We had the good fortune of connecting with Jenny Manuel and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Jenny, what makes you happy? Why?
Two things make me really happy.
First, I am happiest when I see my creative work making an impact on other small businesses. It is such a priceless feeling when I see the smiles and excitement, sometimes even tears of joy of my clients when they finally get to see their businesses’ brand identity coming into life or when they’re holding the packaging with my designs in their hands.
And secondly, it is when I see my dogs greeting me in the morning. They’re truly my best friends, and they always teach me to just live in the moment.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a brand identity designer specifically for beauty, wellness, and lifestyle brands.
Beforehand, I was working for a luxury retail company onboard cruise ships. I got truly immersed in the world of high-end items, and the way they brand themselves made me interested in learning more about design thinking and marketing. That experience has given me great knowledge about how luxury or premium products design and brand their products.
I had other plans when I resigned from that job. I never thought I would find myself helping small businesses craft their brand identity assets like logos, pairing appropriate color palettes, packaging design, and a lot more.
I took an online course that has changed the course of my career, or probably my life. It has opened my eyes to a whole world of possibilities that can happen by becoming an online entrepreneur.
In that course, students are encouraged to truly find one’s purpose and passion and niche down to the market that we’d like to serve.
It was a no-brainer for me when I decided to pursue my childhood passion of designing. So I decided to become a brand designer for the industry I am most passionate about, the beauty and lifestyle industry. But of course, the first step was always the hardest as all I had was grit and the confidence that somehow, I would make it work. I didn’t know how I will even do that. I just know I started, and the rest is history.
Many hardships came my way; first, I had to almost beg clients to work with me just for their testimonials. There was also an instance though I have completed a design project for a client, the client suddenly went MIA, and I never got the payment. I even got a one-star rating review, and I thought- “No, let me just quit now. This isn’t going to work.”
But then those challenges, I came to realize, they all happened for a greater purpose. It taught me valuable lessons that I immediately applied to make my business run smoother and deal with clients better. As the saying goes, we either win, or we learn.
To make myself more confident and bring more value to the table, I’ve invested a lot in self-education to further my design and brand strategy knowledge. I also put in a lot of time and effort in broadening my design skills, and I worked even harder to acquire industry-standard design tools that I now use to craft my designs.
It is a continuous learning process for everything in life and business, and I believe that the more we know, the more we actually don’t know.
Whenever I talk to clients for the first time, I come into the call empty. I throw away my expectations, and I don’t assume which of my services can help them.
I come in with an open mind, and I listen to whatever they want to share with me. I don’t particularly appreciate pushing people into buying my services if I know that I could not help them. I know a win-win situation will always be the best scenario both for me and the client.
So yes, coming now to a close here and all I want to say is follow your heart’s desires. The world owes us nothing and vice versa. We are the ones who can make the life of our dreams. Fall back, do the work, and watch the magic happen. We all can literally change our lives by committing to a vision that we’d want to achieve soon.
Lastly, let me leave you with this quote from yours truly- “Something profound happens when you pair the grit to earn with the hunger to learn.”
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to give a shoutout to my business partner, Jean Van As of AdPanda Digital Marketing! He has always gladly helped in any way possible regarding client communication and my business ads and social media engagements.
Website: www.firstlookvisuals.com
Instagram: @firstlookvisuals
Facebook: facebook.com/firstlookvisuals