Meet Sarah Van Berkum of Blonde Creative Co. and Luno in Culver City

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Van Berkum.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Sarah. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Growing up in a small town in Iowa, people definitely knew me as the “artsy” one. I even was voted ‘Most Artistic’ in high school. I was the friend that was frequently asked to help “fix” friends’ art projects and forge their parents’ signatures on absence slips. My parents always questioned where I got my artistic ability, as neither of them could draw anything beyond a simple smiley face.

For as long as I can remember, I was always drawing, painting, or doing a random craft. I actually had an ‘art desk’ that sat in our family living room for years — I think it finally was removed when I left for college. It was more like an art ‘station’…completely decked out with crayons, markers, stickers, glitter, yarn, and more. Once I was finally upgraded to “computer access” at home, I was always playing around in Paint (remember that program?) or customizing my MySpace code. You could say that I found ‘my calling’ at a young age.

It wasn’t until high school that I started thinking about my artistic talent as a career path. I hadn’t heard of graphic design until my high school art teacher told me about it. He presented it to me as a “more realistic career path for someone like me”. That summer, I went to “graphic design camp” at the Art Institute (and won the scholarship)! I was hooked.

Of course, I had this fantasy of going to an art school in New York but ended up attending Iowa State University. It ended up being the best decision. I applied for the graphic design program by doing what design students refer to as “the suicide bid”. You were allowed to submit your portfolio to three design majors (graphic, interior, architecture, etc.)…in case you didn’t get into your first choice, you would be considered for your second, and then third. I only applied for graphic design. I knew that’s what I wanted to do.

Before college, I had never used a ‘real’ design program, but I was obsessed with elements of graphic design, specifically typography. I would browse dafont.com for HOURS, just for fun. One time, during college orientation, my mom and I were sitting in on the design college session, and there was a slide that talked about typography — my mom looked over at me and said, “this is so you!” She was right.

I graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design and Minor in Advertising in 2016. Shortly after, I moved to Los Angeles and worked in-house at creative agencies for a few years while freelancing on the side. At this time, freelancing was just a way for me to earn some extra cash; however, the work continued to come in and I started to consider taking the plunge and transitioning to freelancing full time.

I had made some awesome connections and friends back in college…little did I know that one would become my business partner later in life. At the same time that I decided I was going to quit my 9-5 job and try running my own business, I was approached by a friend with a business opportunity. He was a product designer with an epic idea, and he thought with my creative and marketing experience, we could bring it to life. I was very attracted to the idea of being my ‘own boss’ and starting a brand from scratch, so I said yes.

My title would be “Chief Creative Officer”, but I quickly learned that my role was really all things design, marketing, social media, customer support, etc. (traditional startup life). I thrive in organized chaos and prefer a busy schedule, so this was ok. However, before this job, I wasn’t ever really exposed to the marketing and strategy side of design. Now being the point person at a new brand, we literally had to figure everything out. Sure, I had designed an email before, but I never actually knew what software sent it or how that email list was generated in the first place. Sure, I had designed a logo and website before, but I was never part of the strategy for the brand awareness campaign. We were about to figure it out though.

We launched that brand in 2017, and it has continued to grow. I’ve had to figure out the ins-and-outs of e-commerce, email marketing, PR, customer experience, social media, and more. With that, I felt like I was more than just a designer…there was a lot more I could bring to the table. Finally, in 2018, I launched Blonde Creative Co — a design studio specializing in branding, web design, and marketing services.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I feel blessed to have had a pretty clear ‘path’ growing up…I can’t imagine what it’s like going to college and not knowing what you want to major in. I’m fortunate to have discovered the perfect career for me at a young age. That being said, just like everyone else, life has definitely had its ups and downs.

In college, I thought I ‘had a plan’ for my life — I was going to get an internship in New York, get offered a job at said-internship, work my way up the agency ladder, and eventually run a creative agency. I quickly learned that you can only have so much of a plan and sometimes things happen that are out of your control.

During the summer of 2015, I had two internships lined up. One was at an agency in Iowa that I was doing ‘for credit’ in order to graduate…basically I had to complete X amount of hours at this agency in order to get credit for school. The other internship was at an agency in New York. I was offered the New York internship after I had already accepted the Iowa one, but it was my dream agency, so I told myself I had to make both work. The plan that summer was to do the Iowa internship at the beginning of the summer for eight weeks, and then go to the New York internship at the end of summer for four weeks.

Halfway through my first internship, my brother was in a car accident with a semi that put his body into a coma. We were told that if he wakes up from his coma, he will be “be in a vegetative state and will need to be in a nursing home”. Don’t worry, my brother has made a full recovery, and has been called “a miracle” — just has a few ‘battle scars’. 🙂

When he was still in the coma, I obviously spent time at the hospital with my family. This meant I wasn’t getting my hours in at the Iowa internship, and I needed these hours to get the credit in order to graduate. I contacted my college and asked them if I could finish the hours at my next internship in New York. They said no. I then made the decision to cancel the New York internship, so I could be home with my family during this unexpected time, and finish my hours at the first internship.

This is the part of my story where the line “everything happens for a reason” comes in. It’s something I’ve come to really believe in…

I ended up accepting a full-time job towards the end of my senior year (2016) at the Iowa agency I had interned at. At this time, I was a senior trying to enjoy her last few weeks with her college friends before we all left to start our lives, but my mom was sick with terminal cancer. None of my friends really knew how sick she was until she showed up to our college graduation in a wheelchair because she was too weak to walk. She ended up passing a month after I graduated.

I then started the job a few weeks later at the Iowa agency, and it was the best experience. I had great mentors, awesome co-workers, and great clients/projects. It’s crazy to think that I wouldn’t have any of those experiences or relationships if I had gone to New York. I also would have missed so much time with my mom if I had gone to New York — something I would have probably regretted.

Having these major life events happen, at such a pivotal point of my life, has really shifted my mindset about my career and outlook on life. Everything happens for a reason. You can’t get mad about things you can’t control. Life is short. The list goes on…

Blonde Creative Co. and Luno – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Blonde Creative Co. is a design studio specializing in branding, web design, and marketing services. Every project is spearheaded by myself or includes a ‘custom team’ depending on your needs. I love to support freelancers, so I try to work with freelance designers and developers when I can — this way services are “a la carte” style in a way. Basically, if I can’t do it, there’s a good chance I know someone who can. This commonly comes into play when designing websites — with a custom team, we can design and develop anything from a simple informational Squarespace site to a full-blown custom ecommerce site.

Beyond that, I understand that every project/client is different. I like to say, “you wouldn’t expect a country singer to be able to rap”, and I think the same applies to a designer — you wouldn’t expect an epic UI designer to be able to whip out a whimsical illustration (but awesome if they can). Because of this, ‘we can help/work with anyone’ approach, I’ve worked with innovative start-ups, established corporate businesses, and everything in between. Sure, I have an ‘ideal client’…someone who’s in early stages of branding (or rebranding) and needs to revamp their look across the board (print, website, email, social, etc.). However, to me, as long as the client is open to the design process and eager to learn, I’m all ears. At the end of the day, I just want to work with good people with rad ideas.

Luno is the other brand I helped start back in 2017 and continue to work for. We are the first brand dedicated to car camping. All of the gear is designed in California and enables you to camp in your car comfortably and conveniently. Our signature product is the Luno Air Mattress — it’s an air mattress that fits in the back of over 1800 SUVs and hatchbacks. We are launching with more gear next Spring (2021), so we can continue to build out gear to support car campers and overlanders alike. I’m proud of how far we’ve come in only two years — our first round of inventory sold out last season, and it’s almost sold out again this season. We have been blessed with an awesome community that continues to support us.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
There are many ways I can determine success with the type of work I do — for example, more sales, more Instagram followers, good client feedback, etc. However, I like to look at the bigger picture. I determine success with my work (or on a specific project) with how I’m feeling while working…

I couldn’t put this feeling into words, so I looked it up, and here’s what I found: “In positive psychology, a flow state, also known colloquially as being in the zone, is the mental state in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.” (Google)

I think this is more commonly referred to as “if you like what you’re doing, it won’t feel like work”. It’s true! For me, if I feel like I’m in ‘a flow state’ with a project or client, that’s success. This typically means that the communication process is fluid, I’m feeling effortlessly creative/excited about the project, and the client is on the same page. Maybe that’s what love at first sight feels like? I wouldn’t know 😉

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moment so far is that I’ve received consistent design work without having to use any marketing or advertising techniques. Most of my clients are referral-based, so it’s awesome to know that people have had a positive experience working with me and are spreading the word. It’s also a super cool feeling when you get a cold call from someone who found you on Google, though (haha).

Contact Info:

• Website: http://blondecreativeco.com/
• Email: [email protected]
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahvanberkum/

 

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