Meet Emma Weldon and Heather Karellas: Streetlamp Creative

We had the good fortune of connecting with Emma Weldon and Heather Karellas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Emma & Heather, is there something you believe many others might not?
“In order to be productive, you have to xyz.” You know those articles circling the internet. We talk about this often. As much as we take from those articles, they have also helped us see how important it is to work the way that makes the most sense for you. If you are a morning person, work early! If you’re a night owl, work late. If wearing “work clothes” helps, go for it! If playing music and lighting a candle helps, do that! Create the environment that works best for you. We truly believe mental health comes first and respecting that what you need to succeed may be different than other people require. We follow a number of those work-from-home tips and we both have a routine that works for us, but some days working outside or working late to schedule some personal time during the week is what helps us be most productive!

What should our readers know about your business?
Imagine you’re walking down a road as the sun starts to set. The moment just before it gets too dark to see, a streetlamp turns on to help guide your path, giving you the peace of mind to finish your journey. Our company name is a nod to our goals: we aim to help shed light on clients’ strengths and opportunities for growth while illuminating a path forward. Streetlamp Creative’s story began in 2015 when Emma, working as a creative strategist, sought freelance writing help for a project and found Heather Karellas. From our first project, our work had a natural sense of partnership, collaboration, and flow. We enjoyed working together so much that we continued to partner for the next four years, tag-teaming more than 100 assignments for a wide variety of clients. In late 2018, we officially joined forces to form Streetlamp Creative. As business partners, we are complete opposites – yet somehow, also the exact same. Where Heather sees a risk, Emma sees opportunity. When Emma’s creativity flows, Heather organizes the ideas into action. We are very honest with each other – we’ve found that to be the single most important habit. From sharing our frustrations to voicing bold opinions, setting emotion aside and being open about what we think is best for the client or for our business helps us move forward productively and thoughtfully without getting tunnel vision.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Assuming this was post-pandemic, we would take our tourists to a few of our favorite spots off the beaten path! Emma loves food and loves to cook. Her tour would be along Buford Highway and a lengthy stop at Your Dekalb Farmers Market. Can’t forget an afternoon spent at Lake Claire Community Land Trust ending with pizza and beers on the porch at the Fellinis in Candler Park. Heather, the nature lover, would lead a tour of Atlanta’s lesser-known greenspaces. Her favorites are the South Peachtree Creek Trail and Lullwater Preserve, to name a few. Her wildcard activities away from nature would include spending the day at the Center for Puppetry Arts (where she worked for 5 years) and high tea at Dr. Bombays. Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We are both very curious people, always eager to learn more. As a result, we seek out a lot of advice. When we got started, we spoke with a lawyer, other entrepreneurs, marketing professionals, a financial coach and accountant, joined community groups, etc. We still meet with these resources often to check in, ask questions, and share knowledge. It is important to know what advice to choose to follow and what may not be right for you, but it’s all worth listening to and learning what works best for your business. You can’t do this alone – and you shouldn’t! There are a few people who really helped us get started and who have kept us going. Sarah Lawrence, a local graphic designer and creative entrepreneur, has been a huge inspiration to us. Not only do she and Emma bounce technology and design ideas back and forth but seeing her creative work bring solutions to Atlanta communities is a constant inspiration to us! Christina Edwards with Splendid Consulting has been a fantastic professional resource. Because we share a mutual love for the nonprofit world and its clients, we’ve been able to tag-team a number of projects in a space we can all feel good about. BA Albert and Lisa Weldon (Emma’s mom!) have been great mentors to us. They are both established professionals in the creative advertising space and successful entrepreneurs. The wisdom, encouragement, and laughter they have shared with us has been priceless.

Website: https://streetlampcreative.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/streetlampcreative/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/streetlamp-creative

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StreetlampCreative/

Image Credits
Photography of Streetlamp Creative team | Gianna Keiko (https://www.giannakeiko.com)