Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Abe.
Hi Emily, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My story can be broken down into two parts. My love for graphic design and my love for my Catholic faith.
I grew up loving computer and video games. Let’s talk Nintendo some other time! I also grew up constantly drawing. Drawing lots of horses, cats, and dragons. So when I discovered digital painting with Photoshop, I fell in love! After I designed various concert band t-shirts and posters in high school, it was a no-brainer for me to pursue graphic design. I chose UW-Stout, a small-ish university in western Wisconsin. I am an anomaly, as I chose graphic design going in, stuck with it throughout, and I am still working in my chosen field.
I also grew up Protestant. We went to church every Sunday, went on every mission trip, and every Vacation Bible School. I can attest that consistency is a huge part of why I’m so committed to my faith today. Being involved at church has always been something I do. However, when I reached my later years of high school, I realized I didn’t fit in with my peers at youth group, so I stopped going. However, I continued to go to service with my parents every Sunday. The summer before my senior year of high school, I decided to find a different youth group. I ended up in a Catholic Church. It was everything I wanted and needed in a youth group. People my age were actually interested in me! Eventually, I started to learn about the Catholic faith and I fell deeper in love with it. There was a richness to Catholicism I felt the denomination I grew up with lacked. I met many friends I’m still close to today, learned more about the theology and culture, and had an experience with God Himself. All of these things convinced me that I wanted to become Catholic myself. I got confirmed to the Church when I was a sophomore in college. I am an anomaly in this area too. Know of many other young people seriously committing to a religion during their college years?
It came to my senior year of college, the time when I was supposed to decide what I wanted to do with my career. I didn’t think doing graphic design related to Catholicism was possible. I didn’t think Catholic organizations had the money for that. So I tried to get a regular design job. I miraculously landed a job with one of the largest Catholic marking agencies in the US (and perhaps the world?). I moved to Cleveland, Ohio for a year. It was a such. A. Dream! I eventually moved back because I missed home. I was job hunting again. I look back on that part of my life with fondness.
I did a few vocation quizzes about what I’m supposed to do with my career, just to make sure… All of the signs (and prayers) pointed to graphic design and the Catholic Church. So, I slowly and naturally began to get my name out to the Catholic world that I am a graphic designer interested in working for Catholic companies. I started to land paid projects here and there. Tri-fold design, website design, book design, photography… They were starting to add up, so I decided to get legally covered and I registered as an LLC in November of 2020. Since then I’ve landed a few long-term client relationships that provide for an even more steady income. I’m proud to say I’ve built a client list and network that I’m able to financially support myself and I’m getting new inquiries every week! It’s so cool!!
But I don’t do this just for the money. My BHAG goal is to be a graphic design influencer in the Catholic world. My mission is to help Catholic organizations achieve beautiful and useful graphic design they otherwise wouldn’t have access to. My vision is to bring the Church in to the 21st century graphically which will in turn, attract more people to it. Because that’s what it’s all about: showing others the joy of the faith and perhaps attracting them to what I believe to be eternal life in paradise.
I distinctly remember thinking to myself when I was finishing college, “I don’t want to be a freelancer. That sounds too hard.” I can’t say I’ve ever been happier in my career. I have discovered my love for building relationships, project management, marketing, (dare I say) accounting, self-accountability, educating others on proper graphic design, and more.
My beliefs that the Church can’t afford good graphic design have been turned upside down. Had I allowed that to stop me from trying out my dream, I wouldn’t be here today.
My piece of advice for anyone is if you have a dream, go get it. You fail 100% of the shots you don’t take. If it’s the Lord’s will for you to go do a thing, He will help you make it happen. Never say never.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Trusting God with my career was perhaps the most difficult thing starting out. I put out over 150 applications during my job hunting years. Competition in the Twin Cities is tough! I became very discouraged and took some of the rejection letters personally. But I kept going. Turns out I work best working for myself anyway.
Another tough thing was figuring out that I could make my dream reality. I suppose you could say that’s something that worked itself out with time.
The most challenging thing I’m facing currently is time management. It can be difficult to estimate if I have time to take on another client or project. It’s a very good problem to have!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a freelance graphic designer. This means I create logos, branding identity, websites, pamphlets, advertisements, social media graphics, and more. I dabble in photography and videography too. As a freelancer, I build my workload myself. I don’t have an employer to hand me work. I need to win it for myself. As a one woman business, I also get to do my own advertising, accounting, PR, and everything else. It’s annoying because it’s time consuming (and not design) but also thrilling because I can brag to people about all the skills I never thought I wanted to have!
What makes me different from the majority of graphic designers in the Twin Cities is I specialize in Catholic subject matter. I’m very useful for Catholic organizations because I understand symbolisms, traditions, culture, theology, and more. Most of my work lately has involved website design. However, I find having a broader range of graphic design skills makes more financial sense for Catholic organizations that don’t have a lot of money.
I am not sure what I’m known for yet. Perhaps my talent? My gift of networking? My love for the Catholic community and culture? I’ll get back to you on that.
I am most proud of what I’ve built in my business, plain and simple. I get to meet so many awesome people doing incredible things to forward the joy of the Catholic faith and Church. They are so inspiring and I’m honored to be able to serve them.
What sets me apart from others is my integration of my religion and my work. It can be a tricky place to be. I’m limiting my possible clientele because of today’s culture. And what if (God forbid) I decide to leave the Church? But I’ll tell you, I am so much more joyful doing what I do than I would be working in a secular, multimillion dollar creative agency, making at least $20k more a year. I probably wouldn’t fit in there anyway.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
For a more in depth opinion and philosophy about happiness and joy, read my blog article, Joy: The New Evangelization. Also read Living Joy by Chris Stefanick. But in a nutshell, practicing, following the philosophy, and morals of my Catholic faith makes me happy and brings me deep joy. I believe it to be the ultimate guide of how to live a happy and healthy life. I truly am joyful despite everything that happens in life and in the world.
Providing my services to the Church makes me happy. Not many people are doing what I’m doing. There are people who are grateful that they can purchase services with a clear conscience.
My fiancé makes me happy. He’s my best friend. He also makes me feel every emotion humanly possible… which I think is great. It makes the relationship more meaningful. He’s hilarious, handsome, loyal… Let’s just leave it at I’m just really excited to marry him!
Adventuring makes me happy. Need I say more?
Contact Info:
- Email: create@emilyabe.com
- Website: emilyabe.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ea_creates/
