Shows
The Design DiariesEp 39: How to Start Offering Web Design with Olive St. StudioIf you're a brand designer that wants to start offering web design but doesn't know where to start, just press play—we got you! I sat down with Olivia from Olive St. Studio, the creator of Slayin' Showit (a course I just joined) and website wizard! In this episode, we talk how to start, choosing a platform, mistakes to avoid, pricing, and more!Check out Olivia's socials and her course!@olivest_studioSlayin' Showit Course2025-04-0747 minThe Design DiariesEp 38: How to Use Instagram to Book More Design Clients in 2025Instagram is always changing, and it feels like as soon as we figure it out, it's been updatedagain. But fear not —I’ve got you covered! The Design Diaries is BACK — In this episode, I’m breaking down thesix key strategies you need to know to grow your brand, connect with your audience, and actually enjoy the content creation process, all based on what’s worked for me and what I’ve learned the hard way. From why quality matters more than consistency, to how micro-selling can help you land clients without feeling sales-y, this episode is packed with p...2025-02-1024 minThe Design DiariesEp 37: 3 Ways I Started Booking Clients AgainBrand designer Alyssa Nguyen shares 3 strategies for booking clients after a slow period in your business that helped her go from slow quarters to booked out 2 months in advance.2023-12-1416 minThe Design DiariesEp 36: Business Insurance for DesignersBrand design studio owner & designer Alyssa Nguyen shares why professional liability insurance is essential for creatives and some tips on how to get it and what to look for.2023-12-0713 minThe Design DiariesEp 35: How to Consistently Grow Your Business (Without Burnout)Brand designer Alyssa Nguyen talks 3 key things to consider when approaching growth strategies for any part of your design or creative business. These tips will allow you to make actionable steps towards building a sustainable growth plan that won't overwhelm you.2023-11-2017 minThe Design DiariesEp 34: Avoiding Legal Issues & Hiring a Lawyer with Guest Attorney Ivy McNeillGuest speaker and Business & IP Lawyer Ivy McNeill joins us to discuss legal strategies for assessing legal risk and avoiding legal issues. We discuss questions to ask your clients to minimize your chances of trouble and questions to ask a lawyer when considering hiring representation as a brand designer. This episode will help you understand what a designer-attorney relationship can do for you and how to take the first steps with forming one.
You can sign up for the FREE questionnaires that Ivy has provided us by opt-ing in to our mailing lists here! 2023-10-1228 minThe Design DiariesEp 33: Design Portfolio Tips (What to Include)What types of projects should I put in my portfolio? How many? What do I put on my about page? What do I put in the case studies? I'll answer all of these questions and more to help you build the best graphic design portfolio possible.2023-09-1414 minThe Design DiariesEp 32: Red Flags in Clients, Coaches & ContractorsFiguring out if a client will be hard to work wit, if a contractor will be reliable, and if a coach will be worth it is hard! Here are 3 red flags that I look out for in each to maximize my chances of a good match.2023-09-0720 minThe Design DiariesEp 31: How I Found my Design StyleLet's talk about finding a design style! In this episode, I break down the difference between a design style and a design aesthetic and then share my journey with finding my own. I'll tell you all about my strategies for figuring out your signature and give you 3 tips to start.2023-08-3118 minThe Design DiariesEp 30: Finding Community & Fighting LonelinessLet's talk about how lonely it is to be a self-employed creative...and then let me give some tips for finding community when you work by yourself! It's so important to take the time to connect with people in our industry, but it can be hard to figure out when, where, and how to do it. My best tips are in this episode!2023-07-2721 min
The Design DiariesEp 29: The End-of-Year Checklist for Creatives"What am I missing???"
I know it's stressful leaving for the holidays not knowing if you've done *everything* you were supposed to, so here's a checklist of things I recommend doing at the end of the year to help you prep for the new year! In this episode, I'm talking accounting, improvement, planning, marketing, and more, so give it a listen and let me know what you think!
This is the last episode of season 2, so leave us a review and DM us on Instagram to let us know what you're thinking of the podcast so...2022-12-2722 min
The Design DiariesEp 28: My Annual Budget as a CreativeI spent HOW MUCH?? I spent almost 40k this year, and in this episode, I break down all the categories for my expenses and tell you exactly how much I spent and on what!2022-12-2021 min
The Design DiariesDiary Entry: My 2023 Business GoalsIt's a little early, but I'm sharing some of the goals that I have for the new year!2022-12-1318 min
The Design DiariesEp 27: TikTok for CreativesIn this episode, I'm giving you my top 5 tips for optimizing your content for TikTok because YES it's completely different from Instagram.2022-12-0615 min
The Design DiariesEp 26: Avoiding Burnout (Especially During Q4)In this episode, I'm sharing my best 3 tips for avoiding burnout to plan your year more intuitively and give yourself a break.2022-11-2921 min
The Design DiariesEp 25: Budgeting 101 - Self Employed EditionI'm covering my tips for figuring out how to budget yourself as a self-employed freelancer or creative! I discuss tracking expenses and income and figuring out how to pay yourself!2022-11-1519 min
The Design DiariesEp 24: Courses & Coaching: Are They Worth It & How to Pick the Right One for YouIn this episode, I cover how to decide if a course is going to be worth your time and money and how to go about deciding if one is right for you!2022-11-0822 min
The Design DiariesEp 23: Dear Diary... (Declining Work with Family, Feeling Unprepared for Business, and Work-Life Balance)In this episode, I asked you, my listeners, to submit some struggles that you need help with for this new advice column-style episode "Dear Diary." I'm giving advice to 3 different submitted situations: saying no to working with friends and family; holding yourself back from starting a business; and struggling to balance work and life as a freelancer without a formal schedule.2022-11-0133 min
The Design DiariesEp 22: Contract Must-Haves for CreativesI'm listing the top 5 sections that I always look for in a contract that I highly recommend you have in yours!2022-10-2418 min
The Design DiariesEp 21: Legal Mistakes that Freelancers Make!I'm talking through 4 major legal mistakes I've made in my business and giving you the tips and honesty to help you avoid making the same ones!2022-10-1820 min
The Design DiariesDiary Entry - Healing my Relationship to Productivity & SuccessI'm talking about the progress I've made with self-perception, productivity, self-worth, and achievement as someone who struggles with feeling satisfied!2022-10-1119 min
The Design DiariesEp 20: The Process of Rebranding My Studio & Things I Would Do DifferentlyI'm talking all about the steps I took to rebrand my studio and tips for making it *easier* for you!2022-10-0520 min
Our PlaygroundHow Do You Go From Working Three Minimum Wage Jobs To Running a Successful Brand Design Studio?Today we are diving into everything that has to do with brand design with Alyssa Nguyen. At just 22 years old, the graduate from Princeton decided that she didn’t want to take on the conventional corporate route. Instead, Alyssa has built a successful WOC focused brand design studio, where she helps brands with their creative direction to the best social media strategies. In this episode, Alyssa shares how she went from pre-med in college to then starting her studio during the pandemic, after working three minimum wage jobs by the way. We also get into how her Vietnamese culture ha...2022-08-0840 min
The Design DiariesEp 19: 3 Tips for Making Big Business ChangesI'm sharing my biggest 3 tips for how to approach large business changes like restructuring, scaling, etc! We're talking figuring out what to change, how to find a solution, and how to approach executing it.2022-05-1715 min
The Design DiariesEp 18: Taking Mental Health Breaks & What Comes AfterI'm talking all about what it's been like taking a mental health break from the business and how I'm approaching getting back into the swing of things!2022-05-1018 min
The Design DiariesDiary Entry - Am I Sharing Too Much?With all the content I've been putting out recently over Instagram, Close Friends, TikTok, this Podcast, and now my YouTube, I've been struggling with the question of whether or not I'm sharing too much and how to deal with that uncertainty.2022-01-1818 min
The Design DiariesEp 17: 3 Things I Regret in my BusinessI give a lot of advice on what to DO, but now I'm trying to show you what NOT to do through sharing my regrets and things I wish I knew when I was growing and starting out.2022-01-1118 min
The Design DiariesEp 16: How to End a Project EarlyI'm covering early termination as both a client and a creative: when to know, how to do it, and how to cope!2021-11-1620 min
The Design DiariesEp 15: Designer Talk — Juicy Q&A with Matthew, Wilda, and MackenzieWhat brands do you hate? Do you have anything cringey to admit? I ask my friends @bymatthewmiller, @helloimwilda, and @m.b.i.r.d some juicy questions that you sent us in a long, candid, and fun conversation!2021-11-091h 12The Design DiariesDiary Entry: Imposter Syndrome & How I DealIn this episode I'm talking Imposter Syndrome and some tips on how I've dealt with it over the years!2021-07-2714 minThe Design DiariesEp 14: Tips for Raising Your PricesThis episode covers some tips for what to do once you've decided to increase your rates!2021-07-2112 minThe Design DiariesDiary Entry: We're Back + An Update!It's time for season 2! We're officially back and ready for a whole ton of exciting episodes!2021-07-1316 min
The untold PodcastAlyssa Nguyen: Building a branding design studio for WOC as a Princeton juniorBy age 21, Alyssa Nguyen was a soon-to-be Princeton University grad (spoiler: she graduated this May!) and had already been running her own design studio for a year. She started her brand and web design studio, Alyssa Nguyen Design, as a full-time undergraduate student and chose to specialize in helping women and women of color clientele build unique and bold identities. Alyssa reflects on her experiences growing up in predominantly White neighborhoods, dealing with microaggressions, and picking up freelance design out of necessity to make money -- and how that's led to her becoming a full-time Brand Designer and Creative...2021-06-1534 minThe Design DiariesEp 13: Let's Talk Passive Income StreamsIn this episode, I cover key things you need to consider when starting to develop passive income streams and how to make them with minimal extra effort from you!2021-04-2012 minThe Design DiariesDiary Entry: Toxic Trends I'm OverI'm getting a lil juicy today and talking about 4 trends that I think are TOXIC in the creative community!2021-04-0318 minThe Design DiariesEp 12: Client Red Flags to AvoidI cover my top 5 things that I keep on the lookout for when meeting potential clients to avoid possible nightmare situations!2021-03-3018 minThe Design DiariesEp 11: How I Handle Client FeedbackIn this episode I share my best tips for managing client feedback like how to disagree with feedback & how to get the best feedback possible!2021-03-2619 minThe Design DiariesEp 10: Handling Difficult Clients and SituationsIn this episode I cover my best advice for approaching tense or awkward client situations and I go through 5 client scenarios, talking you through my recommended approach for dealing with them: 1. Client Trust Issues, 2: Scope Creep, 3: Late Payments/Feedback, 4: Mismatched Vision or Negative Interactions (aka Terminating a Project), 5: Working with a Friend2021-03-2330 minThe Design DiariesDiary Entry: Copying Designs vs. Being InspiredWTF do you do when you feel like someone has copied your designs? In this diary entry I tell you about my experience with people taking my work and how I feel about the debate between copying and inspiration + a mini rant on the "be original" narrative!2021-03-2026 minThe Design DiariesEp 9: Instagram Marketing 101I share my tips and methods for using Instagram in a sustainable and natural way to grow your business! Instead of giving you the classic algorithm tips, I'm sharing ways to view Instagram as a community tool to help you grow without the extra effort.2021-03-1620 minThe Design DiariesEp 8: The Essentials for a Great Client ExperienceI'm sharing my top 5 things to consider and implement into your project experience to maximize client satisfaction and get you some good reviews! I talk systems, strategies, and things to consider when building your workflow.2021-03-1220 minThe Design DiariesEp 7: Finding Clients & Attracting Your Target AudienceWe're talking strategies and methods for attracting clients that align with your business! I'm sharing some tips and things to consider that will help you attract your dream clients sustainably over time.2021-03-1017 minThe Design DiariesDiary Entry: Marketing Anxiety & Putting Yourself Out ThereIn this episode I talk about the scary moment when you decide to start being the spokesperson for your business on social media and how it's not all rainbows and butterflies! I talk about being anxious about hate, becoming an influencer, and how to balance marketing with personal comfort.2021-03-0517 minThe Design DiariesEp 6: All About Pricing & Charging What's Right for YouWe're talking about how to price yourself in a way that's right for you and what's comfortable! I discuss how I go about pricing my services and suggest ways to think about how to structure yours. I don't cover any particular numbers, but rather I talk about how to think about your own comfort level to customize your pricing structure in a way that makes sense for you!2021-03-0224 minThe Design DiariesEp 5: My Best Advice for New CreativesIn this episode I cover my best advice, like real advice!, that I wish I had been told when I first starting out. I cover a variety of topics like pricing, service offerings, passion projects, and more!2021-02-2621 minThe Design DiariesEp 4: Balancing Mental Health & Running a BizIn this episode I share realistic and simple steps to improve your rest-work balance! Instead of just telling you to rest and practice self-care (like what does that even mean these days?), I give you my actual tips that I use to help relieve anxiety, burnout, and more.2021-02-2324 minThe Design DiariesEp 3: Finding your Niche & Target AudienceYour niche and target audience are one of the main pillars of your business' foundation! In this episode I cover ways to thoughtfully find your niche and strategically find your audience while also having a bit of fun!2021-02-1915 minThe Design DiariesDiary Entry: Breaking Up with a Client & Being Talked Down to...In this episode I get vulnerable and talk about an unpleasant but real experience that I had in my week...breaking up with a client and getting talked down to in a meeting. I talk about the experiences of dealing with both and what I learned from them!2021-02-1723 minThe Design DiariesEp 1: Who I Am & My StoryWelcome! Get to know me, your humble host, by learning about my unconventional journey into design and how I started freelancing, designing, and opening my own studio. I share my experience going through a MAJOR career change and following my passion. It's nice to meet you!2021-02-1319 minThe Design DiariesEp 2: How to Start Freelancing or Your Own BizIn this episode I outline my best tips for starting a creative freelancing career or business! I include tips for laying the foundation of your business to set you up for success and I also cover my top 5 admin essentials to get the ball rolling!2021-02-1320 min