Badass Folx in Biz - Michelle Miller | Minty Made
Designing a Sustainable and Ethical Future
WITHOUT A DOUBT meeting trail-blazing biz owners, like Michelle Miller, Founder and Creative Director of Minty Made, has been one of my fave parts of biz ownership so far.
Way back in February 2021, I opened Instagram and found the loveliest voice note from Michelle. The rest, as they say, is history.
Over the last year, we’ve been cheering each other on, watching our businesses grow, and even been lucky enough to collaborate together on a client project. Shoutout to Galesia and Renita over at Renée Marie Collections!
Working with a branding designer and strategist who’s a total pro like Michelle makes my job a helluva lot easier. And of course, watching copy get brought to life through intentional design is always a thrill. Michelle and I already have another big website project lined up for the new year, plus some other plans in the works… watch this space! I couldn’t be more excited to work with this awesome gal again.
Now, over to Michelle!
You left the corporate design world to go all-in on Minty Made. What made you realize you wanted to take this step?
After working in corporate marketing and sales for over a decade, I had always planned to run my own business “someday.” When the pandemic halted the outreach part of my role as the Marketing Director for a local non-profit, I found I had some more time to start shifting my focus to continue building the branding and web design studio side-hustle that was Minty Made. I began marketing my business and brand more outwardly in the normal place that many of us start...by making a business Instagram account. I was overwhelmed - in the best way - by the amount of support, engagement and networking opportunities that started coming my way. I also tuned into the She Did It Her Way podcast and attended a few virtual entrepreneur summits before making the decision to establish my “leap day” or the day that I planned to make the jump to making Minty Made my full-time gig.
Though many of us can probably look back to our experiences early on in our corporate careers and wish we had become our own boss sooner, I am very grateful for the journey that brought me to where I am today. Fully immersing myself into a corporate marketing role in my early 20s has shaped my work ethic, drive and self-discipline that has made my first full-time year successful. In fact, it led me to establish my niche and passion for educating others on green/sustainable design practices. After planning over 30 trade shows during my time in corporate, I was flabbergasted by the amount of waste produced by these events and established the first sustainability focus groups within two of the organizations that I worked for. Sadly, we didn’t have the interest or participation that I had hoped. I decided that the day would come when I founded my own business and would educate people and businesses in this space.
How has Minty Made transformed and evolved since you got started? What’s the journey been like so far?
Though my expertise and education are rooted in marketing strategy, graphic design, branding and web design, I went into this new venture fully acknowledging that I had a lot to learn during my first year of taking my business full time as an entrepreneur. I set a goal of matching what had been my full-time salary to the revenue that I’d earn in my first year of business. I’m proud to say that I surpassed this goal in October, which has helped me realize I am capable of running a profitable design studio. Even though I have spent a lot of time outwardly marketing my services, most of my work has come from referrals or connections I had made earlier in my career, surprisingly enough.
With all this in mind, there are a few things I could have done differently:
1) Invested more intentionally in online courses. I’ll admit it...I love learning new things and supporting other entrepreneur coaches and those that are teaching others how to run a successful business. However, most of the courses aren’t going anywhere and I wish I hadn’t rushed into purchasing so many at once. Though I knew it was going to be a year of heavier investments up front, some of the courses are no longer relevant for me to engage with as I streamlined and narrowed down my core services and offerings.
2) Not prioritizing paying myself a healthy salary first. I am always focused and adamant about paying others their worth, but going into 2022 this is a big goal for me. Running a “sustainable” business includes making sure that I can sustain my own life/bills/unexpected expenses comfortably before I focus on outsourcing all the things.
All in all, I’m extremely grateful for the relationships I’ve built with my new clients, contractors and the new knowledge and guidance that I’ve gained during my first year full-time in my business. These experiences have all taught me valuable lessons as I prepare to head into the new year.
What’s the best part of your day as the director of a now flourishing creative studio? What do you love most about what you do?
My favorite part of my role as a Creative Director is bringing my fellow creative business owners together to help our clients make a true impact with their new branding, website and marketing strategy. As I am the only full-time employee of Minty Made at this time, I made the conscious decision to offer clients this team-like approach to our larger projects. What this means is, while I am responsible for the top-level coordination of all the scheduling, front-end design work and final delivery, I am now outsourcing website copywriting, backend web development and photography to a trusted network of both local and remote partnerships that I’ve been able to build. Out of the entire process, I would say my absolute favorite part of a project is getting to work with the photographer to develop a shot list and be involved in the creative direction of the photoshoot. I love the energy this brings to myself, the client and overall excitement of the project!
What’ve been the highlights and challenges of running your own biz?
The highlights that immediately come to mind are meeting other ecopreneurs who are working toward a similar mission of empowering others (like you, Robyn!) as well as getting to experience the transformation and growth of a client who comes to us with no brand strategy and watching them utilize this new identity as a tool for growth and ammunition to begin charging their worth.
As far as challenges are concerned, I would say budgeting has been a big one in my first year. Coming from a career where I had a guaranteed paycheck coming in every two weeks, making this mindset and habitual shift has definitely been (and still is) a challenge. My first priority is making sure that all of my contractors are fairly paid and that our clients are experiencing the long-term ROI that they expect from working with us. To be fully transparent, my main goal going into this new year is to make sure that I pay myself fairly in order to keep the business running sustainably.
Describe your favorite aspect of the design/branding process.
Most of the time, clients come to us needing strategy, not only for the visual design of their branding, but their messaging, marketing channels and we always assist with aligning these assets with their overall business development goals as well. My favorite part of the design process is bringing the strategy we’ve developed together to life and seeing my clients have that “ah-ha!” moment when we are able to translate this into a tangible product that their target audience can resonate with. Most of the time, we only present 1-2 visual concepts to our clients and then refine from there. This is because our clients trust us as the design experts once they experience the thoroughness of our strategy phase.
What would you say is one of the most important things when looking to hire a branding strategist and designer?
Most importantly, make sure the strategist or designer you hire aligns with your personal values as well as the core values of your business. Most of the time, you’ll be able to read about a designer’s core values on their website, social media channels, etc. And if for some reason you don’t see them, just ask! Every business owner (and human, for that matter) has values that are near and dear to our hearts. I do want to also emphasize that it is just as important that you are a good fit as a client to them as they are to you. When I meet with or get on a consultation call with a client, I can almost always sense the energy and connection between us and my intuition lets me know if this is going to work or not.
Second, make sure you thoroughly understand their process and if something is unclear, ask them to explain more thoroughly. There is a HUGE difference between hiring someone to create a single logo for you and hiring a brand strategist/designer to deliver a complete branding identity. If you’re in the market for the latter, my best advice would be to interview 2-3 designers even if you are leaning more towards one or the other and this will allow you to feel more confident and aligned with your decision.
How did your sustainability journey begin? And how do you incorporate your values into your business?
As a kid (and I don’t think I’m alone here), we probably only remember a few ways sustainability was presented to us at a young age. My uncle was and still is a strong proponent of composting and growing his own food, so I do remember spending time in his garden learning about why we should compost our food instead of throwing it in the trash. I also have a vivid memory of him giving me an apple in my Jack-o-lantern on Halloween one year. I was disgruntled because it was so big that it smushed all my candy, but now realizing that I am 100% the person that will give all the kids apples instead of candy. LOL!
As I mentioned earlier, my corporate career really kick-started my interest and advocacy surrounding sustainability. Witnessing reams and reams of paper being (barely) printed on and thrown away, executives regularly getting on international flights to wine-and-dine an important customer for a single day, seeing all of the “swag” produced for a one-time event or trade show and worst of all, seeing everyone around me (and myself) deal with the constant burnout. It was all so infuriating!
I left corporate in 2018 and I never looked back, but instead looking forward as to how I could come back and consult them on changing their behaviors “someday.” ;-)
Share your top 3 tips for making your brand more sustainable and ethical.
Being as transparent as possible about your sustainability practices and where you’re looking to improve. No business is perfect and we are all human at the end of the day. Publishing a page on your website that speaks to your sustainability efforts or an annual environmental impact report are fantastic ways to display this information.
Pricing your services to fairly compensate yourself and having the ability to give back to others in some way, shape or form. Pricing is always a hot topic, for every business owner. Communicate your price increases when necessary, be transparent about your pricing on your website and decide how you want to give back to your community. Whether it’s offering one pro-bono project for a non-profit organization each year or donating a percentage of your revenue to an ethical organization that aligns with your values, there’s many ways to give back.
Use your “voice” for good. There is so much doom and gloom news about the climate crisis that circulates around the media. Though we do need to be informed of the trajectory if things do not change, I am a firm believer in staying away from fear-based tactics and focusing on what we can do more of the time instead of what we aren’t doing. Just as we’ve been taught to raise our children and train our dogs with positive reinforcement, humans respond better to this than they do if they feel shamed or like they’re not doing enough.
You’re originally from San Diego. How did you end up in the PNW? What do you love most about where you live?
During a business trip with my corporate marketing role in 2013, I visited Portland, Oregon to meet with a customer. To this day, it’s hard to put into words, but something inside me shifted during the day and a half that I spent in the Northwest. When it was time to get on the plane to come home, I didn’t want to go. I felt some sort of cosmic pull that I needed to be there. It got worse after my best friend and I decided to take a summer trip up to Portland and Seattle. I kid you not that I cashed in most if not all of my hotel points and airline miles on spending weekends in the Pacific Northwest. From that summer onward, I was determined to find a job that would allow me to relocate to the Northwest. Finally, in 2017, I received a job offer and was able to pack my bags and start my new life in Seattle. I still pinch myself sometimes when I'm driving around, deep in a forest of evergreens, that I made this happen. It’s very empowering to know if I desire something so much, I have the ability to manifest it and make it a reality.
And I get asked all the time…”Why the heck would you move from San Diego to Seattle!? It rains there!” After politely replying that I am aware of this, I tell them the number one reason: hiking. I absolutely love the outdoors and what it has to offer in this area. From backpacking to paddle-boarding to camping to snowshoeing and skiing in the winter, I have truly found my paradise.
What’s next for Minty Made? What are some of your big dreams for the future? I heard through the grapevine you’re launching something exciting in the new year!
2022 is going to be a big year for Minty Made, and for me personally! We are in the midst of finishing up the material for a course that will be launching in April 2022. The Green Marketing Academy™ is a course and coaching program that helps businesses and marketing professionals adopt more eco-friendly marketing habits, all while keeping their own energy sustainable. I am so excited to share with others some of the shifts that I’ve made in my own business which have resulted in the ability to be profitable in our first year as a full-time studio. More important than that is the fact that we’ve been able to work with like-minded clients who value sustainability who then refer us out to others.
I am also getting married in July of next year! Though it’s been a bit stressful navigating the post-pandemic wedding planning world, I am super excited to integrate sustainability practices into our big day as well.
Thanks so much for allowing me the opportunity to interview with you, Robyn. I am so excited to continue working together next year!