal client avatar, like, they know where they shop, they know what books they read, they know what podcasts they listen to, they know how old they are, they've got a name. And that's great because the entire point of having this ideal client avatar is to kind of remove yourself from making personal decisions for your brand. If you can say, I like the color purple, but Suzy really loves the colors feel like that's a better way to be making decisions if you can kind of put yourself in the headspace of your ideal clients, and honor that. So that's great. But you can get really hung up on that and spend a lot of time focusing on that, that you don't need to be doing. And then you can also start getting really clever, and clever can get you into trouble. Like, for example, like I've done some people, like work for some people, were not naming any names. This was not meant to, hurt anybody. But they are just not really invested in the team of their business. But it took on, like, it got to the point where it was almost like when they were talking about their business, it was like I was going to a travel agency instead of to, like their business where they were like helping people manage other, like manage their own business. Like they're doing, like OBM work, I think. And so, like, you don't want to get so clever that someone's going to show up on your site and be like, Well, what actual business is this? Or what do you actually do? Like, please tell people what you do and how they can work with you. Like, don't get so clever that you forget to tell them those things because that you know, kind of the whole point.
Lindsay Williams 9:46
So yeah, those are some major issues I see and then also just being so cluttered, like pick one thing that you want people to do, and just highlight that, like just choose one message Each thing that you put out, and remember that you, especially with visuals, I think on like Instagram and things like that, I feel like people try to cram all the text into the picture. Remember, you have like captions to support you remember, you can send people to like a link on your website to get some more information that they're interested like, just remember, you don't have to do it all in one shot in like, an eight-point font that runs to the edge of everything and take the ball. Like,
Kiva Slade 10:30
for the most part, I'm so pulled out, we need to keep it simple. We are really trying to overcomplicate so many aspects of the business process, as well as our design process. And it's like I love what you shared, you're like, Okay, look, you cannot fit all of that into one graphic, you need to stop, and let's be real, eight-point font, most of us aren't going to be able to read it. So we're not going to capture all of like, we're not gonna even retain what you've put in there. But also not putting our branding, like, a lot of people do feel like, Oh, you started with Do you have a logo? You're like what you know. And it's like that, that feeling that we need to rush to do this branding. And you're actually saying, Hey, it's okay, have a font and a signature. And let's move forward with really some more of the business basics that are more so solidified before you go to that investment, um, branding. And I love that because that's not I feel like it's typical to what we're pretty much thought to do, or what we should do in this kind of, you know, space that we inhabit. It's like, logo branding, what are your colors? So you know, and you're like, I don't even know what my colors are, you know. And so being able to keep it simple, solidify the work that you're going to do. Keep it simple with tell people how to work with you. Like, honestly, tell them what you do. Like that is something that totally can get glossed over in this. I have this pretty logo and these pretty colors and all of this stuff, but oh, wait, I've never told anyone how they can actually contact me to actually pay me to do whatever it is that I do. Because oh, by the way, I haven't shared that either. Alright, if you guys take nothing else away, keep it simple. Okay.
Lindsay Williams 12:24
Oh my gosh, well, and so I like even. I'm a military spouse. So this happens in the military world to like, keep it even simpler than you think you need to like, if you're using an acronym, please explain what the acronym is like you're in your world. And so you know what those things mean? But like, your audience or your ideal client might not have a clue. Or you might be trying to educate like, okay, maybe you're not even looking for work right now. Maybe you're just trying to educate someone, like, I didn't know until I started working with a couple of them what OBM are like, mission vision values as NBv like, you know, like, once you started, like being in this space, you start knowing these things. But you can't assume that everybody knows those things. Or like, they might mean different things like in the army, it means one thing in the Marine Corps, it means another thing I just made of I have no idea what any of them. I go, but But yeah, as I think keeping it even, like more simple like you kind of have to like, take a step back and think through what someone who might not know anything is looking for it. Just remember what it was like when you're first starting your business. Or if you're first starting your business, just remember how long you can feel out there like Googling, like, what do I need? What am I doing? Like? Like what app is better for like me, and gosh, like I spent last week searching through like different, like email service providers, because I'm gonna start an email list. Like, seriously don't understand what the difference between half of them is, or like why I would pick one or the other. So again, maybe you should just like explain to people what makes you really good at the thing that you're doing that would be helpful. Yeah,
Kiva Slade 14:02
I love that though. And yeah, let's not talk about email service providers, currently was looking to make a change. And I went to one of their one perspective companies website. I could not understand the pricing, like, Oh, I really felt like I was like, so you have a master's degree and you kind of smart some days, but like literally, I stared at the computer screen for so long. And I was really trying to decipher what I was seeing and reading. And so then it said to like, I think it's a book a demo call. Some like, Okay, I did that.
Kiva Slade 14:43
And you have heard of and I did. But the funny thing about it was my interpretation and this goes back to what you were saying about like keeping it simple. When I hit the book of demo call, I was expecting a virtual conversation with someone that was going to be a demonstration, which I thought was the demo was short for. And I was going to get a lay of the land of the software. Yeah, I was wrong, sadly was mistaken. It was an actual phone call with a person from the company to ask me additional questions and basically guide me through the pricing matrix that I could not understand. And then if I wanted to have an actual demonstration call, not even gonna call it a demo. I was going to have to take another step. And at that point, I was just like, oh, is what I felt because even the rep on the phone, she was hilarious, cuz she's like, Yeah, I don't know why the pricing is so complicated. I'm like, Honey, you weren't there your shows me that this is like, not too hard to decipher. She's like, No, it's really complicated. And so basically, a and I've literally like, this is hilarious. So book a demo call. Just so we're all clear. Does that mean the same thing on? Just my record, okay. Like, it does not mean what you're probably thinking it means if you go certain places? It seems like it would be just intuitive. Like, that's what it would be? No, that's not what it is. And you know, but it's like that branding, was there, the nice button in there nice brand colors, and I clicked expecting something that I did not get. So I think it's just like, make it like that that pricing matrix could be so much simpler, like literally glare. That and let's not talk about airline travel, because they, you know, look bad. And yeah, so it's like price this, but oh, if you want to pick your seat, but this if you having two bags, that's I'm like people, I just need one, my number.
Lindsay Williams 17:06
So maybe that's even like a good takeaway at like a don't make it like I tell people that all the time. But like, don't make it hard to get cute. Like if I want to hop on a call, make it easy. Or if I want to email you because sometimes I have a toddler running around in the background who may or may not be happy about the day like, maybe I just want to email you, like, make it so simple for me to just talk to you. Because honestly, it's taking me more than five minutes to figure out what's going on in your website. I've either need to talk to you about it. Or I'm done. I didn't answer that. And so I think that people that are successful, or like people that I found to be successful, like they may not have the prettiest system, they honestly might not have the prettiest grant. There are some people I mean like just look at some of the successful people out there. They're doing amazing things. I really think their brand work is hideous, like or it's like really old, but their back end their services, their customer experience, whatever that is, is all like, that's what they've got nailed down to like, you can do great things with. Sorry about that. I don't even know what happened. But yeah, so you can do great things with like, minimal effort. As far as your brand goes. Like I said, just pick a color, pick a font, hopefully, that'll work. But like, pick something, stick with it. Move forward with that until you're ready to do something until you're ready to bring in a professional, I guess.
Kiva Slade 18:34
Yeah, pretty much. That's it. Like literally everyone buttoned up all the other parts of your business and do those so amazingly well so that when that brand design work comes forward, you're like, it's like added. It's the sprinkles, it's the whipped cream, it's all that good stuff that we'd like to put on top. And it's but it's all supported by a solid business foundation, instead of trying to have your brand support your business, which is kind of flaky and flimsy and proudly moving around like a piece of floss. And that's pretty much like I love how you've shared that. So I want to switch gears a little bit because you and I have conversations quite often via Voxer about a whole myriad of things. But let's talk about finding other like-minded women entrepreneurs or women in business to connect with why is community important or why do you feel the community is important in this process?
Lindsay Williams 19:33
Oh my gosh, so I was like remote working before remote working was cool.
Kiva Slade 19:40
You we're in Alaska just so we are all clear.
Lindsay Williams 19:46
We move around frequently. I've had a bunch of different jobs. And then I just got sick of trying to find a new job at every location. And the conversations are interesting because like technically It's actually illegal for you to ask me as someone who might employ me like how long I'm going to be around as a military spouse or any of that. But the conversation happens. And it's usually like, you can tell by where I've been or my resume, and I'm in a military town, he can tell words, and that I'm probably military spouse. And that's usually like, oh, we were just looking for someone with, you know, who's going to be able to invest in the company for longer, or, Oh, we were looking for someone who had a little more experience, because like, technically, I've only had like entry-level jobs, and like a couple random, you know, like, that kind of thing. So I started working online. And it's kind of lonely to be sitting behind your computer. And like, I'm talking to real people, but it can get really lonely. And so I realized that I kind of needed community. And it can be really difficult to find, just in the spaces that I'm in, in my everyday life to find other people who are doing business things, but also stay at home and maybe have a kid and have a husband that they support. And so it's kind of a weird space that I don't just run into people on a regular basis are like, oh, yeah, like, I'm building my business. I'm doing these things. And so I luckily, through different jobs that we had together, and got to know my business coach, Melissa Froelich, and I joined her free community, a free Facebook group. And through there, I just kind of started. He was there, I actually, I don't know if you know this, but I saw your stuff long before we ever connected. And I was like, I want to work with this girl like
Kiva Slade 21:43
She's like that girl need help.
Lindsay Williams 21:48
So I just started participating, I think it'd be great like, the Facebook communities because I'm hit or miss on Facebook, honestly. But finding like a Facebook group, Facebook community with like, people who are remote working in building our business is probably whatever that community ends up being. Because I think he would then end up making connections within that group like I can make connections with you, we work together, I've talked to you every time I'm making dinners. Apparently, it's like a panic moment. When I think disaster, people still having you I've made other friends through that community, that community, in particular, has just been really where I've spent a lot of time and effort making those connections. But even though the people that I've met in that community are expanded to friends of friends who are like, Oh, you could connect with this person, you might be able to connect with this person. And I recently like, gosh, I think it was last weekend, we just did a retreat, Melissa just hosted a retreat. And that in person, like just the ability to be in a room with other women was so amazing, this group was so willing to be vulnerable with each other and share with each other. And that's, I think the special place of finding other like-minded individuals is that you realize you're not the only one having this particular business struggle, or even a particular like workplace struggle, or this particular toddler struggle. And I didn't realize until I became a mom how much I needed, specifically other moms in my life, like I didn't have the hugest network of mom friends. And that has been life-giving since, like really investing in those relationships, and really focusing on working with other moms too, because they feel like it's just a different dynamic, especially with COVID, as my kid may or may not be at school, she may or may not be running around in the background, she may or not be upset that Daniel Tiger has just like in the middle of one of my meetings, and she needs that taken care of immediately. So that's just yeah, that's made the hugest difference for me. And I think, I don't know if you feel the same way. But there are some times where I need other people to believe in my business when I can't. And that from that community is done for me. Because there are times like sometimes it's just hard and you're not seeing any results. And you're kind of slogging through stuff. And I'm not gonna lie. There are times where like, I'm probably doing all the things I shouldn't be doing except for the one thing that I need to do, and I just need a little like, Hey, you, I thought you're gonna do this thing that you said you were gonna do, like six months ago. accountability from people. So that has been really huge for me. I don't know how you feel. But that's been really important in my journey, I think.
Kiva Slade 24:38
Yeah, no, definitely. I think it's that accountability. It's accountability. It's the vulnerability, you know, like being able to actually experience I think a level of vulnerability with people that you haven't in some cases met physically. Yeah, it's like, we've not actually been in the same space. with one another, but because of so many different, like, common shared interest in common share conversations and things of that sort that we actually feel comfortable to say, like even on boxer like, yeah, today I was about to burn it all down to the ground. Any thoughts are like any thoughts or words of wisdom before I like this match, you know, and it's like someone who's like, so Kiva, seriously, you're not going to do that. And this is why you're not going to do that. Because you've done this, this and this, you know, and you're like, oh, okay, great. Yeah, let me go put the matches away. You know, but it's that level of connectedness that I think we, as humans, we, I think we always have strived for. But I think over the last, I think the combination maybe of remote work, plus, hey, everybody's locked in their own houses. The combination was a weird combination of you, like, I need really, I need more friends anymore. I talk to you about everything. Because it's like you couldn't do some of the things that you would normally do. And then like you shared, your I don't want to say your regular friends. But typically your circle, if there aren't people who are trying to balance an entrepreneurial oil kind of lifestyle, it can be complicated, because there's always like that, you know, my mother even said to me, so do you like what you do? And I'm like, yeah, why? You know, because I think you always think in the back of their heads, they're like, you could just go work for somebody and not have issues, you know? Like, they're in there doing it to be helpful, like, there's so not any shade, there's no, like, we don't believe in you. It's just like, wow, this seems really hard. And there are some days that you seem a little
Lindsay Williams 26:56
more adult, and what you're doing Yeah,
Kiva Slade 27:00
or why you're doing it and you feel it does, it feels like sometimes your nose is so far down to the ground that you don't take stock of the growth that you've had in your business, the progression that you've made. And some of it might be seemingly small in the sense that it's not like business revenue, it's just straight mindset shifts that you've had, oh, my God, you know, that you're like, wait a minute, I'm showing up differently for myself. And that is huge in that trajectory, that is your business journey. But we don't always give ourselves credit for it. So I think having a community is a space to have people who are like reminding you that, please, you are doing amazing. Look at this, this and this, and you're like, oh, yeah, that's right. So they're kind of like your, your cheerleaders, your accountability partners, your whip you back into shape when you're actually trying to fall off the ledge, like all of those things wrapped into one. And so then to couple that with that opportunity to meet them, like in live living color is like
Lindsay Williams 28:12
a plague either, okay. It's a little funny to share it, but like, so, I, I love yoga, that's like, I used to dance for my whole life. And I feel like yoga was like my adult, like, I can't, I felt like I couldn't dance as an adult. Like if I did ballet, like, or it was really hard to find adult ballet classes. And so just be somewhere where you're going. So I chose yoga. And that has been really good for me, and really good for me mentally as well. Like, I just need to move my body and get out of my head sometimes. And that's super helpful. But there's that I feel like at the end of a really good yoga class is just like that peaceful and that, that sound that like, like, everybody's just like, that was really good. And that was this retreat from you like that sound of like women together that are supporting each other and being vulnerable with each other and sharing and kind of like, offering their special strengths and services to support each other. That was what this experience was. And I didn't know it was honestly logistically a nightmare to make it happen. So glad that I did. Because it was what I needed to kind of kick like kicked me into gear for what I need to be doing going into the next year. And so it's something that I'm hoping now that I've kind of like, realized that about myself, because I don't know about you, sometimes I can get going kind of like head down work mode, like in my little office space, do my own thing. And like I'm doing great, this is awesome. And then stuff like that kind of gets me out of my comfort zone and interacting with new people. And it's like, oh, like I kind of needed that. Like, like you need to open the windows and just kind of like air things out and get a little bit of fresh air in there. And so I'm hoping now too, incorporate that more into my life. I wish I had done it sooner, like I feel like, especially as an artist, I feel like it maybe has changed. I really hope it's changed. But this is just speaking from me going to college years ago at this point. But no one really likes, supported us in any way with an understanding of like, as an artist, or essentially like an independent contractor or business, like that's what you are, right? Like, as a thing, like you're either selling your work personally or showing it in galleries, or you're contracting for like, maybe you're working for a design firm, but you're probably doing freelance gigs, a lot, like that's what you are. And I had no foundation in business in my undergrad school, so I felt like I was spinning my wheels for the longest time. And I couldn't get ahead and I kind of just like, didn't know what the right thing to do. So luckily, I had it like I knew Melissa. And I was working as a contractor for a particular client that I just needed out of. And the timing was perfect because they were doing event management. And they're like I needed out or like things have kind of come to a head at that job. I'm not a super confrontational person, but it was just, it was not a good fit. And then they were just not respectful of my time or my boundaries now that I had a kid because like I had kind of had a kid well, we have been working together. And so I contact Melissa. Because I think that's the other thing about finding your people like for me, Melissa is not like maybe the next step ahead. She's like a few steps ahead of me. But each other before we had kids, like we've both had kids, like a few months apart, like I can see her progression and what she's able to do also like her kid clothes. And so I knew, seeing that, but I was like Oh, like this will be possible when my kids go to school more often. Or they, you know, as I could kind of like take a step back and have perspective on that. But I wish I hadn't worked with a business coach sooner I wish someone had told me that sooner. That really helped me
Kiva Slade 32:03
start you, I think it helps move you like you're going to move from point A to point B, it just moves you faster, like you know, like at the airport, like do you want to take the little Walker, you know, like that's motorized next year, you know, and you're like, you're both going in the same direction. But let's be honest, the people on the little motorized a little escalator, like thing, are gonna get there faster, even if your speed walking on that other side. It's just not the same, you know, the and so I think that's like what happens when you work with a coach, it's like you go from A to B, but you just get there faster than you would have if you just did it on your own. So
Lindsay Williams 32:45
distracted along the way, you're not going into like the little kiosk, you're not like you're on the little, you can't get
Kiva Slade 32:51
off, your wheel on your luggage isn't showing up, and you're having to stop and fix it like literally everything is moving right along. So I think that's the part that really it just accelerates, it accelerates that, and like you said, it lessens the distractions that are sometimes just like our own distractions, you know, like you're walking, it's like, oh, gosh, I'm getting so hot. And now I gotta step I gotta take off my jacket, you know, like, wherever I was just on the other side, you know, I wouldn't have to do all of those things. So it lessens our distractions and accelerates, I feel like our progress and how we move forward. So I love that though because I think that just in general is, you know, community. And you know, I always talk about collaboration, like, there's really enough space for every single one of us to shine so brightly to do all of the things that are, you know, our heart's content. But I do think that finding those people and finding those cheerleaders for you is super important. Because there are days when you're going to feel like burning it out to the ground, I mean, you're not going to see your progress, and you're not going to feel like anything is moving forward. Because you don't realize all the seeds, basically, you've planted and you don't see what's taking place under the dirt. And like it's about to start sprouting, but you're at the point of throwing the pot away, you know, and it's like, I don't know, don't throw the pot away. That's why you have to say, don't throw the pot away. Trust me, it's coming. You know, and it's right there and normally right around the corner. But we don't see that. So as we get ready to wrap up. Yeah, I think that you have something to share because I understand horse or something coming up. Tell us more about that.
Lindsay Williams 34:36
I totally forgot about that actually. So I am in the process of recording and by in the process. I mean, I really need to get myself in here and record this thing. I have it all mapped out. That's my preferred black Friday or December. Yeah, work in progress, is I'm putting together a course on how to use Canva like a pro basically. So I want To get you to please stop buying and just want you to stop wasting money actually, like stop buying all the templates, you don't need all the templates, stop buying all the stock photography subscriptions, you don't need all of those if you have Canva. So it's actually like the one thing weirdly, and I have a love-hate relationship with Candace, don't get me wrong, but I don't see how, as a small business owner, like an owner, without a graphic designer on hand, like I don't see how you're going to get by without using Canva for your social media. Or if you have like a small team, like a social media manager that's like contracting with you or something, I just, I don't see how you can do it these days very easily. And if you have the canvas pro subscription, you're paying, you're paying for it already, you're paying for templates, you're paying for photography, you're paying for elements, you're paying for videos, you're paying for all this stuff. So I'm putting together a course to teach you how to set up Canva with a workflow like a designer because realistically, the camera can get messy like there's a bunch of folders and situations that happen. So I'm going to teach you how to set up your brand kits like all your branding, I'm going to show you where to go. If you need to start from scratch like I'm just going to give you some tips and tricks that I like to do with clients. I'm going to show you how to set up all your folders for like design workflows that I think make sense at least. And then I'm going to show you how to take any template that you already have in Canva, or how to search for them. And then customize it so that it'll look like it's on-brand for you without looking like all the other people's templates that use the same template on Canva. And that's not to say anything bad about anyone. Because it's like, once you see it, you can't unsee it, everybody's there in Canva everybody's using the things the only reason you know that someone needs a Canva template is that you're using it too. So you wouldn't know otherwise. But I would really love to do that. Because I think and like until you understand how much system and for my system minded people like is a system like, and that's the magic of grading, like your logo, like your colors, your fonts, like it's all a system. And if you're able to see that it's the system and use that consistently, you're not going to have to spend money on templates, because you're going to be able to customize anything that you have and be able to change it up. So I'm just going to show you some tips and tricks on that. And I have the whole workflow set up. And then I'm going to show you how to export anything that you need. And I'll give you some extra resources if you need them. But that's my goal because I want you to stop wasting money and use the assets that you have, especially as a small business owner, like when your assets are limited, like let's just, you know, get the biggest bang for your buck out of any of these things. But it also is good, I was just thinking this other day, like if you're a VA and wanting to kind of level up your skills like if you're working for multiple clients like this might be a good way to just, you know like you would now have the skills to go in and set up a client's account and manage that with like a better design workflow or like minutes or templates. So whoever needs to just stop wasting money, and you just can't.
Kiva Slade 38:02
That is literally the whole point of having systems is so that we are not out there spending more money than we actually need to. And you're right, we're already paying for Canva Pro. So why do we need to have all of these extras bought or like so not necessary that we're also spending money on and let's not talk about, oh, goodness, all the template bundles that are just sitting in our inbox? Some of us might have gone a step further and uploaded them to Canva. But let's be realistic, we're still not utilizing them. So I love this. And I love this idea. And I know this course is going to be amazing because we all need this. And we need to utilize what we're already using in a much better way. And you're absolutely right. I had to laugh when you're like once you see it, you can't unsee it you're like Yeah, exactly. You're like you really do know when it's like because you're like, oh wait, I've used that template too. Even though there might have been some color changes, you're like, I yeah, I might have used that same exact one just the other day. Thank you kindly. I love that, Lindsey. So super awesome. And where can we find out more about this course?
Lindsay Williams 39:19
Oh, you can find out more about this course on my website is Lindsey Williams design comm or you can follow me on Instagram at Wendy Williams design or I'm on Facebook, I think at Lindsay Williams design. I hope that that's correct. Like apparently I'm all over the place. But if you can find me at Lindsay Williams design, then you're doing well. And so, you know feel free to like yummy or whatever. But yeah, I'm really excited because I want you to stop. I also just want to take away the overwhelm of creating visuals. Like I get you can just sit there and spend three hours and then just be annoyed by what you did. And some of that is just like taking a step back and taking in The brass and like going, I don't know for a walk or something and coming back to it. Because it's probably not as bad as you think you never know, it really isn't, you just need a minute like, go do something, go eat some food, stop being hangry, you'll be fine. They just want to like take away the overwhelm and give you some techniques to like just, you know, change those things. Change that and you're like 80% of the way there. And then you can fiddle with the rest. But
Kiva Slade 40:25
yeah, I love it. Awesome. So thank you so much, Lindsay, for being here today I so appreciate it. So remember everyone keep it simple, and in some cases even more simple than you thought it needed to be. Because you are doing a level of educating when it comes to sharing about your business and people may not know some of the terms you use or what those actually mean. And they can actually mean different things in different industries. Keep it simple solidify your business first before you go spending all the big bucks on making everything pretty. And also find your people find your tribe, your community, but connect with others because this journey can definitely be a lonely one. And it doesn't have to be so you want to find those people who will hold you accountable. Be your cheerleader, also just like commiserate with you on those days when that's just all that's needed. In our case actually share what are you cooking for dinner. Okay, so I'm gonna go make this so you never know what those friendships might lead to. But definitely make the time to invest in making those friendships. So if you want to learn more about Lindsay you will visit her at Lindsay Williams design COMM And I want to thank you again Lindsay for an awesome episode where you have totally shed a lot of light on branding and design.
Lindsay Williams 41:51
Thank you so much for inviting me. I'm so excited about this podcast for you because I love when you tell me things so I can't wait to see what this does.
Kiva Slade 42:00
Awesome. So everyone tune in next time and check the show notes for all the details on Lindsay's course coming up for Black Friday. See you next time. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Collab with Kiva. I hope you were feeling inspired and motivated to keep being your amazing self. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on any future episodes. Also, your reviews on Apple are greatly appreciated. They will help other women knows that their path is unique to them. If you're interested in being or finding a partner for this journey that you can collab with. Join us in The Collab a community of female business owners on Facebook. See you next time.
Meet Kiva Slade - the Founder and CEO of The 516 Collaborative. With a unique background in high-power politics on Capitol Hill and sixteen years as a homeschooling mama, Kiva found her calling in the online business world as a trusted guide for entrepreneurs looking to build the business of their dreams.
Kiva's work began behind the scenes, orchestrating the back end of businesses and managing teams. But her inner data diva couldn't help but notice that small businesses needed help harnessing the power of data for growth. So she and her team set out to uncover and tidy up the data required to enable clients to grow their businesses confidently and easily.