Hey there! I’m Lizzy Colombo. I’m a Charleston girl, graphic designer, educator, and dog mom with big dreams and a boutique creative studio, White Point Creative. To be quite honest, my design journey wasn’t always a smooth, bump free ride.

Little did I know that a high school newspaper and a hand-me-down camera would turn into a six-figure design studio. But I didn’t always have the dream job with clients that bring me joy and projects that fuel my fire. After getting married in my hometown of Charleston, SC. Joe and I lived humbly. We applied diligently for jobs with very little luck. To bring in more money I started designing logos and random assets for friends. I knew nothing about freelancing and I was completely lost. I felt like a fraud. A mess. A college design graduate, turned failure.

The Turning Point

Taxes? No clue. SEO? What even is that? Competitive rates and pricing? Puh-lease! Just pay me anything.

I remember so clearly laying in bed with tear-filled eyes when an ad flashed on my Facebook feed. Was I reading this correctly? This course would teach me everything I needed to know about starting a proper design business that would actually make me money. Yes! Joe and I invested what little savings we had into the Spruce Your Studio (then Share-Worthy Design Course) by Jamie at Spruce Road. I can still feel the tremble in my hand as I hovered over the “enroll” button on the checkout screen. I clicked it.

Fast Forward

Three years in I had irregular clients of my own, major brands in my portfolio like Saucony, Puma, Keds, and J Jill from freelancing gigs, and tenacity to grow my business into a formal and well-respected creative studio. What started as a spare-bedroom side job was morphing into so much more.

My freelance jobs taught me very important lessons because I was able to onboard into high-level teams who were functioning at their peak inside of major brands and well-established agencies. Everything from their folder system, and client management, to presentations and team outings, were carefully noted inside of the notebook that went with me everywhere. Lunch breaks were spent picking the brains of creative directors and senior designers. I wanted to learn everything. When I wasn’t interrogating…I mean chatting with co-workers I was in a quiet corner with Jenna Kutcher’s podcast turned all the way up.

Two notebooks later I was scaling my business and refining my processes, skills, and offerings. I’ve had the immense pleasure of launching over 30 full brand and web design projects with more than half of those being 8K launches for my clients. Plus even more solo brands and websites with high success rates.

Key Lesson I Learned

A favorite recent moment was being able to invest in my business and self again via The Next Level Club by La La Social. It’s by far the largest investment I’ve ever committed to (outside of college). While bouncing around from freelance job to freelance job I picked up on a theme.

These agencies were giving their employees bonuses to go out and take courses, workshops, and attend summits. Education was not skipped but encouraged and revered. In the freelance world, pouring back into yourself and your business will always be the greatest ROI.

One of my biggest headaches was trying to source knowledge about a specific design or business-related topic. I didn’t have hundreds of Instagrams dedicated to a single topic or thousands of podcasts to pick through much less week-long digital summits run by successful designers. So I took to Google, Pinterest, and 600-member Facebook groups. In an effort to save you from the hours of research I had to wade through, I have consolidated all of my creative freelance and while label knowledge into a single Instagram and blog.

My Mission

My mission is to empower creative freelancers to confidently land major jobs, build beautiful portfolios & raise their rates! The goal is to connect with creatives from around the world, young and seasoned, writers to coders. I want you to walk out of that interview with a job offer. I want you to ask for more and be told “Yes, absolutely. You’re worth it.” I dream of a day when women are no longer condensed under a glass ceiling. I envision a collective of creatives who stand together with a common goal: to spread exquisite beauty across the world. And it all starts here: Freelancing Freedom Collective

Though I have a better wardrobe and hair than that 16-year-old with a used Nikon. I still wake up every day eager to put countless hours into my craft and go to bed having learned something new. Tomorrow is too late to start. Do it today. Invest in yourself, even if you’re terrified. Small steps and wins, are still steps and wins. DM me something you’re celebrating within your business journey so I can personally congratulate and cheer you on, friend.