A Chat with Honest Folk About Business, Craft and Doing Work I Love
Recently, I had the pleasure of chatting with Fliss at Honest Folk about my journey from graphic designer to sign painter, studio owner, and professional over-thinker.
It’s always a bit odd talking about yourself for this kind of thing, But the conversation genuinely made me reflect on how much has changed for me over the last few years.
Going solo
For me, leaving employment was the easy part. Figuring out what kind of business I actually wanted to build? That was much harder.
When I first started Rich C Studio, I was doing a bit of everything. Branding. Print. Websites. Design. Saying yes too often. Thinking too much. Probably redesigning my own website instead of doing actual marketing.
By sharing some of the messy middle I’ve experienced I hope it helps others feel a bit less alone in their own business builds.
Things I learnt
One of the biggest reflections from the conversation was how important clarity has been. Not polished branding. Not clever positioning jargon. Actual clarity.
Knowing what I want to be known for. Knowing who I want to work with. Knowing what kind of work makes me excited to get out of bed.
For me, that’s sign painting.
Working with my hands changed everything.
It gave me something designing behind a screen never quite did — tangible progress, craftsmanship, variety, and a stronger sense of identity in my work.
Another big shift was the realisation that my business was no longer a freelance gig. Yes, I’m the guy you’ll deal with directly every single time, but behind that is years of experience, trusted collaborators, fabricators, systems, structure and a proper business built to support independent brands properly.
This mindset shift mattered.
Credit where it’s due
A lot of that clarity came from actually working with Fliss.
She won’t mind me saying, but she has this annoyingly effective knack for asking exactly the right question at exactly the right time.
The kind that makes you stop rambling and actually say the thing you’ve been avoiding.
Working with her helped me take a step back, look at the bigger picture, and shape Rich C Studio into something that feels far more intentional.
Less “busy freelancer.” More “independent studio with purpose.”
Fancy a read?
Fliss has written the full feature over on Honest Folk, covering the journey in much more detail.
Including my pivot into sign painting, why I’ve doubled down on craft over convenience and a few other questionable business decisions along the way.
And if you’re currently building your own thing and feeling somewhere between excited, overwhelm and mildly feral…
I get it. Keep going!
