Today we’d like to introduce you to Shelley Easter.
Hi Shelley, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My design career started with my first job after college as a graphic designer at Conceive Magazine. On my first day at my new job, my desire to have my own business was also born. Sitting in an office just wasn’t what I wanted to be doing and I quickly wanted an out. However, I had no idea how to go about it. I started googling local businesses and emailed people when their website or branding weren’t great. My email was something along the lines of “hey, I noticed your website isn’t any good! Want help?” Not surprisingly, that email didn’t usually go over very well but I did somehow end up with a couple of new clients. I continued working my full-time job and slowly building up my client roster over the next four years. Then one day, I was unexpectedly laid off. I decided that I was going to use my lay-off as an opportunity. I focused completely on my fledgling graphic and web design business. It was both exciting and extremely daunting, as my client work hadn’t exactly been steady. That fateful day was ten years ago. Since then, there have been lots of ups and downs. I did a short stint in Europe, got married, and had twins. All the while I’ve been working on building my business more and more.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest challenges have not been related to my work, but the aspects of growing a business that have required me to put myself out there. Networking, showing up online, sales calls, and giving presentations used to give me major nerves. As someone that struggled immensely through my three minute speeches in college, the thought of giving long presentations to hundreds of people was a huge leap. But I needed to learn how to show up in these ways to grow my business.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I work with online shop owners, big and small, to create fantastic e-commerce websites that look amazing and sell even better. I love helping business owners create a unique online experience to sell their products and connect with their customers. In 2020 I created a course called Shop School. It’s for Etsy sellers and boutique owners to learn how to create their own Shopify website It’s been such a great way to impact more people beyond the clients we work with one-on-one.
How do you think about luck?
Luck has a lot to do with everything in my life. I was very lucky to have wonderful parents, grow up in Oviedo, be able to go to college, meet my husband and more. I’m very grateful. All of that set me up to be able to pursue my business dreams.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://launchparty.live
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/launchparty.live/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/launchpartylive
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5y-e7gZUcZxYMe039Y31Ew
Image Credits
1 – Amalie Orrange (pink background) 2 – Serena Nicole Studios (black and white) 3 – PJ Saffran (speaking photo)
