Awaken The Designer Within

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in creative design but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Elizabeth Alli, Co-Founder of DesignerUp, located in San Francisco, CA, USA.

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

I am the co-founder of DesignerUp, an online product design school teaching UX/UI design. We help designers from all walks of life to become more mindful and skillful creators of digital products.

Tell us about yourself

I was a trained teacher and had been a product designer working for startups for many years. It was the early 2000s, and user experience design was a relatively unknown profession, and there were no online courses at the time dedicated to teaching the end-to-end, zero-to-one product design process. Many of the large boot camps were only teaching design thinking and had a very cookie-cutter approach to learning and creating a portfolio, leaving designers ill-equipped to face the real challenges of working in tech and how to go about creating more ethical and sustainable digital experiences. I saw this as a chance to capture what I learned and share it, and I decided to start a YouTube channel. One of my very first videos was over 20 minutes of me breaking down my unique approach to color theory and choosing color palettes, it got a lot of attention and love, and that motivated me to continue teaching and sharing online. I started creating lessons for the full course that I had envisioned and testing them in live workshops. The turnout was amazing, and that's when I decided to create a full curriculum and community centered around my philosophy of mindful product design.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I feel really lucky that my content resonates with the kinds of students that it does. Our community is my pride and joy, and I've met some of the kindness, most open-minded, and wise people as a result of it, many of whom have gone on to do really incredible things.

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

I feel a great deal of responsibility to help my students succeed, so I try to take care not to burn out and replenish myself with good self-care. Self-doubt also creeps in a lot, especially when you've got a lot of decisions to make, both big and small, and have others relying on you. It happens to me most often when I've worked on a piece of content for a long time and poured my all into it, and it doesn't perform as well as I thought it would. That's always hard, hard to shake it off and move on to the next thing.

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

Beware of your self-talk. It's easy to feel like you're not doing enough or that you're not good enough, or that your business is not doing as well or growing as fast as you'd like it to. Don't be hard on yourself, and there are a lot of factors at play that is out of your control, and berating yourself is just awful for your mental health. We don't extend ourselves nearly enough self-compassion. If you wouldn't say it to a hurting friend, don't say it to yourself.
Have some sort of practice that grounds you and brings you back to the present every day, your long-term values, and what really matters to you. Ideas come and go, businesses come and go, and money comes and goes. Your health and well-being are irreplaceable. Give it the care and respect it deserves.
Just go for it. Give yourself permission to try a side hustle or passion project and see what kind of signals you get, oh, and drink more water.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://designerup.co/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/designerupco/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/designerupco/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LizTheWhizard
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethalli/

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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