“Be wise where you put your time, money, and effort.”
Luis Sanchez is a freelance web designer based in South Carolina.
Interview
Transcript
Emma Plutnicki 00:02
Okay, so to start, what do you do for work and where are you currently working from?
Luis Sanchez 00:09
So, so I, I started a web design business last June. So most of my time is, you know, setting that up, working from home, but you know, my main job is- I work at a church as a Youth Director. So those are the two things I do.
Emma Plutnicki 00:29
All right, amazing. And what would you say your official job titles for each of those will be?
Luis Sanchez 00:36
So, that’s a good question for, you know, small businesses like, am I a CEO? But you know, the main passion is just web designer, brand design, web and brand design. And then for the church, is just the youth director.
Emma Plutnicki 00:52
Yeah, great. And how long have you been doing those four?
Luis Sanchez 00:55
Yeah, so I’ve been working here since at the church, since 2021. August 2021, and the design since June last year.
Emma Plutnicki 01:08
Okay, nice. And so what does a typical day to day look like for you nowadays? What’s expected of you on a daily basis? What do you get into? What are your responsibilities?
Luis Sanchez 01:17
Yeah so it actually works out pretty, pretty well for me, I- so we’re going to church. Most of my stuff is done on the weekends, so I have a chance of putting time on the web design part during the week, you know. So a week when I have, you know, when I’m working with a client, it’s just meeting with them and then spending, you know, you know, four to five hours a day working on, just design, research, designing, testing different things, and then just, depending on the website, it’ll just take a couple weeks or not. So it was either meeting, doing a lot of research and just designing. And then during the weekends, you know, I pivot back to the church. So I was just preparing for Sunday youth group. We have youth group on Sunday, so the main job just preparing, just everything for for that to happen on Sunday. But yeah, during the week is- I’m working from home, just on my computer and then meeting with clients when needed.
Emma Plutnicki 02:25
Yeah, nice. And so having some work on the weekends, I’m sure it could be hard at times to have a healthy work life balance. So how are you able to navigate that with two jobs and making sure you still have time for your own personal creativity?
Luis Sanchez 02:41
Yeah well, I have a six month old baby, so you should have a clock hits me and my wife are just just spending time together with family. But one thing about it is my wife is usually pretty- she wants to take some time off, and so we have dinner together, spend time together, but usually she goes to bed a little bit earlier. So I’ll hit a lot of different things, you know, from like nine to 11pm I like to read books. YouTube’s pretty cool just seeing what other people are looking at and, you know, and every now and then, I mean, I’ll pick a day in the week where I’m just not going to do anything, but just sit there and think about day and relax and do something aside from it. But yeah, I would just just have intentional time of consuming other- from other people who do design. It’s just helpful for me, but it’s always tempting when you hear something, it’s like, “oh, I want to try that”. You grab your computer. I just kind of have some liberty where it’s okay to do that sometimes, it’s okay to just read, It’s okay to just take some time off. But I think my job allows me to be creative too, with the church. You know doing things like running social media, creating graphics, videos, whatever it is. So I still get to do that. So it’s a good way for me to try out things that I maybe not try out with clients. So I don’t know, I just look at opportunities for- to do different things and try different things.
Emma Plutnicki 04:22
Yeah, no, makes sense. And so with both of your careers, sometimes within creative fields it can be hard to measure success, so how do you- is there a difference between what success looks like in both of your roles? And how do you personally define either professional success and then also just personal success?
Luis Sanchez 04:42
There’s definitely, very different, I think, you know, with a business there’s, there’s just numbers, whether you like it or not, whether it’s financial numbers or number of clients. But you know, in working out of church. Which, you know, we’re talking about real people. So you don’t want to treat it just as a number. So that’s not really what I’ve- I have had to learn not to focus on that, which I think helps me with my business, because I mostly care about just interactions, and how I’m interacting with the people around me, you know. So I want to, I want my clients with web design to love their website and love, you know, I want to help their businesses. Ultimately, that’s the goal for me. To make a website for them. Is to help their businesses, their brands and everything. So when I get to just interact with them or interact with their website, see that they’re growing, that people are, you know, visiting whatever, then that, for me, is fulfilling. And same thing in my church job is, you know, if I’m having good interactions with with the students, with the volunteers, then that’s just fulfilling. That’s always going to be, you know, how are people responding to the work that I’m doing? I think it’s just a healthier way to look at things, instead of just a number. And of course, I have goals, but, you know, I keep an eye on those, but those are not ultimately, they’re just determined if I’m going the right way or I need to change something, but not- defines failure or success for me. So.
Emma Plutnicki 06:19
Yeah, no, amazing, yeah. And did you have any fears when you were coming into either of these careers?
Luis Sanchez 06:26
Yeah, the biggest fear is for especially for the web design, is just investing. That imposter syndrome kicks in. Is this really something I can do, or does anyone even want to work with me? Can I- Can I even make a website like this? Weird how these thoughts take over. So it’s just investing. You know, putting that time aside every every day to work is a big deal financially. You know, you want to get the best tools, the best stuff, or whatever. You know, is it worth it if they’re gonna- so I think that’s the biggest fear. I mean, right now, just starting, you know, is finding confidence in what I can do and being wise about where to put my time and money and effort. Well, ideally, I just don’t want to look back, you know, and I messed it all up with making or whatever, so I think. But again, trying to act with the fears, it’s just hard to navigate. Yeah.
Emma Plutnicki 07:34
Yeah and has there been anybody that has helped you navigate those fears or struggles? Any advice that you’ve been given, whether good advice or bad advice?
Luis Sanchez 07:44
Yeah, I would say my professors, when I studied Digital Arts at Horry Tech and graduated last May from that- that’s so, you know, I always had. I always like creative and arts and all that but I needed some, I needed, you know, someone to teach me how to do it right. It’s all self taught and so I think just having people that you know, I graduated in May, but I still talk to them, I send every time I make a website, like, “Hey, can you give it a look? Let me know” and just, you know, just having people that I respect who would look at myself and tell me, you know, whether it’s good or bad, but just letting me have confidence that, hey, like I’m not an imposter, like I did the work, I studied, I graduated, the stuff, whatever looks good. And so I don’t know it’s like a specific advice, but just- having- being able to show stuff to other people, for critique, for ideas, for that’s probably the hardest part of me when I first started the design program, because I always kept my art to myself.
Emma Plutnicki 08:58
Yeah.
Luis Sanchez 08:58
And then once I through my professors, they pushed me to start showcasing that, you know, different ideas and different things, and I started to gain confidence in my creativity and my art. And so the- best, my best advice would be that just be willing to show, show it to other people, and you’ll get rid of the imposter syndrome for sure, because you’ll find out if you’re really a designer or not, you know.
Emma Plutnicki 09:26
Yeah. And throughout your career, you’ve mentioned, you know, struggling with imposter syndrome. Has there been one specific project that has had a significant impact on you, or has kind of been the pinnacle of your career that you can really draw on when you are feeling doubts? And you could say, Yes, I worked on this project and I can do it. Is there anything like that that stands out?
Luis Sanchez 09:49
Yeah, definitely. I think there’s a lot of them. Not that I like-
Emma Plutnicki 09:54
That’s a good problem!
Luis Sanchez 09:56
Every project that, especially in school, every project I did. I taught me something about myself. I think we have a senior showcase where you just have to show off everything you created in the past two years, which is just nerve wracking and very scary. But there’s something about looking back at those nights where you were there 2am freaking out because your design looked horrible, like it’s not going to work, and and then you see the finished product, and you know that you pushed through. It’s just really helpful, just to know that you can do it. But I mean, ultimately, for my business, my- the first website I designed, and the client likes it, and you get paid for it. It’s a little surreal, like I created something for someone. So I would say that would be probably the most meaningful, just the first website, just the full, first whole client process, website design, delivering, and it’s out on the web. So I would say that was just probably the most meaningful for me.
Emma Plutnicki 11:00
Yeah, for sure, that must be incredible to see things come to light and actually being used in a real setting.
Luis Sanchez 11:07
It’s worth it. It’s like, yes, what I want to do.
Emma Plutnicki 11:10
Amazing and how do you like working in South Carolina specifically? Have you lived in other places? Or what kind of, you know, contribution does South Carolina specifically have to your work? Is there any influence?
Luis Sanchez 11:21
Yeah. So I’ve actually, I was born in Honduras,
Emma Plutnicki 11:25
Okay.
Luis Sanchez 11:26
Yeah and then I originally went to school in Spain, so I lived there for five years, studied computer science, but then moving to South Carolina, it’s been a huge impact, because first of all, I went to Horry tech in 2022 and they had free tuition. So I did the whole program for free. So that’s just the best thing ever. Very grateful for Horry county or South Carolina, whoever made that happen, a huge opportunity, just for everyone that you know can take that. And so that was very, very big. And then I think the one thing that I love about working here in web design and church and everything just very relational. Every time- every client I work with that’s like, the goal is to be relational. I think we all have, I just feel the sense of our small businesses or it’s just a community. So, you know, I’m just, like I said, I’m not just making a website so you can pay me. I want to grow your business. I want to grow your brand, because we’re all a community, and so I think South Carolina is just, the southern charm is just very alive, and I want to be part of that. And so, you know, the heart behind what I’m doing is helping out people who want to showcase their business and their brand and grow and- but I want to do it in a relational way, not in a transactional way. And so I lived here for seven years, and everyone’s just been so, so welcoming, so helpful, so everything. So I just want to return that same to, you know, through people, through my art. So.
Emma Plutnicki 13:16
That’s great. I’m glad you found South Carolina.
Luis Sanchez 13:18
I know. Oh this is the best place, I lived a lot of places in the world, but-
Emma Plutnicki 13:22
Yeah.
Luis Sanchez 13:23
-home.
Emma Plutnicki 13:24
Good, amazing. So just as we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to add about your career? Any advice or anything else?
Luis Sanchez 13:31
I would just add, I just, you know, looking back, you know, I’m 33 and I graduated last year, and I just know high school was a hard time because I just couldn’t figure out what I wanted to do, what I was good at, what I was not. And I studied computer science in school, but I realized that’s not what I- where my passion was. And then, you know, even though it took me a long time to go back to school, I spent that time just trying to find what is it that I was passionate about, and thankfully I had the opportunity to do digital arts. And now I know it’s very fulfilling. I’m just very I just know that was the right place where I needed to be, and this is probably where I need to be doing. So, you know, just just, just trust your passions, your- your skills, your, you know, I think everyone’s creative, and we just need to be able to have opportunities to showcase to the world how we are creative. So just, yeah, just looking back, I know that I feel like there’s a lot of people in that same boat of, like, trying to figure out what they’re called to do. And I just, you know, just go for it and ask people for help and show people what you can do and what you help you figure out and give you confidence. So you don’t feel like, you know. An impostor or anything like that.
Emma Plutnicki 15:02
No amazing. Thank you so much. That’s great advice. I should take that advice myself. So thank you so much.