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Meet Jena Gribble of Blush Cactus Boutique Design Studio in Queen Creek

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Jena Gribble.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My design studio was born from equal parts passion, frustration, and the belief that I could create a business lead by a strong set of guiding principles that would value purpose over profit (yet still be profitable) while helping my clients grow and succeed.

I graduated from college just as the economy was beginning to completely meltdown. My first “real job” in my industry was for a company that not only was behind on paying their taxes but soon after becoming employed I learned that in the recent past they’d embezzled money from the 401k accounts of employees to cover business expenses. This resulted in years of not being paid on time, and our paychecks bouncing. It got to the point where all of the local banks refused to cash our checks without a hold, forcing most of the employees to get lines of credit just to cover living expenses while waiting for checks to clear. Looking back on it now, it was completely crazy and I can’t believe I stayed as long as I did in such an insane situation. Living in a small town in the midwest and at a time where telecommuting was barely on the radar, the economy was suffering and unemployment was skyrocketing, it was difficult to find other employment. We were grateful just to have jobs.

So instead I changed my focus. I tried to find the silver lining wherever I could. I had a couple of phenomenal bosses and mentors who taught me not only the skills I needed to be a fantastic graphic designer but also how to be a great leader. I was taught to lead with empathy, understanding, and contribute to an overly stressed environment in positive ways that helped our team become a small family that leaned on each other when times were tough. But as time went by, it became too hard to ignore the frustration that built up within our little ecosystem, which is where the seed was planted and my obsession with corporate culture began to grow. When I eventually did jump ship, I took this experience and obsession with me.

After moving to Arizona, I secured a new career at a company where I found myself under the wing of another truly phenomenal mentor who taught me the true ins and outs of marketing and how to help companies build successful brands. But of course that nagging obsession I had with company culture followed me here, and I found similar issues with leadership style (from the top) that I just didn’t agree with and more importantly, found unsustainable.

After a period of intense growth and reflection into my own values and what I valued in the workplace, I decided to take the leap and start my own business where I could create a company that allowed me to put these values front and center and operate from a place of true integrity, while also helping other businesses succeed and grow.

Five years later, we’ve helped dozens of multi-million dollar companies create beautiful marketing that actually works and gets them a return on their investment. We’re growing and scaling our company into a small team of talented and amazing individuals, and even launching an online program in 2020 to help and empower other creative entrepreneurs in running successful businesses of their own.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Not in the least – but nothing worth having comes easy! And even as you grow in experience and years, the struggles and challenges never really go away – they just evolve as the business grows. Having a strong set of values and guiding principles also means that I hold myself to a higher standard, which in itself creates an expectation that’s both challenging and exciting.

Some of the biggest hurdles I’ve had to overcome are: creating processes and systems (especially as a one-woman show early on), dealing with difficult clients, becoming burnt out by saying “yes” way too much, creating and enforcing boundaries (both personally and professionally), managing crazy deadlines, the “down” times when business is slow, and the overall personal growth it takes to become mentally resilient as a business owner.

My most recent struggle is letting go of control so that other talented and wonderful people can step in and help the company grow.

I’m grateful for the struggles and the strength and resilience they create in their wake.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Blush Cactus Boutique Design Studio – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
The short story:

We’re in the business of building badass brands.

The long version:

Most businesses waste a ton of money on branding and marketing that simply doesn’t work or get them noticed. We understand how difficult it can be to find someone who just “gets it” and can bring a brand to life.

Blush Cactus is a design studio that guides its clients toward a complete brand/message that cuts through the noise to help them grow their business. We do this by helping companies ditch the confusion and clutter, get super clear on who they are and the problems they solve, and then create professional and sleek marketing materials that gain the trust of their customers and get them noticed.

We specialize in branding, graphic design, website design, and creating clear marketing copy. We can either help clients create a brand from scratch, help improve an existing brand and/or marketing, or even large companies with overflow projects that help support their in-house creative team. We are certified guides in the StoryBrand marketing framework and can help people with BrandScripts or implementing them into their overall marketing plan.

We’re known for taking time and effort to care about each and every client that comes through our door, understanding their needs (and not selling them anything they don’t need) and delivering stellar work that get results. We believe that many agencies and creative businesses fall short on so many of these, and we strive to make our client experience fantastic every step of the way.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Yes! Later this year we will be launching “The Designful Business Podcast” where we interview other entrepreneurs in the creative space and beyond about how they’ve built successful businesses and the ups and downs that went along with it.

We’ve also recognized that most creative business owners crave tools, tips and systems to be more successful (or take the leap to start their own freelance business). By summer 2020 we’ll be releasing an online course that helps creatives create a purposeful business with strong systems to help them get great clients and make the money they deserve.

And of course, we plan to always continue to work with amazing clients that want to build badass brands.

Contact Info:


Image Credit:
Photography by Hannah Rose Gray and Vikki Colvin

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