We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Samantha Wise. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Samantha below.
Samantha, we are so happy that our community is going to have a chance to learn more about you, your story and hopefully even take in some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Let’s start with self-care – what do you do for self-care and has it had any impact on your effectiveness?
One of the most important things I do for self-care is I go to therapy. This has been incredibly effective for myself as an individual, as well as being a business owner. I knew when I decided to go full-time in my business that I would have a lot of challenges and hurdles to overcome. Thankfully, a dear friend of mine recommended I try therapy to give me have an outlet and a resource to process these challenges and provide the tools I need to keep moving toward my dreams. Therapy has been something that has helped me work on myself and truly grow into who I am today. Without this self-care routine, I definitely wouldn’t be where I am now both in my personal life and here at East + West Designs.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am the owner + designer at East + West Designs where I create custom + semi-custom wedding stationery for engaged couples across the country. With each of my couples, we customize their design to truly feel like a reflection of them. It’s so much fun to get to know so many couples each + every year to help create stationery that really highlights their personality + style, while also communicating clearly + beautifully for their big day.
Every year, I like to design a new collection of semi-custom designs based on client feedback + design trends I see coming the following year. This collection has been a huge success for my couples since launching in 2022 and I look forward to growing + expanding it in the future!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
For me, I think the three qualities + skills that have impacted my journey the most would be: listen before you speak, don’t be afraid to ask for help and remember to always stay true to your values.
Listening to others and doing your best to truly hear people is a really valuable skill. As a designer, I’ve learned to really take in my couple’s notes and feedback before I give them any sort of direction or advice. Sometimes, it takes time to really understand people, but slowing down to truly listen to them can go a long way.
Asking for help is another big one! When I was first starting out, I was so terrified of people thinking I didn’t know what I was doing with my business. And, to be honest, I didn’t always know what I was doing! But, once I learned to seek out the professionals who did know how to help me in the areas I was lost in, things got easier. Over the last couple years, I’ve learned that you don’t have it know it all to be successful. You just have to be willing to ask for help and find those you can trust to help support you.
Last, I’ve found it so important to always stay true to my values. As long as I stay true to who I am and what I believe in, everything will work out the way it’s supposed to. It’s when I choose to set my values aside and take jobs that don’t align with me, or break boundaries that protect my peace, or allow others to dictate how I run my business or live my life, that’s when things get tough. Keeping my values front and center is what helps me stay true to who I am and makes my job so fulfilling!
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
One of the books I re-read every single year is Essentialism by Greg McKeown. This book was recommended to me by my older brother, Andy, who I really look up to. I’m so grateful that he recommended this book to me several years ago, because it has truly impacted my life + my business.
This book has helped me determine what is essential in my life + work. Not only that, but it helped provide the tools I need to keep that one essential thing, essential.
There’s a lot to love about this book, but one of the things that helped me the most was learning how to say “no”. As a business owner, and a little bit of a people-pleaser myself, it can be really challenging to say no to just about anything! This book helps empower you to be okay with saying no, determining when you need to say no, and how to kindly say no. This skill has definitely helped my business in so many ways and has also helped me in my personal life, as well.
That’s just one little nugget that is really amazing about this book, but there’s a lot more to love. I’d highly recommend it!
Contact Info:
- Website: eastandwestdesigns.com
- Instagram: eastandwestdesigns
Image Credits
Rebecca Lillian Photo, Claire Ryser, Kaley From Kansas, Marisa Peterson, Elizabeth Ladean, Kaycee Slough,
