Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Lee of Ingredients of Trust.
Victoria, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’m a designer, art director, and most recently, entrepreneur. I have always loved the creative process. I have a background in painting and drawing from when I was very young, but have since taken that passion into adulthood as a career in graphic design.
I was always afraid of becoming a “jack of all trades, and a master at none”, but I truly had many interests in the creative space when I was starting out! I sought out an interdisciplinary education to hone in on what I really loved to do.
After graduating, a large part of my design experience has been in corporate, where I have taken existing brands and elevated them in new and creative ways. Additionally, I freelance for clients on projects that I believe I can make a difference in with my skillsets. My strengths lie in branding, big picture creative solutions, and a sprinkle of illustration magic!
I am currently now tackling my first entrepreneurial venture, Ingredients of Trust, which has been an exciting journey unlike anything else. It was first conceived as my Master’s capstone project at the USC Iovine and Young Integrated Design, Business, and Tech program. I am proud to announce that it has launched this August 2020 at www.ingredientsoftrust.com! It is a project that blends my love of food, games, humor, and art, with a mission of self-reflection, self-care, and self-awareness, and I can’t wait to share more about it with you throughout the rest of this interview.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Design has always been, and will always be, extremely subjective, and client-centered work always has its challenges. Beyond wanting to create beautiful things, I wanted to leverage design to make the process of working with others better, and even in other aspects of my life.
The courage I needed to push forward with my own entrepreneurial desires came from a desire to really understand challenges and pain points with others, and to improve that communication by first and foremost building a positive mindset about yourself. It also was an exercise in personal growth since I had the opportunity to learn how to build a business from the very beginning, besides just “being the designer” on a project.
There were certainly struggles along the way to keep up the momentum and to follow through – a creative at heart, I would love to just create more ingredients and write all day, but a business is so much more than that! Setting up our LLC, filing for trademarks and copyrights, finding the right business partners to manufacture and print our products were just a few things that required a much more in depth and lengthy process than I expected! I had to be more realistic about how quickly everything was going to take shape. I was so excited to get everything up and running, but quickly had to learn to balance that excitement with practicality if I wanted my business and products to maintain a high standard of quality.
Ingredients of Trust (Say Buns LLC) – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Say Buns is a company that is committed to cooking up the cute. We specialize in stationary, gifts, and fun tools that echo our vision for each person to recognize their own strengths, rally around each other’s and build a better world together.
Ingredients of Trust is our flagship product line. It is a collection of custom illustrated ingredients with unique personalities, currently available in the form of a card deck.
With Ingredients of Trust, you can discover your ingredient persona, much like your zodiac sign. Part personality test and part oracle deck, you can practice introspection around your strengths and empower your core values. You can also share the ingredients with someone you know to reaffirm the bonds of your relationship. Ingredients of Trust wants to emphasize the importance of self-reflection in order to help you with building trust and relationships with others, all in a fun and digestible way.
I am incredibly proud of the mission for positive communication behind Ingredients of Trust, as well as the art and design developed – there are 30 different custom illustrated ingredients, with more to come!
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I believe success is your ability to self-reflect, and then putting in the effort to be the best person you can be. I am always seeking success in the form of incremental shifts in behavior and taking an open-minded approach to all that I do.
I think that the best help someone can offer is if they have a firm grasp of their capabilities and their limitations. If a person is able to reflect on their strengths and shortcomings, I see that as success in personal growth. I think every person is capable of self-reflection, but face challenges that make it less of a priority. Whether that is making the time, or struggling to find the motivation, Ingredients of Trust is a reminder to take care of yourself, and to set you up to reach your version of success.
Pricing:
- $27.99 Ingredients of Trust – Illustrated Personality Discovery Card Deck
- $3.50 Ingredients of Trust – Individual Ingredient Stickers
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ingredientsoftrust.com
- Phone: (909) 525-6165
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ingredientsoftrust/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ingredientsoftrust/
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/ingredientsoftrust/
Image Credit:
Fumo Photography, Deliquesce Flux Photography
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