Play the long game

Welcome to Creatives Anonymous, a weekly newsletter that explores what it means to be a modern-day creative through essays, interviews, and commentary.

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It’s hard for any of us to know what the future holds for our lives. 

We have little to no control over the path our lives will take, no matter how much we think we do. 

Circumstances change. We follow urges. We end up in places we never thought we’d be. 

All we can do is make the best decisions for ourselves in the moment based on the information we have at the time. 

Ultimately, we’re playing the long game with our lives, with our careers. Our decisions shape the foundation for our future. 

And not every decision is going to be a good one. We all make decisions that we wish we hadn’t. But we can’t obsess over the mistakes we make or play the “what if” game with the paths we decided not to go down—all we can do is move forward to what’s next.

What’s important is what the decisions lead to. Every decision we make, whether consciously or not, leads us down the path we’re meant to go on. They help us better understand who we are and lead us closer to who we’re meant to be. 

When we have a strong foundation and a deep understanding of who we are at our core, we can handle anything life can throw at us. We can pivot our careers, move cities, and do the impossible because we know that every decision we’ve made becomes the fuel for what comes next. 

Today’s interview is with one of my fellow business owner friends, CK. CK ditched her legal career to become a brand strategist and designer for fellow multipassionate founders. Full-time brand-builder, part-time law student, part-time artist, and anti-burnout champion for productive creatives. When she’s not covered in paint or reading about fashion lawsuits, you’ll find her basking in the sun.

You’re currently a law and poli-sci student, but you’re also a brand designer. Tell me a little bit more about how you chose that career path and how the two disciplines interact with each other.

I’ve always been artistic and creative, but I also had a knack for non-creative areas, like math and science. In high school, I started watching Suits while taking Legal Studies. I was just so drawn to the work and the ‘city buzz’ of the lawyer life, so I decided to pursue a double-degree in Law and Government and International Relations (a mouthful, I know!)

This journey was a long, wild ride, so here’s a TL;DR timeline on how I did a 180 on my legal career:

• In early 2020, I was a full-time law clerk and also taking on full-time university studies… until the workload, stress, and pressure led to burnout.

• Not wanting to experience burnout ever again, I opened a digital planner store in January 2023 to create a passive income source.

• From there, I discovered the design industry - specifically, brand design

• At first, I fell in love with the visual and design aspect, but as I went deeper down the rabbit hole, I discovered brand strategy and grew even more obsessed with the fact that research and analysis had their place in a creative role

• Brand design and brand-building just seemed like the dreamiest of careers for me, where both my left- and right-brain would equally thrive

• So in October 2023, I booked a coaching call with a designer to figure out how I could start my own design business. I was also part of the BETA test for their brand strategy course.

• And by January 2024, I opened my own brand design business.

In ways I didn’t realise, my legal training and academic background set me up for starting a business, especially since I was a bit of a ‘straight arrow’. For example, from the get-go, I knew how important it was to set everything up properly, so I did—registered the business, started tracking my books, set up separate bank accounts, ensured I had the right contracts in place, even if it’s for friends, etc. This gave me a lot of confidence that I was pursuing a legitimate career path, and it also showed people how serious I was, and this wasn’t just a hobby I started.

How does your lawyer brain affect/inspire your design work and vice versa? How would you say it influences your approach to designing?

However much there is analyzing and researching in law, there’s twice as much fact-finding, spotting gaps, and reading between the lines. Because of this, my four years in the legal industry helped sharpen the skills I needed to be able to wear the ‘brand strategist’ hat more confidently, since I’m also self-taught. I’d even say I exercise this skillset more than designing and creative problem-solving, because a huge portion of brand-building is to do with positioning, messaging, and trying to fill in the gaps for your target audience.

Most of my legal training was also in historical personal injury, which meant our legal matters were complex, ongoing for at least a year, and open to all sorts of obstacles and challenges. But looking back, I realise this shaped how I approach brand-building: with the long-game mindset. By default, I end up thinking about how to make a brand more future-proof—not just in terms of timeless designs but also being malleable or flexible to expansions, pivots, and so on, while maintaining core foundations.

You’re known in the online space for being multipassionate and encouraging people to find the through-line that links all their passions together. How can a multipassionate creative find the common thread around all their passions and build a brand/career around that?

I do a lot of common-thread-finding in my personal branding intensives, and as trivial as it sounds, part of my process is to ask people what other hobbies and passions they have. I then list each of them, and then further list what each of those involves—be it skills, tools, etc. From there, I spot what’s common across all of those and then link it back to how strong or relevant it is to the brand and the founder’s goals. That’s the common thread, defined!

I recently worked with the co-founders of an app, and the developer is passionate about gaming and coding. What those two passions have in common is trial-and-error, which is closely related to how their product and brands champion experimentation and continuous learning.

Business is definitely a serious thing, but we can learn so much about what career is naturally aligned with us and our strengths, if we pay close attention to the things we do out of pure enjoyment!

In terms of building a career around this common thread, I’d say you have first of all to distinguish what it is you’re really passionate about.

Because I loved working in the legal industry, but as soon as I discovered brand design, it made me realise the difference between being in a career I love vs one I’m extremely passionate about. Despite dedicating over 5 years to it, ditching my stable legal career was such an easy “yes” because brand-building is where I can be both analytical and strategic, AND experimentative and creative. It’s a career that weaves together everything I’ve always been drawn to - psychology, design, strategy, heavy research, and creative application.

And once you find out what things drive you, it can make the whole building a business/career process much easier (as long as you’re also happy to put in that bit of elbow grease to really make it profitable!)

You work with tech founders to create their brand identity. How do you approach a new brand strategy/design project for that field? What does your creative process look like, and how do you find inspiration for their branding?

My process is founder-led, no matter the industry, even when working with both creative service providers and tech founders. The brand has to reflect the person steering it if there’s any goal of audience or community connection. But there is a difference in the angle at which I apply it!

With creatives, the creative direction is more often led by the personality and self-expression of the founder, and the entry point is their POV, story, and the emotional connection they want to spark with their audience. So both the strategy and design are built to act as an extension of the founder.

For tech / SaaS brands, the overall brand direction tends to be more product- or category-led. The focus is on communicating the product’s value clearly and building user trust so there’s more research into what visual triggers or hooks their target user responds to, but it’s just as important that it ties back to the founder’s bigger vision, to bring back the human touch! I also design for digital first, compared to when I work with service providers, since the branding is applied in a lot more online channels than just social media or their website.

But at all times, my biggest source of inspiration is the founder! Part of my branding process involves asking the founder some fun questions about themselves and how they want their brand to be perceived. It might seem like an unnecessary step, but it’s the best way I know to come up with design solutions that aren’t just relying on Instagram or Pinterest. So far, I haven’t had any revisions on logo designs, so I’d say it’s going well!

What’s one creative project that you’re working on now?

More of a personal one, but I’m building out my resource hub. It’s hard to ignore the state of the economy right now, even if you’re someone who’s effortlessly making sales.

And I’d hate for the price tag to be the only thing barring someone from taking even one half-step towards building their brand more clearly and confidently, so I want to be able to meet my community where they’re at, at more accessible points with a hub of both free and low-cost but still high-value resources!

What’s one piece of advice you have for any fellow creative?

There’s no such thing as failing in business if you’re using it to fuel the next thing!

You can follow CK on Instagram at czarcreates and czarcreatesbrands. You can also inquire about her services on her website. 

Creative Corner

• 🎞️ What I’m Consuming: My Oxford Year on Netflix. Fair warning: It gives Fault in Our Stars and A Walk to Remember vibes.

• 💡 What I’m Loving: Watching other people create! I got to watch one of my friends in her element, designing a flower installation over the weekend for an event, and it was so cool to watch how other people approach their creative work. 

• 🎨 What I’m Working On: My wardrobe! I’m considering a clothing rental service to bring some life back into my otherwise dismal closet. 

• 💭 Weekly Musing:

Thank you 💕

If you liked this newsletter, I’d love it if you could forward it to someone who you think would like it, too!

I’m so grateful for all of your support!

Alexa Phillips is a writer, brand strategist, and multi-passionate creative. She is the founder of Bright Eyes Creative, a Seattle-based brand consultancy and media company.

Where to find me:

• Learn more about my services 

• Listen to my recent podcast episodes.