Produced By - From Suits to Swatches: Clara’s Design Career Leap | #50: Clara Walton

Episode Date: April 15, 2024

Clara Walton is a graphic designer with a story that will inspire you to chase your dreams. She wasn't always crafting killer visuals. In 2020, she took a leap of faith, leaving her hospitality career and London flat behind to pursue a foundation degree in design at Middlesex University. Fueled by a desire to unleash her creativity, she's transformed into a "biking graphic designer" who uses her skills to empower clients and connect with them on LinkedIn. But Clara's journey doesn't stop there. We'll explore her ambitious decision to move to Australia, the exciting (and sometimes challenging) world of balancing freelance graphic design with university studies and the power of maintaining a positive mindset that's propelled her forward. Get ready to be motivated by Clara's story and learn valuable tips for anyone looking to take control of their career and chase their creative spark. Elevate your online presence with the help of Trailblazed, your (and our) favourite digital marketing agency. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://trailblazed.digital/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you enjoy the show, please, consider supporting it on Patreon or by buying a virtual coffee (or chocolate). ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ProducedByPodcast⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/producedby⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Boost your creative career by joining our new Skillshare course and feel free to let us know how you liked it. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://skl.sh/3Rh7ZtY⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date, get the latest news and much more. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7092551882589528065⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Clara: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clara-walton-b54b5414a/ https://www.claradoesdesign.com/  https://www.instagram.com/clara.does.design/  Connect with the host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomasloucky/⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/thisistommen/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow the podcast: Links: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/produced_by⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Web: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://produced-by-podcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/produced_by_podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT5LHnM6YCaeVzIr0WatOsw⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/41BiG5YvGIgITz1N14hF2E ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/produced-by/id1684669642⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you enjoy listening to the podcast, please, leave a review on your podcast app, subscribe and share it with your friends. You can also send us a message and share any feedback, advice and tips for guests. About Produced By: Produced By unveils captivating stories of courageous people who set out to pursue careers in highly competitive fields, despite often challenging circumstances. Enter the spotlight with our guests and get inspired, whether your interests are in the creative industries, personal growth or you simply want to have fun. Listen to individuals who represent a wide range of professional backgrounds, geographic locations and career stages. So come along to follow their adventures and learn from life's experiences as we kick off on this epic journey. Thanks for listening and see you soon! Connect with Tomas:X: https://x.com/TomasLoucky⁠⁠⁠Stan: https://stan.store/TommenLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomasloucky/⁠⁠Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisistommen/⁠⁠Unproduced:Newsletter: https://unproduced.substack.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unproducednotesSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033Ddo8ibDlLYoaP7FFLIWMore:Links: https://linktr.ee/produced_by⁠⁠⁠Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://producednewsletter.substack.com/⁠The Podcast Club: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/25420030/Tools & gear that support the show:Metricool: https://f.mtr.cool/HRJBZKRiverside: https://riverside.sjv.io/vDnDodFavikon: https://www.favikon.com?fpr=tommenRa Optics: https://ra-optics.myshopify.com/discount/TOMMEN?rfsn=8803777.591d19JamX: https://jamx.ai/podcasters-offer?ref_id=e02d48af-ef66-4e76-b804-c2e8d282a8bfSome links are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. If you find them useful, using these links helps keep the podcast running. Thank you!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to Produced Buy. Just quickly before we begin, if we enjoy the show, please consider supporting it by joining our Patreon. You can choose from a list of memberships and we'll receive some exciting rewards. Thank you and back to the episode. Hello, Clara. Thank you for joining us today and welcome to the show. Thank you.

Lovely to be here. So Clara, can you please introduce yourself? I'm Clara from Clarit as Design. I am a graphic designer and a third year. a student about to graduate from university. I run my own little freelancing design company on the side where I work with

people who are passionate about their business. I work with entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, and basically anyone who really wants to dive into more personalized branding rather than the generic trends that currently are in the market. And yeah, I think that's

all I've got. Like, I'm London-based. Yeah, so starting with your background, are you actually from London or from the UK or where are you from? So I feel like I'm probably going to cause controversy, but I am a full-blooded Londoner. I was born in just outside of London, so North London, but I have been born and raised here my whole life. And even though my mother's Scottish and my father's from Yorkshire, I've never been, well, I've been to Yorkshire, never been to Scotland. but yeah no I've only ever lived for a full time long time in London so sounds like you have everything here or you like it or you don't really feel like going anywhere else no no so I have plans to move out of the country but the thing is is that like when I was

18 I moved to Australia solo so that was me and I lived there for a year and that was a great experience. I actually learned a lot about myself in that time. And then when I came back home, I just, I started to fall less and less in love with London and especially as, you know, like cost of living and everything has gone up. And most of my friends, like my close friends, have moved out of London now. So I'm thinking, right, it's coming to the point where I'm going to need to move out of London too. And that's kind of why I started my freelancing business, because I would love for that to be my full time income, my full time job, so that I can just do it from anywhere and I'm not bound to a desk or a location, you know,

I could just sort of like hop on a plane and be in like Thailand or, I don't know, Hong Kong. Yeah. Yes. Although saying that, I would love to be a digital nomad that's stuck in one place, which is warm and sunny. Oh, yeah, yeah. And so do you want to tell us more about Australia?

It's, uh, didn't expect it's quite far away. So why specifically? Yeah. It's, um, I, I, when I was, going through A levels and stuff. All my mates were, to be brutally honest, I didn't think I'd get, I didn't think I'd pass.

I was, I'm an academic student, but I'm also very easily distracted. And so when something's boring, I don't engage with the subject. And naturally, like most of my classes, I remember actually one of my teachers for sociology, A level. She told me I wouldn't pass

because I kept on falling asleep in her class. Like, I would fall. head on the neck. Was it that boring? It was. And the worst thing is, she had a really soothing voice. And I was like, I love air and my sounds. And so when I hear someone who's got a really soothing voice and it's like a quiet

environment, like there were only 10 of us in the class. So I was like, shit, I'm going to pass out. I've got nothing to keep me awake here. And any time I did try and keep myself awake, I would be drawing, doodling, using my artistic skills just because that would be entertaining for me for that hour of my life. But no, so when I was going through A levels, I remember thinking all my friends were like, oh, I got into this university, I've got an offer from this uni. And I was like, I've got no desire to go to university because I have no idea what I want to do. Like at 18 years old, I was thinking, I just want to get out. I just want to

travel. I want to see the world. And I can't remember how this happened, but I think I was Googling places and I was like, where's the furthest I could go at 18 years old by my and where do they speak the same language so I'm not totally alone? And I was like, Australia is quite nice. It's got sunshine, it's got beaches, it's got deadly creatures for me to freak out about. And then yeah, it's kind of snowballed from there. I was just like every, I remember going into sixth form every single day and going, right, I've got to Google how much rent is in Australia. I've got to Google how much my money is, like how much

the conversion rate is. I've got to source out jobs, applications like CVs and stuff. Bering of mine, I barely had a job. I only had a volunteer job for like three years of my life in a charity shop. So I had no experience, nothing. And I was really

taking a leap of faith of myself. And then bought the plane ticket and I just, I don't know. I remember, so for the first month that I was there, I was with my best friend and we were traveling around and it was a lot of fun

we toured the East Coast and stuff and then I remember being at the airport and I the realization hit me I'm about to live here for a year by myself I'd never done anything like that I was like I looked at my friend and I had a breakdown in the airport

I was like please don't leave I'm so scared I don't know what to do with myself and she was very sure And what city or area did you go specifically to? So I lived for the majority in Adelaide, so that's South Australia. And then I moved to each of the states pretty much every couple of months. So I started off in South Australia for, I would say about three to four months.

And then after that, I kind of, I'll be honest, I was in a depressive episode when I was in Australia to begin my trip because I was just. so out of my comfort zone, but not in a place where I felt comfortable and able to be myself and express myself. And I didn't know what to do. Like, I'd know, like, idea what to do with myself because, like, I've been brainwashed by school for years to, you know, study hard, get the grades. And then I had nothing else to my life. And I was like, crap, I've got nothing here. But, yeah, so I... It sounds like great experience that you explored the whole, the whole country. it was I met some really awesome people and I had some amazing sun like I've got some amazing

sunsets in my head I never took pictures of them because I was an idiot and I just wanted to live in the moment because that was the town I really had an amazing experience going to each of these beautiful states and meeting really in crazy people but really cool people at the same time and just sort of getting to know the country. I remember not appreciating it as much when I was there. And now when I look back into, you know, the old database of my head, I just think, you know what, you were such a privileged person to just go to each of these states with like a couple of $100 in your pocket and be able to stay there for a month at a time or a week at a time,

whatever. And you like, you saw some amazing stuff, did some amazing stuff as well. like it was insanely beautiful. And I wish I was there now because it's miserable and great in the UK. Oh my God. Yeah. Tell me about it. I complain about it almost every day.

But I was just going to say that I think that's something I can relate to, that sometimes don't appreciate something in the moment, but then looking back at it, I feel like how much appreciative I should have been and that I had a great opportunity and actually a great time, but don't always experience it in the moment. as you said. I've got a brat syndrome in my head. Like at the time I'll be like, oh, I complain about this. And then like a week later, I'm like, why are you complaining?

You were having a great time. Like, stop complaining. Yeah, yeah. And looking back at this experience, is that something that you would do again or you would recommend other people or even students in their, you know, when they are 18 to do as well? I think looking back on it, I would do it again, but I would do it differently. But that's obviously, you know, hindsight. And if I could recommend anything to an 18-year-old,

I would recommend not going to university immediately and getting out there and seeing the world before you commit to a three-year degree. And I say this not because I don't necessarily agree with the university system, even though I am a student. I just think for some subjects, you don't necessarily need to go to it, like, formal education for, like you could have to get internships and things like that. But my, I would definitely recommend that any 18 year olds, you know, confused about what they want to do and parents pushing them into further education and them not really being sure I would highly

recommend going and traveling and just seeing another culture. Because when I was 18, I was a totally different person. I was shy. I didn't want to come out my shell. I was very reluctant to experience new things. I was very close-minded. I was, you know, I just had all these chips on my shoulders just to stop me from being a personality that I am today. Had I not gone to Australia, genuinely, I don't think I'd even be a position where I am today where I'm thinking, oh, I want to try all these new experiences, or I want to give university a shot later on in life, or I'm going to start a design business, you know, like all of this stuff, I would have never probably.

have done had it not been for me getting out my ultimate comfort zone and getting away from everyone that I know to properly develop who I am because I genuinely believe like when you're growing up you just you have your perceived perceived version of yourself by your friends you've got the perceived version of yourself to your parents and then you got the perceived version of yourself to education or like anyone that like strangers essentially and that version of yourself that's just for you I don't know I think personally that's not necessarily the same across the board. And I think that's sort of like push to a side.

And then when you're away from all these external influences that you've had all your life up until the age of 18, you start to really figure out who you are and what drives you as a person. And that could be something like a weird hobby that you love to do that everyone else might have thought was like, oh, what are you doing? Like for me, it was knitting. I loved knitting and crocheting when I was younger. And I used to get all the time, like you're an old lady. what are you doing?

That's such a weird thing and even just some of the character designs that I did when I was younger some of the stuff is absolutely, I look at it now and I'm like, whoa, that's kind of insane but at the same time I could appreciate like where it was coming from. But if I showed any of my friends back then or my parents, they'd think, you need therapy.

You need therapy. And I was like, just need me. Yeah. It's again, it's something that I feel like I can, relate to that when I moved to London, you know, such a big difference and similar experience to when you moved out of London to Australia to completely different place. And if there was someone who wanted to do kind of similar experience of moving somewhere far away abroad, what are some maybe tips and tricks you would recommend to focus on,

maybe something you would do differently? Um, oh, tips and tricks. Definitely have a better understanding of how much you're going to spend when you get there. Because I was like, I'm not going to spend a dime. I'm going to be super savey. I'm going to, you know, have bags and bags of money. No, always think to the opposite. Think, like, start from day one.

Are you going to go out for breakfast? Yes, you're going to pay for that breakfast. Are you going to have a coffee during the day? Probably. Pay for the coffee. You know, just sort of. plan it a bit better in your head. And I think

reading up on the touristy hotspots is great and a good way to understand the layout of the land, maybe a bit of the cultural history and stuff. But I would say like in all my travels, I have found like walking tours or just

going to the places where are supposed to be like the highlight spots and finding all the little sort of like small like off the beaten track areas are, are much more, like for me, at least, this is my experience. I would say that they're much more interesting than the classic touristy trips

and like the experiences and stuff because, yeah, you can pay someone $100, pounds, whatever, to go see this great monument and they'll give you some information about it. But you know what? I don't appreciate being rushed back into a coach to get back to the next vacation. I'd say like do it yourself.

Like it's a lot of work and yeah, sometimes it can be slightly cost effect, like cost counterintuitive. But it would be better on your time. Like now when I travel, I tend to do maybe one or two trips. And then depending on what those trips are, I go back to where that place was or I make a mental note in my head of like, oh, I want to go see this or, you know, just anything where I want to sort of like deviate from the chosen path because there's something that I want to find that's a bit more interesting. Like I went to Madeira for a couple of weeks, I think it was, last year. And there were a temp tours that we could have done. Like, you know, vans, hiking is up all the mountains and stuff. I don't know if you know anything about Madeira,

but it's hilly as hell. Scary hilly. Like, we'll break your car, hilly, first gear hilly. But when me and my partner were going, there were lots of tours and stuff, and we did sign on for a couple of them. But for the majority, we hired a car and we did it ourselves, and we found all these paths. And we'd find stuff that, like, it was on the map, but we just wouldn't have known about had we not explored. And so, like, and the beauty of that was, like,

every time we saw something that we wanted to do, we could stop and we could get out and we could park. Yeah. And we could explore the area. So I definitely recommend that if you're, going traveling if you're doing solo anything like this within reason of safety and everything don't don't be an idiot you know just really tried to sort of not necessarily follow the foresty herd so to speak yeah that sounds great it's there is nothing more annoying when there is a crazy queue of people

and you are just waiting to take one picture and then behind you there is a lot of other people waiting to take a same picture and yeah i can agree with this i said that um during lockdown i went to Snowden and we got to the top of Snowden and because it was a really hot sunny day, lots of people hiked up. There was a queue for at least, I'd say, the majority of the train ride that you get when you go up Snowden, you can get a train or you can walk it, we walked it. And there was a queue that was basically going all the way back to where the train ride starts. And me and my partner looks at each other and we're like, we're not waiting in a sodding queue just to say that we got to the top of Snowden. We got to the top of Snowden, but we didn't take a picture at the plaque at the top.

So we were like, you can't be bothered for that. Yeah, yeah. I can only relate to it and I hate it as well. If you want to boost your online presents, check out our digital marketing agency called Trailblazed. You can also enroll in a Skillshare course called the 10 Tips on how to succeed in your creative career, which was inspired by the podcast. Lastly, make sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter called Creative Spotlight to stay up to date with the show and more. Links are in the show notes. Thanks. So before Clara, you said that you also wanted to go to Australia because of some scary or dangerous creatures.

So were there actually any that you met or you had some interesting experience? Well, aside from Outback, let's see. I'm trying to think, yeah, so when I was, when I first arrived, we went to this thing in the Sydney, Australia Zoo. And it's called Sleep and Raw. Well, back then it was. I don't know if it is anymore. But that's basically where you sleep over at a zoo and you get to meet all the animals that are in the zoo. It was awesome.

I was terrified because, like, the first night we got there, me and my mate, we were absolutely exhausted. We could not find this place for anything. And then when we got there, they were like, here's your food, here's your glamping. And we were like, this is amazing. And then later they just bring out these very interesting animals, which would scare the crap out of me. So like, I had like a python snake wrapped around my neck at one point. And it was actually, it was cool because everyone else was there like, oh, yeah, it's on my arms. And I was like, no, it's actually going quite tight around my neck.

And I was like, I'm at dinner tonight. Fun. and I think there was there was some spiders there as well which I just did not want to... I can't boogie with spiders spiders scare the crap out of me and then

I try to remember there were some sort of like lizards it was quite a while ago so you can't quite remember all of this stuff I do remember the next morning though was awesome because I got to feed giraffes and so I was in their pen and I was just like feeding them all and their tongue

I don't know if you know about giraffe's tongues but they're like really long It's like very gross. Oh, a lot, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's just huge and it just wraps around you and you're like,

oh, okay, then. But yeah, I've, I'm trying to remember all the stuff I saw. I saw dolphins. I've never seen, did I see a crocodile? I might have seen a crocodile. Yes, I did.

And Tasmanian devils as well. So, like, I had quite a good sort of mix of wildlife plus the huntsmen spiders, which, Absolutely devastatingly scary. Never, never want a huntsman spider in my life around me. I will need to Google those. I don't know what is, but I can imagine something scary.

They're scary, and the thing is, if they're pregnant and you try and kill them, all their babies pop out and they just all everywhere. Oh my God. Yeah. And the worst thing is huntsmen, they love dark, damp places. They love. to sort of hide in there. And so, and they're like this big, which is like the size of my fist. They can get to that big. And I remember I was in my, the place that I was staying. And I had a

huntsman behind one of the pictures on the wall. And I went to bed. I thought nothing of it. I was like, you stay in your corner. I'll stay in mine. But I forgot that I sleep with my mouth open sometimes. I snore. And so I woke up just randomly at like two, or something and I switched on the light and the huntsman was right by my by my bedside on the wall just getting ready to fall in and so I thought you know what maybe he was just going for a midnight stroll I swapped to the other end of the bed and again I woke up a couple of hours later and he was on the wall opposite me getting ready to jump and I was like this is not happening I am not sleeping for this evening it sounds terrifying it was awful I don't know if if someone will want to go to Australia after listening to this. I mean, sun, sand, some lovely people as well, surfing, I think they'll still go. It's a surprise you pay real estate. Yeah.

So then when you came back, what were your next steps? Oh, next steps. So I, let me think. when I came back, I was pretty miserable being back because I was no longer in the place. And I remember thinking that I just need to get a job, I need to save up money, because when I was coming back to the UK, I didn't have a plane ticket back. I had to ask my parents to subme the cash and then I'd pay them back. So my first paycheck when I got a job in the UK was literally just pay back both my parents. I was like,

Here's the money. I'm square with you. But I remember thinking I need to get a job. I need to make some money to replenish what I'd lost. And I also needed to figure out what my next step was. But the thing is that it was weird because when you come back to where you were all your life, when you come back after having an experience where you opened up and all this stuff, you end up going back into your shell quite quickly and without any sort of thought into it. It was just like I walked back into the house and I suddenly became a bit more quiet and I was a bit more reserved about my thoughts and stuff.

And, you know, to my mum and dad, they thought, oh, she's changed. You know, she's got an accent and she's a little bit more outspoken. To me, I was like, I've been muted. I've been, like, someone's found the volume and just gone all the way down. So yeah, when I came back home, I got a job in a bar. It was a terrible bar. It was actually, there was, there was conspiracies to say that it was run by some sort of some form of mafia in the area.

And I was like, fair enough. It didn't last long. I think it only lasted another year after I were there. So I was working jobs which were just bartending. I didn't have any other qualifications. I didn't actually have any sort of belief. or confidence of myself to go for anything higher. And then in between that, I was going on trips every few months in that working year.

So I'd be going to, like, Barcelona with my friend. I took my mum to New York for her birthday, which was nice. There were lots of lovely little trips in between. But I just, I was working these dead-end jobs, which were really crap. The hospitality work. Like, I don't know a single person that I have met so much. bar who liked working in a bar or liked pouring a fine. I didn't like to see either.

No, no, it does. There were days when it was absolutely great and I was having a good time because I was working with people that I liked. But then there were other days where I was like, I haven't slept all week. I've worked somewhere up of 60 hours. I'm making a lot, I mean, at the time relative, I was making a lot of money, but I was also losing a lot of life. like I didn't exercise or train at the time.

So I was eating a lot of bad food, drinking a lot of alcohol and also not sleeping much. So you can kind of do the math of like where I was. And so I met my best friend while I was working there. And she became a huge instigator in my life to sort of get back to a place where I was listening to what I needed rather than what I should just be doing. And so she helped me get a job in a gym reception and then I started to train an exercise. And then from there, it just kind of snowballed into my confidence growing in between job roles and stuff like that. To where I am. Yeah.

I guess it can have a big influence, the environment you work in or spend so much time in. Yeah. Compared to gym, it's completely... Yeah, it was kind of weird because I went from working until... midnight, one o'clock, and having after-work drinks and sort of surviving on crap food that the pub would survive, like, to suddenly having to wake up at 6 a.m. or 5 a.m. to get to the gym, to open up the gym, let people, you know, do the job and then train myself for an hour a day sort of thing. It was it was really eye-opening because I remember going into the gym. And the first time I went in for my,

just for my interview, I went and picked up one kilogram dumbbell, a one kilogram dumbbell. And I remember struggling to pick that up. And it wasn't even like I was trying to do it in a fancy way. I was just trying to pick it up like this. And like my, the gym manager who I was having the interview with, he looked at me and he was like, bloody hell, we need to get you in. I was like, I didn't realize I was like, I thought I was quite like, I worked in pubs. I picked up beer barrels.

I'm all good. But no, he was like, yeah, you need to start exercising. And like, all these things started to collate in my head. And I was like, yeah, I should probably get a bit stronger. So I can pick up like a bottle or something without falling over. And then when you were working there, did you do any other jobs? Or that's when you started thinking about freelancing? No, actually, I took.

so I took a different route. I went into corporate reception work and then I became a personal assistant after that. And that was the collective time of four years. And I remember hating being a personal assistant because I used to be told to stay at my desk quite a lot. Not in a mean way, but it's just like what they expected. And I just couldn't sit still.

I was also really bored. I remember having immense anxiety at that job because I just, I had a people please a complex back then and I just wanted to constantly be like, you know, top girl at the bar, top girl at work and I just remember like totally sacking guessing myself at every turn. And I just like, it just wasn't for me.

I remember sitting down and thinking, I'll finally be integrated. I'll finally, you know, find my place in this business. And I just, I just couldn't. I just couldn't feel like at home. I felt like I was totally on edge. And it was shortly after that,

that I realized that I needed to change my entire career. I needed to change something up because I was like, if I work as a PA, I will always be a PA. And I will never get out of it. And I will never be the creative person that I want to be. Or the creative person that I actually am. And so I decided it was really random. I remember sitting at my desk and I was just like listing all the possible things that I could do

where I could travel and still like indulge my creativity. And I just thought, well, what about, you know, training up in something that you've never done before? And I remember in college I was really good at product design. And like I've got like an inventive, I guess you could say it's an inventive mind. I just sort of think of like, oh, well, surely there should be this contraption to help but this. or, you know, like, it was, and then it was nurtured by the degree, the school to, you know, push me into, like, thinking a bit more outside the box. And university just sort of, like, got written down and I was like,

maybe I should think about, now that I'm of a specific, like, I was in my early 20, so I was like 23, 23, 22 or 23 when I was thinking about this stuff. And I wrote it down, I turned to my mate, and I said, I think I'm just going to go to university and figure out what I'm going to do, I can't figure it out. I know myself well enough that even though I do have a thirst for learning and stuff, back then I couldn't focus for Toffee. I can sit down and I could just about do one YouTube video at five minutes.

But I just, my brain would wander. I'd fall asleep. Anything like that, I just couldn't engage. So I was like, right, I've got to be in a place of learning. So that's when I started to think maybe I should go to university. I went to an open day and I looked at other universities around the UK and Middlesex was actually one that I had got accepted into when I was 18 for product design but decided to go the opposite direction, go off to Australia. So I thought, you know what, Middlesex always had a good ring in my head because it had great facilities and stuff. So that's the university I went to and I thought, right, I could apply and not get in simple as.

I didn't, you know, I didn't think much of it. And then I somehow managed to get in. And I was like, whoa. Okay. Now I'm a university student. At which point I was living in South London with my best friend. And I told her that I was going to university and I had to move out so that I could save money. So I moved back in with my dad at the time.

And then COVID hit. So. Perfect. was miffed. I was so miffed. COVID hitting as I'm beginning my degree career. But it wasn't all bad because I did the foundation. So I was stuck at home, designing at home, playing around with art stuff, which really I'm not objective and I quite enjoy it.

But yeah, I then I just, I then sort of like carried on my degree. And I think it was during my second year, I decided that I wanted to do. this for my career. But I didn't want to do it the way university taught because I didn't, okay, this sounds totally weird, but I didn't understand how the university taught. Simply put, I like the curriculum, the way they built everything out, the way they structured everything, it felt more like an art degree than an actual practical, practical degree. And I didn't like that because I don't, even though I have my artistic size, I don't, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, have a function processing brain.

So like I put all my designs towards function rather than just looking pretty. And that's the way my brain is designed. Like I can't like, you know, if I put, say for example, if I've got a banner that I need to design, I'm not just going to put some sort of like random graphic in there. There is reason for it being there. Yeah. And the way they were trying to make it like feel out the curriculum, it was more like, you know, it had to be an artistic kind of thing.

Yes, everything had to have a reason for being there. But at the same time, it just didn't make sense why I was learning this as a graphic student and not learning more of the fundamentals of design. So when I started my freelancing career, I just thought, right, I'm just going to push for the stuff that I like to do, which is I like to help people with their business. I'm not the biggest business person in the world. like I know that. Such a good confession, isn't it?

You know what? If I could help someone who's quite like me and doesn't know where to start, then I think that's a win for me. Like if I can help you feel confident in what we're doing and like confident in showing up for your brand or your business or like, you know,

say you have a banner or you have like a document that you want to design, I want you to feel confident showing someone that. I don't want someone to be like, oh, you know, here's my business card, but I don't want the but to be in the communication. You know, like, here's my business card, but I'm having it redesign, but it's only your first draft. But, you know, but I mean, like, I don't like, like, I don't like that for myself, even though I am the world's most famous for, um, unfinished projects for myself. But I, I want to be that person for someone else to be like, it's done. This is, this is who I am. This is who I am.

and it's got a purpose to it. And that's kind of why the freelance thing came into all of that. So even though I am graduating this year, I want that freelancing to be my soul, my sole purpose, because that's what I care about. That's what I want to put energy into. That's what I want to do forever. Like, I just want to help people.

And if that also translates into different things, great. If that, like, even if that translates into a free conversation, I'm like, yeah, cool. Let's have a chitch out about your business. I'll give you my advice for free. I don't care. You want to do what you want to do? Great.

I want to help. That's all I want to do. No, I completely agree. And how did you feel like when you decided for freelancing? Because it's something different than before, since before you were an employee and now on your own, were you scared? Terrified. It's my head.

Okay, so there's two strains of thoughts. It's nice not to work for someone and work for myself, but at the same time, it's difficult to know what's right to do. So like in my head, I always think that whenever I see other graphic designers, I look at their works and I go, oh, that makes sense, that's how it goes. But I get in my head too much to be like, well, that's the right way to do it. I'm like, no, there's no right way to do it. you've just got to do what's right for you.

But in my head, there's always that back thought of like, well, that's the right way. So when I started freelancing, I was really, really scared and comparing myself to every person. And it doesn't help that my best friend is a really, really successful graphic designer. And I respect her opinion a lot. And so whenever she would message me being like, Clara, what the hell have you done? I'll be like, I try my best and she's like, you can do better than this. Come on, mate. Like, and I'll be like, oh, crap.

It's like you're... She is my teacher. I will never let this be known a loud, but yeah, she is my teacher. She is the biggest, like, she's my, she's the friend that got me out of bartending into fitness. And she changed her whole life around doing freelancing. Sounds like influential person in your life. Big time. She is like the big sister that I always wanted and never got.

I only have brothers, unfortunately. But yeah, she would always, she would be a massive influence for me because she always, I'll be honest, the way she thinks is so different to the way that I think that I can't help but admire it. So when I was like thinking just purely about like, you know, colors or text or something like that, she'd be like, oh, well, why don't you do it like this? She would like take me down a different route altogether. And the thing is, is when I'm, when I was at university and, well, I've been at university,

not many people have been able to do that. Not many people have been able to sort of like crack into that, that extra layer of thinking and thinking and just seeing it as a straightforward path. Because my, the way my brain works is like, it's like the Wizard of Oz. Like the line does not go straight. It goes all around and up the hill and down. And I miss certain things on that path. And I'm like, why?

whereas hers is very linear, it's just like, this is so straightforward, this is what you need to do, and I'm like what is this? What is this band that you do? Yeah, but I guess that's something that is, you know, beautiful about people, that everyone is different and

you compliment each other and meet different. Oh, absolutely. Like, I'm rainbows, she's darkness and like vampires and stuff, but we melt together as if we're like, made for each other. She will never agree to this, but I will always broadcast. We are perfectly friends. I can just say when I was starting the freelance thing, I was just more scared of

letting other people down and letting myself down to what could actually be achieved. And that fear stopped me from doing a lot of things. But I think the thing that I always sort of thought of was, well, you could either do this or you could stay in an office job for the rest of your life. that's scary yeah I can relate to that again I was going to say

how do you how do you actually balance freelancing with university must be very time consuming short answer I don't long answer I am so when

since starting freelancing I have tried my very best to just give myself the opportunity to balance everything. But I realize that, like, one thing that university doesn't prep you for is working with clients and working on numerous outcomes and things like that. Like, they tell you, university is like, oh, yeah, we expect these things from you, and that's fine, but, like, they don't actually give you some of the tools to actually get to that point. You know, like, for example,

like I've had to make quite a lot of, I've had to learn quite a lot of my own and develop certain skills so that I can actually manage both. I will say this since I've hit third year, I've calmed down on the freelancing side of life because I know that this is my final year and I've got to really, I want, you know, I want to graduate. So I'm pushing for more focus on my university work. But at the same time, like, when I have worked with clients and I've worked in the university, sorry, works on uni work, the thing that I needed to develop the most, which was not any design skills, it was not any special extra education, it was process management. And that's the thing that people are like, like, I know because I am my, I've done it myself,

I glazed over process management when I started freelancing. And it screwed me. So bad. Like, I would have my university submissions and I'd think, oh, yeah, well, I've got all the time in the world to do them. It's easy. And then I would have fine. I can just be wishy-washy and all this stuff. And after a while, I realized, oh, wait, I've got no structure.

I've got no process. I've got no like automation in any of this stuff, which means that I am now working twice as hard to just make it work properly, like just make it work in the end, you know, make, like have their outcomes and stuff. At which point I was like, right, okay, I need to take a step back because I can't be putting out work.

I can't be having my reputation on the line as a freelancer where I am not, for example, I'm not updating them about their work all the time or I'm not telling them what I'm doing. You know, I'm just happily sitting behind the shadows and being like, ha, ha, ha, I'm working, but I'm not telling me. Like, people want to know, people want updates.

And the same for my degree. I was there, you know, saying, oh, well, I'll do it at the weekend or, oh, I'll do it then. And my tutors were like, look, we need to know what you're doing and when you're doing it. And I was like, no, you don't. And the thing is, when you're creative, you're like, oh, I'll get that inspiration immediately.

but the thing is that if you've got no processes in place, that inspiration always, always, always comes last minute and you're then freaking out about all together. And I know this because I've done this for many years. It's not as easy as one thinks. It's really not. It's really not. So now I have processes in place to, you know, for example,

a client wants a logo designed by me, for example, I have a whole process on how to onboard them, updates about the work, timeframes, everything. I've got it written down in a PDF contract so that they have it in their records so that if anything does change, I am the first one on verbal communication to make sure everything's on. It's not a case of taking that, you know, wishy-washy approach where it's like, it's fine, it all come together.

That's not a possibility. If I want the, you know, aha moment, if I want that light bulb moment, it has to follow the process. so that the process basically gives me space to have that moment. And the same was the university stuff. I have to have that. So when I started, balancing the pair of them was terrible. Now that I've been into it for about, it's coming up to a year this year, and I've sort of got a bit more control over it.

But I know that that's going to completely change when I graduate as well. So now I would be solely focusing on client work and personal. work as well which would be stuff like self-promotion and things like that. But yeah, if I could give any advice to anyone, processes, figure it out, think about how your client thinks, think about how your university or other things in your life think, don't skip it. I skipped it, it hurt. That sounds like a great advice and something that it will be a big takeaway for me from this interview, not interview, from this recording as well. well. So it's a great one. Really? Do you feel like you don't have any processes in place?

I mean, I guess I do, but what you said, it just sounds much better and convincing and I believe you. And I think I should just focus on it more and develop it better as well. Yeah, I mean, I spent a good week working through the processes and I listened to many talks and all the stuff and I was like, yeah, I definitely need to make this more streamlined.

Because if you think about it, if you've got, I'll use the client as an example, you've got a client, they want to see it be really easy to work with you and really easy to see the updates of the projects and stuff like that. And if your process is like, oh, a little bit here, a little bit there, maybe a bit there. I might not talk to you for that week and not tell you why. And, you know, things like that, then they're not going to have any trust in you. even though they might like your final outcome, they'll be like, yeah, that was a great outcome.

They'll still be like, but I didn't hear from you. I didn't have any kind of relationship with you. So I just felt like a number or a piece of work, you know. And that's not what it's about. You have to put in the processes so that you can actually allow yourself to have that relationship build up and also give your client confidence in you. I agree. I hate when I do something and it feels like a waste of time.

because I do something and I'm thinking why didn't I do it better or differently or easier before it would save me headache time and everything and I'm like okay for at least I will remember for the next time so it was a short-term headache for a long-term return yeah yeah exactly it sucks to do the admin I know this but it sucks at least you know that when it's done you never have to touch it again until later on down the line And with your time at university, do you feel like that you've got some kind of advantage over your classmates thanks to your film? Yes, definitely. And I don't mean that in a horrid way because there are some really talented graphic designers in my class. Like I look at their work and I go, they've got a different way of thinking and I just, I applaud them because I think they're going to go far in careers and stuff. but I have to say that with the majority of students in my class, I think the fact that I have real world practice with clients and with other people,

with projects, I think that that helps with being in the long term because even, I'm not saying I might be, I mean, I would hope I would be a great success, but I might not necessarily have the biggest success in the world. But I just know that because I've taken that step, to work with people outside of my university shell, my coursework will look very different from my client work because I'm making it to appeal to my client and their potential

customers and people that they want to work with. So I'm thinking a little bit more about the bigger picture, whereas when you're in university, you're very much enclosed and you don't really think about the bigger picture. You think about this picture right here. and how to get a certain mark. And that's probably my biggest problem with university when it comes to creative subjects because you're working towards a mark scheme, but you're not working towards personal satisfaction

or the satisfaction of the person that you're working with. And I think that's where, like, I might have a leg up, but like I said, there are lots of people who are really talented in my class. And I can only imagine, like, so long as they encourage, themselves and they have the confidence to take that step towards whatever they want to do, I think they'll easily kill it.

That's my personal opinion about that, yeah. Yeah, I think it sounds great. And even looking at my time at university, it's great that you already have something that are you working on, that you already working on your career and you don't end up finishing uni and be like, okay, what now? Now I'm going to send applications and wait for months and I don't know what to do. So I think you get a well-taught-through and great plan, so it sounds great. Yeah.

I know what it's like to be in that situation where you're like, okay, I've finished the course or I've finished the job or I've finished this, that and the next thing, now what? And then now what scares me more than anything because I'm like, that means that I haven't planned for myself or my future. and even though like I said even though I might not be the greatest success in graphic design now that doesn't stop me from at least I'm putting in the effort now

small may it be but like that effort will translate for later on in life and when I get more time after graduating to put energy into my work that will show in bundles you know it would just be really obvious

what I'm doing so yeah yeah I think that's definitely worth all students to do Yeah, I hope a lot of students will listen to this and will see this as an example and learning lesson, kind of to prepare better. Or they might write it off and be like, I don't need that, I'm super, in which case, cool, give me a shout. And then once they graduate, they'd be like, okay, they knew what they were talking about and they were right. an email because this this sounds very familiar and I don't know what to do.

Just like... Yeah. And out of curiosity, what is the final project that you are working on? So, this is kind of controversial. And my final major project is about the inadequacies of university. Oh, interesting. Yeah, so I'm not saying that university should be written off as a form of education at all. I think if you want to be a lawyer, doctor, any of those, you know, high-powered, you know, really needing in-depth education stuff, I think it makes lots of sense. And the same for anyone who's going from Masters, you know, if you want to further your education.

But when it comes to university as a whole, I just don't think that, I think it's more of a, a, numbers game and money game than it is an actual form of education now. I think that's reflected from a lot of teachers as well because, you know, they're not on full-time contracts, you know, they're protesting at the fact that they just want more stability in their work and everything. And so my final major project is basically about how we are sold the dream of university being this amazing opportunity for students to progress themselves into a different career,

get that higher paid job, have an amazing three years or four years at university studying. You know, you go out partying, you have the social life and stuff. And that was the case back in the day when there wasn't a cost of living crisis and when university wasn't costing nine grand a year.

And my biggest problem with it is the fact that we're telling, because I've represented the university quite a very few times and I've gone to higher education fairs and I genuinely feel like I am lying to students about what university life is like and also what their prospects are post-university because I don't like unless you've actually lined a job up for yourself like we said you know you work on your personal brand before you leave university you're more than likely to get a lower entry job in something that you don't care about like bartending waitress, admin, anything like that,

which is fine. But at the same time, like, university promises that they will push you further into the future, push you further in your career. And it's not like that. And then while you're at university, you're actually accumulating a lot of debt to be in a place which actually doesn't really do anything to promise that. You know, it's not like, I shouldn't say promise. But, you know, it's a case that I feel like we're selling people a false.

a false reality. And especially when you're 18 and you're impressionable and your parents are pushing you to go to university because they went to university. Or you might be the first in your family to go to university. Awesome. That's great. But unless you, like when I was 18, unless you had a passion for what you wanted to do, I didn't see the point in going to university at 18.

And even now as a older, mature student, I would say that I wish I'd done a bit more research or there was research available so that I knew exactly what I was getting into as a new student, as they said, mature student. And so, like, my major project is basically about building the awareness and building the knowledge around university for students before they get to university, before they even apply. I want students to have an honest, very real perception

of what they're getting themselves in. into because I don't think anyone has that perception. Like you've got the league tables to tell you, hey, this university is great. The universities will never tell you what's wrong with them or what's wrong in their area. Like for example, you know, you could move totally different locations and there could be a shortage of certain foods. Like, you know, at the moment, there can be shortages of things like that because it's more in the sticks versus in a big city. So yeah, my whole project is basically educated 18 year olds before they make that decision. That's interesting, it wasn't.

Were you expecting something about branding? Yeah, maybe you should go into politics so that you can change it somewhere, you know. No, no, no, no, no. Well, maybe, but no, I'm just, like I said, earlier in the, in our talk, my brain thinks and function, and that's the way it works.

So if I see a problem, I want to figure out how to fix it. And even though this isn't a fix for the problem, it is a good step in the right direction. And it's something like, because they tell you in your final year, you should focus on something that you want to do as a career. And I don't believe in that. I think if you're like, especially if you're a creative, your career moves all the time. You change all the time. Like a graphic designer is not just, unless they want to specialize that is, I'm not dissing anyone who wants to do a little bit of everything. But like, unless you're absolutely in love with branding, I think that a creative is a creative and they want to help in whatever way they can.

And for me, that's putting my design knowledge to good use to try and help people educate themselves about this stuff. And there's no resources online that I've found so far that give a real honest painted picture. We're all about, you know, saying, you're going to get a job, you're going to get this amazing degree, you're going to get the best university experience. that's great. What about when you get your student loan in and you've only got 10 pounds to last for a week and you have to travel to university and you have to pay for food? Like this is after rent, of course. Like I've been in a class where I've had people who are very privileged in the sense that they have enough money left over from their maintenance loan and I've seen it on the other side who have people who have not got that privilege and you know they they're struggling and

they have to have an extra job and I'm like the university experience is no longer what we think it is and I don't think that we should be encouraging 18 year olds just to go for it because hell you know university is the only option it's like it's not no yeah sorry I get a and I start dancing no no it's definitely interesting topic and of course we should good luck with the project and hope it will help people hopefully even when people listen to this conversation that it will make them think and maybe some people that are thinking about their careers will help them to make a better decision. But to...

All right. And that goes to anyone talking about careers. Sorry, I'm going to interject one second. If you're thinking about choosing your career, don't necessarily think universities the only way. You've got UDEMI, Skillshare and another one which I can't remember. But they're all basically... Coursera? Maybe.

Yes. Yes, use those to find a course that you want to do. It will take three months, six months, one month. It is much cheaper. And YouTube, free resource, use it before you start thinking about the £9,000 a year. That is great advice. No, it's great. I spoke with some people before on a podcast and when I asked them where they got experience,

if before university or outside of university, often they mention. and YouTube as well. So that's true. You can find there pretty much everything. It's for free. So. Exactly. Yeah. Then let's talk a bit about actually your freelancered, freelancing career. Can you say a bit more about what is it you do specifically? What you help clients with? What do you? Okay.

I made the face, by the way, because I feel like I've got a long list of things that I do for people. And I always say it and it overwhelmed. So I'm going to try and take it down. You can say it somehow so that you sell your services and, you know, paint yourself in a best picture. Flicks the hair away. So I am a graphic designer of all trades and it sounds stupid because the phrase is, you know, you're a jack of all trades but a master of none. but the things that I specialize in, I design logos. So that sounds like easier than it is,

but I basically design your starter logo so that if you're a new business and you're not really sure about investing and a lot of things fast and you don't want to invest, or you don't have the budget for investing in a big project, it's basically perfect for you to sort of work with me and we can still design a beautiful logo.

That's not going to be something that someone created on Canva, it will be personalized to you. And I like to go that little subsection further and really get into the depth of your business and who you are as a person. So that whatever I create, you know, it's not going to be like on the dose, like it's not going to be like, you know,

say you have a coffee shop and I'm going to give you a coffee cup mug logo. It will go a bit further than that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I design logos. I work on people's branding. I really love, working on someone's branding because it basically it fleshes out the entirety of someone's brand.

I love to ask the big questions. Like, who are you? Why are you doing this? What is the future of your business? Do you think about, like most people don't think about these things. They think about the here and now and maybe in the next six months, but they don't think about the long run. Like, you know, have you got a specific client that you're aiming this towards? Is it something that you're wanting to last for 10 years? Is it something you're wanting to last for a year? Is it something that you might want to develop into other areas. Questions like that sort of get me thinking for you because I love to see people's work develop beyond just the here and now.

I also am an illustrator. So I do a lot of personalised illustrations. At the moment, there is a series on LinkedIn that I've done of people's branding as the LinkedIn logo. So I did this one out of that. a networking evening that it was a panel talk and I just suddenly, I don't know what it was. Someone said something about LinkedIn and how it's basically like their home and my brain just went click and I was like, imagine everyone having their own LinkedIn logo but in their style

of branding or with elements of their logos and stuff. And so that's what I did. And that's actually that's taken up quite a bit because people quite like the idea of having something personalized to them, but still using them, you know, you know, still linked to the platform, but it's, you know, for them or for people to recognize. And that also translates into character design and just generally an illustration of characters anyway for anything that you want to do for presentations. You see quite a lot of illustrations these days for character design in like presentations and stuff like that and they're great and they're AI generated I think or they're really generic

looking but I like to I like to push that a little bit further like I said can make something something currently like for example I've got my own little character they're basic because I don't like to flesh out my own characters and I like to have my own sort of like weirdness to them so mine's like a little gradient bubble with facial expressions on the inside

and they're normally my facial expression kind of the stuff I do like their emojis but they're also like my emojis so it sounds great building your brand yeah

yeah and I've given it a name one of my friends have dubbed it Lorum for Lorum Ipsum which is the type that we use when we're filling in the gap and so they're called yeah

yeah so those are my top the three I would say that I sort of like promote in my freelancing. But I also do like a million multitudes of other things. I work on lead magnets, slide decks, branded documents, booklets, book cover design.

You know, the list goes on. Like I said, like when I tell someone on my list, they're like, you need to cut this down. And I'm like, I like my list. Because I have this thing where I like to work on so, not so many different things, but I like to, I like to have a diverse portfolio. I like to get involved with. your business in the sense that I like to create things for the sake of creation. I love to push the boundaries.

I had a logo client from ages ago, actually, last year. And working with her, you could, like, I was talking to it. You could tell the passion she had for what she was doing. It was oozing out of her over camera. Like, I was, it was amazing to be. It was intoxicating to be in that present. It was fantastic. And because of that, I feed off that energy and I just start working.

So even after we finished her logo, I created mock-ups for jumpers. And then I got really inspired one evening. And I just decided to do a stop-motion animation of her logo being created. And I sent it to her. And she was like, this is sick. She doesn't. It's nothing like that. But I just, I get a kick out of helping people who are really passionate about what they do.

And I know that if I do these things, they will see and appreciate everything that's been done because they know that, you know, they might not necessarily have the budget or it might be their first time investing in themselves. And the last thing you want to do is be working with a graphic designer who doesn't, like, who just sees you as a number and just wants to be like, yeah, of course. I get paid and all this stuff. And I'm like, no, man, that's not for me. Yeah, get paid and just move on to the next one. Yeah, exactly. Like, what is the point in that? Like, don't get me wrong. We're all here for the payday. We're all here to get, an income and everything, but at the same day, at the same time, like, you want to be making

sure that you're working with someone who actually understands your business and understands you as a person. Like, it doesn't need to be like a hot, girly sit down or a chit chat with cups of teas, glasses of wine where we're talking for hours on end, but it is just a case of seeing someone's passion for what they do and actually translating their into graphic design and into the things they want to do, because that's, that's essentially, that's their livelihood, that's their life. Why would you not bring that in? Why would you just like, bye, that's like.

It's like if I put myself into their position, I wouldn't want to work with someone who does that, you know, just like a corporate work, but rather to develop some kind of relationship, enjoy working on it, spend time on it and build it together.

In turn, it doesn't help in the long run, because then they're there really, also I'm they're really trusting of you and they want to work with you for everything in the future. It just makes more sense if you're going to be passionate. I was going to ask you if you

advertise or build your brand name as Clara does design. Yeah, so I do advertise as Clara does design. Full disclosure, I did this without much thought.

I didn't really like the idea of being so my full name is Clara Walton and it sounds in my opinion very very professional but I'm not a professional person like I am a professional person but I just I come across as maybe I don't know a bit too much for my name I think I've got much more of a like a personality compared to my name like if I heard Clara Walton I expect I can shake because that's such like the kind of thing that my name is so when I started my presentation I was like well what do other graphic designers do and some people call their you know they give their name and then a

studio and I was like well I don't really feel like lying to people to say that I've got a studio I have a desk I have a desk and a laptop and an iPad and that's what I've got so I was like well what do I do I design Clara does design I mean but to be honest I like it and it and it no stands out because I haven't really seen anything like that so I'm good to you. I mean, I just thought about like, what do I do and how do I want to market myself? And I'm like, I don't really want to market myself as not myself, if that makes sense. I just don't want to be that person who's like Walton Designs or Walton Studios or Clara Studios because there are hundreds of Clara's in the world and there are hundreds of people with

my name. And I was like, well, just be very, you know, on the nose of it. it Clara does design I design. Hmm. And I think it maybe sounds more creative, playful and like a personal rather than something more like a corporate or, I don't know, generic and boring. As we've been speaking about your work, where can people see your work or your portfolio? Oh, portfolio is in the deep recesses of the crust of the planet, no thing.

No, I'm kidding. That's the answer I give when I don't want to say it. No, so at the moment, I would redirect people to my website. However, it is currently under construction. It's the old website at the moment, and I'm still updating it because I'm progressing so much in, like, my offers and what I do for people. So you can see some stuff on my website. My portfolio is up there.

Don't judge me for the website, though. But aside from that, I have... Okay, okay, I feel like I'm going to suddenly run to my website and launch the new version that I was doing, but fine, it's cool. So, if you want to see my portfolio, you can catch it on Instagram. My Instagram is clara.dot does.design. Sorry, that's designs with an S. I had to catch my breath there. And you can also find me a link. I'm just Clara Walton on LinkedIn, but I do have a freelance for Clara does Suzanne, but you're probably more like to find me on Clara, Clara Walton.

My portfolio, I don't tend to just put out there. Like, I've put out some bits and pieces that I've done in the past, but I haven't launched my new portfolio. So if you do want to see it, just message me. I'll send it to you. But certainly, yeah, that is the grand scape. You know what, now that you've said it, I'm going to put it up online today. well what's the worse that could happen people see my work and go now not for me and i'll be like sweet bye need to need to hold yourself accountable now i know now that we've said it it's in recording i have no choice but to do it so that's today's plan i was going to you know do calls work

but now you've just totally derailed me i have to go the opposite way can do it later and are you still looking, are still looking for new clients if someone wanted to work with? All the time. I am supremely busy, but I always have time to look out for new people who need help. I have, so there's a form on my LinkedIn that you can fill out and I can schedule in a one-to-one. And with that, I can basically get a bit of a scope of what you're after, you know, like what you might need from me or what you are intending to do. At the moment, so as of Thursday, I will be in Thailand for three weeks. Wow.

Yeah. Yeah, just before she submits all her work, she just decides to run off to Thailand for three weeks. That sounds amazing. Jealous. It's actually going to be insanely cool. I'm really only going to go see my best friend who lives out of there. but it's just a nice little opportunity to get a trip and I was like well if I'm making that trip I may as well go for three weeks yeah so yeah as of Thursday I will be in Thailand for three weeks so the time difference might be a little bit crazy

but at the same time if you fill in the form on my LinkedIn then I can happily you know work around the time schedule and work it in there um full disclosure I am actually fully booked for let me see until the middle of April I am fully booked. So I won't be actually taking on any new projects until middle, like later April time. I know that sounds a bit weird, but it's just like from the time frame that I'm currently and I was like, I'm in April. No, we're in March. So I was looking at the calendar. But yeah, so from the middle of April onwards, I'll be taking on new clients. So if anyone wants to like josh up their branding, take it from nah to hell yeah. That is all me. Yeah for it. I'm here for it. I'm I will make sure to add the link to the show notes.

And as we will be finishing, Clara, is there anything that you would like to add or some final message or something that I should have asked and didn't ask you? Yes, you didn't ask me how I was. No, I'm kidding. I did before the recording. Yes, yes. In front of this in the pre-chats. Is there anything else I want to add? I guess I want to ring home that my points about education and my points about freelancing.

And I will say this now, even with all the education that you go in for, whether it be university, courses, college, whatever, confidence does not come with it. You have to build it yourself. You get confident in one area, but when it comes to transferring that into freelancing, confidence does not transfer immediately. So I would say, build a confidence slowly, but progressively, and believe in yourself when you do it, because it is terrifying when you start. But you get into it, you get into a rhythm of the motion. And that's my piece.

I'm saving my, that's me, that's me done. Yeah, I think that's a great piece of advice to finish with them. So thank you very much, Clara. It was a pleasure and it was really nice. chat, very insightful and I really like your positivity and I hope you will get some new clients, but in the middle of April, not before. This is been epic. Thank you so much for having me.

It was really great chatting to you, actually. It was awesome. It was my pleasure and I will stay in touch. So thank you, Claire. Thank you. Thank you for listening. If we enjoy the show, please leave us a five-star review on your favorite podcast app, get in touch to provide your feedback or share any ideas for future guests.

Thank you and see you soon.