We recently connected with Hailey Dorthalina and have shared our conversation below.
Hailey, thank you so much for making time for us. We admire your ability to take risks and so maybe we can kick things off with a discussion around how you developed your ability to take and bear risk?
I developed my ability to take risks by learning to trust my intuition and the greater purpose and plan for my life. As a teen, I had a rude awakening the very first time I picked up a guitar. Taylor Swift made it look easy. Frustrated, I locked up the acoustic in it’s case. It was months before coming back to it with a renewed mind and interest for it. To my amazement, there was harmony resounding from the instrument that day.
It was a simple yet valuable lesson I learned: perseverance.
Fast forward to my initial decision to freelance, it felt like I was jumping off a cliff. I was accustomed to working full time and when that commitment was gone, I would still often find myself sitting at my desk between the hours of 8 to 5, biting my cheeks and scouring over job boards and Facebook groups. I’ve found that often it is the very first step that is the hardest.
It’s either “day one or one day”.
Especially as a creative, making choices can be debilitating. And then being debilitated by choice can be even more debilitating. It’s a vicious cycle. However, there truly is no wrong choice. On the other side of choice is either success or failure… both of which we must assess and learn from. There’s this peace of knowing that it’s worth it and growth is a built-in result.
At the same time, calculated risk has always been both terrifying and exciting to me. The sense of adventure and unknown has been my way of coping with the fear that comes along with risk-taking.
Fear is a forever constant. By recognizing each choice I make (and even each failure) as an opportunity, I’ve learned to keep an eye out for my wins, share them with others and celebrate every small success as it comes along.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and where this path of perseverance has led you??
With Hailey Dorthalina Design, I work with businesses to ensure consistency and efficiency in branding and communication. My background is in Marketing and my B.A. is in Communications, so I bring this broad brushstroke to all things marketing while taking a red ballpoint pen to everything related to communication.
The creative arm of my business and the reason I started this work in the first place is to help brands establish or re-envision their visual identity. I work on a relational level with business owners to identify what about their business to highlight and how their audience(s) will impact that messaging.
I’ve noticed that marketing is a tool often utilized from a place of scarcity. What I love about branding design is the optimistic approach we take to help communicate strategy, plant seeds, promote growth and ultimately be proactive in attaining goals.
I am always working on a million, seemingly-unrelated projects at once but my most recent projects have involved:
– Branding design for large annual events and conferences
– Project management for design studios and agencies
– Marketing within the luxury travel industry
As I continue to offer the above services, my next steps are not far behind. My bigger picturework will be to partner with businesses to stimulate organizational excellence and strive toward my mission to “Build Better Brands”. With the changing landscape of remote work and the gig economy, I have first hand experience in seeing how beneficial improving visual identity can be and the ripple effect that investing in marketing and communication can have on a business.
At the end of the day, the goal is to make everyone’s lives easier and avoid overworking. I’ve been given new opportunities to apply this knowledge and I look forward to sharing more in the future!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
You have a great point. There’s information overload on tools for success! In my own life, the following have mattered most to me:
#1 Listening – I’ve had such an emphasis in Communication throughout my career, and listening is a skill I really recognized was key as I started to develop as a freelancer. Listening not only makes the scope of a project more refined, it tends to make my job a whole lot easier, help win clients in the sales stage and builds lasting relationships.
My advice on listening: Try not to speak first. Ask questions. Allow time for breaks in conversation instead of trying to fill them. Reflect phrases or ideas back to the person you are conversing with to ensure you understand what someone is trying to communicate.
#2 Authenticity/Creativity – This has been a driving force in my decision making. Allowing myself to operate as a creative, forces me to continually work out those muscles so when I need them, they are always there and ready.
My advice on authenticity and creativity: Framing myself as a creative, a CEO or even my employee/assistant some days can be a helpful confidence boost or ego check. Dressing the part and showing up as that “label” I’ve learned to manage overwhelm, business relationships and my emotions. It’s a balancing act. Creating space to have fun, be messy, try new things and explore new mediums and not have the pressure of capitalizing on everything. Being intentional with my creativity and protecting my little artist self in order to avoid burnout.
Sometimes you’re given these big opportunities when mentally you’re having a hard time. I was going through a breakup with a long term partner when I was assigned two of the largest branding projects I had worked on at the time. My confidence was out the window and I was anxious as hell but I look back and am so proud of myself for digging deep.
#3 Integrity – It was refreshing working to support the growth of many amazing organizations earlier on in my career when I was solely in the nonprofit industry. I didn’t recognize it at the time but that feeling has been fundamental to how I connect and work with people now.
My advice on integrity: Surround yourself with good people. You are not only faced with better decisions overall, you also have people to bounce questions off of if you get a gut check about something.
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
I think this question is related to when someone once asked me “Would you rather be an expert in one thing or have some knowledge about a lot of different things?” It truly comes down to the person. I think it’s important to be self aware, know your strengths and your weaknesses. Figure out if you operate best and are happiest as a craftsman or more of a jack-of-all-trades personality.
When I worked for In-N-Out Burger while I was attending university, there were personality types that fit each position all working together as a well-oiled machine. Our managers were invested in broadening our skillset and “leveling up” as we called it. However, we were each highly trained at certain things and were typically placed in positions where we excelled at times when we were busiest (ie lunch and dinner rushes).
This taught me that it’s really important to go all in on your strengths in order to uplift your team, clients or whoever you are working with but it’s also important to seek out opportunities to invest in new skills or improve upon weaknesses.
Contact Info:
- Website: haileydorthalinadesign.com
- Instagram: @haidorthalina
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haileydorthalina/
Image Credits
Jenny Diem Photography
