A Creative Life of Her Own Design
Photo: Audrey Tappan
“Female creatives are overlooked and undervalued, especially in corporate. And it can be extremely lonely, especially as a freelancer,” Courtlyn Jones, a graphic designer and visual artist, shares.
Jones is also the CEO and founder of The Design Database which she created out of a personal need. The Design Database is the leading online community and job platform exclusively catered to female creatives who want to connect with like-minded individuals and ultimately create their dream careers.
Navigating her own career
Prior to creating The Design Database, Jones had experienced her share of toxicity in the creative industry as a woman. Three different professional experiences added up and pointed Jones toward something else.
One was landing her first real full-time designer job and hating it. Then, she was laid off from that job due to COVID-19. Afterward, she landed a job at her “dream company” as a graphic designer, but this wasn’t what she thought it would be. “I ended up absolutely hating that job, too.”
“I've always wanted a supportive community to help me navigate the tough challenges, like pricing my services properly so I'm being paid fairly for my talent. We as women and creatives have a bad habit of not knowing our worth.”
In fact, Jones didn’t even know how underpaid she was until she met other women in the arts or from other departments within the company she worked for. But meeting those other women was a game-changer because Jones started thinking bigger for herself and for other women creatives.
Knowing your worth
The toxic workplaces, low pay, and disappointing designer jobs weren’t the only things nudging her to go out on her own and create something new. Jones was also diagnosed with thyroid cancer and through this experience she had “a spiritual awakening that told me I needed to change my life and do something that made me happy.”
“I realized I LOVE designing and creating art, but ONLY when I’m designing for myself or for clients who value me and my talent.” Her passion paired with the knowledge she now had from other creative women blossomed into a beautiful idea–creating a community of female creatives supporting each other worldwide and empowering creatives everywhere to put the fun back into their art.
Research and discovery
Since the idea's conception, Jones has made several pivots, one being to solely focus on female and non-binary creatives. Originally, she began building a freelance marketplace that would rival Fiverr and UpWork but tailored to the creative niche. Through a variety of programs, fellowships, and much market research, she discovered females and non-binary creatives needed the most exposure because they were offered the least amount of opportunities.
Combining forces
The other pivot Jones made was shifting The Design Database from being a freelance marketplace to a social community and job platform. “It's now ‘Indeed Meets Instagram.’ I loved making this pivot because The Design Database is now focused on creating new friendships and collaborations. When Creatives come together, true magic happens.”
Do it anyway
Jones is truly living the life of her dreams and has created something unique. While fear seems to be the ever-present sidekick she doesn’t let it stop her. “I'm always afraid of everything and always have been, but I'm not afraid of failure. If anything, I'm afraid of success because I don't know what that will change for my personal life. I live by the mantra: ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway.’”
One of the things she relies on to balance the fear is her faith. “I take leaps without having a clue where I'll land. I have faith because I believe in myself and I pray a lot when I'm scared. I thank God for every blessing He's given me and my family and then I thank Him for the ones that are on their way to me.” Jones’ faith keeps her going.
Finding friends on the path
As Jones’ has traveled her entrepreneurial path, she is in awe of her own personal growth and of the people she’s met along the way. “I've met so many amazing people on this journey; so many founders and creatives from all over the world. It's so beautiful to be able to help and connect with so many people and I'm grateful I have the ability and opportunities to do that.”
Making waves
Jones will continue to create opportunities for herself and others as she has big plans for the next five years. She’ll be partnering up with other female-focused companies and art organizations to expand their reach and give her community of creatives more opportunities for success. Jones also envisions The Design Database hosting more in-person events worldwide, having a community of at least 500,000 members, and being one of the biggest leaders in the creative industry (alongside AIGA).
“One of the next projects I am looking forward to is working with our members to collaborate on exclusive designs for our merch shop and I've also started writing my first book.” Additionally, Jones would like to see her podcast, Fearless Narratives, gain an even larger following and wants her trilogy to become a New York Times bestseller.
Jones is proof that we can all create a life of our own design if we are willing to believe in our own worth, take the leap, and dare to dream. To learn more about Jones’ and The Design
Database, visit www.thedesigndatabase.net.
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This feature is a part of StartUp Stories: Celebrating 100 Female Entrepreneurs, a special portrait photography project founded by Angela Acosta, a New Jersey-based portrait and personal branding photographer. To learn more about participating in StartUp Stories: Celebrating 100 Female Entrepreneurs, visit https://promo.angelaatelier.com/signupstartupstories/.
A. Y. Berthiaume is an award-winning author, international book coach and ghostwriter, and the founder/CEO of The Write Place, Right Time. She is also a proud sponsor of and creative collaborator with StartUp Stories. To learn more about A.Y. Berthiaume and The Write Place, Right Time visit https://thewriteplacerighttime.com.