I’m a letterer and designer.

I always wanted to be a doctor or vet (like every other kid), but after growing up watching ER, I quickly learned that I’m a bit squeamish. Luckily, my parents noticed that I loved drawing and creating at a very young age and continued to encourage me down that path.

It was completely unplanned. I left a longtime job for my dream job of art directing a new independent food magazine. Unfortunately the odds were stacked against the magazine, but I realized how much I loved the freedom it allowed me and decided to take the plunge and work for myself.

Word of mouth or recommendations from friends/past clients. After that I began pitching myself to people/companies I wanted to work with.

You’re worth it. It’s really easy to panic and take any job that comes your way no matter how little they’re willing to pay. Your time, experience, and skills are valuable and clients should pay accordingly. The ones that don’t aren’t the clients you want.

It can be a struggle for sure! The biggest downside of freelancing is that it all falls down to you, so if you slack, you’re the one that is going to suffer.

Having a designated workspace in my home and a schedule definitely helps keep me on track. I will also try to go out and work from a coffee shop 2-3 times a week for a change of scenery.

I just finished up a few projects so I finally have some downtime to work on a couple personal projects. I did some custom lettering and social media templates for a longtime client and just wrapped a 300+ page beast of a catalog for a new client.

I love working on magazines and catalogs. If I can work on more projects that allow me to work with food and photographers, I will be a happy camper.

Always keep moving forward. Never stop networking, planning, getting inspired.

It’s okay to not have all the answers immediately. You’ll figure it out eventually.

It was really hard when the magazine I was working for folded. I left a comfortable job that I liked, but I had gone as far as I could go at that company. Then suddenly, I had the dream creative team that also happened to be some of my closest friends. Throw in the ability to work remotely travel, and have complete creative control and I was a happy camper.

Even though it didn’t work out though, it was the best decision I’ve made. I realized I had become complacent in my designs and it showed me how much more I could push myself. I don’t know if I would have had the courage to go full-time freelance had I not had this experience.

I recently watched Paddington and Paddington 2 and loved the aesthetics. I would highly recommend them for a good feel good watch with charming visuals.

I went a little overboard when I was in New Orleans and bought a bunch of super comfy hoodies from DNO. It’s winter in Chicago, so it’s definitely time to bundle up. You know I’m really in the zone when I’ve got my headphones on and hood up.

I adopted a pair of guinea pigs named Tofu and Bento because my building doesn’t allow dogs. And I may or may not have bought them little Santa hats to wear for Christmas.

I’d love to see fellow Chicago designer Kyle Letendre’s answers.

You can stalk—I mean—follow me on instagram @laurakaucher or see my work at laurakaucher.com