Life and Work with Betsy Powers

Today we’d like to introduce you to Betsy Powers.

Betsy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I graduated high school in 2014 and started school the following year at CSU in Fort Collins. Unfortunately, nothing about that season inspired me and I decided to take the next year off. In a slightly desperate moment, I made a hasty decision to apply for a 9-month internship position with my church in the Denver area. I was accepted onto the Creative Design team, not knowing what to expect, but mostly anticipating a change of speed as far as my faith and community of friends were concerned. That year was everything I had hoped for and more. For the first time, I’d found my authentic identity, relationships, and life-pursuit. After completing the internship, I transferred schools and changed majors, and in March 2019 graduated from the University of Denver with a BA in Strategic Communications, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship. Today, I am a Pure Barre teacher, certified in every format they offer (Classic, Empower & Reform) and freelance graphic designer. I’ve built a base of various design clients over the years–businesses, individuals, friends & family, and strangers. Regarding jobs, relationships, and life today, I can look back and see where each piece initially budded. Each of those special moments are invaluable to me, but I think the most essential piece of my journey was, through everything, relentlessly searching for, finding, and defining my identity. When you make decisions and grow through life with a confident and loved sense-of-self, truly anything is possible.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
In one word—no. And we shouldn’t always strive for easy. Challenges allow us the opportunity to adapt and develop strong character. What benefits my pursuit, is the fact that defining and creating solid character is what I’m passionate about. So, I welcome challenges and chances to learn. Much of my journey was unexpected, and only recently do I feel like I’ve gained a sense of stability. Everything started to change the moment I intentionally made a decision to find myself and go after things I wanted but didn’t have. For me, that decision was to leave college and pursue my church internship, and I was seeking unbreakable peace & joy, identity, and authentic community and faith. It was a powerful choice. It made others around me uncomfortable, so they challenged it and at times I had to fight for myself, by myself. But I rested in faith and hope that I could and would gain what I sought.

My advice would be to fight relentlessly for that sense of self and identity and release control of everything else. When I was growing up, not all of my behaviors matched my values, so I felt out of balance. I spent time craving and (sometimes consciously, other times unconsciously) creating drama, mess, and crazy. Giving myself to addiction, bad-decisions, and anything that was a distraction from pain and that imbalance I felt. But every bit of that made me feel less than who I was created to be–which is STELLAR. I, and other women, were created to be confident, powerful, valuable, and loved. Once I found myself, I could learn to love myself, removing bad habits and aligning behaviors with the character and values I believe in for myself. And now that I’ve gained that skill, any instability in my circumstance doesn’t cause instability in my identity. To me, that’s the absolute most important thing.

What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of? What sets you apart from others?
When I’m not teaching at Pure Barre (which I absolutely LOVE), I spend my time as a freelancer. And I believe so much goes into that! My specialization is graphic design, but I also do consulting, social media, copywriting, branding and more. With freelancing (in any field), comes unique freedom. I get to work on my own schedule, and rely solely on my own authority for how much I’m achieving and how well I’m getting things done. It’s also, very much entrepreneurism.

The bulk of my work time is spent completing projects for clients. Work ranges from single projects to monthly-services, and clients range from individuals to large businesses. One of my favorite niches is my work with a local brewery in LoHi, Denver. I’ve been developing their print marketing and branding in the form of event posters, direct mailers, and social media graphics for a little over two years now. I began with an endless amount of creative freedom, so through that I created a brand that uniquely represents the brewery through my artist’s eyes. All their print pieces fully reflect my brand and their brand, which is a unique opportunity that I’m grateful for.

Branding is probably my favorite aspect of the work I do because identity is so immensely important to me. Branding is way more than a cohesive visual. A brand is an identity. When working with clients, I love to build a very human relationship and learn their brand, and/or the brand of their business, then let that guide all my work. Essentially, it’s learning their identity and creatively incorporating their values and what’s important and meaningful to them into process and final pieces. It makes the work always purposeful.

What advice would you give to someone at the start of her career?
Find yourself! Fight for that RELENTLESSLY and release control of everything else.

Pricing:
Print & Digital Marketing (A La Carte Prices)

• 11″ x 17″ print poster design, $200
• Various sized postcards/flyers, $50-$150
• Social media graphics, $90

Package deals and pricing available
Contact for other inquiries

Contact Info:

• Website: thebetsypowers.com
• Email: betsympowers@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebetsypowers/

Image Credit:
Betsy Powers

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