Interview with Lowenna Learmonth
Lowenna is the founder of The Soulful Design Co., a boutique creative agency empowering soul-aligned, female visionaries to infuse their soul into their business through brand design, web design and social media services. Their main focus is helping their clients build a business where they can show up authentically and pave their own unique pathway to success. Lowenna thrives off building meaningful connections and keeps community at the core of everything The Soulful Design Co. does, trying to bring value in every way they possibly can.
What inspired you to start your own business, and what challenges did you face in the initial stages of entrepreneurship?
When I got engaged back in 2018, I decided I’d quite like to make my own wedding stationery. After sending the Save The Dates out, people started asking me if I could design things for them like party invitations and wall prints. This led to designing logos and then onto full brand design which I totally fell in love with. I was working alongside my full time job so the main challenge in the initial stage was managing my time. I was working until 11pm/12am every night after my full time job to try and keep up with the volume of work I had coming in.
How do you maintain a work-life balance while running a successful business?
Things are a little tough at the moment because I now have 2 kids under 2. I can only really work Mondays and Thursdays whilst I have childcare for my eldest so I’m now at the total flip side of where I was at the beginning of business where I’m now struggling to even work at all rather than too much!
Can you share a significant milestone or achievement that you are particularly proud of in your entrepreneurial journey?
Just recently, I returned from maternity leave after having only 3 months off with my baby. My first month back was my best month ever in business – more than I ever made at my full time job, working only 2 days per week and running on around 5/6 hours sleep every night!
Have you experienced any gender-related obstacles or biases since starting your own business?
I wouldn’t say so. I worked in the construction industry for 7 years so had my fair share during that time but I haven’t had any since working for myself.
How do you empower and support other women in business?
We offer tailored design services for female founders who want to show up authentically, build meaningful connections and create an impact in their own online space. We keep authenticity and uniqueness right at the core of everything we do and encourage all of our clients and community to infuse those into their own business and content. I firmly believe that the most important things in being an entrepreneur are showing up as your true self and building a business that aligns with the type of life you want to live. Success looks different to everyone and I build my clients’ strategies around their own unique definition of success.
What role has mentorship played in your career, and how has it influenced your growth as a business owner?
I have worked with a couple of business mentors/coaches within the last few years on different areas of my business and I absolutely wouldn’t be able to have launched certain services or achieved certain goals without their support. I’m good at what I do and the services that I offer but I fully appreciate that I need support in scaling my business to where I want to take it.
How have you found marketing your business – has it been easy for you, or have you found it quite difficult?
At the beginning, I struggled a lot. My prices were low because it was just a side hustle at that stage which meant I attracted a lot of nightmare clients that pushed boundaries and disrespected me. When I went full time, I worked so hard on totally nailing my dream client, fostering a community and building a service suite that brings them as much value as possible – that’s when it suddenly got easy because my message lands exactly how I need it to and content creation flows a lot easier because it’s totally channelled.
What are your main marketing activities, and what do you find works best for you?
I only use Instagram. I go through a stage every now and then of posting on Pinterest and LinkedIn but it never lasts. I get 99% of my business from Instagram and I know it like the back of my hand so it doesn’t even really feel like marketing or selling.
Can you discuss a time when you had to pivot or adapt your business strategy?
When I pivoted from freelancing to an agency model at the beginning of this year, I had to take a big step back and look at absolutely everything within the business and how I could streamline it as best as possible. I introduced new apps, programmes and systems that would allow me to communicate with my team easily and save time on tasks. It was stressful and at times I did feel really out of my depth but nothing good comes easy, as they say.
Looking ahead, what are your future goals and aspirations for your business?
I’d like to continue to build my team and eventually get to the stage that they do all of the Done For You services and I work with clients on Done With You services. I thrive working alongside clients on their business and enjoy the feeling of being part of it all rather than just sitting back creating things and handing them over.