Hello world!
It has been a tumultuous start to 2024 for numerous reasons, but generally an exciting time for me.
I started out the year by opening my first freelance design endeavor, called Paolino Design Collective LLC! This is an exciting moment and something I've been considering since I first went to architecture school in 2009. The main focus of the business will be architectural design for the moment, but I'm exploring ideas to expand into other design mediums such as graphic design, UX, logos, branding, and collaborations.
My father started his own business when he was about my age, and he is a huge inspiration to me. When I was about 8 years old he encouraged me to start my own business and ever since then I've had an itch to be my own boss. Back then he helped me to start a weekend delivery service for donuts and bagels (such an east coast thing)... I spent my Friday nights calling up our neighbors to take their orders and my Saturday mornings picking up the orders from our local shops to deliver to my neighbors' front doors. It was an invaluable life lesson and got me interested in the idea of running a business.
Working in the architecture field these past 10 years has taught me a lot about design and running a business, but I was always insulated from it as an employee. It wasn't until now that I felt the confidence to branch out on my own.
Since I've opened this LLC I managed to secure 3 different clients in two weeks for freelance work and it's entirely word-of-mouth. To say I'm surprised is an understatement - I expected to be doing a lot of marketing and cold calling. They say when it rains it pours, but you also experience droughts in the business which I'm not looking forward to.
Besides starting my own business my wife and I purchased our first home in Providence RI! We are so excited about this since we lived in California the past 8 years and the real estate there is well known to be expensive. We dreamed of owning a house but could never achieve it in California, and now our dreams are just getting off the ground! The house is over 120 years old and needs some elbow grease, but my experience in design and construction has given us confidence to make it our own.
I'll continue documenting my journey with this business and in our personal lives through this blog on a weekly basis. There are a number of things I hope to do with this including a vlog to showcase more design-focused posting. For now, heres to a bright and successful 2024!
~Frankie
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