Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in creative design but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Wendy Puffer, Owner & Chief Design Officer of Marion Design Co., located in Marion, IN, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Marion Design Co. is a community-based creative design studio run by a team of both interns and professional designers. Our mission is to revive, empower, and propel the community forward by creating sustainable design solutions developed through research, design thinking, and collaboration. Our work takes the shape of graphic design, placemaking design, environmental design, systems design, interior design, and design thinking, employing design principles to magnify the powerful stories behind every community.
Tell us about yourself
As an interior designer, design thinking leader, and educator, my mission of connecting people through design to improve lives by utilizing innovative processes to create meaningful solutions grows each time I see it work! When an organization, business, or individual brings a problem to us, design is always able to create a meaningful solution as long as we're approaching it with empathy. Therefore, every project requires a customized approach but with a foundation of empathy and engagement.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Every time a client returns to us with a new design problem to solve, we've accomplished developing a relationship of trust and hope. If we can come alongside people to help them realize their dreams and visions utilizing the skills of design thinking, graphic design, placemaking, and interior design, then we've accomplished something meaningful, no matter the scope of the project.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
One of the hardest things that come with owning a business is balancing humility with promotion. That's why my stories will typically be about my clients, not about me. I want to celebrate what I'm doing in the context of their success.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
Be true to what you've been called to accomplish. Don't try to be like another individual or company on social media. There are a thousand others who are doing what they're doing. Do what you do well for the people you want to serve.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.mariondesign.co/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariondesignco
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariondesignco/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypuffer/
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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