We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Katie Dooley a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Katie, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
Growing up in Edmonton, Canada I found a passion for Irish dancing. Dance was more than bouncing around with my childhood friends. It was a lesson in the value of hard work and perseverance.
Irish dancing taught me that passion alone isn’t enough to succeed. Every step, every rhythm required practice. It also taught me that there are people who are working just as hard, if not harder than you to acheive the same thing.
The influence of my parents and teachers also influenced my work ethic. My parents instilled in me from a young age to have a good work ethic.
Despite being good at academics, grade twelve Chemistry posed a significant challenge. A less-than-ideal class grade became a turning point before the end of year exams. I crammed, determined to turn things around. The result was a mark on the university entrance exam that changed my grade for the better.
Transitioning into university life, the challenge became balancing academics with competitive dance. Planning and scheduling became critical. On the first day of spring break I completed as much homework as possible before a competition. This allowed me to focus on dance without the weight of project deadlines, and also relax for the rest of the break.
Today, I am aware of my creative rhythms to maximize my work. Recognizing the impact of exercise on focus and identifying my best productivity hours are my tools for efficient work. Productivity hacks are how I optimize my schedule and create high quality of work.
Because of Irish dancing, family influence, university challenges, and productivity tools I developed a work ethic of which I am proud.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m the founder of Paper Lime Creative, a graphic design and brand agency. We create bold brands, giving confidence to businesses and connecting them with their ideal customers. We also do print design work, creating business cards, signage, annual reports, and more.
I am most excited by the opportunity to work with unique business owners and watch their ideas come to life. My superpower is curiosity! I love learning about the different industries my clients work in and create their custom solutions.
Paper Lime Creative is an international award-winning agency. In 2021, we won a MUSE award for our work on the Blackmore Real Estate brand. We are committed to a collaborative and transparent process with our clients, ensuring their vision comes to fruition.
We’ve recently launched a monthly newsletter. For those looking for professional design expertise in their inbox, we invite you to subscribe! https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/VZ0kZB9/plcnewsletter
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Perseverance is the number one quality an entrepreneur should have. There will be so many set backs on your journey. To this day I have moments where I think about how much easier it would be if I had job. There are weeks or months where you don’t make any money. It’s about choosing to be an entrepreneur everyday and having the trust in yourself to follow through.
You need a willingness to put yourself out there. A mentor of mine says “you can’t be a secret and a success”. Putting yourself out there will look different based on industry and location. It doesn’t matter if you’re an extrovert or an introvert, people need to know who you are and your business needs a presence.
Finally, as a business owner it’s important to be self-reflective. At the end of the day the success in our business boils down to us. If it’s not working or progressing you are the core of your problem. Which may initially feel disheartening, but it actually very freeing. You can fix yourself!
For young entrepreneurs the best way to improve on these is practice and set goals. You do not have to make massive changes over night, but rather small steps in the right direction will have the biggest impact long-term.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
I love this question because I struggled with overwhelm for a long time. And like anything, it does still creep up on me occasionally!
The most important thing to do when feeling overwhelmed is to accurately assess the situation. Often I would feel overwhelmed and when I actually made a prioritized list and scheduled it in, there was far less work than I originally thought.
The Eisenhower Matrix (important/unimportant/urgent/not urgent) is a great way to divide up tasks if you”re unsure what you should be tackling first.
I also love ‘chunking’ which is a silly way to say group like tasks together. If you have to leave the house, run all of the errands at the same time. For me, I group all of my design work together, and all administrative work together instead of bouncing back and forth.
Sometimes overwhelm has nothing to do with work. It could be caused by lack of self-care, or personal influences. Going for a walk or taking a break can be one of the best ways to reduce overwhelm. It’s super important that when you are taking a break you’re not scrolling through your phone! Screens keep us stimulated and we’re often overwhelmed because we’re over-stimulated.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.paperlime.ca
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/paperlimecreative
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/paperlimecreative
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/katieadooley
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.ca/biz/paper-lime-creative-edmonton
