Jasmine Holmes Design Superwoman and Pricing Queen

Who are you and what business did you start?

My name is Jasmine and I am the Design Superwoman and Pricing Queen.
There are two sides to my business, one side that serves my clients and the other that serves my students.
As Jasmine Designs, the Design Superwoman, I make it my mission to make my clients lives easier by lifting the burden of branding and brand consistency and help them visually express their brand. Whether it be through their written brand story, activating their brand assets to create consistent touchpoints that convert customers to fans, or helping them develop their brand into places they hadn’t considered. My goal is to create relationships where my clients trust me with their brands and don’t feel like they need to be a designer for their own business. Most already wear too many hats, so I wear that one for them.

And as the Pricing Queen, I teaching creatives how to price themselves within their business, as well as how to generate long term wealth through client relations and bake more profit into their creative crust. Through online resources, courses and content, I provide both bitesized content for the confused creative, all the way up to in depth degustations of information in the form of online courses. I want to be the person I needed when I was growing up and learning how be the successful, 6-figure creative I am today.

What’s your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?

Creativity has always been in my bones. From a young age, I was always ready with a pencil, a piece of paper and my imagination. Fast forward through 14 years in the creative industry, working in a range of businesses, small and large, global and local, I gained a really unique understanding of how to run a creative business that’s goal was not to sell, but to serve.
Anyone who is in their business working hard and making it work for them is bound to miss something that only an outsider can see. My practice has always been “well, how can I help this person, make their life easier whilst also building a brand and a reputation for myself?”
My dad raised me on the mantra of “You need to be big enough to serve someone, but small enough to know them” and this is something I have taken on every step of the creative business journey. Whether it be suggesting ways they could be generating more revenue, helping them explore a new platform, gain confidence in their own creative abilities, or even just knowing them and being a sounding board for their struggles. I want to help my clients

After 14 years of being in the industry and gaining that insight, I wanted to makes sure I gave back to my creative community. When I was back at TAFE and learning design, I always learnt better from those who’s feet were firmly planted in the industry, who were able to give the advice from an operational perspective. This is what I want to be for my students. To tell them the things I needed to hear and facilitate the learning and growth that I have had and I want them to experience so they can ditch the Starving Artist mindset and become Hungry Creatives. Creatives who seek knowledge and know how to serve up their unique flavour on a silver platter for their future clients, much like I have for mine.

You only need to be a few steps in front on the journey to be able to throw your hand back and pull someone along too.

Describe the process of launching the business.

I spent the first 7-8 years of my career thinking the only thing that was important was advancing my career through creative industries and the usual career path that every designer goes through. It was when I took on a role at Rolex that things started to transition into a full time freelance career. The job was 3 days a week, giving a full year to use those other days of the week to build my freelance client base and develop my place in the design market. If we’re really honest, anyone can design. But no one designs like me. And that was what my unique take was on all of it, I could see opportunities and actually be able to execute them without the client having to go to three different places. “I’m a Jaz of all trades” I would joke, but in reality that was what I was building, an almost one-stop show where my clients could access a creative problem solver who was going to help them build from the outside looking in.

After a while, I had built enough of a client base that I was able to start using the client relationships I had developed to try new things and experiment with new service offerings. Through this I became even more of a Jaz of all Trades because I was increasing my value to my clients by being able to do more. These days I split my time between my small pool of loyal clients and teaching what I know. Both are incredibly rewarding and I am so fortunate to be in this position, something that I think that girl at TAFE would be pretty in awe of.

Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?

Two parts. The first is operating from a space of helping, not selling. I want to help my clients with what they need, even if they didn’t realise they needed it at the time.
The other part is human relationships. Building relationships with my clients is the most important part for me, because it’s in these relationships that the magic really happens. Connecting with my clients and maintaining those relationships has led to future work, future referrals and future success, both mine and theirs.

How are you doing today and what does the future look like?

For the Design Superwoman, things are travelling great. My small client base means I have the ability to service my clients to the full potential and view the opportunities for growth within their businesses as challenges I can take on and run with, with all of them trusting me.

For the Pricing Queen, after 6 months of truly pushing the Pricing Queen name and stepping fully into it’s uniform (a teal jumpsuit in this case), I’m happy to say it’s starting to pay off. After launching the Beta version of my Easy as Pie Pricing course earlier this year, I am gearing up for a fully cooked relaunch of the course in January 2022. Nothing makes me happier than to hear the successes of my students. Pricing may seem like a weird thing to concentrate on teaching as a creative, but it is truly life changing when a student begins to see their value and charge for it. It’s the sweetest treat I’ve ever tasted.

Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?

Aim to help, not to sell. Be authentic and honest, and always look at the bigger picture. Some days it might feel like you are going no where, that everyone around you is leaping and bounding in front of you, but you are in motion that can change at any moment, so keep moving.

What platform/tools do you use for your business?

I use Adobe suite for all of my design work, Freshbooks for all of my accounting and bookkeeping, Planoly for my social planning, WordPress for my website and shop and New Zenler for my online courses.

What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?

Anything from Chris Do or Seth Godin, Podcasts like The Honest Designers or Persective Podcast with Scotty Russell, as well as my mentor and coach, Mye De Leon.

Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?

Start. Start today. You won’t learn the lessons until you start making mistakes. So make as many as you can but learn from them.

Where can we go to learn more?

My instagram is where you can get the most of my content. www.instagram.com/jhdesigns. I also have 2 websites; www.jasminedesigns.com.au and www.easyaspiepricing.com.