TRANSCRIPTION

Brandi: Welcome to Design Speaks. The podcast that helps you find uncommon inspiration so you can make better work. 

I talk a lot about “the process”. And I say it that way because, for me, it is not just a process or, like, some processes. It is actually, like, for me, like, the in the way that it’s, like, the thing.

Hi, I’m Brandi Sea. I’ve been a design strategist for over eighteen years and I’m here to guide you through uncommon inspiration and empower you with strategies so you can make your best creative work. 

So, when I’m out in the world and I’m looking at things, I’m constantly collecting photos of stuff that’s inspiring, or starting a new season of Design Speaks with a whole new format. Whether you’ve been listening from the beginning or just jumping in for the first time, season one is a great place to accelerate your creative journey. 

Nobody else sees the world like you do. Like, you and I could have the exact same client, with the exact same problem, with the exact same everything, but the fact that I do inspiration that I do, and you get inspiration the way you do is going to result in a completely different work. Even if we follow this exact process. We will be talking about the process of seeing your own, everyday inspiration so you can create consistently unique work. 

Boundaries make you more creative. In that box I have the freedom to push against the walls and color outside the lines a little bit. But you can’t color outside of lines if you don’t know where the lines are. Along the way, we’ll have some incredible guests and in depth conversations. Get ready for an all new Design Speaks, starting next Monday, March ninth.

Welcome to design speaks podcast. I’m Brandi Sea. Joining me is my brand new co-host, Julie Haider. Hi Julie. 

Julie: Hey Brandi. 

Brandi: How are you 

Julie: Good.

Brandi: Surviving? 

Julie: I am.

Brandi: So, this week I wanted to sort of do an introduction to our brand new format. It’s going to be season based. So that will launch on March Ninth. But for today, it will just be a short little prologue intro-episode, if you will. I wanted to get you some info on who Julie is and why she’s here, and why we like her, ’cause we do. And share a little bit about how this podcast is going to be working from here on out. 

So, first of all, let’s talk with Julie. I first met Julie over facetime, which seems to be a habit.

Julie: Yes.

Brandi: Because I hired her over skype and finangled her into being on this podcast over facetime. So, yeah. Tell me about your journey, how you come to be standing in my illustrious guest room, office studio. 

Julie: Yes. Yeah, I met Brandi because she hired me. I lived in North Carolina and I was looking for jobs out here in New Mexico so that I could move across the country to be with my, then long distance boyfriend, now husband. 

Brandi: Aw

Julie: And yes. She hired me. We had a couple of skype calls and then she was like, “hey, can you be here in like, less than a week?” And I was like, “Yeah, sure. Lemme just pack up everything and drive across the country”. 

Brandi: I still don’t remember that, being the person that didn’t have to drive across the country and, like, uproot my life. I was just like well, do you want the job? I guess you better get here. Gosh, I’m so mean!

Julie: Yes. I think I was just trying to play it cool like, “Yeah, yeah, I can do that. Sure, sure”. And then I got off the phone and I was like well, I got the job. Super excited but also must immediately start packing.

Brandi: So this was when I was our creative director over at Calvary, Albuquerque. And you came on as a graphic designer. 

Julie: Yes.

Brandi: So, are you still doing graphic design? 

Julie: I am not doing it full time. So, since then—which gosh, that was like eight years ago.

Brandi: I left that position to go, you know, to start my own thing in 2011. Yeah, and you were still there. So you left just a little bit after I did. 

Julie: I Did. And it was kind of a journey of ups and downs. And trying to figure out, you know, what it was that I wanted. I think so much of it is, like, getting the experience and that shows you what you thought was a good fit for you. What isn’t a good fit, actually.

Brandi: Yeah 

Julie: And sending you in the right direction. So that’s what happened to me over the last, gosh, almost a decade now. That makes me feel really old. But, yeah. So I actually ended up doing a lot of stuff in photography. And so that’s actually what I do now. 

So I am an adventure elopement photographer. 

Brandi: Which means what? That sounds really fancy. Especially when you say it fast.

Julie: It does, yes. Whenever people ask me what I do, I’m like, do I tell them what I actually do? Or do I just say something really generic so that I don’t get a bunch of blank stares and weird questions?

Brandi: That depends on how long you wanna talk to that person.

Julie: Yeah, exactly. It’s a case by case thing. 

Brandi: It’s like, “yeah, I do photography. Conversation over.”

Julie: So what I actually do is I help couples have a really amazing elopement day that is way more intimate and unusual. 

Brandi: So is elopement, like, running off to go get married and not telling anybody?

Julie: It can be. But that’s kind of, like, the old definition. 

Brandi: Okay, so what is?

Julie: Nowadays, basically, when I say an “elopement”, I mean a probably non-traditional wedding that can take place anywhere, that is, like, ten guests or less, and it has a totally different feel. So, you know, not your typical, like, get ready, don’t see each other before the wedding, have your ceremony, go do a father daughter dance, and like, all the traditional stuff. 

So my couples usually are eloping somewhere out in nature. A lot of times we hike to get there or, I don’t know. I love encouraging them to make the day like super, super just tailored to them so that it’s, like, nobody else’s wedding day. And so I help them find, like, what are the things that they love to do together that fit their personalities. And we build, like, a really epic, amazing day from that stuff. And then I’m there to photograph it. So, yeah, going out into nature and just having an awesome day. 

Brandi: So how did you go from design, to some photography, to this specific road of your photography. Like, this niche. 

Julie: Yeah. I was doing design and photography for a while. I had my business full time. And I was doing, like, wedding invitations, branding other small businesses, and traditional weddings. And I had a friend who kind of was, like, the pioneer in the adventure elopement industry. Like, she just decided, this is what I wanna do and I’m gonna make it a thing. And I saw that and I was like, oh my gosh. I love being outdoors. I don’t love all the things about traditional weddings like giant bridal parties, and receptions and, like, all that stuff that just didn’t have any, like, meaning to me. And so I was, like, this is taking away everything I don’t like and just making it about the things I do love. And it’s outside. So this sounds like my dream job. 

Brandi: So you hike a lot, you go outside a lot, or you travel a lot? Or this is just something you, like, really thought was cool?

Julie: No, I was already doing that stuff. Like, I have been camping, and hiking, and kayaking, and all that stuff, like, literally since I was six months old. 

Brandi: Big hiker at six months. 

Julie: Yeah, yeah. I was there riding in a backpack. I have pictures to prove it. 

Brandi: You have the proof.

Julie:  I do. I did my first camping trip when I was one year old and it was cute. Or the pictures look cute. 

Brandi: And you fell in love.  

Julie: Yes, yes. So, it just felt like such a natural combination of things that I loved and what I was already doing. And so, I really was interested in it and then, eventually, I was like, you know what, I need to go all in. Either I’m gonna do this, and do it really, really well, and, like, just cater to my clients so well and give them the best experience. Or I’m gonna, like, do all of them okay. 

Brandi: —Do okay.

Julie: Yeah, exactly. So, I decided to stop taking traditional weddings for photography and I had to step away from design work too. So, obviously, I still do everything for myself, which is still a lot. But I’ve been really happy, like, knowing what I truly love and making that, like, my niche, and just diving all in. And I feel like I can go so much deeper. And so, it’s been a great experience and a long journey to get here, but I’m so happy that I am here. 

Brandi: Yeah, well I’m happy that you’re here. And, honestly, you know people might be wondering, too, how you came to be on the podcast. So, besides the fact that I’ve known you. I wasn’t just like, “who do I know, like, that I can talk to?  There was a few candidates. One, that I will talk about towards the end of this little introduction, ended up being better suited for being our producer and editor. So Kenny will be doing the actual editing of the audio of the podcast and this other person will be doing some other stuff that I’ll tell you about in a second. But one person was really busy and didn’t feel like it was going to be a super good fit and when I talked to you over facetime it became really apparent that our personalities went really well together. You are also an enneagram nine, just like Michelle, which is crazy. However, your wings are different. You are a nine wing one and—we are not completely into this yet, but we will be. You will be. I’m bringing you into this fold.

So we talked and it was, like, really good chemistry and I really feel that, with the new pivot to being this podcast is now going to be more focused on designers—graphic designers, more specifically—and elevating your design work through a number of things that I’ll share here in a second.

Photography is, like, almost a—not identical twin. What is it? A fraternal twin. You’re not exactly the same but you’re kind of the same—to graphic design. And a lot of—I’ve talked before on this podcast on different episodes—how, if you are good at photography, you have the potential to be good at design, and it works both ways.

Julie: Yeah. 

Brandi: I’m a hobby photographer. Nobody pays me to do it, but I love to do it and I love the challenge of understanding how that works in relation to visual communication. And so, I thought, you know, instead of just having another designer, or instead of having a non-designer, have someone who understands and knows design who I can also talk to. 

Julie: A little bit of a different perspective, but not that much different. 

Brandi: Yeah, Yeah, for sure. And so, that’s part of it. The other thing is this podcast is going to be really focused on what I’m—I don’t know, goofy way of saying it—our little trifecta here. My trifecta is going to be uncommon everyday inspiration, sensible design strategies, and empowering creative motivation. I really want to share with you ways that you can really engage and discover your own uncommon inspiration, help you understand the systems and strategies that work for creating designs that are going to stand out and help you to stand out, and also empower you with the tools and the motivation to do those things. So, that’s really what we’re going to be wrapping our content around. We’ve already got the full twelve episode season planned out topic wise. Which is something that I’ve never done in 128 episodes. So, that’s going to be really exciting. First episode is going to be on process, big surprise to nobody that knows me.

Julie: Its a good one to start with, though. Like, that’s laying the foundation for everything else. 

Brandi: Yeah, it will be, it will be. And my big thing is making sense of things. I’m here to help you understand things. So I’m really excited that you’re here. 

Julie: I’m excited too.

Brandi: It’s gonna be a fun journey and you’re surviving, so far, so I think you’re not going to pass out before we record the next episode. So, the other person that I wanted to introduce you to, you will likely never, or very rarely actually hear her voice. Her name’s Dakota Cook. She is a really good friend of mine. She’s an amazing author and editor when it comes to words, and you guys all know my love for words and how I incorporate words into my process. But she’s going to be helping me with some some back end things like marketing this podcast, helping us really level up our game on the back end as well as helping edit show notes and transcriptions and doing a little bit more of the logistics. I will introduce you to them on our instagram. 

So you can find us at @designspeakspodcast. You’ll also be able to find us at designspeakspodcast.com, which is a brand new thing that I just did. You can also email me at brandi@brandisea.com if you have any comments or questions or thoughts. And Julie, where can everybody find you?

If you wanna see my work on instagram and see all the crazy adventures I go on, you can just find me at @Juliehaider.  So it’s spelled J. U. L. I. E. H. A. I. D. E. R. 

Brandi: Hi-Hi-Haider. That’s a note to me after knowing you for almost a decade just butchering your name.

Julie: It’s okay. It really is you and everyone else in the world. 

Brandi: It’s not Hayder, it’s Haider. 

Julie: Yes, it works. 

Brandi: It’s going to be okay. Oh, the other thing I did forget to mention—I wanted to also share the other thing that’s going to kind of stay the same slash change is how I share my inspiration. So, instead of every week, me coming in and going, “Oh, I watched Outlander this week and it was really cool and I loved the story line,” or something. I’m going to actually share specific, uncommon, everyday inspiration that I find. What it was, why it inspired me, where I found it, and how I could see it being used in a design so that you can kind of start grasping how this works because this is really the crux of a lot of how I get my work to be 

different. And music will still be a part of this podcast. I’ll still be bringing songs and because music is a huge part of my process and how I work, I wanna make sure that that stays the same. Plus, we gotta keep building this playlist on spotify, and it’s pretty great if you don’t already listen to it. 

So, I think that’s probably it for today. Music from this episode and every episode, is from our good friend Colin Vesperteen. You can find his music on apple music or spotify and probably lots of other places. Just search “Vesperteen”. Big thanks to you guys for listening to Design Speaks Podcast. Julie and I are so excited that you are still here. You waited it out for two months for us. You didn’t know it was going to be us, but you waited. 

Julie: Yes, surprise.

Brandi: So, until we can find a cooler way to say goodbye, we’ll see you next week.