Meet Vanessa Bucceri

We recently connected with Vanessa Bucceri and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Vanessa, 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?

Work ethic wasn’t something we talked about in my family. It was just what you did.
My childhood was shaped by people who showed up, got creative, and did what needed to be done.

When I was three, my parents divorced, and my mom moved my sister and me from Montreal to Vancouver so we could live with my grandparents. It was the early 80s, right after a major market crash. My grandfather had retired from running a successful furniture business in Montreal, but lost everything he’d invested in real estate when interest rates skyrocketed.

My mom didn’t want to rely on her parents. She was determined to raise us on her own and worked several jobs before landing something steady with good benefits. But that meant shift work. She was often away and missed a lot of family time to provide for us.

My grandfather came out of retirement to start a packaging business selling berry baskets to local farmers. It slowly grew into something more, and that’s how Penny Pack Marketing came to be. My grandma went back to work too, getting a job at Hudson’s Bay so she could have some spending money of her own. She loved making a beautiful home and always looked so elegant. She’d save for a china plate, a bottle of Chanel, or a piece of fine jewelry from Birks.

And then there was my uncle Jan. He ran Jan’s Custom Draperies and was always working away in his shop. He created gorgeous window treatments that were featured in showhomes and in the Street of Dreams, a popular event showcasing luxury homes.

I inherited grit from them.
They taught me that you don’t wait for perfect timing. You start where you are, keep going, and build something you can be proud of.

Their example shaped who I am and how I show up in my work today.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I help real estate agents feel proud of how they show up online.

Through thoughtful brand and website design, I support service-driven agents in creating a visual presence that reflects the level of care and connection they bring to their work. Many of my clients are known for being hands-on, trustworthy professionals who genuinely care about their people. But their websites often feel outdated, misaligned, or pieced together. That’s where I come in.

At Vanessa Bucceri Creative, I offer a suite of design options through The Studio Collection: a flexible, creative system built to meet agents wherever they are in their business journey.

Four tiers, one design philosophy. Each package starts with a signature website design from our ongoing collection. From there, you can layer in seasonal styling and personalized support to bring your brand to life in a way that feels fresh, cohesive, and uniquely yours.

What I’m most excited about right now is our upcoming Autumn/Winter ’25 Lookbook, launching in September. Think of it like picking the finishes for a new-build show home. Your website begins with a solid foundation, and then you choose your aesthetic, everything from color palette to typography to the visual details that make it feel like a perfect fit.

What makes this work so meaningful to me is the heart behind it. I get to support women who are quietly doing incredible things in their communities. They’re focused on service, connection, and showing up with integrity in everything they do.

Whether we work together on a full custom project or through one of these design-forward templates, my goal is the same: to help you feel aligned, empowered, and proud of how your brand shows up.

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

There are so many things I could name, but three come to mind right away: resilience, resourcefulness, and trusting my creative instincts.

1. Resilience
When I gave my notice at my corporate job to start my design studio, I didn’t have a backup plan. I had finally figured out what I wanted to do, and I was ready to go all in. Then two days later, my entire department was offered buyout packages. I had just missed out on $90,000. At first, I was crushed. But a friend of mine, Nate, said something I’ll never forget. He told me, “At least when you succeed, you’ll know it’s because you did it on your own.”

That stayed with me. It lit this fire in me to prove to myself that I could create a career from scratch and make it my own.

Of course, running a business isn’t just one big leap. It’s a rollercoaster. There have been months where the inquiries and income pour in, and other seasons that are so quiet it makes you question everything. Sometimes those highs and lows feel extreme. Other times, they’re just part of the rhythm.

What’s helped is learning what works for me and focusing my energy there. During those slower times, I shift my attention to the things I can control. Refine a system. Improve an offer. Work on myself. That’s how I stay steady when things around me don’t feel so steady.

2. Resourcefulness
I’m completely self-taught, so resourcefulness has been a huge part of my journey. I didn’t go to design school. Instead, I enrolled in one design bootcamp, two coding bootcamps, and then I kept going. I started to study the designers I admired. Not just liking their work, but asking myself why I liked it. What made it feel so elevated or cohesive or compelling? That critical eye helped me grow faster than anything else.

I also became a sponge. I listened to podcasts nonstop, soaked up advice from mentors I respected, and slowly started to figure out my own way of doing things. That said, too much advice can actually do the opposite. I’ve definitely had moments where I felt totally stuck, not because I didn’t want to move forward, but because I didn’t know whose voice to listen to. Everyone has a different approach, and when those opinions start to contradict each other, it can feel paralyzing.

That’s when I’ve hired coaches, joined group programs, and leaned on mentors to help me move forward. Sometimes we need an outside perspective to get out of our own way.

3. Trusting my creative instincts
This one has taken the longest to build. In the beginning, I had a strong sense of what I wanted my work to look like, but I didn’t always have the skill to make it happen. I was constantly frustrated by the gap between my taste and my ability. And I was pretty much embarrassed by most of my early work.

But I kept going. I reminded myself that clients were hiring me because they saw potential in what I was doing, even when I didn’t. There’s a quote I heard years ago from Ira Glass about the “taste gap” that helped me. He said that when you’re starting, your work doesn’t match your vision yet, but if you can push through that phase, you’ll get there. And it’s true! That tension between where you are and where you want to be is a sign of good taste. You just have to keep creating until your skill catches up with your eye.

If I could give one piece of advice to someone just starting?
Trust yourself. You probably already know what you want to do. It’s usually the fear that gets in the way. We tell ourselves we’re not ready, or we’re not good enough, or we need more training or more time. But what if all you really need is to take the next step?

And don’t worry about getting it perfect. Every action gives you a data point. If something doesn’t land, it’s not a failure. It’s just information. What worked? What would I change? That’s how you refine your business. That’s how you find your way.

You don’t have to have it all figured out. You just have to keep going.

Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?

My ideal client is a real estate agent who’s built her business on care, consistency, and community and wants her brand to reflect the same level of service.

I worked with my first real estate client in the summer of 2020. We met through a trusted friend, and the collaboration was such a good fit that she’s still a valued client today. That project led to two more agents the following year, and slowly, my portfolio began to grow in that direction.

What I noticed right away was how much I loved working with these clients. We shared similar values such as hard work, a deep commitment to service, and a desire to show up with integrity. I do some volunteer work within my own community, and we’d often bond over that. There was a sense of shared purpose that made the work feel incredibly aligned.

But as much as I enjoyed the branding side, I often felt frustrated when it came time to build their websites. We’d create beautiful identities, but the tech options, especially ones that played well with MLS tools, were limited. Many of my clients didn’t want something overly custom or complicated. They just wanted something that looked elevated and was easy to use.

So I waited to fully niche into this space until I found the right setup – something I could stand behind and feel confident offering. And now, that part of my business feels more aligned than ever.

I get to work with women who are doing exceptional things. They care deeply about their work, they’re guiding people through major life transitions, and they’re not in it for recognition or trends. They’ve spent years building something meaningful, and now they’re ready for a brand that honors that journey.

That’s who I do my best work for.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://vanessabucceri.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vanessa.bucceri/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanessabucceri.webdesign
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-bucceri-a4684038/

Image Credits

Sophia Hsin, Marissa Morelos of MJ Photography