July 13, 2025 • 34 mins
Company: Perspektiiv Design Co
Guests: Alison Gardner
Year Started: 2014
Employees: 1-10
What if building your agency meant more boundaries, not more burnout? In this episode, Alison Gardner, Founder of Perspektiiv Design Co, shares how she transformed her solo design practice into a collaborative agency without sacrificing her creativity, identity, or personal life. You'll hear how she built a system that supports her, even through major life changes like motherhood.
Key Takeaways
- Why documenting and delegating specific roles is key to stepping out of day-to-day work
- How to use slow seasons to strengthen systems, processes, and relationships
- What it really takes to trust your team and build autonomy
- A repeatable method to evaluate what to remove, automate, delegate, or own in your business
- The power of running a business with joy as your focus.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Welcome to An Agency Storypodcast where we share real
stories of marketing agencyowners from around the world.
From the excitement of startingup the first big sale, passion,
doubt, fear, freedom, and theemotional rollercoaster of
growth, hear it all on An AgencyStory podcast.
(00:24):
An Agency Story podcast ishosted by Russel Dubree,
successful agency owner with aneight figure exit turned
business coach.
Enjoy the next agency story.
Russel (00:41):
What if the secret to building your ideal agency
wasn't more hustle, but morejoy?
Welcome to An Agency Storypodcast, I'm your host Russel.
In this episode of An AgencyStory, I'm joined by Alison
Gardner, founder of Perspektiiv,a full spectrum design studio
that's redefining what successcan look like in an agency.
We dive deep into the realitiesof entrepreneurship...
(01:02):
from burning out in pursuit ofdoing it all to regaining
control by building systems,trusting our team, and even
preparing for a four monthmaternity leave without missing
a beat.
Allison reveals how she balancesmotherhood, autonomy, and growth
while holding tight to herEstonian roots and her agency's
true north, perspective.
(01:22):
This episode is a refreshingreminder that sustainable
success doesn't have to meansacrificing yourself along the
way.
Enjoy the story.
Welcome to the show today,everyone.
I have Alison Gardner withPerspektiiv Design Co with us
here today.
Thank you so much for being onthe show today, Alison.
Alison (01:38):
Thank you for having me.
Excited to be here.
Russel (01:41):
Excited to have you and would love to just get started
right off the bat, what doesPerspektiiv Design Co do and who
do you do it for?
Alison (01:48):
Perspektiiv Design Co provides graphic design, brand
identity design, packagingdesign, website design.
Really a full spectrum creativestudio, um, for small businesses
and entrepreneurs.
Russel (02:00):
Wonderfully put, very succinct.
You've practiced that a time ortwo, I'm guessing.
We're gonna figure out a lotmore things about, uh, the
wonderful agency that you'vecreated and the work you do.
But I'm curious to start with, Iwanna know about young Alison.
What were her hopes, dreams,goals, and aspirations?
Alison (02:15):
I was always an artist from a young child, had an art
room when I was like five thatmy mom made for me in the
basement where I could just gowild and express myself.
That really, yeah, set theprecedence.
I've always been artistic,always, um, really appreciated
beauty and art and, um, yeah,led me to this place of finding
(02:36):
graphic design is my career andthen growing an agency.
I also have always been someonewho doesn't follow the
traditional path.
Doing things on my own andfinding my joy aside from maybe
what others have expected of me.
So that started from a veryyoung age and, um, probably gave
some problems to my parents, buthere we are now and following
(03:01):
the non-traditional path isreally created some alignment.
Russel (03:04):
I'm guessing you really hated math class.
Alison (03:05):
Oh my gosh, yeah.
Russel (03:07):
I can see that.
My daughter's very similar.
When it comes to creative andwriting and just all things in
that realm.
Can run circles around someone,but to, to the math stuff, just,
oh, that is, that is a beating.
Alison (03:18):
That's where delegation comes to play later.
Russel (03:20):
Yes.
Give the math to someone else.
A smart path to go.
Talk just a little bit about theearly days of your career.
What were you doing?
How were you molding yourself?
We'll eventually get to how youstarted the actual agency.
Alison (03:30):
Totally.
I went to college.
I have a graphic design andbusiness art degree.
I also spent some at, from FortLewis College in Durango,
Colorado, and also spent sometime at Rocky Mountain College
of Art and Design, studying fineart and graphic design.
Really focused my educationthere.
Spent some time in Germany andCzech Republic in the Baltic
(03:51):
area studying history of art anddesign and, um, with,
specifically in Germany withwhat was going on, um, with, in
Berlin.
I've always been a lover ofeducation, so, um, pursuing my
degrees was a lot of fun.
I really found the path there.
Had an internship in college fora brand design studio in Durango
(04:13):
that worked with a lot of smallbusinesses, and that really, um,
sparked the interest for thattype of industry.
She worked with a lot ofwellness style clients, so
chiropractic studios, um, a fewrestaurants in town, and I just
really loved watching her havethat personal experience with
her clients.
(04:33):
That was a wonderful experience.
Russel (04:35):
First off, I wanna know what, I think you said this,
business art degree.
What is business art?
Alison (04:40):
Yeah, so I feel very grateful to have had this
degree.
It's exactly what you've said.
It's a mix of business and art.
A lot of marketing and strategy,um, and advertising focus.
I took an entrepreneurshipclass, so a lot of those
business essentials.
Yeah, really, um, Differentdegree than I saw that was
(05:01):
available.
I had considered going to CUBoulder.
I'm from the front range area ofColorado and Fort Lewis College
had this business art degree,which felt really cool.
I wanted to get the basis ofunderstanding, okay, how do I
run a business?
If I'm going to be an artist,how do I make this successful?
How can I be really strategicand smart about it?
That seemed like a very fittingdegree.
Russel (05:22):
Okay, I'm liking this.
Alison (05:24):
And so yeah, I got the business background and then the
art side of that was the graphicdesign.
Focusing on the graphic designmajor.
Understanding how we cancommunicate with design, because
art and design elements are justa form of communication.
How do we use color, typography,texture, layout, all of those,
all of those elements tocommunicate a message?
(05:46):
That's really the core of what Ilearned.
Russel (05:48):
That's amazing.
It really just feels like agreat degree program to combat
this notion of a starvingartist.
We want to create the artist,but we also want to create the
skills that allows them to makesome money with their art.
Alison (05:58):
Yes, totally.
Russel (05:59):
Remind me real quick.
So you, This job that you weretalking about a little bit and
then you went into a freelancingmode.
Was that after that or?
Alison (06:08):
I had my internship during college in Durango and
then moved to Denver where I gotmy first official graphic design
job at Shane Company.
And It was a great professionalexperience.
I got to learn really firsthandhow to work with a larger team.
I was brought in to brainstormon TV advertisements.
(06:31):
It was a really interestingspace to be in, um, and collect
all of that information as towhat it is like in that type of
environment.
It also wasn't quite fitting formy personality.
I was overworked and mycreativity was overlooked.
It just wasn't a fit for me.
I felt, yeah, like I couldn'ttruly express myself there.
And so the hardship that I hadhad, and I hear this story
(06:54):
amongst many of my clients wherethey have this point in their
corporate job or whatever thecareer path that they've started
on and it just doesn't, it'sjust not aligned anymore.
It's not feeding their soul.
I was thankfully young enough, Iwas, let's see, 23 and so, um,
really had the risk tolerance tosay goodbye and go and be a
(07:18):
freelancer.
Russel (07:19):
I always am envious of my 23-year-old frugality and
living expenses.
I'm guessing that helped a lotin that, being able to jump off
on your own as well.
Alison (07:27):
Yes, it sure did.
Russel (07:28):
I wish I could 40, 40 some year old Russel to have a
23-year-old financial mindset,man.
It's just amazing what you coulddo with a relatively small
amount of money back then.
Jealous.
Alison (07:37):
Less overhead, too.
Russel (07:38):
Yeah, well, I mean, it sounds like very natural or
desired path, right?
I can just see this, thiscreative person that you said,
not to be contained and, andreally gotta blossom and bloom
in your own right.
I mean, obviously we all knowyou've, you went from freelancer
mode to agency.
What did that path look like foryou?
Alison (07:54):
At first it was a challenge.
Thankfully again, I was young,so had a lot of risk tolerance
and really just went after mylocal community and used social
media as it was in that earlytime and let everyone know that
I was available for hire forgraphic design services.
I at that point started theofficial business, Perspektiiv.
(08:15):
It's spelled in Estonian as anhomage to my heritage.
My great-grandmother fledEstonia with three young boys
after Russian occupation andlanded here in the US and I
carry her, her diamond in mywedding ring.
It's always a reminder of herstrength and, and perseverance.
That felt really fitting torespect that.
Russel (08:35):
That's amazing, one.
And I'm a history major too, soI just, I love the homage and,
and history.
Where's Estonia?
Alison (08:41):
Estonia is in the Baltic area.
It is, um, west of Russia,north, uh, or south of Finland
on the Baltic Sea area.
It's very small.
Russel (08:52):
Is this still a country or It's gotta be like a small
country, I'm guessing.
Alison (08:54):
It is still a country.
Russel (08:55):
All right.
Geography lesson for the folksat home and for me, so thank you
for that.
All right, continue.
Alison (08:59):
I named the business Perspektiiv as an homage to my
heritage, um, and also as areflection of creating in other
perspectives.
Specifically focused on othersand how do we perceive what
they're offering in a differentway, in a way that's going to
connect with, um, their audienceor their target demographics.
That's why it's named the way itis, spelled the way it is.
(09:21):
The jump from freelance toagency, I mean, I started it
like I mentioned in 2014, soit's been a while.
It's been a journey.
Started off slow as afreelancer.
Collected clients from my localcommunity, friends and family.
Had a really unique opportunitywhere, as I was doing networking
in Denver and really justgetting the word out there and
doing everything I could to getclients at that beginning
(09:43):
phases.
I was connected with a companyin the cannabis industry, and
this was back in, yeah, in 2014.
Recreational cannabis waslegalized in 2012.
The first shop started openingup in 2014.
And so I got the opportunitywhere it was like a great
timeline where I got to be thegraphic designer for one of the
(10:04):
core edible brands in Coloradocalled Sweet Grass Kitchen.
Worked with, um, Julie andJesse, the owner and marketing
director who pulled me in as anew designer.
Not super new, but newer on thejourney.
I got to be involved in thecannabis industry.
Met a lot of people that way.
Really grew my skillset,especially with packaging.
Had that gig as a freelancer aslike my core client along with a
(10:28):
few, you know, just smallprojects, t-shirt design for
events.
Russel (10:31):
Good product testing, I assume?
Alison (10:33):
You know, at that point I hadn't really explored too
many edibles.
I was like a little fearful ofthem after one bad experience in
college.
But there was a lot of educationaround it.
They have like slogans startlow, go slow.
I remember designing graphics toreally make sure that we weren't
so much in this, like cannabisstigma of what it had been in
the past.
That was really one of thebiggest goals with working with
(10:55):
them was, okay, how do we createa brand that's not stigmatized,
that allows your mother or yourgrandmother who's suffering from
pain to walk in, feelcomfortable?
How do we create that experiencein an industry where it's like
hippies and tie dye and theclassic vibe?
Russel (11:12):
I love that vision.
Make cannabis accessible to yourgrandmother.
That inspires a lot of marketingideas.
Alison (11:18):
As it should be.
They need it the most, probably.
It was a unique opportunity toreally shift that, have that
perspective and be integratedinto that community, get a lot
of experience there and I workedwith them for a long time.
Russel (11:32):
Okay, nice.
Alison (11:33):
Eight years or something.
That was a long-term client.
Um, and Then from there I endedup moving to Tahoe.
Created the foundation in Denverand then, um, took off for
Tahoe.
Russel (11:42):
You're just going to the best cities, um, the most
beautiful, best cities, parts ofthe country.
What was the motivation from,'cause I know right, when you
ended up in Portland.
What was your motivation tomove?
Alison (11:53):
I was ready for something new.
I had grown up in Colorado.
I just needed to be somewhere onmy own.
Tahoe is really enticing becauseI love nature.
I love to ski.
There's some water there,there's not much water in
Denver.
Was really craving some, someaccess to that.
They have the lake and SanFrancisco is there as well,
which was a really inspiringcity to visit while I was there.
(12:14):
Made the leap and was nervousabout it for my career because I
had created this foundation ofclients in Denver at that point.
But really it just expandedthings for me.
Russel (12:24):
I know at some point you decided to kind of up, up the
ante in terms of your businessand moving beyond that
freelancer mode.
What was that process for youand it sounds like you, you went
about it in a prettyintentional, diligent way.
Alison (12:38):
All of my growth has been organic.
My main vision has been tofollow my joy, and I really
think that that's led me downthe right path.
After being in Tahoe for a year,I was ready for something new.
I had done a lot of foundationaldesign work in that community
because they had just legalizedstorefront signage.
South Lake Tahoe had rules andregulations with the community
(13:01):
before I moved there that theyweren't allowed to have like new
branding, new signage outside.
They wanted to keep it as the,the like sixties ski town it
was.
So yeah, Had the opportunity todo a lot of foundational brand
work there.
Southlake Brewing Company,Melena, which is a yoga
boutique.
And so yeah, grew my portfoliothere.
Started to get busier and busierand then met my now husband in
(13:24):
Tahoe and we moved to Portland,um, for new opportunities.
Tahoe was small and we both lovea ski vibe, but it was hard
being surrounded by people whojust wanted to ski and just
wanted to party.
There wasn't too much of acommunity there at the time that
was business oriented.
I did join a coworking spacethat was at the bottom of
Heavenly, which was prettyideal.
(13:46):
Could ski for lunch and comeback and work on the business.
Russel (13:50):
That's my kind of day.
This is amazing.
I gotta get outta Texas here.
I gotta live this Alison life.
Ski in between calls that Imight have, I'm inspired.
Alison (13:58):
It was ideal.
Russel (13:59):
Sorry to cut you off.
I just had to share that jealousmoment of the life you're living
here.
Alison (14:03):
Love it.
I definitely miss thatlifestyle.
We try and integrate it as muchas possible now with a, a larger
business and a child.
But, um, yeah, so moved toPortland because I had been here
when I was younger.
I knew that there was a bigartistic community here.
We were near the ocean, near themountain.
A lot of community, culture andnature really inspired us to
(14:24):
move up here.
That move really grew things formy business because Portland is
a mecca for others followingtheir joy.
Really going against the statusquo and have the boldness to
create their own businesses,follow their own joy.
I really found that communityhere and after a few years
became way too busy.
(14:45):
I was burnt out.
I was working 7:00 AM to 2:00 AMwith small breaks in between.
It was a lot and it was a biglesson for me in learning that I
couldn't do it all myself.
I think I had a hard timegenerally asking for help and
that there wasn't people thatwould have the heart, have the
passion that I did in thebusiness.
(15:05):
I probably waited a little toolong to ask for help, um, but at
that point I was burnt out andfound a fantastic business coach
that was able to really supportme in creating a foundation and
creating more structures towhere I could start bringing in
a team at that time, because itwas just me, I was working in my
own systems.
and so.
(15:28):
I needed a lot more to createthat foundation.
Hired a business coach was whichwas a fantastic decision at that
early stage.
Russel (15:34):
I couldn't agree more.
I'm a little biased, but, wefound a coach very much, earlier
on, in, in our business.
Pretty much I've had one eversince for even myself in
business.
I'm a big advocate.
I think it's always great tojust have someone over your
shoulder and, or on yourshoulder, however you wanna look
at that, and help you guidethrough just the, the little
things, the big things thatyou're going through your
business.
I'm just curious because, Ithink definitely a lot of folks
(15:56):
probably wait till they getstuck, in terms before they go,
oh, now I want to go findsomeone.
And you kind of said, you maybewaited too long, but did you go
actively seeking a coach or didyou just happen upon someone and
connect the dots to say how thisis can help me get to my next
stage in business?
Alison (16:10):
That's a great question.
I'm reflecting on this, it feelslike a lifetime ago.
I think I was organically, Ithink I just met her and it was
kind of a right time rightplace.
Could see how much support shecould offer and yeah, said yes.
Russel (16:24):
All right, so, so a little serendipity, but it
sounds like it worked out reallywell for you.
Obviously, that sounds like thatwas effective for you.
What did the, let's just saywithin a year of that timeframe,
how different did the businessactually look?
Alison (16:35):
Within a year, I hired a bookkeeper.
I hired an accountant and thesewere all things that I was doing
on my own, which honestly, I dobelieve is a benefit for agency
owners to have done things ontheir own in the past because
they have a core understandingof what that work is and aren't
so detached from it.
So, yeah, I had done my owntaxes.
(16:55):
I'd done my own bookkeeping.
Hired that out.
Created more structure withproject management to where it
was really clear when I washiring a team, um, what the
project management would looklike, where projects would be
stored.
Kind of really organizing thebackend, getting prepared for
people to come on board.
Yeah, created an employeehandbook, hired an HR person to
(17:15):
help me really understand whatthat looked like.
Did a lot of research andlistened to a lot of podcasts
about leadership because at thispoint this was a really big
transition, like going from afreelance designer solely
working on my own to then, and Iguess before I hired a full-time
designer, I did work with somefreelancers, so it did give me a
taste of collaboration, which Idid really enjoy.
(17:36):
I also found that I, at thatpoint was a better creative
director than I was designer.
I think that's been a beautiful,um, journey to witness in myself
is my growth alongside mybusiness' growth.
Starting as core designer andthen doing some collaboration,
moving to more of a creativedirector role and now an agency
owner.
I call myself a founder.
(17:57):
I do creative direction workstill, um, on certain projects
that come through, but I have areally fantastic team that I
fully trust with our clients atthis point.
So yeah, really discovered thelove for the collaboration and
witnessed that others couldbring their skillset and could
be just as passionate.
It was really challenging duringthe hiring process, and I think
(18:19):
forever it probably will be.
There's so many talented people,but there's also a gap with
artists where you need someonethat's creative, but you also
need someone that's organizedand communicative.
That was my biggest challengewith finding a designer that I
wanted to invest in as anemployee.
That was a really scary thing todo, invest in a full-time
(18:40):
employee.
I had never had a payrollbefore.
That was a big commitment andthankfully I found someone
fantastic.
She's been with us for fouryears now.
Her name is Emma and she runsall of our brand design, um,
clients.
Started slow with her as acollaborator, as a freelancer.
Hired her after six months andum, really grew together.
Russel (18:58):
That's amazing.
It sounds like your, yourresearch, your effort, getting
resources and help, uh, paidoff.
I would imagine a lot ofagencies, I've heard of both
ways where one of their firsthires is still around and I've
heard it where, their worstfirst hire was very not good
situation and didn't last verylong.
I imagine it has something to dowith that preparation.
Something I wanna highlight thatyou were talking about here is,
(19:19):
is this thing of you, I thinkyou were saying like kinda like
accounting and bookkeeping and Itotally agree that it's
important to just get in there,figure it out, understand it,
right?
We can't just pretend tosomething that doesn't exist,
but also very quickly, like ifit's something that's$20, let's
just say$20 to$50 an hour, uh,especially at those early
stages, get rid of it.
Once we know it and understandit, your, your time, your value
(19:39):
is$150,$200 an hour, some cases,$500 an hour, maybe a thousand
dollars an hour.
And, and how important it isjust to not be doing those kind
of admin things indefinitely in,in the business.
Unless I guess you really,really love it.
I don't know.
But didn't sound like you didn'tsound like that was your flavor.
Alison (19:54):
No, that's definitely something I learned, I've
learned.
Something that I practicefrequently in my business to
really assess everything thatwe're doing, I have a method
that I use where it involves alot of colored expo markers and
a big whiteboard.
I do this usually, I guess I'vedone this like every other year
to kind of refresh what's on ourplate as we grow, and you
(20:16):
organize it in ways where youwrite everything that you do
down in the business, everythingthat needs to be done, it's
really surprising to see howmuch goes on this board, and you
organize it.
First section you organize is aremove, so anything that's not
important, anything that's notaligned with your goals or
aligned with your values,aligned with, um, the growth
that you're hoping to achieve,you totally get rid of it.
(20:38):
The second one is automate.
Anything that can be automatedand that is done easier these
days with AI and Kajabi and allof these great um, access to
applications that we have.
So we automate.
Next one is delegate, and thenthe last one is anything that's
on my plate.
Ideally it's like those reallycore pieces, and so for me that
(20:58):
looks like businessrelationships and, um, yeah, for
me, I'm more of like businessdevelopment and business
relationships.
Russel (21:05):
I imagine, just haven't seen a lot of your artwork, but
I imagine it's amazing and Iimagine this, this, not only
right, has a very practical,great business function, but I
imagine it looks pretty cooltoo.
Alison (21:14):
Thanks.
Yeah, check it out.
Russel (21:16):
Wonderful.
I love that process.
And speaking of which, there'ssomething, uh, that I remember
you'd shared before was thatyou've, seems like you've
created almost a unique processbehind when slow times that
naturally occur in a business,how to get the most out of that,
or how to still make that notjust be slow time, but
meaningful time.
Tell us a little bit more aboutthat, if you don't mind.
Alison (21:34):
I think it's inevitable that there will be slow times in
business and it's not somethingthat you can necessarily, you
don't, you don't necessarilyhave control over.
Learning how to trust and takedeep breaths, and if you've been
in business long enough, lookback at the data data and let
yourself, like, be confidentthat things aren't gonna end.
(21:54):
Everything will be okay.
You just have to keep showing upday after day and that's
something that I've learned isto like not give into that
scarcity or that fear that comesup, um, when you do have a
slower phase and utilize thattime for business development.
For me, it looks likereassessing my systems, updating
pitch decks, updating pricing,really looking at all the stuff
that we don't have time for whenwe're really busy with working
(22:17):
with clients.
I also take the time now that Ihave a team to really focus on
team building.
We go out to dinner, we havecoffee dates, and really talk
about what's working, what's notworking, and yeah, use it as a
time to reflect and refine.
Russel (22:31):
We can pick up so many little nuggets from each other
and just like you said, coffeedates and things like that, just
to see, just kind of having itfront of mind of just what can I
learn from this other person or,or just how do we make
meaningful conversations and thevalue from that.
It sounds like that's beenbeneficial in your journey.
Alison (22:46):
And just generally relationship building.
To have those strongrelationships with your team and
with your clients, um, has beenone of the most pivotal things
in my business.
Really making sure I'm utilizingthat time and investing in my
community and in myrelationships.
Russel (23:03):
Again, living, living the sweet life there, Alison.
Another thing I wanna talkabout, and you know, it's not a
subject that comes up a lot on,on the show or whatever.
We tend to talk about the agencyand the business, but we do have
lives outside of business and abig transition in someone's life
is parenthood and, and in yourcase, motherhood.
As I understand, relatively newto the parenthood game, what was
(23:25):
that like and how has it changedjust your perspective and what
you do in the business?
Alison (23:29):
Great question and I think it's so important to talk
about this, especially as morewomen are owning businesses and
primary providers in theirfamilies in this day of age.
Um, and bringing a child intothis world is another full-time
job.
Witnessing the transformation ofbecoming, I mean, Perspektiiv
(23:50):
was my, my focus.
So when Atlas joined us, I hadto take a step back and that was
really scary and it was a greattime for me to practice and flex
my trust muscles of the teamthat I had built.
During my pregnancy, reallyfocused on training them to take
over for, I believe I was gonefor four months, which was a, a,
a blessing, um, to be able tohave that with him during those
(24:13):
first few months.
Focused on providing them witheverything they needed to be
confident while I was gone andwhen I came back, also just had
the realization that I had builta team that could really support
our clientele without me, andthat was a really proud moment.
Beyond that, different seasonsof parenting have been very
(24:33):
different, but I've very muchlearned that boundaries are
extremely important as Ipractice what my role looks like
as a mother and as a businessowner.
Prior, I didn't have manyboundaries to business.
I worked an average amount and,um, sometimes on the weekends.
Now that's really shifted for mewhere, um, having him be almost
three, he's my, my primaryfocus, so really making sure I
(24:55):
have boundaries a alongside whenI work, when I'm done with work.
I work Tuesday, Wednesday,Thursday, I'm done at 5:00 PM.
Yeah, Just being really clearand kind and creating a culture
where that's accepted and wherethat's really looked up to, that
I can be both roles, um, andthat we have a clientele that
really respects that too.
Russel (25:15):
I imagine there's, uh, a lot of folks out there that are
like, oh, man, that soundsawesome.
I wanna be there.
Maybe it is boundaries, but my,my next question was just gonna
be what's, what do you think isthe secret sauce that's allowed
you to set that up?
And talk to me through, right,whether you're preparing for,
you know, maternity or paternityleave, or just want to have a
little bit more autonomous teamand units set up in your
(25:37):
business.
Maybe just share a little bitmore specific about, what you
actually did when you werepreparing for your own maternity
leave.
Alison (25:43):
At that point, I had my full-time employee, Emma.
I had my bookkeeper who'srunning payroll.
She's got all of that on lock.
Continuously, we work with aboutsix freelancers so there's about
seven of us that arecontinuously collaborating.
That looked like setting theprecedents and saying, hey.
We've got nine months.
This is what it's gonna looklike.
I created training systems.
(26:04):
Really hit it hard in GoogleDocs and created trainings for
everything that I was doing thatI needed to outsource.
I hired a project manager thatcould keep things.
I hired someone that could helpme with discovery calls, so new
clients coming in.
Just trained them all.
(26:25):
I think finding the right peoplewas really important and so our
our hiring process was reallydiligent as well, I guess to
really back up to the beginning,where we had a defined checklist
of what we were looking for and,they had to meet that criteria.
We definitely had sometransitions within that.
But thankfully I had, I had hada hiring process like going for
(26:47):
a few years, so I had had peoplein my roster already.
I had built relationships, I hadtrust.
There's people that had beenworking with me for a while, so
they had the foundation ofknowledge, and at that point it
was really just like metrusting, giving them everything
they needed to succeed, puttingit all in Google Docs, writing
everything down and, yeah,handing it over.
Russel (27:06):
Wonderful.
Something I think kinda speaksto what you're saying there that
I think is important is it'spretty hard to just find a
one-to-one replacement foryourself in an owner role, but
you know, it sounds like whatyou did is you broke some of the
things you were doing down intobite-sized chunks and, and then
found a great resource or, orhire or whatever to do that one
specific thing.
I think that is so important.
(27:27):
We take these needs and ratherthan trying to find a unicorn or
something like that, can wejust, can we find just little
things and if we can set theseup, train someone on these
specific little things, then aslong as it's not in our bucket
anymore, then that is a strongwin for the business.
Sounds very similar to what youdid there.
Alison (27:44):
And I think after that too, once I returned from
maternity leave and I saw thatthe business was still running,
I witnessed how powerful itcould be to give more autonomy
to my team.
We all had, um, a meeting afterI had returned, and my team
really enjoyed the autonomy.
I really enjoyed the autonomy,and so because of that mutual,
(28:05):
um, value, it led us to moreautonomous roles as well.
I was able to actually, um, stopdoing creative direction on some
of these projects.
For example, um, before mymaternity leave, I was on every
kickoff creative meeting for newclients.
That was a lot of work andsomething that, um, I needed to
learn that I could trust mydesigners to do without me on
(28:29):
the calls.
That was a great learning momentto say, oh, to see, oh wow.
They were really great at thisand I don't actually need to be
here.
It was also a learning momentto, um, I thought I needed to be
there.
I thought the only way that thebusiness was going to work is if
I was on every client call.
I was a part of every touchpoint and really had to let go
of that and trust.
That has created a lot ofautonomy for me to now focus on,
(28:52):
again, business development,business relationships, my
community creative direction onprojects that I'm really
inspired and lit up by and timewith my family.
Russel (29:00):
Maybe someone should just write a a business book on,
hey, if you wanna grow yourbusiness, have more babies.
I don't know.
There's something there.
I dunno.
Million dollar idea take youthat run with it if you want.
Alison (29:08):
Yeah, totally.
Russel (29:11):
We'll switch gears.
Wonderful subject and, andinsight you shared there.
One of the things I wasfascinated by is you got a
little side hustle going ofrecently.
What's going on there?
Alison (29:20):
Saturday cabin.
My husband and I have always hada dream of renovating a cabin.
We've always been really intointerior design and
architecture.
We had been curious aboutinvesting in real estate, and we
decided to go the duplex routeat first.
But after a really badinspection and a terrifying
tenant that was going to beincluded in that, we looked at
(29:42):
each other and were like, okay,the core here is that we need to
follow our joy.
That's what's led us to thispoint in business and in life,
to get to Portland.
Let's continue doing that.
Life is short.
What do we actually wanna do?
We started looking for a cabinto renovate and create a short
term rental, but also be aprimary space for our family to
retreat to outside of the city.
(30:03):
We wanted to purchase on thecoast, but that became very
challenging with permits andyeah, very scary with all of the
flood and tsunami insurance andeverything.
We, uh, decided to head to MountHood and, um, yeah, just very
aligned with our lifestyle,considering we're both, lovers
of the mountain and we're bothsnowboarders.
Atlas is on skis now, and so wefound a 1969 cabin that was just
(30:29):
real rundown, but suchopportunity and found the, the
joy to renovate that.
My husband was a big part likehe did a lot of the interior
work.
We totally gutted it andtransformed it into a boutique
Airbnb and we now offerretreats, specifically wellness
focused retreats and justgeneral short term rental on
(30:49):
Airbnb.
It's been really fun.
Russel (30:51):
I bet.
Creatives, entrepreneurial,relaxing, check checking all the
life boxes here.
Alright, well we've gotta wrapthings up here.
Real quick before we get to thelast big question is, what does
the future of Perspektiiv looklike?
Alison (31:04):
I think that answer changes, um, with each season of
business.
Right now we're in a reallygreat place where we have a core
team.
We have wonderful clients thatwe work with.
We really, um, love working withthe diverse clientele that we
have.
We work, like I mentioned, um,in the cannabis industry, but we
also work with restaurants andhospitality and doctors and
(31:25):
lawyers.
We worked with the city ofPortland recently to do the
downtown signage for theholidays, and so really, really
happy about where we're at now.
We have autonomy.
We, um, have flexibility.
We have a coworking space thatmy team is at and everyone has a
great work life balance and weget to work with incredible
passionate clients.
(31:46):
I'm really happy with wherewe're at and I don't really need
to grow at any point.
Something that I am interestedin is doing more community
events and bringing more valueto our entrepreneurial
community.
Last year I hosted somethingcalled B2B brunch with the
business coach that I had hiredand we brought together 10
entrepreneurs all from differentbackgrounds to be referral
(32:07):
partners and support each otherin business.
We'll be doing that quarterly.
Just leading into like value andcommunity and yeah, continuing
to have a nice work life balanceand work with selected
passionate clients.
Russel (32:20):
Can't ask for anything better than that.
Sounds like you're in a reallygreat place.
Done a lot of hard work to getthere, but, um, living the sweet
life.
Last big question for you,Alison.
Are entrepreneurs born or arethey made?
Alison (32:31):
Great question.
I think it's a blend of both.
I think that people are bornwith creativity, with
resilience, but I also thinkthat you learn a lot along the
way that makes you a goodentrepreneur, like the finances.
I think it's a blend.
Russel (32:46):
All right, I'll take that.
Very wonderful thought.
If people wanna know more aboutPerspektiiv, where can they go?
Alison (32:51):
You can find us on Instagram, um, at Perspektiiv
P-E-R-S-P-E-K-T-I-I-V Design Co.
You can find us on our websitePerspektiiv.com and sign up for
our email newsletter list andyou'll receive a monthly update
from the studio.
Russel (33:08):
Love that.
Perspektiiv in Estonian, if youknow how to spell that or if you
know, you're Estonian.
Thank you so much today, Alison,for sharing so many wonderful
things about your agency, tipson setting boundaries for
yourself and making the businessreally work for you and your
hopes and dreams and goals.
Just really appreciate youtaking the time to share that
with us today.
Alison (33:25):
Thank you, Russel.
We hope you've enjoyed thisepisode of An Agency Story
podcast where we share realstories of marketing agency
owners from around the world.
Are you interested in being aguest on the show?
Send an email topodcast@performancefaction.com.
(33:46):
An Agency Story is brought toyou by Performance Faction.
Performance Faction offersservices to help agency owners
grow their business to 5 milliondollars and more in revenue.
To learn more, visitperformancefaction.com.
We once had someone show up at our home with a care
(34:09):
package for someone that saidthat they were a designer at
Perspektiiv and they weren't.
Their story was, I'm sick, Ican't make it for our date.
I work at Perspektiiv.
He brought a care package oflike tea and honey and flowers
so yeah, someone had like,totally catfished him.
Russel (34:28):
I mean, That's fascinating, right?
The real sad part that I'mhearing in this is it sounds
like they found a really greatperson, or maybe this was, maybe
this is a bad form of catfishingor whatever, but they lied and
they ruined it.
That's a very interesting.
Welcome to An Agency Storypodcast where we share real
stories of marketing agencyowners from around the world.
From the excitement of startingup the first big sale, passion,
doubt, fear, freedom, and theemotional rollercoaster of
growth, hear it all on An AgencyStory podcast.
(00:24):
An Agency Story podcast ishosted by Russel Dubree,
successful agency owner with aneight figure exit turned
business coach.
Enjoy the next agency story.
Russel (00:41):
What if the secret to building your ideal agency
wasn't more hustle, but morejoy?
Welcome to An Agency Storypodcast, I'm your host Russel.
In this episode of An AgencyStory, I'm joined by Alison
Gardner, founder of Perspektiiv,a full spectrum design studio
that's redefining what successcan look like in an agency.
We dive deep into the realitiesof entrepreneurship...
(01:02):
from burning out in pursuit ofdoing it all to regaining
control by building systems,trusting our team, and even
preparing for a four monthmaternity leave without missing
a beat.
Allison reveals how she balancesmotherhood, autonomy, and growth
while holding tight to herEstonian roots and her agency's
true north, perspective.
(01:22):
This episode is a refreshingreminder that sustainable
success doesn't have to meansacrificing yourself along the
way.
Enjoy the story.
Welcome to the show today,everyone.
I have Alison Gardner withPerspektiiv Design Co with us
here today.
Thank you so much for being onthe show today, Alison.
Alison (01:38):
Thank you for having me.
Excited to be here.
Russel (01:41):
Excited to have you and would love to just get started
right off the bat, what doesPerspektiiv Design Co do and who
do you do it for?
Alison (01:48):
Perspektiiv Design Co provides graphic design, brand
identity design, packagingdesign, website design.
Really a full spectrum creativestudio, um, for small businesses
and entrepreneurs.
Russel (02:00):
Wonderfully put, very succinct.
You've practiced that a time ortwo, I'm guessing.
We're gonna figure out a lotmore things about, uh, the
wonderful agency that you'vecreated and the work you do.
But I'm curious to start with, Iwanna know about young Alison.
What were her hopes, dreams,goals, and aspirations?
Alison (02:15):
I was always an artist from a young child, had an art
room when I was like five thatmy mom made for me in the
basement where I could just gowild and express myself.
That really, yeah, set theprecedence.
I've always been artistic,always, um, really appreciated
beauty and art and, um, yeah,led me to this place of finding
(02:36):
graphic design is my career andthen growing an agency.
I also have always been someonewho doesn't follow the
traditional path.
Doing things on my own andfinding my joy aside from maybe
what others have expected of me.
So that started from a veryyoung age and, um, probably gave
some problems to my parents, buthere we are now and following
(03:01):
the non-traditional path isreally created some alignment.
Russel (03:04):
I'm guessing you really hated math class.
Alison (03:05):
Oh my gosh, yeah.
Russel (03:07):
I can see that.
My daughter's very similar.
When it comes to creative andwriting and just all things in
that realm.
Can run circles around someone,but to, to the math stuff, just,
oh, that is, that is a beating.
Alison (03:18):
That's where delegation comes to play later.
Russel (03:20):
Yes.
Give the math to someone else.
A smart path to go.
Talk just a little bit about theearly days of your career.
What were you doing?
How were you molding yourself?
We'll eventually get to how youstarted the actual agency.
Alison (03:30):
Totally.
I went to college.
I have a graphic design andbusiness art degree.
I also spent some at, from FortLewis College in Durango,
Colorado, and also spent sometime at Rocky Mountain College
of Art and Design, studying fineart and graphic design.
Really focused my educationthere.
Spent some time in Germany andCzech Republic in the Baltic
(03:51):
area studying history of art anddesign and, um, with,
specifically in Germany withwhat was going on, um, with, in
Berlin.
I've always been a lover ofeducation, so, um, pursuing my
degrees was a lot of fun.
I really found the path there.
Had an internship in college fora brand design studio in Durango
(04:13):
that worked with a lot of smallbusinesses, and that really, um,
sparked the interest for thattype of industry.
She worked with a lot ofwellness style clients, so
chiropractic studios, um, a fewrestaurants in town, and I just
really loved watching her havethat personal experience with
her clients.
(04:33):
That was a wonderful experience.
Russel (04:35):
First off, I wanna know what, I think you said this,
business art degree.
What is business art?
Alison (04:40):
Yeah, so I feel very grateful to have had this
degree.
It's exactly what you've said.
It's a mix of business and art.
A lot of marketing and strategy,um, and advertising focus.
I took an entrepreneurshipclass, so a lot of those
business essentials.
Yeah, really, um, Differentdegree than I saw that was
(05:01):
available.
I had considered going to CUBoulder.
I'm from the front range area ofColorado and Fort Lewis College
had this business art degree,which felt really cool.
I wanted to get the basis ofunderstanding, okay, how do I
run a business?
If I'm going to be an artist,how do I make this successful?
How can I be really strategicand smart about it?
That seemed like a very fittingdegree.
Russel (05:22):
Okay, I'm liking this.
Alison (05:24):
And so yeah, I got the business background and then the
art side of that was the graphicdesign.
Focusing on the graphic designmajor.
Understanding how we cancommunicate with design, because
art and design elements are justa form of communication.
How do we use color, typography,texture, layout, all of those,
all of those elements tocommunicate a message?
(05:46):
That's really the core of what Ilearned.
Russel (05:48):
That's amazing.
It really just feels like agreat degree program to combat
this notion of a starvingartist.
We want to create the artist,but we also want to create the
skills that allows them to makesome money with their art.
Alison (05:58):
Yes, totally.
Russel (05:59):
Remind me real quick.
So you, This job that you weretalking about a little bit and
then you went into a freelancingmode.
Was that after that or?
Alison (06:08):
I had my internship during college in Durango and
then moved to Denver where I gotmy first official graphic design
job at Shane Company.
And It was a great professionalexperience.
I got to learn really firsthandhow to work with a larger team.
I was brought in to brainstormon TV advertisements.
(06:31):
It was a really interestingspace to be in, um, and collect
all of that information as towhat it is like in that type of
environment.
It also wasn't quite fitting formy personality.
I was overworked and mycreativity was overlooked.
It just wasn't a fit for me.
I felt, yeah, like I couldn'ttruly express myself there.
And so the hardship that I hadhad, and I hear this story
(06:54):
amongst many of my clients wherethey have this point in their
corporate job or whatever thecareer path that they've started
on and it just doesn't, it'sjust not aligned anymore.
It's not feeding their soul.
I was thankfully young enough, Iwas, let's see, 23 and so, um,
really had the risk tolerance tosay goodbye and go and be a
(07:18):
freelancer.
Russel (07:19):
I always am envious of my 23-year-old frugality and
living expenses.
I'm guessing that helped a lotin that, being able to jump off
on your own as well.
Alison (07:27):
Yes, it sure did.
Russel (07:28):
I wish I could 40, 40 some year old Russel to have a
23-year-old financial mindset,man.
It's just amazing what you coulddo with a relatively small
amount of money back then.
Jealous.
Alison (07:37):
Less overhead, too.
Russel (07:38):
Yeah, well, I mean, it sounds like very natural or
desired path, right?
I can just see this, thiscreative person that you said,
not to be contained and, andreally gotta blossom and bloom
in your own right.
I mean, obviously we all knowyou've, you went from freelancer
mode to agency.
What did that path look like foryou?
Alison (07:54):
At first it was a challenge.
Thankfully again, I was young,so had a lot of risk tolerance
and really just went after mylocal community and used social
media as it was in that earlytime and let everyone know that
I was available for hire forgraphic design services.
I at that point started theofficial business, Perspektiiv.
(08:15):
It's spelled in Estonian as anhomage to my heritage.
My great-grandmother fledEstonia with three young boys
after Russian occupation andlanded here in the US and I
carry her, her diamond in mywedding ring.
It's always a reminder of herstrength and, and perseverance.
That felt really fitting torespect that.
Russel (08:35):
That's amazing, one.
And I'm a history major too, soI just, I love the homage and,
and history.
Where's Estonia?
Alison (08:41):
Estonia is in the Baltic area.
It is, um, west of Russia,north, uh, or south of Finland
on the Baltic Sea area.
It's very small.
Russel (08:52):
Is this still a country or It's gotta be like a small
country, I'm guessing.
Alison (08:54):
It is still a country.
Russel (08:55):
All right.
Geography lesson for the folksat home and for me, so thank you
for that.
All right, continue.
Alison (08:59):
I named the business Perspektiiv as an homage to my
heritage, um, and also as areflection of creating in other
perspectives.
Specifically focused on othersand how do we perceive what
they're offering in a differentway, in a way that's going to
connect with, um, their audienceor their target demographics.
That's why it's named the way itis, spelled the way it is.
(09:21):
The jump from freelance toagency, I mean, I started it
like I mentioned in 2014, soit's been a while.
It's been a journey.
Started off slow as afreelancer.
Collected clients from my localcommunity, friends and family.
Had a really unique opportunitywhere, as I was doing networking
in Denver and really justgetting the word out there and
doing everything I could to getclients at that beginning
(09:43):
phases.
I was connected with a companyin the cannabis industry, and
this was back in, yeah, in 2014.
Recreational cannabis waslegalized in 2012.
The first shop started openingup in 2014.
And so I got the opportunitywhere it was like a great
timeline where I got to be thegraphic designer for one of the
(10:04):
core edible brands in Coloradocalled Sweet Grass Kitchen.
Worked with, um, Julie andJesse, the owner and marketing
director who pulled me in as anew designer.
Not super new, but newer on thejourney.
I got to be involved in thecannabis industry.
Met a lot of people that way.
Really grew my skillset,especially with packaging.
Had that gig as a freelancer aslike my core client along with a
(10:28):
few, you know, just smallprojects, t-shirt design for
events.
Russel (10:31):
Good product testing, I assume?
Alison (10:33):
You know, at that point I hadn't really explored too
many edibles.
I was like a little fearful ofthem after one bad experience in
college.
But there was a lot of educationaround it.
They have like slogans startlow, go slow.
I remember designing graphics toreally make sure that we weren't
so much in this, like cannabisstigma of what it had been in
the past.
That was really one of thebiggest goals with working with
(10:55):
them was, okay, how do we createa brand that's not stigmatized,
that allows your mother or yourgrandmother who's suffering from
pain to walk in, feelcomfortable?
How do we create that experiencein an industry where it's like
hippies and tie dye and theclassic vibe?
Russel (11:12):
I love that vision.
Make cannabis accessible to yourgrandmother.
That inspires a lot of marketingideas.
Alison (11:18):
As it should be.
They need it the most, probably.
It was a unique opportunity toreally shift that, have that
perspective and be integratedinto that community, get a lot
of experience there and I workedwith them for a long time.
Russel (11:32):
Okay, nice.
Alison (11:33):
Eight years or something.
That was a long-term client.
Um, and Then from there I endedup moving to Tahoe.
Created the foundation in Denverand then, um, took off for
Tahoe.
Russel (11:42):
You're just going to the best cities, um, the most
beautiful, best cities, parts ofthe country.
What was the motivation from,'cause I know right, when you
ended up in Portland.
What was your motivation tomove?
Alison (11:53):
I was ready for something new.
I had grown up in Colorado.
I just needed to be somewhere onmy own.
Tahoe is really enticing becauseI love nature.
I love to ski.
There's some water there,there's not much water in
Denver.
Was really craving some, someaccess to that.
They have the lake and SanFrancisco is there as well,
which was a really inspiringcity to visit while I was there.
(12:14):
Made the leap and was nervousabout it for my career because I
had created this foundation ofclients in Denver at that point.
But really it just expandedthings for me.
Russel (12:24):
I know at some point you decided to kind of up, up the
ante in terms of your businessand moving beyond that
freelancer mode.
What was that process for youand it sounds like you, you went
about it in a prettyintentional, diligent way.
Alison (12:38):
All of my growth has been organic.
My main vision has been tofollow my joy, and I really
think that that's led me downthe right path.
After being in Tahoe for a year,I was ready for something new.
I had done a lot of foundationaldesign work in that community
because they had just legalizedstorefront signage.
South Lake Tahoe had rules andregulations with the community
(13:01):
before I moved there that theyweren't allowed to have like new
branding, new signage outside.
They wanted to keep it as the,the like sixties ski town it
was.
So yeah, Had the opportunity todo a lot of foundational brand
work there.
Southlake Brewing Company,Melena, which is a yoga
boutique.
And so yeah, grew my portfoliothere.
Started to get busier and busierand then met my now husband in
(13:24):
Tahoe and we moved to Portland,um, for new opportunities.
Tahoe was small and we both lovea ski vibe, but it was hard
being surrounded by people whojust wanted to ski and just
wanted to party.
There wasn't too much of acommunity there at the time that
was business oriented.
I did join a coworking spacethat was at the bottom of
Heavenly, which was prettyideal.
(13:46):
Could ski for lunch and comeback and work on the business.
Russel (13:50):
That's my kind of day.
This is amazing.
I gotta get outta Texas here.
I gotta live this Alison life.
Ski in between calls that Imight have, I'm inspired.
Alison (13:58):
It was ideal.
Russel (13:59):
Sorry to cut you off.
I just had to share that jealousmoment of the life you're living
here.
Alison (14:03):
Love it.
I definitely miss thatlifestyle.
We try and integrate it as muchas possible now with a, a larger
business and a child.
But, um, yeah, so moved toPortland because I had been here
when I was younger.
I knew that there was a bigartistic community here.
We were near the ocean, near themountain.
A lot of community, culture andnature really inspired us to
(14:24):
move up here.
That move really grew things formy business because Portland is
a mecca for others followingtheir joy.
Really going against the statusquo and have the boldness to
create their own businesses,follow their own joy.
I really found that communityhere and after a few years
became way too busy.
(14:45):
I was burnt out.
I was working 7:00 AM to 2:00 AMwith small breaks in between.
It was a lot and it was a biglesson for me in learning that I
couldn't do it all myself.
I think I had a hard timegenerally asking for help and
that there wasn't people thatwould have the heart, have the
passion that I did in thebusiness.
(15:05):
I probably waited a little toolong to ask for help, um, but at
that point I was burnt out andfound a fantastic business coach
that was able to really supportme in creating a foundation and
creating more structures towhere I could start bringing in
a team at that time, because itwas just me, I was working in my
own systems.
and so.
(15:28):
I needed a lot more to createthat foundation.
Hired a business coach was whichwas a fantastic decision at that
early stage.
Russel (15:34):
I couldn't agree more.
I'm a little biased, but, wefound a coach very much, earlier
on, in, in our business.
Pretty much I've had one eversince for even myself in
business.
I'm a big advocate.
I think it's always great tojust have someone over your
shoulder and, or on yourshoulder, however you wanna look
at that, and help you guidethrough just the, the little
things, the big things thatyou're going through your
business.
I'm just curious because, Ithink definitely a lot of folks
(15:56):
probably wait till they getstuck, in terms before they go,
oh, now I want to go findsomeone.
And you kind of said, you maybewaited too long, but did you go
actively seeking a coach or didyou just happen upon someone and
connect the dots to say how thisis can help me get to my next
stage in business?
Alison (16:10):
That's a great question.
I'm reflecting on this, it feelslike a lifetime ago.
I think I was organically, Ithink I just met her and it was
kind of a right time rightplace.
Could see how much support shecould offer and yeah, said yes.
Russel (16:24):
All right, so, so a little serendipity, but it
sounds like it worked out reallywell for you.
Obviously, that sounds like thatwas effective for you.
What did the, let's just saywithin a year of that timeframe,
how different did the businessactually look?
Alison (16:35):
Within a year, I hired a bookkeeper.
I hired an accountant and thesewere all things that I was doing
on my own, which honestly, I dobelieve is a benefit for agency
owners to have done things ontheir own in the past because
they have a core understandingof what that work is and aren't
so detached from it.
So, yeah, I had done my owntaxes.
(16:55):
I'd done my own bookkeeping.
Hired that out.
Created more structure withproject management to where it
was really clear when I washiring a team, um, what the
project management would looklike, where projects would be
stored.
Kind of really organizing thebackend, getting prepared for
people to come on board.
Yeah, created an employeehandbook, hired an HR person to
(17:15):
help me really understand whatthat looked like.
Did a lot of research andlistened to a lot of podcasts
about leadership because at thispoint this was a really big
transition, like going from afreelance designer solely
working on my own to then, and Iguess before I hired a full-time
designer, I did work with somefreelancers, so it did give me a
taste of collaboration, which Idid really enjoy.
(17:36):
I also found that I, at thatpoint was a better creative
director than I was designer.
I think that's been a beautiful,um, journey to witness in myself
is my growth alongside mybusiness' growth.
Starting as core designer andthen doing some collaboration,
moving to more of a creativedirector role and now an agency
owner.
I call myself a founder.
(17:57):
I do creative direction workstill, um, on certain projects
that come through, but I have areally fantastic team that I
fully trust with our clients atthis point.
So yeah, really discovered thelove for the collaboration and
witnessed that others couldbring their skillset and could
be just as passionate.
It was really challenging duringthe hiring process, and I think
(18:19):
forever it probably will be.
There's so many talented people,but there's also a gap with
artists where you need someonethat's creative, but you also
need someone that's organizedand communicative.
That was my biggest challengewith finding a designer that I
wanted to invest in as anemployee.
That was a really scary thing todo, invest in a full-time
(18:40):
employee.
I had never had a payrollbefore.
That was a big commitment andthankfully I found someone
fantastic.
She's been with us for fouryears now.
Her name is Emma and she runsall of our brand design, um,
clients.
Started slow with her as acollaborator, as a freelancer.
Hired her after six months andum, really grew together.
Russel (18:58):
That's amazing.
It sounds like your, yourresearch, your effort, getting
resources and help, uh, paidoff.
I would imagine a lot ofagencies, I've heard of both
ways where one of their firsthires is still around and I've
heard it where, their worstfirst hire was very not good
situation and didn't last verylong.
I imagine it has something to dowith that preparation.
Something I wanna highlight thatyou were talking about here is,
(19:19):
is this thing of you, I thinkyou were saying like kinda like
accounting and bookkeeping and Itotally agree that it's
important to just get in there,figure it out, understand it,
right?
We can't just pretend tosomething that doesn't exist,
but also very quickly, like ifit's something that's$20, let's
just say$20 to$50 an hour, uh,especially at those early
stages, get rid of it.
Once we know it and understandit, your, your time, your value
(19:39):
is$150,$200 an hour, some cases,$500 an hour, maybe a thousand
dollars an hour.
And, and how important it isjust to not be doing those kind
of admin things indefinitely in,in the business.
Unless I guess you really,really love it.
I don't know.
But didn't sound like you didn'tsound like that was your flavor.
Alison (19:54):
No, that's definitely something I learned, I've
learned.
Something that I practicefrequently in my business to
really assess everything thatwe're doing, I have a method
that I use where it involves alot of colored expo markers and
a big whiteboard.
I do this usually, I guess I'vedone this like every other year
to kind of refresh what's on ourplate as we grow, and you
(20:16):
organize it in ways where youwrite everything that you do
down in the business, everythingthat needs to be done, it's
really surprising to see howmuch goes on this board, and you
organize it.
First section you organize is aremove, so anything that's not
important, anything that's notaligned with your goals or
aligned with your values,aligned with, um, the growth
that you're hoping to achieve,you totally get rid of it.
(20:38):
The second one is automate.
Anything that can be automatedand that is done easier these
days with AI and Kajabi and allof these great um, access to
applications that we have.
So we automate.
Next one is delegate, and thenthe last one is anything that's
on my plate.
Ideally it's like those reallycore pieces, and so for me that
(20:58):
looks like businessrelationships and, um, yeah, for
me, I'm more of like businessdevelopment and business
relationships.
Russel (21:05):
I imagine, just haven't seen a lot of your artwork, but
I imagine it's amazing and Iimagine this, this, not only
right, has a very practical,great business function, but I
imagine it looks pretty cooltoo.
Alison (21:14):
Thanks.
Yeah, check it out.
Russel (21:16):
Wonderful.
I love that process.
And speaking of which, there'ssomething, uh, that I remember
you'd shared before was thatyou've, seems like you've
created almost a unique processbehind when slow times that
naturally occur in a business,how to get the most out of that,
or how to still make that notjust be slow time, but
meaningful time.
Tell us a little bit more aboutthat, if you don't mind.
Alison (21:34):
I think it's inevitable that there will be slow times in
business and it's not somethingthat you can necessarily, you
don't, you don't necessarilyhave control over.
Learning how to trust and takedeep breaths, and if you've been
in business long enough, lookback at the data data and let
yourself, like, be confidentthat things aren't gonna end.
(21:54):
Everything will be okay.
You just have to keep showing upday after day and that's
something that I've learned isto like not give into that
scarcity or that fear that comesup, um, when you do have a
slower phase and utilize thattime for business development.
For me, it looks likereassessing my systems, updating
pitch decks, updating pricing,really looking at all the stuff
that we don't have time for whenwe're really busy with working
(22:17):
with clients.
I also take the time now that Ihave a team to really focus on
team building.
We go out to dinner, we havecoffee dates, and really talk
about what's working, what's notworking, and yeah, use it as a
time to reflect and refine.
Russel (22:31):
We can pick up so many little nuggets from each other
and just like you said, coffeedates and things like that, just
to see, just kind of having itfront of mind of just what can I
learn from this other person or,or just how do we make
meaningful conversations and thevalue from that.
It sounds like that's beenbeneficial in your journey.
Alison (22:46):
And just generally relationship building.
To have those strongrelationships with your team and
with your clients, um, has beenone of the most pivotal things
in my business.
Really making sure I'm utilizingthat time and investing in my
community and in myrelationships.
Russel (23:03):
Again, living, living the sweet life there, Alison.
Another thing I wanna talkabout, and you know, it's not a
subject that comes up a lot on,on the show or whatever.
We tend to talk about the agencyand the business, but we do have
lives outside of business and abig transition in someone's life
is parenthood and, and in yourcase, motherhood.
As I understand, relatively newto the parenthood game, what was
(23:25):
that like and how has it changedjust your perspective and what
you do in the business?
Alison (23:29):
Great question and I think it's so important to talk
about this, especially as morewomen are owning businesses and
primary providers in theirfamilies in this day of age.
Um, and bringing a child intothis world is another full-time
job.
Witnessing the transformation ofbecoming, I mean, Perspektiiv
(23:50):
was my, my focus.
So when Atlas joined us, I hadto take a step back and that was
really scary and it was a greattime for me to practice and flex
my trust muscles of the teamthat I had built.
During my pregnancy, reallyfocused on training them to take
over for, I believe I was gonefor four months, which was a, a,
a blessing, um, to be able tohave that with him during those
(24:13):
first few months.
Focused on providing them witheverything they needed to be
confident while I was gone andwhen I came back, also just had
the realization that I had builta team that could really support
our clientele without me, andthat was a really proud moment.
Beyond that, different seasonsof parenting have been very
(24:33):
different, but I've very muchlearned that boundaries are
extremely important as Ipractice what my role looks like
as a mother and as a businessowner.
Prior, I didn't have manyboundaries to business.
I worked an average amount and,um, sometimes on the weekends.
Now that's really shifted for mewhere, um, having him be almost
three, he's my, my primaryfocus, so really making sure I
(24:55):
have boundaries a alongside whenI work, when I'm done with work.
I work Tuesday, Wednesday,Thursday, I'm done at 5:00 PM.
Yeah, Just being really clearand kind and creating a culture
where that's accepted and wherethat's really looked up to, that
I can be both roles, um, andthat we have a clientele that
really respects that too.
Russel (25:15):
I imagine there's, uh, a lot of folks out there that are
like, oh, man, that soundsawesome.
I wanna be there.
Maybe it is boundaries, but my,my next question was just gonna
be what's, what do you think isthe secret sauce that's allowed
you to set that up?
And talk to me through, right,whether you're preparing for,
you know, maternity or paternityleave, or just want to have a
little bit more autonomous teamand units set up in your
(25:37):
business.
Maybe just share a little bitmore specific about, what you
actually did when you werepreparing for your own maternity
leave.
Alison (25:43):
At that point, I had my full-time employee, Emma.
I had my bookkeeper who'srunning payroll.
She's got all of that on lock.
Continuously, we work with aboutsix freelancers so there's about
seven of us that arecontinuously collaborating.
That looked like setting theprecedents and saying, hey.
We've got nine months.
This is what it's gonna looklike.
I created training systems.
(26:04):
Really hit it hard in GoogleDocs and created trainings for
everything that I was doing thatI needed to outsource.
I hired a project manager thatcould keep things.
I hired someone that could helpme with discovery calls, so new
clients coming in.
Just trained them all.
(26:25):
I think finding the right peoplewas really important and so our
our hiring process was reallydiligent as well, I guess to
really back up to the beginning,where we had a defined checklist
of what we were looking for and,they had to meet that criteria.
We definitely had sometransitions within that.
But thankfully I had, I had hada hiring process like going for
(26:47):
a few years, so I had had peoplein my roster already.
I had built relationships, I hadtrust.
There's people that had beenworking with me for a while, so
they had the foundation ofknowledge, and at that point it
was really just like metrusting, giving them everything
they needed to succeed, puttingit all in Google Docs, writing
everything down and, yeah,handing it over.
Russel (27:06):
Wonderful.
Something I think kinda speaksto what you're saying there that
I think is important is it'spretty hard to just find a
one-to-one replacement foryourself in an owner role, but
you know, it sounds like whatyou did is you broke some of the
things you were doing down intobite-sized chunks and, and then
found a great resource or, orhire or whatever to do that one
specific thing.
I think that is so important.
(27:27):
We take these needs and ratherthan trying to find a unicorn or
something like that, can wejust, can we find just little
things and if we can set theseup, train someone on these
specific little things, then aslong as it's not in our bucket
anymore, then that is a strongwin for the business.
Sounds very similar to what youdid there.
Alison (27:44):
And I think after that too, once I returned from
maternity leave and I saw thatthe business was still running,
I witnessed how powerful itcould be to give more autonomy
to my team.
We all had, um, a meeting afterI had returned, and my team
really enjoyed the autonomy.
I really enjoyed the autonomy,and so because of that mutual,
(28:05):
um, value, it led us to moreautonomous roles as well.
I was able to actually, um, stopdoing creative direction on some
of these projects.
For example, um, before mymaternity leave, I was on every
kickoff creative meeting for newclients.
That was a lot of work andsomething that, um, I needed to
learn that I could trust mydesigners to do without me on
(28:29):
the calls.
That was a great learning momentto say, oh, to see, oh wow.
They were really great at thisand I don't actually need to be
here.
It was also a learning momentto, um, I thought I needed to be
there.
I thought the only way that thebusiness was going to work is if
I was on every client call.
I was a part of every touchpoint and really had to let go
of that and trust.
That has created a lot ofautonomy for me to now focus on,
(28:52):
again, business development,business relationships, my
community creative direction onprojects that I'm really
inspired and lit up by and timewith my family.
Russel (29:00):
Maybe someone should just write a a business book on,
hey, if you wanna grow yourbusiness, have more babies.
I don't know.
There's something there.
I dunno.
Million dollar idea take youthat run with it if you want.
Alison (29:08):
Yeah, totally.
Russel (29:11):
We'll switch gears.
Wonderful subject and, andinsight you shared there.
One of the things I wasfascinated by is you got a
little side hustle going ofrecently.
What's going on there?
Alison (29:20):
Saturday cabin.
My husband and I have always hada dream of renovating a cabin.
We've always been really intointerior design and
architecture.
We had been curious aboutinvesting in real estate, and we
decided to go the duplex routeat first.
But after a really badinspection and a terrifying
tenant that was going to beincluded in that, we looked at
(29:42):
each other and were like, okay,the core here is that we need to
follow our joy.
That's what's led us to thispoint in business and in life,
to get to Portland.
Let's continue doing that.
Life is short.
What do we actually wanna do?
We started looking for a cabinto renovate and create a short
term rental, but also be aprimary space for our family to
retreat to outside of the city.
(30:03):
We wanted to purchase on thecoast, but that became very
challenging with permits andyeah, very scary with all of the
flood and tsunami insurance andeverything.
We, uh, decided to head to MountHood and, um, yeah, just very
aligned with our lifestyle,considering we're both, lovers
of the mountain and we're bothsnowboarders.
Atlas is on skis now, and so wefound a 1969 cabin that was just
(30:29):
real rundown, but suchopportunity and found the, the
joy to renovate that.
My husband was a big part likehe did a lot of the interior
work.
We totally gutted it andtransformed it into a boutique
Airbnb and we now offerretreats, specifically wellness
focused retreats and justgeneral short term rental on
(30:49):
Airbnb.
It's been really fun.
Russel (30:51):
I bet.
Creatives, entrepreneurial,relaxing, check checking all the
life boxes here.
Alright, well we've gotta wrapthings up here.
Real quick before we get to thelast big question is, what does
the future of Perspektiiv looklike?
Alison (31:04):
I think that answer changes, um, with each season of
business.
Right now we're in a reallygreat place where we have a core
team.
We have wonderful clients thatwe work with.
We really, um, love working withthe diverse clientele that we
have.
We work, like I mentioned, um,in the cannabis industry, but we
also work with restaurants andhospitality and doctors and
(31:25):
lawyers.
We worked with the city ofPortland recently to do the
downtown signage for theholidays, and so really, really
happy about where we're at now.
We have autonomy.
We, um, have flexibility.
We have a coworking space thatmy team is at and everyone has a
great work life balance and weget to work with incredible
passionate clients.
(31:46):
I'm really happy with wherewe're at and I don't really need
to grow at any point.
Something that I am interestedin is doing more community
events and bringing more valueto our entrepreneurial
community.
Last year I hosted somethingcalled B2B brunch with the
business coach that I had hiredand we brought together 10
entrepreneurs all from differentbackgrounds to be referral
(32:07):
partners and support each otherin business.
We'll be doing that quarterly.
Just leading into like value andcommunity and yeah, continuing
to have a nice work life balanceand work with selected
passionate clients.
Russel (32:20):
Can't ask for anything better than that.
Sounds like you're in a reallygreat place.
Done a lot of hard work to getthere, but, um, living the sweet
life.
Last big question for you,Alison.
Are entrepreneurs born or arethey made?
Alison (32:31):
Great question.
I think it's a blend of both.
I think that people are bornwith creativity, with
resilience, but I also thinkthat you learn a lot along the
way that makes you a goodentrepreneur, like the finances.
I think it's a blend.
Russel (32:46):
All right, I'll take that.
Very wonderful thought.
If people wanna know more aboutPerspektiiv, where can they go?
Alison (32:51):
You can find us on Instagram, um, at Perspektiiv
P-E-R-S-P-E-K-T-I-I-V Design Co.
You can find us on our websitePerspektiiv.com and sign up for
our email newsletter list andyou'll receive a monthly update
from the studio.
Russel (33:08):
Love that.
Perspektiiv in Estonian, if youknow how to spell that or if you
know, you're Estonian.
Thank you so much today, Alison,for sharing so many wonderful
things about your agency, tipson setting boundaries for
yourself and making the businessreally work for you and your
hopes and dreams and goals.
Just really appreciate youtaking the time to share that
with us today.
Alison (33:25):
Thank you, Russel.
We hope you've enjoyed thisepisode of An Agency Story
podcast where we share realstories of marketing agency
owners from around the world.
Are you interested in being aguest on the show?
Send an email topodcast@performancefaction.com.
(33:46):
An Agency Story is brought toyou by Performance Faction.
Performance Faction offersservices to help agency owners
grow their business to 5 milliondollars and more in revenue.
To learn more, visitperformancefaction.com.
We once had someone show up at our home with a care
(34:09):
package for someone that saidthat they were a designer at
Perspektiiv and they weren't.
Their story was, I'm sick, Ican't make it for our date.
I work at Perspektiiv.
He brought a care package oflike tea and honey and flowers
so yeah, someone had like,totally catfished him.
Russel (34:28):
I mean, That's fascinating, right?
The real sad part that I'mhearing in this is it sounds
like they found a really greatperson, or maybe this was, maybe
this is a bad form of catfishingor whatever, but they lied and
they ruined it.
That's a very interesting.
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