Studio Talk 5・Taryn Mercedes
Taryn is one of my students and like me she’s an expat, only the other way around – an American living in Germany! Our story has wonderful parallels, I also built my first site in HTML in 1999 and got into Squarespace design because a friend asked for my help with her website. I just love these stories! Taryn’s top tip #2 is spot on and something I need to remember for myself as well.
Thanks so much for this lovely interview and a glimpse behind the scenes xo
I'm a Squarespace web designer by day, night, weekdays, and weekends. The reality of being a solopreneur!
I create modern and stylish custom websites for other solopreneurs that aligns with their vision to bring out the heart and soul in their small business. I love to create diverse and authentic minimalistic designs that inspire.
I’m an American expat living in Germany. I love traveling Europe and drinking wine along the way! I’m passionate about environmental causes, yoga, education and reading.
I’m a wife and a mom of three boys and one big crazy dog.
1) What is your professional background and how did you get into Squarespace web design?
I created my very first website for fun back in 1999. I know, that's like a thousand years ago! Yes, this was during the days of creating sites by coding directly in HTML. I was young and a bit ambitious!
I graduated University as a Journalism major, but ended up teaching myself design. My jobs always ended up having an element of design in their roles, and if they didn't, I created a reason for it. This led to a career path of design jobs in advertising, marketing, and publishing.
I stumbled across Squarespace sometime in 2012 when a friend asked me to help her design a website. I found Squarespace and fell in love with its modern design and super ease of use. I was able to quickly teach myself how to design a website. It was so much fun! Through friends, and friends of friends, I found myself creating more websites. At that point I was already a freelance designer and loved having the occasional web design gig.
Working as a freelancer was perfect since I moved around a lot. After moving to Germany in 2015 and trying to figure out how I wanted to continue my career as a freelancer, I realized that I really just loved creating websites. After researching and figuring out that I can actually just be a Squarespace web designer, I decided that is exactly what I would do! I am grateful for the path that has taught me and led me here. Now I can focus solely on creating unique and stylish Squarespace websites, while continually learning to upscale my designs.
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?
My safety net has always been my partner in all things — my husband. He is, and has always been, my support in going for my dreams. He is the reason I have this amazing opportunity to work from home in Germany. I am infinitely grateful for him.
Before I took the leap to start this business on my own, I spent a year working with a photographer learning all things business related and social media. She gave me an opportunity to meet so many beautiful souls in our community. This has had a huge impact on my values to support community over competition!
3) How many websites did you design during your first year and how did your clients find you?
I am in my first year as Taryn Mercedes Web Design — established in May during the pandemic of 2020! I have created four websites since then. I have loved designing every one of them and have been really lucky so far to have amazing clients, who came from my community and by referrals.
4) Do you have a niche market, or a speciality, or are you more of a generalist?
My niche for sure is small businesses, not a particular specialty though. My clients so far have all been solopreneurs. I am lucky to have amazing clients with fun businesses. I love learning from what others are doing. I get to take away something learned from each of my clients! Some of my favorite sites created include an acupuncturist, foodie, business coaches, yoga trainers, and photographer.
5) What are your five top tips for starting your own business?
I am learning so much and something new everyday. I am so grateful for all those I am learning from along the way, including so much from Kerstin! So that leads to my first tip…
1. Community over competition.
I am self-taught in design and web design. So I owe everything I’ve learned to the design community that shares their knowledge! My goal in return is to share the resources of all those I am learning from. I believe everyone has something unique to offer. Learn from others, create what makes you unique, share your knowledge, and give credit where credit is due.
2. Create more than you consume.
This is definitely something I struggle with. There is an abundance of amazing information out there for creatives. Of course, I want to learn it all! But the more I try to learn, the more I become overwhelmed and lack the time to follow through with what I’m learning. I have actually found that if I just take in a little bit at a time and then learn and practice from that, I feel more empowered and confident. It’s impossible to learn it all. And really it’s not necessary. Give yourself the time and space to learn along the way. That is also part of the journey!
3. Perfect is what you make of it.
My name is Taryn and I am a perfectionist. I am now redefining perfectionism to be a strength and not a weakness. Since there is no end to what is perfect, I am finding that perfect is what you make of it. It can be perfectly messy. It’s perfectly okay to just go after your dreams and goals with what you can. It will always change anyway. You will always grow and learn. But if you wait for everything to be too perfect, you will miss it all.
4. Learn to say no!
It's not easy to say no when you are starting a business. I know the idea of losing a possible client feels like throwing away your business! How could I turn down possibly an only client! I did this when I had a referral from a client. This referral wanted a website for her architecture business. I love architecture so this could have been a dream site to create! However, she wanted her site built in WordPress. As much as I hated hearing that, I couldn't compromise on who I am... a Squarespace web designer. That is what I know best and how I can serve my clients above and beyond their expectations. It's not possible to be the one for everyone. That's where the design community comes in as a beautiful resource.
5. Work/life balance
This goes along with saying no. I can't do everything for everyone and still be there for myself. The whole point of being a solopreneur is to have the opportunity to create a life I love doing the creative work that I love. On my terms. While being there for my me and my family.
