Life and Work with Becca Collinson and Jenna Balsley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Becca Collinson and Jenna Balsley.

Becca and Jenna, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
A few years ago, we were spending our typical Sunday together – perusing the aisles of Target, iced coffees in our hands and peanut butter cookies in our cart. As we were chatting over our hobby, graphic design projects we had recently been working on for our close friends – a light bulb went off for both of us. ​

From that moment on, Peanut Butter Creative Graphic Design (named for our love (obsession?) with all things peanut-buttery) has become one of our favorite parts of our lives. We love being invited onto clients’ journeys as they embark on entrepreneurship, work to strengthen their brands or celebrate milestones.

We also adore working together. From little girls to working women, we’ve supported each other through all of life’s stages and thrive as a team. Becca has a clean, modern and feminine design style while Jenna’s designs are bold and bubbly. We both enjoy creating logos – Becca handles the majority of PBC’s print work while Jenna handles most website design. Our sisterhood is highlighted in the ways we critique each other’s designs constructively. We work on projects simultaneously to provide our clients with optimum turnaround time and celebrate each other’s wins as our own.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We have had a relatively smooth road and we attribute that to thoughtful planning along the way. We schedule bi-monthly check-in meetings where we go over our finances, goals, projects, etc. so that we keep our dreams and visions in the forefront and can continuously work towards them.

Our most major struggle came when Becca’s baby Liam was born last year – he’s the first baby for either of us so that was something we had difficulty planning for. It took more time than either of us expected to get back to our normal schedules but, that’s life sometimes. We dealt with it by staying in communication about what we needed and trying to be understanding of the other’s situation/frustration/exhaustion/etc. We also kept in mind that it wouldn’t last forever but it also wouldn’t change unless we put in the effort every day to get back to a consistent routine. We were right, it didn’t last forever, and the work we did throughout that challenge helped us to be stronger communicators with more streamlined processes than we had prior.

Our advice would be to give yourself time in the week to plan. Plan out your meals, your outfits, your Instagram feed, how you’re going to tackle a project over the next week, etc. anything that you can sit down and write out so that you have an actionable process going forward and don’t need to think as much at the moment. This will help take the emotion and haste out of decision-making and allow you to be thoughtful and strategic.

Please tell us about Peanut Butter Creative.
We are graphic designers and our passion is branding new businesses. We love helping women especially give their company a visual identity that mirrors the heart of their business. Our most popular service is our branding package, where we design logos, patterns, business cards and more for entrepreneurs. Our website design service is also something we love to do, it allows us to turn that branding package into a space on the web dedicated to our client’s new business.

We are proud of the helpful nature we’ve built in our business. Our clients often come to us with a phenomenal business idea but not knowing where to go next. We love guiding entrepreneurs through the branding process which helps them gain the confidence needed to sell and believe in the value of their products or services. When you look good, you feel good!

Do you think there are structural or other barriers impeding the emergence of more female leaders?
There are absolutely structural barriers to female leadership. It’s so common for women to not be invited to things like sporting events, golfing with coworkers, and other informal but valuable networking opportunities. But instead of focusing on those external factors that may not be within our control, let’s put our attention inward. So, read the books, take the classes, practice speaking in front of others – do all the things needed to feel confident that you can lead others. People can sense your confidence and self-esteem and if you’re prepared and step up, they won’t be able to ignore your competencies. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.peanutbutter-creative.com
• Phone: 7205326081
• Email: peanutbuttercreative@gmail.com
• Instagram: @peanutbuttercreative
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/peanutbuttercreative/

Image Credit:
KB Digital Designs

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