This week we are joined by Lauren Hom who is a huge inspiration for many in the creative community. Lauren does wonderful lettering work and has designed for clients like Starbucks, Google, AT&T, YouTube and Time Magazine. She’s also released a book, several courses including the popular, Passion to Paid and releases a weekly HOMwork for her followers which encourages them to think outside the box and get creative.

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Show Notes for This Episode:

[1:00] The crew welcomes Lauren to the show.
[1:20] Life-work balance is never easy for a creative.
[2:00] Lauren walks us through what a typical day looks like for her.
[3:00] Having an agent from the beginning has been super helpful for Lauren.
[4:00] Employing friends to help with social media and admin tasks.
[5:10] Lauren believes her lettering is not the star of the show.
[5:40] Standing out in the lettering community. Concepts are the key.
[6:25] Lauren’s accidental success with her first lettering project, Daily Dishonesty.
[8:25] Jingles and slogans are sticky and memorable.
[9:15] One big piece of advice Lauren has for new letterers.
[10:00] Lauren shares how working as a copywriter helped her.
[11:00] Using word association to build great copy.
[13:30] Lauren’s design sensibilities are more feminine and relate to her own life.
[14:30] Creating for yourself and no other.
[15:00] There’s engagement gold in the mundane.
[16:10] Finding your stride.
[17:20] Building confidence in your own work.
[18:00] Lauren and impostor syndrome.
[19:10] The beauty in sharing imperfect work.
[20:00] Realizing you have no control over algorithms is freeing.
[20:15] 4 day mural vs. 30-second sand lettering
[21:30] You will most likely dislike your past work.
[22:00] The long way is the shortcut.
[23:30] How trends will affect your work.
[24:00] Trends help you evolve and grow as a designer.
[25:50] Dealing with feeling stuck, standing out and building a brand.
[26:00] Strategy tips to grow your brand
[27:30] The advice “Be Authentic!” can be a bit broad.
[28:00] Building a brand.
[29:00] Checking all your boxes with work that shares your outside interests.
[30:00] Create work that relates to your world.
[31:00] Lauren pours her strategy into content creation not algorithms.
[32:10] The lazy marketer approach to client out reach.
[33:00] Creating shareable work is free marketing.
[33:20] How to circulate your passion project.
[34:15] The power of Word-of-Mouth advertising.
[35:20] Lauren and Dustin chat about her ‘Will Letter for Lunch’ project.
[36:00] ‘Will Letter for Lunch’ was born out of a need.
[37:00] The creative curse of boredom
[38:00] Using the ‘Daily Dishonesty’ project model with ‘Will Letter for Lunch’.
[39:00] Packaging a passion project.
[40:00] Bite sized marketing with domain name forwarding.
[41:00] Publish polished passion projects.
[42:00] Passion projects are goals combined with your interests.
[43:00] ‘Will Letter for Lunch’ was a pivotal project that captured different demographics.
[44:00] You never know how you’ll be found.
[46:00] Outsourcing your weaknesses.
[47:30] Dustin and Lauren talk organization struggles
[49:00] Lauren shares the pros of having an agent.
[50:00] Finding the courage to let go and let others help you.
[51:00] Lauren explains how she handed off the management of her Instagram messages.
[52:00] Scripts and mix management has been a winning formula.
[53:00] The success of HOMwork.
[54:00] Lauren shares how pinpointing is the best use of your time is crucial.
[56:00] Scripts for email vs. scripts for Instagram messages.
[57:00] Dealing with quick communication expectations.
[58:00] Instagram DM and Facebook Messenger have changed the way we connect.
[59:10] Lisa shares how she recently hired someone to manage email.
[1:00:40] Art school doesn’t prepare you for running a business.
[1:01:10] Turning frequent questions into an FAQ page.
[1:02:00] Tom asks Lauren to share a sampling of ‘Passion to Paid’ with listeners.
[1:03:00] Lauren decides to teach Creative Marketing over Lettering.
[1:04:00] Business basics, contracts and selling your goods.
[1:05:00] How to end your passion project.
[1:06:00] Dustin asks Lauren what has impacted her business the most.
[1:07:00] Lauren shares how school and the ad agency helped her with deadlines.
[1:08:00] The most crushing work Lauren did at the agency.
[1:10:30] Agency work wasn’t the best fit for Lauren.
[1:11:00] Project completion satisfaction
[1:12:00] How Daily Dishonesty was born.
[1:14:05] Ex-boyfriend tears.
[1:14:30] Tom asks Lauren if any passion projects have failed.
[1:15:00] Lauren shares her fourth passion project.
[1:16:00] Wiggy Banks falls flat.
[1:17:00] The only guarantee is a badass portfolio piece.
[1:18:00] Fast-forward three and a half years later, Bank of America calls.
[1:19:00] Pursuing your Passion Project.
[1:20:20] Lauren shares her agent’s garden metaphor for Passion Projects.
[1:21:00] Be easy on yourself. It takes time for passion projects to grow.
[1:23:10] Letting your passion project fulfill you.
[1:24:00] When your tank is low your creativity slumps.
[1:25:00] The double edge Freelance sword.
[1:28:50] Hiring a Business Coach took Lauren’s business to a new level.
[1:29:40] A new perspective on business.
[1:30:00] Creative e-mail marketing.
[1:31:45] Diversified income streams
[1:32:10] The freelance coaster.
[1:32:55] Creatives are freelance rule-breakers.
[1:33:00] The future of freelance possibilities is wide open.
[1:34:00] You hold the power to building your own creative empire.
[1:35:00] Ideas will never go out of style.
[1:36:00] Authenticity is here to stay.
[1:37:10] Design solves problems.
[1:38:30] Realizing money can be made doing what you love.
[1:39:00] Landing clients vs. Landing sales
[1:40:00] Finding value in your followers.
[1:41:00] Consistently showing up.
[1:42:00] Playing the long game.
[1:43:00] From dream idea to passion project.
[1:44:00] Passion projects are only time investments.
[1:45:00] Use the momentum from project excitement to push you.
[1:46:00] Calming the negative voices.
[1:47:20] The reason Lauren is a hand-letter.
[1:48:10] Stop dragging your feet and just jump into your business.
[1:49:20] From nightclub hostess and Lush sales girl to freelancer.
[1:50:00] Align your wants and your skills.
[1:51:00] Let your deadlines be your motivators.
[1:52:00] Freelancing isn’t glamorous.
[1:53:00] Break your dream into smaller dreams.
[1:53:20] Setting big goals and achieving them.
[1:54:00] Goals don’t always work out the way we planned.
[1:55:00] Finding happiness is how life unfolds.
[1:56:00] Be able to adapt and pivot.
[1:57:00] And that’s a wrap!

Find Lauren on Instagram over at @homesweethomek and on Twitter over at @hometweethome. And check Lauren’s amazing work on her Website


“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