Life & Work with Christina Blanchard

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Blanchard.

Hi Christina, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory. 
My story starts in the fall of 2020 during Covid when I was furloughed from my retail job and had to quickly figure out my next move. I had always known I wanted to do something creative but didn’t know where to begin or what avenue to go down. After getting inspired by a TikTok I saw one night, I started an online virtual assistant business where the goal was to assist creatives with their social media, scheduling, marketing, etc. I quickly realized that I had no passion for this, and it was definitely showing through my lack of clients! I’m a very passion-driven person, so trying to force a business out of something I didn’t truly care about was just not happening. 

I was chatting with my grandmother one day, telling her about the struggles of my new business, when she offered to pay for a course or business coach to help me gain some clients. As a broke, new business owner who couldn’t afford something like that myself, this was the most generous thing I had ever heard. She urged me to find a course that aligned with my business goals, and that would take me to the next level. Right around this time, web design was creeping up in the back of my mind, and the more I looked into it, the more I knew that it was an avenue I wanted to go down. Virtual assisting was never something I wanted to do long-term, but I knew web design was something I could make a real career out of. 

It felt like Instagram was reading my mind because before I knew it, I was seeing ads for a 2-month long web design course that was teaching the basics of starting a business and the fundamentals of design. I immediately knew that this was the course for me, and my angel of a grandmother paid for the whole thing. I truly would not have been able to build my business if I didn’t have the knowledge from that course (thankful for her every day!) 

So, I pivoted from virtual assisting, took 2 months to dive into the deep end of branding and web design, and learned everything I possibly could. I was attached to my laptop for 12 hours a day taking the course, watching YouTube tutorials, building my own website, learning how to use Adobe programs like Photoshop and Illustrator, planning my social media, etc. I launched Garland Studios in January of 2021 and by the grace of God, I immediately had clients to work with. 

My first web client fell into my lap by way of Instagram. She was a TikTok creator who made food and lifestyle videos. I was a follower long before the thought of starting my own business ever crossed my mind. Maybe 2 nights before I launched my business, I followed her on Instagram from my web design business account. When I woke up the next morning, she had DM’d me saying she wanted to re-do her website and was asking if I was taking clients. We had a call the next day; she signed on immediately, and I pretended like I knew what I was doing ha! When the project was done, she posted about me to her 300k followers, which led to some new clients. They then posted about their project which led to even more clients, and it just snowballed from there. (@zaynab_issa is her handle by the way… everyone should check her out; she’s amazing.) 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest challenge I’ve faced has been this year actually. Working for yourself (and by yourself) is always a struggle. Your income might be very inconsistent; your motivation might not be there some days, you might have some tough clients… This year hit me with all three of those challenges. I felt like I lost a little bit of the steam that had been carrying me through my first couple years in business. I was still passionate about my work, and I never wanted to give it up, but I was finding it hard to open up my laptop each day and get to work. While these challenges were super humbling and difficult to go through, they forced me to reevaluate some things and get clear on why I started this business in the first place. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a branding and web designer based here in Phoenix, Arizona. I work with businesses to either revamp their current branding/website or help them build a brand identity from the ground up. I work together with my clients to design them logos, pick out brand colors and fonts, find their brand voice, and of course, design and build them a completely custom website. I am proud of quite a few things in this business. I am definitely proud of myself for building this career that allows me so much freedom in my day-to-day life and lets me exercise my creativity. I’m also very proud of the websites I’ve built over the last couple years. I love all my clients but there are a few projects that hold a special place in my heart. The projects that stand out the most to me are the ones where the client and I just clicked immediately, and we worked together seamlessly to create something beautiful and unique. Some of my absolute favorite websites I’ve done are gatherednutrition.com, theprtnrs.com, and themakercollaborative.com (shameless plug!) 

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Oh wow… the most important lesson I’ve learned is to stand up for yourself and your business. I truly believe that it’s possible to conduct business with compassion and kindness while also staying firm in your policies and procedures. 

Also, get a good lawyer and have a rock-solid contract! 

Contact Info:

• Website: garlandstudios.co
• Instagram: @garlandstudios