Meet Stefanie Ladewig

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Stefanie Ladewig. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Stefanie , thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

As an Illustrator and Graphic Designer it’s not always easy to be creative (on point & on demand), especially within a certain deadline.
The best way to keep my creativity alive is to constantly seek inspiration and strive to keep my creative flames burning brightly. Ok thats cheesy: to be honest, sometimes I just listen to a great song on AltNation and bämmmm there it is, the idea for the next illustration (like the bavarian cowgirl illustration I finished a few weeks ago).
But in general, the path to my personal sustained creativity is my very busy and diverse lifestyle:

I’m a bavarian small-town-girl, mother of 2, sport enthusiast, nature lover, healthy chef, ambitious hiker, weekend “glamper” and city tripper- currently living and working in Irvine, California.
In contrast to my “busy bee” mentality, I try to free up as much me-time as possible (I know, very selfish for a mother of two-haha) and spend it on meditation, sound baths, podcasts and friends. Its a MUST to balance things out! (more about that on the following questions)

My source of creativity is to meet and see as many different places, coffeeshops, restaurants and people as possible: honoring my (silly) inner child, be playful, desire, explore and discover AND combine it with moments of stillness to allow my thoughts to be crystallized and ideas to take shape.

To sustain creativity, I also love a growth mindset—a belief in the potential for progress and improvement. I view challenges as opportunities for learning, setbacks as springboards for innovation. Continuous evolution is the heartbeat of creativity—a dynamic process of self-discovery and reinvention.
Short: make mistakes – it leads you somewhere!
Pinky-Promise!

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Hi, that’s me:
Steffi Ladewig (aka. Rinsi): Bavarian girl, Cali lover, brand and marketing specialist, graphic designer and illustrator.

I am a bavarian graphic designer and illustrator and currently live and work in Orange County California. From here I create, design, style and love everything related to brand and media.
In my studio, the „ Rinsi’s Grafikstüberl“, I combine bavarian charm with an unmistakable and cool style that not only makes products and brands visually appealing, but also fills them with heart and soul.
Uncomplicated, lively and with a sense for individual designs, I love to combine brand and medium for my customers. No matter in which phase my customers or their businesses are in: anyone could need a little visual evolution. Whether you need a logo, product/packaging, stationery, flyers, print materials, posters,T-shirts, fancy giveaways or just a funky invitation for your next birthday or the OMG-stationery for your wedding „Rinsis Grafikstueberl“ is the place where trendy brandsget styled and killer vibes are created.
And when it comes to Brand management:
YES, you really need all this business bullshit bingo like Brand identity, analysis, positioning, vision, mission, strategy, marketing planning, bla bla bla
But I make it understandable and reasonable, and YES it’s almost a bit philosophical:
It’s about WHY and what makes your brand SO GREAT.
I find the why (and anyway) put it in messages, visualize it, and humanizize the brand.
Customers, ouuuuu, they can’t resist and  fall in love (again?) with the brand –
and competitors, OMG, they feel very very jealous.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

At the beginning of my career (I was trained as an industrial clerk) I had nothing to do with marketing or graphic design, but I have always been interested in trends and cool designs. I continued my education in the field of marketing and studied marketing and communication sciences in Austria.
With my Bachelor’s degree under my belt, I then worked for more than a decade in marketing in the tourism and hotel industry in my Bavarian home town Tegernsee.
When my children were born, I deliberately put my career on hold for the time being.
I felt the deep calling to live (and work) differently, to spend more time in nature and be as much present with me and my children as I can. Ok, lets be honest: these little buggers force you to slow down, rest when they rest and don’t let you do your shit, cause they are egotistical.
No, honestly if you let go of the idea of being the perfect mom and at the same time the most successful businesswomen and learn how to life live in a new (slooooooow) way, it can turn out to be very very good.

During that time, when my kids we’re very little I started playing around with digital illustration. My journey of being a self-employed graphic designer/illustrator literally started while I was nursing my newborn child. Desperatly in need of sleep and a curious combination of boredom and overload, i was beginning to draw fun stuff on my Ipad and posted it with cheeky colloquial claims & hashtags. Due to this I got the cutest feedback and also real customers who wanted to work with me. The rest is history.

My most important influence, and that’s my advise to anybody out there: Always trust your gut feeling.
If you feel like you need to slow down: Slow down! If you’re interested in a great career then give it your all. Everything in its own time and according to YOUR rules & tempo.
Take chances and listen to your inner voice where it might wants to lead you. Wanna have a clever saying? Here we go:
Curiosity is the compass, uncertainty the companion and the will is the key.

So here my three most important skills:
Trust your gut
Never stop educating yourself
Change is progress

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

Sometimes one topic can rush the other and especially balancing family and work, friends and my own well-being is sometimes challenging and the day is simply too short (and my expectants too high). Especially when things get stressful, I tend to want to do everything at once, which ends up in chaos and dissatisfaction on my part.

I don’t know if it’s the best tip, but it actually works a little better for me: I’ve recently started prioritizing myself in stressful situations and making sure that I’m doing well first. I always have to think of the example in the safety instructions on the airplane: put on your oxygen mask first and only then help others…. And eye opener: Priorize yourself!
In concrete terms, it looks like this for me:
First exercise, then work! Or switch off for 10 minutes and then realistically restructure my to-do list. Or sometimes postpone an appointment and go out and play with your kids or, or, or ….
Just take off the pressure.
Because let’s be honest: most of the stress is actually caused by yourself and not the customer/child/the environment.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.grafikstueberl.com/en
• Instagram: rinsis_grafikstueberl
• Linkedin: Steffi Ladewig

Image Credits

Stefanie Ladewig / Rinsis Grafikstueberl