My Journey to Self-Employment
Today I want to talk about my journey to self-employment as a brand designer and how my business allows me to live my life with a progressive disability.
It’s been really important to me not to lose my identity in my disability. I have FA, but FA does not have me. I’ve been building With Love, Libby, to feel like me in every way, and I love that I get to help other small business owners feel like themselves through branding.
Back to the beginning
I studied graphic design in college and I graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 2019. Right before I graduated, I was diagnosed with Freidreich’s Ataxia. I learned that I would probably become a wheelchair user within 5 to 10 years, which kind of threw a wrench in all of my future plans that I had for myself. But I definitely felt lucky that I was going into a field that required computer skills and it wasn’t physically demanding.
I got a job at a marketing agency as a graphic designer in the summer of 2019, and then I moved to Des Moines, Iowa. I was loving this new chapter, I was working 9 to 5, it was a really good path for me at that time.
A Small Business Is Born
In late 2020, I started a new hobby making soy candles from vintage glassware. This quickly turned into a side hustle where I was doing markets, doing online orders, leading candle workshops, and With Love, Libby was born.
After a couple of years of this, I was really burnt out (no pun intended!) from juggling candles, working full-time, being in my early 20’s, and having a disability that was actively progressing. It was a really busy and exciting time in my life, but it was also one of the hardest. I started using a walker for the first time during all of this, and I was having a lot of body grief. Working a full-time job in an office was becoming really difficult, and I just knew that I needed a change.
The Start of a
New Chapter
In early 2023, I ended up leaving my full time job to pursue candles and design under With Love, Libby. I wanted to be able to curate my clientele and create a work-life balance that worked for my needs as they change over time.
I literally had zero design clients at the time, and I was really just hoping for the best. It took several months of feeling like I was a crazy person and having a lot of self doubt until I eventually started booking real brand clients. I’ve since phased candles out of my business services, but I do still have a lot of love for the art of candle-making.
Now I can really focus on brand design, perfecting my craft, and getting into a newfound interest of public speaking, which I never thought I would get into! Plus, my days are slower. I take my time waking up in the morning. If I’m having a tough chronic illness day, I can rest. I can go to doctors’ appointments, the chiropractor, physical therapy, whatever I need to do to keep living my life and doing what’s best for my body.
I take on the workload I know I can handle. I get to work with really awesome small business owners on my dream projects. I’m so grateful for what this business has become over the years, and I’m really proud of myself for knowing when it’s time to make a change, even if it’s intimidating and uncomfortable.
If you’ve been here since the beginning, thank you, and let’s keep moving!
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