Designer’s Story: How Sitting Home With A Baby In Ukraine I Grew From $300/month Salary Up To $10k/month In 2,5 Years And My Own Clothing Brand In 4 Years.
When I just started to freelance as a web designer in a provincial Mykolaiv (it’s a town in Ukraine), being pregnant and presently with a newborn baby on my hands, facing the terrible crisis in Ukraine due to Russia’s invasion, and when my salary was $300/month,- I could hardly imagine that in 2,5 years I would refuse from moving to USA, Canada and Europe by invitation from cool IT agencies’ or that I would earn about $10000/month, sitting at home in Mykolaiv. Or that in 4 years I would establish my own clothing brand.
It had to seem unreal at that moment. A small business of my husband collapsed and he was out of a job. We could hardly pay for the rent of our miserable one room apartment and our baby’s diapers.
It’s hard to say what motivated me the most: my old dream to draw (after all I couldn’t venture to start freelancing as a designer till almost 30 years old), my husband’s support who always believed in me or our little daughter Nina who just didn’t provide me a minute to get depressed or to paniс. We were working as machines for about 3 years, constantly learning, making mistakes, getting angry on ourselves, making conclusions and… moving ahead. We were growing up in all aspects. We began to enjoy the difficulties and especially when we overcame them. I began to design mobile apps, studied online graphic design and illustration. I got more and more projects, and my hourly rate kept growing up too. My parents and friends began to treat our freelance job much more respectfully after we bought a comfortable 3 room apartment and began to travel abroad regularly.
But at the certain moment… I got exhausted. Our working mode was not something I dreamt about when I began freelancing. Especially I wasn’t delighted with the idea to work in office even in the best cities of the world. It wasn’t easy to convince my husband, but eventually it was him who gave me an idea: “Your illustrations are getting better and better. What if we launch our online clothing shop and you will design cool prints?” So we have founded Disported Indie Prints and remained absolutely independent. Actually, these are the main ideas of my life and of my prints: Freedom, Courage and Pleasure.
I can’t say that everything goes very easy now. Your own clothing brand is an absolutely different big challenge. But I can say for sure, that if you have a goal and you can afford yourself to do what you really in order to achieve it, and if you are surrounded by people who believe in you and help you (especially if they are your spouse and your little daughter), it makes you feel a winner in any case. Yeah, I feel myself a winner, though I’m ready now for any twist of fate.
More info: disported.com
Hard times vs Good times. The left photo shows how I began freelancing – the single room served as an office, a lounge room, a bedroom and a nursery at the same time.
Here are some of my arts created for Disported Indie Prints. The following are from the Old Fashioned collection
These cats are from the Welcome To The Jungle collection
And this women’s print is from the Free and Wild collection.
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Great story from great people, I know Kate and her husban from the times when they don't even think about their clothing brand, and it's fascinating to watch how people grow and overcame their obstacles in life. Good luck to your guys in your future projects, and be strong whatever happens.
Great story from great people, I know Kate and her husban from the times when they don't even think about their clothing brand, and it's fascinating to watch how people grow and overcame their obstacles in life. Good luck to your guys in your future projects, and be strong whatever happens.
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