We had the good fortune of connecting with Michele Rodriguez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michele, how has your work-life balance changed over time?

My work-life balance has definitely been a challenge. When you are a one woman show jumping into entrepreneurship, it takes a lot to manage all aspects of your business in addition to doing the actual work.

When I first went out on my own, I was afraid of making enough money that I took every project that came my way out of fear. Looking back, they weren’t always a good fit and in doing that, I overextended myself, I was super stressed, not able to deliver my best work because of being burned out and super stressed and I could never get caught up. It was all work, no life at that time. I had to make a decision to only keep what I could handle and let the other work go.

I’m coming up on 5 years of being 100% freelance in September. I now have a daughter who turned 1 at the end of April and while it’s not 100% where I would like for it to be, I absolutely have a better work-life balance now than I did when I first went out on my own or even a year ago. (cue my other lesson of only taking 10 days of “maternity leave” after a C section that resulted in an infection and preeclampsia that left me with crazy high blood pressure for months)

Setting clear deadlines and boundaries are crucial for me in establishing and keeping that balance. I am very transparent with my new clients around when I work and respond to messages and I don’t conduct business via text, only business email. Most of my existing clients have been with me well over 3-5 years, some coming up on 10 years and they are great about respecting those boundaries. At the end of the day, we all have a life and want to enjoy it.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

I’m a freelance graphic designer. While I work with a diverse group of clients and different projects, I focus mainly on magazine design. From cover to cover, I handle all aspects of creating magazines. I do ad design, editorial layout, photo editing, color correcting, and checking of supplied ads/images for production issues. I also handle the production side of things with the printer in regards to uploading files, reviewing online and hard proofs and approvals. I’ve also done press checks for (and with) my clients.

What sets me apart from other designers, I’m neurotic about deadlines and while I am creative, I also have the production/mechanical background to understand what works and what could pose problems during printing, binding, etc.

I grew up in Joplin, Missouri. After graduating high school, I moved to Denver and got my BA in Graphic Design. I then moved to Vegas and worked for a sheet fed printer for two years. That experience was crucial to learning all the things they don’t teach you in design school. When I came back to Denver, I worked for a prepress house and a couple of other small to mid-sized print shops until I got a job at the largest web printer in Denver. I worked there just shy of 10 years as the prepress technical advisor and customer trainer.

I provided support for hundreds of clients, designers and publishers that the printing company produced a multitude of different types of publications for. Everything from basic file prep to color management, color correction, monitor and printer calibration, using simulation profiles within the Adobe software, setting up preflight profiles, using fix-ups, how to check supplied files, appropriate use of rich black and regular black, ink gain, how paper brightness affects color, press forms and how the layout affects color in line on press, binding considerations and uploading to the web-based prepress portal. You name it, I provided support for it if it pertained to commercial printing or best print practices. I absolutely loved my job! It was fun working with so many different people from so many different backgrounds.

Was it easy you ask. If it was easy, everyone would do it, right? For myself, I tried going out on my own when I was very new and fresh out of college. It didn’t work for several reasons: experience, client base, priorities.

I always knew I wanted to do magazine layout from an early start in college. My dream was to finish college and move to New York. I wanted to work for one of the big music magazines out there at the time. Again, I was young, I didn’t know anyone in New York and it seemed like a far fetched dream at the time.

Today, in 2021, I will hit 5 years of being 100% freelance with 98% of my workload magazine design or production in some capacity. I was patient, I persevered and worked two jobs for many years to support myself. I was always in the industry and when I worked at the commercial printer in Denver, I met a lot of really great people who continue to contribute to my success today. I am forever grateful for those relationships.

My brand, Incognito Graphic Design, seems mysterious right? It’s really not. What I’ve learned, the true “magic” happens behind the scenes in magazine production. That’s where I shine. Magazine design is A. Lot. Of. Work. Especially when you are a one woman show. I absolutely LOVE all aspects of it and have learned being organized is 90% of the battle! I’m not big on having my name in lights but I get my satisfaction when my clients love their end product and they get kudos from their readers.

I’m very laid back but professional. I live by my calendar and have great relationships with my clients. To me, they are like family. I know what’s going on with them and they know what’s going on with me. When I had my daughter last year, they were all super accommodating about getting things wrapped up a little early and they were patient as I navigated motherhood with an infant for 5 months of her life before I got her into daycare. I value these relationships. For me, being self employed is more than just working for myself. It’s also about the freedom to choose who I work with, what type of projects I take on and being able to do things on my terms. Entrepreneurship is not for everyone but I LOVE it!

I think it’s important to keep in mind that behind every small business owner is a family and a person (or people) working hard to provide for that family. People say all the time how “lucky” I am but they don’t understand how hard I have worked and continue to work to keep my dream going. They don’t know about the 16 hour days, working weekends, missing time with my daughter and husband because of deadlines running past their dates, stressing about issues within my business, no paid time off, no maternity leave and being 100% responsible for my income and the course of my business. At the end of the day, I love what I do!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
With COVID and a new baby, I haven’t been out much over the last year but prior to that, I would say let’s go see the sites, Red Rocks, Garden of the Gods, Idaho Springs. There’s great rafting nearby, a concert, a bar crawl on Colfax or Broadway. Maybe do a hike, hit a winery or brewery, go walk around Larimer, LODO or RINO and check out the street art. There are some great restaurants all over the city. Blackhawk if you want to gamble, the outlet mall north of Denver for shopping or a good brunch spot. I’m a big fan of rooftop patios and I think the Source Hotel is my current favorite. Great food, drinks and service! Highly recommend.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

Man, there are so many people in my life that have supported my journey in some way. If I forget anyone, I apologize. My previous employer, my group of friends, other people in the biz and my clients who were with me when I was still side hustling. Of everyone, my husband continues to be my biggest fan and support system.

When we met almost 8 years ago, I was working full time at my day job and my design biz was a side hustle. (almost another full-time job to be honest) He’s always been understanding and supportive while I struggled to figure out a good balance, while I gained confidence as an entrepreneur, then as a wife, and then as a mother, all while handling every aspect of my business. I can ask him for his honest advice about taking on new projects or downsizing my workload and he always has a great perspective, oftentimes one I’ve never considered. He continues to be the real MVP in my corner. I’ve seen a million memes that say to some effect “Ambitious women really only have two options: a supportive partner or no partner at all” and that feels very true. I wouldn’t be where I’m at without his support.

Website: https://www.incognitographicdesign.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/incognitographicdesign/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michele-rodriguez-06530211/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/incognitographicdesign

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