Women Wednesdays: Weekend Creative

Here at Style Approximately, we are all about creating a space of women supporting other women. Inspired by Grace Bonney and her book, In The Company of Women, we decided to start a Women Wednesdays series. Similar to the book, we wanted to gather inspiration and advice from the creative women in our lives and share it with our readers. We hope you enjoy this series and find inspiration to pursue/continue your passions.

The first women we are featuring in the series is the duo behind Weekend Creative, Elle Mitchell and Arabela Espinoza. Their eye for design is mesmerizing. They have a “let’s be bold and edgy” and “get out of the comfort zone” attitude that I love. Rebels? Yes…and I’m all about it.

Inspired by the questions asked throughout In the Company of Women, we asked similar questions for Elle and Arabela. Let’s have you get to know Weekend Creative in their own words!

1. Tell us about Weekend Creative. How did it come about?

We met at San Jose State University in a photography class and quickly became partners. We ended up working at a magazine together and realized that we were both passionate about art, photography, and art direction. Starting a business was always in the back of our minds, and something we would joke about, but we felt that it was a long way off. Wanting to expand our portfolio outside of the magazine, we reached out to It’s-It Ice Cream to see if they would give us product to shoot in exchange for photos. Long story short, they ended up hiring us, and it gave us the push we needed to actually start a business.

Weekend Creative is a creative agency specializing in clean, artful photography. We create beautiful images that showcase the best qualities of a brand in order to help them reach the right customers through print, web, or social media. We want our images to be outstanding and truly represent who they are as a brand.

2. What characteristics do you admire most in other women?

There are so many women that we admire for many different reasons, but some of the main characteristics that we love in other women are passion for their art, determination and perseverance, and a desire to support instead of compete in their community.

3. What was the best piece of advice in starting Weekend Creative?

A lot of the advice we received was given to us even before starting Weekend Creative. Friends and family told us to just go for it even if we didn’t feel ready or know all that much about starting a business. After making the leap, one important piece of advice that we received was to make sure we had a contract between ourselves. While it’s unlikely that we would go our separate ways, it’s important that we cover our bases and protect ourselves.

4. What is your personal or professional motto?

“Let’s do what we love and do a lot of it.” – Marc Jacobs

5. What resources do you recommend to someone starting a creative business?

We love following successful brands like Darling, DesignLoveFest, GirlBoss, and Create and Cultivate that write articles with great business tips. We also recommend joining facebook groups of creative entrepreneurs where you can ask for advice and also see conversations that might provide useful insight. Some of the groups we are currently in are Creative Lady Collective, Tuesdays Together SF, Lady Boss Workshops, and Build + Bloom by Jessica Whitaker. If you are looking to grow a specific skill, Skillshare and CreativeLive are great for that. 

6. What does success mean to you?

We know we are successful when we provide our clients with a service that is beneficial, high quality, and elevates their brand; and we build strong relationships with them. Success is also loving what we do and feeling proud of everything we create.

7. What’s up next for Weekend Creative? Anything exciting that you’d like to share?

We’re currently working with a client who is launching a new brand for petite women. We’re excited about this project because it allows us to work both in and out of the studio and we feel like it will push us in new ways. We’re also talking to a few other potential clients and we are excited about working with brands who are very different from each other. It’s a really good challenge. We have lots of goals for this new year and we can’t wait to see where it will take us.