Studio Talk 5・Kayleigh Noele
I first met Kayleigh in March 2018 when she booked an Ask Me Anything session with me. Her business has grown leaps and bounds since then and I’ve loved witnessing her success. These days we hang out in the same groups and connect over being HSP’s and design enthusiasts. Kayleigh has such an interesting background and I think you’ll be very inspired by her. Number 3 and 5 are my favorite tips, totally agree with those!
I’m a web designer, code junkie and pizza connoisseur. I'm an English girl with a New York soul, a bookworm, history nerd, balletomane, air hockey champion and self-care enthusiast.
I love watching documentaries and 80s movies; reading second-hand books and listening mostly to music written before I was born.
My website took me to page one of Google within six months, got me booked up with lovely clients and matched my previous corporate income – all without losing my mind over the ‘hustle’.
1) What is your professional background and how did you get into Squarespace web design?
Prior to becoming a full-time Squarespace designer, I worked as a sound and lighting technician on various West End and Broadway shows. I started teaching myself web design as a teenager, and that’s when I first got paid to build a few non-Squarespace sites.
I thought that web design would be an interesting field to go into, but I also felt drawn to animation, graphic design, theatre technology, education, and much more. Looking back, I can see that I’ve always needed to have my technical and creative brains equally stimulated, and that crossover point is where I thrive, but I wouldn’t have been able to articulate that back then.
I started a ‘Media and Creative Industries’ degree, which meant I was able to take classes across a range of disciplines in the field. Halfway through my first year, I was offered a scholarship to study in the US, but it meant narrowing down my studies to theatre for the rest of my degree and choosing that as my post-graduation career path. I always knew that it would be a limited career in terms of the hours not being family-friendly and a very physical job, so I also studied education as a post-grad to have that certification under my hat.
I went on to work on dozens of major shows after I graduated, and I am so so grateful for those opportunities. I will always love the theatre industry, and as most of my social circle are actors, dancers and technicians, I’ll never fully leave. It’s like the mafia! In fact, even though I now do web design full-time, I go into work for Hamilton, Waitress, Pretty Woman and The Lion King when they are short-staffed.
In my late-20s, I started to experience burnout. I was constantly exhausted and often anxious. I started working with a therapist to try and get to the bottom of it, and that’s when I learned about being a Highly Sensitive Person or HSP. I’ve always considered myself an introvert because I love my alone time and need to recharge after I’ve been around others for too long, but being a HSP made so much sense. Even though I loved my work, the theatre environment itself was a daily attack on my senses and on my true nature. I realized how much happier I would be if I had the ability to work from home and to live a quieter, slower-paced life. That’s when I decided to get back into web design.
I had been building sites for individuals and businesses as a side hustle since graduation, but it was never something I considered as a job until then. At the same time, a friend from the theatre had decided to go freelance and asked me about a website. I gave her a quote for a full Wordpress build, but it was totally out of her budget. She resolved to do her own thing on Squarespace, and I promised to take a look at it and give her some feedback once it was done. That’s how I discovered Squarespace. In fact, I think I wrote the next part of the story best there. I’d never considered doing web development projects as a full-time gig because the people who could afford my services weren’t the people I would enjoy working with day in, day out. I knew Squarespace was exactly what the HSP in me had been looking for.
I started my own business to give myself a certain lifestyle and to do work that I love and look forward to. I wanted to work for a company with integrity. I dreamt of working on projects that excited me, with clients I could connect with. I wanted to feel I was helping people, not companies. Now, I get to meet clients over coffee, rather than in a boardroom. I get genuinely excited when they tell me about their budding business, rather than listen to a well-rehearsed spiel from a man in an ill-fitting suit and a horrendous tie. I also get to rest, eat and move when my body needs it, not when a boss says I can. I have time to spend on the things that really light me up, and I have more time to give to other people. I can also travel between London and NYC as often as I like, which means I get to spend more time with the people I love.
2) What was your safety net (e.g. a partner, another job, savings etc.) when you first started out and how did that help you?
I put plans in place to leave my full-time job at The Lion King about a year before it happened. When I turned 30 I vowed that by 31 I would be able to work from home and be location independent by having a ‘real’ web design business up and running. It took a little time to get the wheels turning but I launched my own website six months later, booked my first two clients a couple of weeks after that and then handed my notice in at work. I gave them four months notice though! I wanted to be able to talk openly about what I was doing with my life and luckily my colleagues were super supportive.
I left the week before my 31st birthday but gave myself those last four months doing both gigs at once as at the time I had very little savings. I used that four month notice period to clear all of my debt and save a few months of expenses to give myself as much financial security and as little anxiety as possible.
3) How many websites did you design during your first year, and how did your clients find you?
I am not sure exactly how many websites I worked on in my first year but I can think of 8 full builds from memory. I was also completing smaller jobs on dozens of sites – adding custom CSS, setting up online stores, installing sidebars or giving things a design spruce up. I found the first two through Facebook but after a couple of months my website started ranking on page one for ’Squarespace Web Designer’ and as the first result for ’Squarespace Web Designer Female Entrepreneurs’ so since then the majority of my clients have come through Google.
One of the great pros of Squarespace can also be a con from a designer’s perspective. As clients have full access to edit their site once you hand it over, they can sometimes change things up or make additions that I wouldn’t do myself or approve of as a designer. This is why I don’t link to the finished websites from my portfolio and provide videos and screencaps from my finished design instead. However, I would never discourage clients from playing with Squarespace themselves if they want to and always sell my packages with Squarespace training. I think it’s so important for the clients I work with to not feel intimidated by their website and to have a sense of ownership over it.
4) Do you have a niche market, or a speciality, or are you more of a generalist?
I work primarily with female small business owners but lately I have had more and more enquiries from men. I am happy to work with anyone with a small or solo business that operates with heart, positivity and integrity, and who's looking for a web designer to ensure their customers have the greatest possible online experience. In terms of the actual businesses themselves they cover every possible niche: photography, coaches, consultants, co-working spaces, community groups, interior designers, travel companies, festivals, fitness studios, yoga teachers – even an etiquette school!
5) What are your five top tips for starting your own business?
1. Get your financial ducks in a row.
I can’t imagine how stressed I would have been when I started out if I hadn’t taken time to work on my financial health first. Everyone’s situation is different but lowering your expenses and having a few months of rent and bill money in the bank will mean you can concentrate on building your business without worrying about income all the time.
2. Hone your craft.
This may sound harsh but just because anyone can build a Squarespace website, it doesn’t mean anyone can be a Squarespace designer – at least not without a bit of groundwork. I’d encourage you to spend a LOT of time on Squarespace, read blog articles, hang out in Squarespace Facebook groups, learn some basic CSS. The more you know, the more comfortable you will be when communicating with clients and the better fees you’ll be able to charge. If your business isn’t Squarespace design, the same concept applies. Take time to make yourself an expert.
3. Learn to say no.
Not every client is right for you. Some enquiries will be for services you can’t offer, some will have deadlines you cannot comfortably meet, some will be projects that you just know you don’t want to do for whatever reason. There’s a tendency, especially in your first year, to want to take everything that comes your way… but if you don’t think you can sign off on the project with both you and the client being 100% happy, it is often best to let it pass.
4. Listen to your spider senses.
This relates to tip #3. Sometimes you just know from the first couple of emails that a client is going to be difficult. Sometimes something just tells you not to take this job on. Listen to your gut and walk away!
5. Consistency is key.
Treat your business like a plant or a pet that needs constant care and attention. Nurturing your business in this way will eventually help it to grow and blossom. It can feel like you’re not getting anywhere in the early days but one day you’ll have a breakthrough! Think of it like a seed you water every day for months until finally the shoots come up through the soil. Equally, don’t beat yourself up when your consistency fails. I used to be terrible for this. I found (and still do find) blogging consistently difficult, even though I knew it would help my business grow and I saw how much it has helped others. But I just try to do my best every week and focus on doing what I can.
