My Story | Part 1: How Did You Get Started?

I am just about completely finished with the Stephanie Creekmur branding. Just some coding and development stands between my website and it's launch date! I'm so excited to share everything, but before I get started showing you all of the gorgeous new details of the new and improved Stephanie Creekmur, I want to take a trip down memory lane. I've had more than I can believe emails asking how I got started in this industry. I know I haven't taken the easy or traditional path, and it may be taking me longer than others, but slowly but surely I'm finding my place in this business. I think it's important to take a step back every now and then and remember where you started. Boy, I've come a long way. Cheers to that!

Once upon a time, on a cold February night in 2009... I was attending The Ohio State University and I decided to stay in for the night. I somehow fell into the rabbit hole that is the world of blogging and I came across a number of custom stationery designers. Now, not to be mean, but for the sake of honesty and telling this story correctly, I wasn't impressed. I thought, "hey, I could do that". So, I dove right in, head first and started designing party invitations. I already had the Creative Suite program for some of my classes so I started to explore Adobe Illustrator even more. I wasn't very good, admittedly, at first. You can see evidence here and here. I had a good eye for design and knew what I wanted to create, but it did take some getting used to and I'm proud to say that I have vastly improved, if I do say so myself! 

I needed a name, and so I quickly chose SNC & Co. My initials and company? I don't know what I was thinking but like I said, I needed a name! I created a template website using Webs.com and started a Facebook fan page. I really had no clue what I was doing or where I was taking this thing, but I was going for it! I never actually created a formal logo for SNC & Co. but that didn't really matter because by February of 2010 I announced that I had changed the name of my company to La Bella Vita Designs. There were a few different looks throughout this chapter as well (here, and here) but I pretty much stuck to using gray and yellow for my color palette. 

Well, that only lasted about 9 months because in November of 2010 I shared news of yet another name, Paisley Card Co. Along with that, came yet another new logo. I think I was on the right track with my reasons for wanting to change my name from La Bella Vita Designs, but again I jumped the gun and didn't quite get it right. In the beginning stages of Paisley Card Co. I tried to stick with gray and yellow as the color palette, thinking that if I kept that, it would give some sort of cohesiveness. (Wrong.)

In October of 2011 I switched it up yet again, and I shared some new branding elements for Paisley Card Co. I even used this sentence in the post: "I'm not saying that this look is here to stay..." which I find hysterical because I knew myself well enough to know that I hadn't hit the nail on the head just yet and I was done making promises that I had broken many a time in the past.

January of 2012 came around and I officially announced that I would no longer be working under the name Paisley Card Co., but would now work under my name, as Stephanie Creekmur. This was the first look of Stephanie Creekmur (which at the time, was Stephanie Creekmur Design). I was happy with what I came up with, but again, it was designed in a rush and I knew this look wasn't going to be around for too long.

This was also around the time when things really started to turn around for me. I knew that I wanted to make this hobby of mine into something real and I knew I had to buckle down and get serious. I attended a couple workshops and took some webinars and I really focused on what was important to me and my brand.

After a lot of time and reflection, I finally revealed my newest logo, the real me, back in June of 2012. It took me 4 months to finalize this baby. So much thought went into every detail. I answered so many questions about myself personally, the Stephanie Creekmur customer, and how I want this little business to change it's small part of the world. These are questions in the past I didn't answer because I didn't really think they were all that important. Boy, was I wrong? Once I took the time to do the hard work, the pay-off was great.  It felt so good and it's something I am still so proud of. It's fabulous.

I have been on this self-branding journey for over a year now and I am so proud of where I am today and have so many wonderful people to thank for that. I can't wait to share more of my story, my brand board and collateral, and ultimately my new website and blog. I hope you'll stick around for the big reveal! :)

Shew, that's a lot of information for one tiny business. I sure have given her a lot of faces, huh? Some people may think I shouldn't highlight that part of my past, but I hope it helps give comfort to other new entrepreneurs out there. If you're not quite sure where you're headed, it's OK. Listen to your heart and be yourself and you will get there. I promise! :)

Labels: Branding, In the Studio, My Life