Meet Stacey Nicholls

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stacey Nicholls a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Stacey, thank you so much for joining us today and appreciate you talking about a sensitive topic. It’s unfortunately relevant to so many in the community as layoffs have been on the rise recently, and so we’d appreciate hearing your story and how you overcame being let go?

I was laid off from my graphic designer position in October 2023. The business I was working for had been doing poorly, constantly losing clients month after month without gaining new clients. The writing had been on the wall, but my boss had me start working on a new project that was doing well for a time.

Eventually, that project went to market and began to have its own problems and financial stress. The perks I was promised for working on this project were drastically reduced.

Even though I had all of these signs, my boss had told me that nothing was going to change and our jobs were safe, and I believed him. I should have known better, but I was shocked when I was finally laid off.

It was a bad few weeks since my partner had been laid off a few months before and had yet to find a new position. We had a little bit of savings, but with no jobs coming in, those savings weren’t going to last.

I gave myself some time to process and grieve this transition, though not nearly enough time since I needed to pull things together – and fast.

Since 2019, I have been expanding my skillset and learning website design. I started doing client work in 2022, but this was just supposed to supplement my day job and scratch a creative itch.

I turned my freelance side hustle into an official business in March 2023. This business, Space Cookie Designs, was my saving grace. After I processed getting laid off, I started leaning into the business hard. I went to lots of networking events, started posting in Facebook groups, and started to get some traction.

While I was planning for Space Cookie Designs to eventually replace my day job, I thought I had years before that would happen. I am eternally grateful that I had the foundation of my business to lean into when things got tough. Within 6 months of getting laid off, I was able to replace my monthly salary from my day job.

I have big plans for Space Cookie Designs. I will continue to offer custom website design for clients and am launching a template shop soon. I’m also collaborating with professionals in other industries to do presentations about website design and website strategy.

Even though I work more now than when I was working for someone else, I am so much happier and fulfilled. I know where my clients are coming from and I love being able to make decisions in my own business.

Getting laid off was stressful, scary, and just all-around awful. But it forced me to fully commit to my business and show me that I can do hard things (even enjoy them!). I can’t say that I want to go through it again, but it was a fabulous kick-in-the-pants I needed to build something that I’m incredibly proud of. I have so much fun working with other entrepreneurs to create websites that truly feel like them.

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

I design custom websites for small business owners that reflect their business. Websites that I create give business owners the confidence to put themselves out there, put their best foot forward, and grow their business.

I also focus on accessibility in website design because if your website isn’t ADA compliant, you’re losing customers. I firmly believe it is possible to have an beautiful, custom, and accessible website.

I write a bi-monthly newsletter about website strategy, intentional design, and tools for small business owners. You can sign up here: thespacecookie.com/newsletter-sign-up

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

Creativity, resilience, and sheer stubbornness are probably the most impactful skills and qualities that have helped me along my journey.

Creativity because it helps me design, but also because I can look at problems or situations through a different lens if I’m stuck or need to bring in fresh air into my process.

Resilience because I have been told that I need to give up a creative career because it will never be sustainable. I didn’t listen, and have more than 17 years of experience in creative industries from photography and graphic design to website design. Each skillset builds on the other, and if I listened to that person I would not be where I am today.

Sheer stubbornness helped me out on the days that I don’t want to show up for myself. The thought of working for someone else again, putting my future in their hands, being beholden to what they’re willing to give me financially is just not something that I can do. This stubbornness drives me to move forward when I just want to take a nap. It helps me to continue to develop my design and coding skills so I can continue to grow and show up for my clients.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I am looking for folks to collaborate with. I would love to connect with people in different industries to have a presentation or workshop about website design and strategy for their audience.

If you have an audience in the health and wellness space, the restaurant or brewery industry, or entrepreneurs and are interested in hosting an in-person presentation, a webinar, or a workshop please email me at [email protected]

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thespacecookie.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/staceynicholls/
• Other: https://thespacecookie.com/newsletter-sign-up

Image Credits

Erin Waynick Photography