A Free At 50 Interview: Entrepreneur Celine Bada is Branding herself and her Clients
Introduction to online creative entrepreneur Celine and the Free At 50 Interview Series
Celine Bada helps businesses amplify their presence & revenue through strategic brand design. She’s a Brand & Graphic Designer for Coaches, Realtors, and Entrepreneurs and I met her (surprise!) in a Facebook group inviting us to collaborate with other members.
The result: she created my brand board. My consistency across everything Free At 50 is thanks to her! Just look at it all: my Facebook group, Facebook page, Pinterest and Instagram accounts.
Backed up with six years of experience as a Graphic Designer along with the degree and 10-year practice as an Architect, Celine has been helping clients build their vision into reality.
As a Brand Designer, she specializes in creating impactful branding and graphics that will amplify the presence of clients, which becomes increased revenue as a result.
Interviewing Celine was important to me to show how you can take the skills you’ve learned and earned and create a business. In fact, that’s what this Interview Series is all about so be sure to check out the rest after reading hers below! And if you're ready to start, download my 6-Step Checklist to Escape the 9-5 here.
Update: as of December 16th 2021, Celine is officially out of 9-5 and freelancing full time!
Disclosure: As a blogger, I use affiliate links sometimes! I may receive commission from purchases I share, but it does not change your price.
Photo by CoWomen on Unsplash
1 Please tell us how, when, and why you decided to become an entrepreneur?
I decided to be an entrepreneur for freedom. I am grateful for having a day job, but I realized that having a single source of income, it will take time to reach my personal goals while supporting my family.
As a breadwinner, I had to make a change and proceeded to take on side hustles which then became a full-time business. I pivoted my career as I discovered that creative design is what I really wanted to do.
Having Architecture as my profession and Graphic Design as my passion, I have both the creativity and technical skills when it comes to building a client's vision into reality.
What excites me the most about being a brand and graphic designer is I get to do what I love to do while helping fellow business owners achieve their own goals. I love to be creative and just sit in my corner to create. I'm happy when clients are happy.
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
2 What inspired your business and its evolution?
I was inspired by fellow digital business owners who own their time and hit their income goals. I have just launched my business and now I am doing the back-end work needed to be able to help more women reach their goals.
I started to offer Graphic Design and from there, I learned more about the creative industry. I learned about pain points that most business owners have in order to stand out and be noticed by their target market.
Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash
I also wanted to collaborate with people who share the same vision and values on making an impact in the lives of others. That's how my business then evolved from graphic design to brand design.
Branding is the reflection of the business owner's vision, mission, and values. These qualities will also attract who they want to serve.
Photo by Caroline Veronez on Unsplash
3 Did you utilize online resources, courses, or coaches to build your business?
Yes! I have a coach who also is my client up to this day: Victoria Downes of the Brand to Profits Academy. We do 1-on-1 coaching and I always gain clarity on how to proceed with the next steps if I am stuck in a creative rut or faced with a roadblock.
After more than a decade of building her businesses, she started to coach more business owners to gain the clarity and confidence in moving their business forward with strategy and purpose.
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
4 How did you determine your ideal client?
I started to work with anyone who needs my services. It was trial and error in the beginning but after some time, I determined my ideal clients are female coaches, realtors (with my background in architecture), and entrepreneurs.
I have worked with female coaches and entrepreneurs as I want to help them focus on running their businesses and focus on their clients while having a solid brand foundation. Branding is the personality of their business and their promise to their clients.
Most of them just DIY their brands to start, which I see is not an issue. Most business owners do this to launch and start working on growing their leads. I can relate to this as I also did it for my polymer clay business back in 2012.
BUT in order to differentiate themselves from other service providers, and to scale their business, they realized that it can't always be a one-woman show.
Photo by "My Life Through A Lens" on Unsplash
We assessed their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. From there, I realized that we had something in common which is also relatable— more women are taking on more challenges and are more inclined to being independent in terms of having their own businesses.
In turn, more opportunities for other women who wanted to break off the mold were opened, and they realized their potential and innate skills.
There are now more females in leadership roles than ever — but still not enough for real gender balance. Impactful branding will defy social expectations, highlight their strengths, and empower while still being empathetic and relatable.
Photo by Edward Howell on Unsplash
5 How long did it take you to meet your income goals?
I haven't met it yet but I'm targeting the end of 2021. You'd be one of the people I'll share the intimate news with!
6 How has your life improved by being an entrepreneur?
My life has improved by having the mindset that there is a bigger world and there are so many things left to learn about your passion, business, and people.
Life is an endless journey of learning.
Photo by Lucas Sandor on Unsplash
7 Please share one book you'd recommend for our readers and why.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. This book has opened my mind about the Law of Attraction and on how the Universe conspires in helping you achieve your dreams.
Second would be The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. I loved it because it taught me to be more grateful and that everything that you can think of is possible. It opened my mind about how opportunities are abundant and achieving your goals are not as impossible as you think.
Photo by Asal Lotfi on Unsplash
8 What is the biggest tip you would give someone wanting to start their own business? (if you have 2 or 3, you'd like to share, feel free!)
- Tip 1: Determine your goals, the timeline, and the steps you'll take to move towards it.
- Tip 2: Determine your target market and the value that you can provide to enhance their lives or businesses
- Tip 3: Take breaks. It can take sleepless nights or less-sleep nights in the beginning but always trust the process and enjoy the journey. Once the foundations are set up, you'll get to catch up on a much-needed rest!
Reach Celine:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/launchbreakbranding/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/launchbreakbranding
