Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Courtlyn Jones, Founder, and CEO of The Design Database, located in Brooklyn, NY, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

The Design Database is an online membership-based marketplace and community for FEMALE and non-binary visual artists and designers working in the freelance space. We bring female Creatives together to inspire one another, form collaborations, find QUALITY clients, and have a place to sell their services AND their physical artwork (prints, clothing, jewelry, etc.).

Think Fiverr meets Vistaprint!

We're supporting graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, content creators, NFT designers, and so much more! Our mission is to bridge the gap in gender parity by shining a light on an overlooked and undervalued community of talent and providing the education and opportunities that these artists need to earn their worth. With our courses, podcasts, events, and other resources, teaching these women how to price their work and navigate the freelance journey sets them up for success and gives them more confidence to build the career of their dreams! The Design Database takes 0% commission from our artists because we are built as a support system to HELP, not take away their hard-earned revenue.

Tell us about yourself

I am a graphic designer and visual artist myself. I've always been painting and drawing since I was a little girl (I practically came out of the womb with a paintbrush). I started doing graphic design when I was in my senior year of high school and majored in it when I attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. My two passions have always been creating art and helping people.

I've worked in both corporate and moonlighted as a freelancer for over 12 years, so I am very familiar with the toxicity and the struggles. There's always been sexism in the workplace and fewer opportunities for women across every industry, and it's infuriating. I ended up quitting my "dream job" in 2021, without a plan, because I couldn't take the limitations and restrictions of working in corporate anymore. As a Creative, I want art to always be enjoyable because it's supposed to be. Art and design are about expression.

My original plan was to work as a freelancer full-time, but I have never been a fan of the current freelance platforms out there because they take huge commissions from artists. That was when I decided that instead of working freelance again, I wanted to build my own platform to help other female artists have better opportunities and be able to connect with other like-minded people to help them on their journey. I've always wanted a platform like The Design Database. Working as a freelancer can be so lonely at times, and it's great to be able to have a community to support you. That's what keeps me going! Knowing that I have this incredible vision and the ambition to help so many amazing women shine their light makes my heart so full and keeps me motivated every day.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment has been gaining the support of over 1300 women in less than a year. Before we even launched The Design Database, I posted on LinkedIn about building a community of Creatives and wanted to see how people would perceive that idea. In less than 24 hours, I had over 300 emails in my inbox from very excited artists asking how they could be a part of whatever I was building. That was when I realized this is such a HUGE need. This platform is so valuable, and artists want community. They want more opportunities. They NEED it, and they trusted me, a complete stranger, to give it to them. Onboarded today, we have over 480 customers and 900 on our waiting list. We are currently working on our relaunch, so our product development team is hard at work expanding our site so we can get everyone on the platform, but so far, it has been a very exciting journey.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

There have been so many struggles, and I know there will be more to come, but the biggest one has been balancing the number of artists and the number of clients. We have more artists onboarded than we do clients, so we want to make sure we are providing our artists with plenty of opportunities. Our team has been traveling a lot and networking with amazing companies, mostly start-ups and solopreneurs, and they all need Creatives to help them build their branding, or for marketing projects, so they are very excited to support our community. We are currently working towards expanding our sales team so that we can triple our efforts and be able to acquire more client leads. If anyone is looking to hire creative help for your team, definitely check us out!

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Do your research! Learn your market, learn your audience, and do your due diligence. There are so many challenges that you will face as an entrepreneur, and you need to be prepared. Customers will ask questions, investors will test you, and you need to know your P's and Q's. Definitely make sure you have a solid business plan before you do anything.
  2. Take care of your founding customers and pay close attention to their needs. They are your beta users, and they trust you to give them a high-quality experience. Check-in with them regularly and ask for feedback to see how they like your product/service, what is and isn't working, and how you can improve their experience. Don't focus on getting more customers until you make sure that your current customers are actually satisfied.
  3. Be prepared to step out of your comfort zone because that's the only way you will grow. I have never traveled much, but now I am on a plane almost every two weeks because I am flying to different conferences/events and networking. I'm terrified of public speaking, but I've had to overcome that in order to grow my audience. You're going to have to do hard things, but it's worth it if this is what you actually want to do. Make sure you have a good way because if you know WHY you're doing something and it really motivates you, that is what will make you successful.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

The Design Database is set to relaunch in August 2022, and all of our artists get a 30-day FREE trial, while clients get a discount with the code THEDSGNDATABASE. We're so excited to see you all on the new platform soon and can't wait to connect!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.thedesigndatabase.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedesigndatabase
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedesigndatabase/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedsgndatabase
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtlynjones/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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