This week we are chatting with Teela Cunningham. Teela is one of our absolute favorite creatives. She has educated millions of other designers through her entertaining and informative videos. She also runs Every Tuesday, a hub of high quality design products, creative courses and all kinds of other awesome stuff along side her husband Spencer. She is super talented as a designer but also a creative marketer so today we are super excited to pick her brain.

[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/honestdesigners/HD_139_1.mp3″ social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” title=”Episode 139: Pushing Past Your Fears With Teela Cunningham”]

Watch more of the Honest Designers episodes here: Honest Designers Podcast Playlist. And remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel for regular updates direct to your inbox.


Show Notes for This Episode:

[1:00] Tom welcomes Teela to the show.
[1:30] Teela opens up the show and explains how she got started with Every Tuesday.
[2:00] Breaking away to focusing on Every Tuesday.
[3:00] Teela opens up about her early humble beginnings.
[4:00] Toy Company delivers late paychecks and stress over groceries.
[5:00] In 2010 Teela decides to ramp up her personal products.
[6:00] Moving to a design studio yielded high-level work yet lacked happiness.
[7:10] Ian asks Teela about questioning her design skills.
[8:00] Teela shinned through mundane design grunt work and boring branding projects.
[9:00] Grinding through a 2 year-long catheter branding project.
[10:00] Never regret the hard times, they mould you into YOU!
[11:20] An eager-to-please personality made it hard for Teela to see the ugly.
[12:00] Late nights, passive income podcasts and online marketing tactics.
[13:00] Teela and Spencer focus on their expertise and divide and conquer.
[14:00] Weekends, holidays and a year and a half later the blog starts earning.
[15:00] Ian asks how Every Tuesday makes money.
[16:00] How a small blog picked up steam and pulled subscribers.
[17:00] Skillshare reaches out to Teela.
[18:00] Teela breaks down her follower count for the listeners.
[19:00] Ian asks Teela for her career altering Golden Nuggets.
[20:00] Why Teela believes her email list was the smartest move.
[21:00] Over delivering with incentives is a must.
[22:00] Teela offers a FREE Course to showcase her course value and quality.
[23:00] Polling listeners leads to more educational content.
[24:50] Understanding the mindset that kept Teela pushing forward.
[25:00] Being passionate about your work is a must.
[26:00] Having someone who sees your struggle is so important.
[27:00] Lisa asks Teela if she has seen her old Art Director since.
[28:00] Making the transition from introvert to online extrovert.
[29:30] Hiding behind the introvert card.
[30:00] Start by talking about what you know.
[31:20] Teela pulls the trigger on her first online teachable webinar.
[32:00] You will always feel proud after you push past your fears.
[33:00] It’s a gift every day to work on your passion.
[34:35] Lisa asks how Teela can work with her husband so easily.
[35:00] How working together before dating helped Teela and Spencer.
[36:00] Not every couple is meant to work together.
[37:20] Do couples that work together burn out together?
[38:20] Managing competitiveness.
[39:20] Seeing others rip off your work is gut wrenching.
[40:00] Dealing with the copycats, imitators and rip-off artists.
[41:30] It’s human nature to look at what others are doing.
[42:00] Tom slips into a place of competitive fear.
[43:20] Just keep scrolling.
[44:00] Nothing good ever comes out of gawking at your imitator’s content.
[45:00] Tom and Teela’s first conversation was over someone ripping off her work.
[46:10] Imitators will always be behind you.
[47:00] The gang talks rip offs of their own works.
[48:00] Bets are being taken on when Lisa’s latest product will be copied.
[49:00] A quick buck is the wrong reason to jump in the game.
[49:45] What’s next for Teela’s family and Every Tuesday?
[50:00] Courses are Teela’s favorite work.
[51:00] Self-hosting courses or Skillshare?
[52:00] Pay per minute watches.
[54:00] And that’s a wrap!

Find us on iTunes, Spotify, and Instagram by searching for The Honest Designers Show.

“A must for every creative freelancer (or those aspiring to freelance). Thank you for being so… honest! Such a wealth of information from people I admire who have ‘been there and done that’. Listening to the podcast every week feels like I’m among friends. Can’t wait for more episodes!”AG_GD