Episode 199- How to Build Your Skill Sets: Cathy Sell, Pink Sheep Designs

Today on the show we got to connect with local entrepreneur and Maryland native Cathy Sell. Cathy is a dental hygienist turned graphic designer who has always had a love for art. This innovator doubled down on this passion in 2017 when she launched her business Pink Sheep Designs when she was in her mid-30s. Join us for an engaging and educational conversation today as Cathy shares how she grew Pink Sheep Designs from the ground up, transitioned from free to paying customers, built and sharpened her skill set, and learned excellent time management skills from Ironman training.

Links from today’s show:
Pink Sheep Designs: https://pinksheepdesigns.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PinkSheep-Designs-112411353662684

Music Attribution: Jane Fonda by The Grand Affair is licensed through the YouTube Audio Library.

Episode Breakdown:

0:00 Start
1:59 How this dental hygienist turned back to her love of art in her mid-30s
6:13 How she cut her teeth designing medals, posters, shirts, and swag for free
12:10 Balancing the vision of the customer with intentional design
14:02 Key tools and processes during the early stages of Pink Sheep Designs
16:27 Building and sharpening her graphic and web design skills
19:15 How to build up your support network
22:28 Being able to share this experience with her girls
24:34 How she always wanted to work for herself but got cold feet about the process
27:36 Setting costs for design services
29:16 Transitioning and modifying processes to move from free to paying customers
33:52 How a year training for an Ironman was key for her time management skills
39:52 How COVID has impacted business and the need for more ecommerce
41:56 Final questions and thoughts
50:31 End

Other links from today’s podcast:

Southeast Minnesota SCORE- https://seminnesota.score.org/
Skillshare- https://www.skillshare.com/
Design Cuts- https://www.designcuts.com/
Rochester Rising survey- https://airtable.com/shr9xqxwNtPIvVXbM

Today on the show we got to connect with local entrepreneur and Maryland native Cathy Sell. Cathy is a dental hygienist turned graphic designer who has always had a love for art. This innovator doubled down on this passion in 2017 when she launched her business Pink Sheep Designs when she was in her mid-30s. Join us for an engaging and educational conversation today as Cathy shares how she grew Pink Sheep Designs from the ground up, transitioned from free to paying customers, built and sharpened her skill set, and learned excellent time management skills from Ironman training.  

Links from today’s show:

Pink Sheep Designs: https://pinksheepdesigns.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PinkSheep-Designs-112411353662684

Music Attribution: Jane Fonda by The Grand Affair is licensed through the YouTube Audio Library. 

Episode Breakdown:

0:00 Start

1:59 How this dental hygienist turned back to her love of art in her mid-30s

6:13 How she cut her teeth designing medals, posters, shirts, and swag for free

12:10 Balancing the vision of the customer with intentional design

14:02 Key tools and processes during the early stages of Pink Sheep Designs

16:27 Building and sharpening her graphic and web design skills

19:15 How to build up your support network

22:28 Being able to share this experience with her girls

24:34 How she always wanted to work for herself but got cold feet about the process

27:36 Setting costs for design services

29:16 Transitioning and modifying processes to move from free to paying customers

33:52 How a year training for an Ironman was key for her time management skills

39:52 How COVID has impacted business and the need for more ecommerce

41:56 Final questions and thoughts

50:31 End

Other links from today’s podcast:

Southeast Minnesota SCORE- https://seminnesota.score.org/

Skillshare- https://www.skillshare.com/

Design Cuts- https://www.designcuts.com/

Rochester Rising survey- https://airtable.com/shr9xqxwNtPIvVXbM