For my most recent Badass Women blog interview, I spoke with Kaleena Roseburr, a Brand Designer and Strategist who runs her own business, K. Roseburr Design & Consulting. Listen to the interview yourself or read Kaleena’s answers below.
Kaleena Roseburr is the founder of K. Roseburr Design & Consulting. As a brand designer and strategist, Kaleena helps new entrepreneurs gain brand clarity and launch their dreams. She is truly passionate about helping people move past life’s hindrances to establish and elevate their personal and professional brands so they can live out their calling. Whether you’re a new entrepreneur or busy mompreneur looking to launch your blog or business, an artist wanting help with your online portfolio, or a small business/non-profit needing to become more visible, Kaleena can help you create astonishing visual elements that effectively translate your mission, vision, and brand message to your target audience. Learn more about Kaleena here: http://kaleenaroseburr.com/
This is a transcript of my interview with Kaleena.
(1) First, tell me a little about yourself and your company. What is your mission?
My mission is to help new entrepreneurs and also existing entrepreneurs–I have a soft spot for mompreneurs because I am one–with the foundation to their businesses. So, I create brand identity systems, which include everything that you need to branch out online. That includes logo, business stationery, which consists of business cards, letterhead on the envelope/invoices, that sort of thing, social media graphics, websites. And I also help people to kind of figure out exactly what it is they want to do. I find myself just pushing people past the different hindrances and hang-ups that they may have to actually bring their dream into reality.
A little bit about me, I am Oregon-grown, born and raised in Portland, Oregon. In 2003, I left the rainy state of Oregon, relocated to California, which I absolutely love. I’m a wife and a mother and an entrepreneur, which is kind of amazing.
[So when people come to you, then do you find that that they sort of come with the company but maybe an ambiguous idea about what that means?]
I do. And oftentimes, they may have an idea for a company, but when I dig deeper it might not actually be what it is that they truly want to do because they’re not aware that they can monetize their gifts. So yeah, yeah, I find with a lot of different people, I’m like, “Well, what are you good at? What do you enjoy doing? Okay, well, then, you can create a business around this if you’d like. And they’re like, “Really?”
And I say, “Yeah, you can! You can create all sorts of online classes and courses and help people out. What do they come to you for? What are people constantly asking you to do? You know you can create a business around that.”
I think that is probably the biggest thing, people not realizing that they are able to do something that they actually desire, you know? Or that they can listen to the childhood dream that they had. Because life will take us down many different paths. But it’s like, “no, you can actually do what you feel you were created and called to do. And here’s how you can do it.” So, aside from the design, which I totally love, I find myself encouraging people to go for it and to not let insecurities or voices of doubt and fear to stop them, but just to go for it. You know it’s totally doable.
[So, the design and strategy are a big part, but it sounds like you’re also doing a lot of identity therapy with your clients.]
I help a lot of service-based business, and it’s kind of the same when you have a product, but when you are the brand and you’re offering a service, there’s a lot of–I believe–there’s a lot of work that you have to do aside from the visual brand foundation. The actual Foundation. So, getting rid of the different obstacles and roadblocks and hindrances and changing your mindset to really know that it’s possible and really digging into who you are and what it is that you desire. And then from that I then can create a visual brand for my clients.
(2) Being an entrepreneur requires a lot of moxie. What made you want to start your own business?
Well you know I actually did not think that this would be what I’d be doing. I actually was perfectly fine–or so I thought–working in corporate America and banking for several years and I suffered a workplace injury that just totally changed the trajectory of my life, and in no longer being able to do what I was doing for many years, I wound up retraining in design to launch a clothing line. So my goal back in 2010 was honestly just to be able to get the designs in my head out. So, I enrolled in some design courses and took digital photography and began designing.
Then I discovered this love for design. It was just so eye opening and just, like, a huge awakening. And so, I just dug deeper into the world of design and trained myself for that, taking various classes, and discovered brand identity design. And that coupled with just helping people, servicing people, it turned into this thing that is now my business. It was not anything that, like, growing up I thought that I would be doing, and it just kind of unfolded itself.
But I feel now that I’m doing exactly what I should be doing, which is helping people start businesses, and I just I love it. I absolutely love designing.
(3) What do you absolutely adore about your company and being a business owner?
The “aha” moment, the unlocking of purpose within people. And just, like, seeing the light bulb go off, like, “wow, I really can do this!” You know a lot of times people don’t just come with an idea and I’m a visionary. So I see, you know, far off and I can totally see it. And then, even if it’s something that’s already established, it doesn’t have to be something that I just come up with in my head and you know, I’m like, “Oh, no, you should do this.” Whatever it is I can see the vision for a company, or for a book, or for whatever it is that my clients are coming to me for.
I just, I love that. I love being able to help people because you don’t know what you don’t know. And it’s my profession. And so, when I’m able to give them the tools that they need and to empower and to encourage, I just got goosebumps. I totally love it. I love it. And yeah that’s what I love. That’s what I love about my business.
And about being a business owner is the freedom. I am a mom of two. I have a nine-year-old daughter and a three-year-old son, and it provides me with the freedom to be home with them.
I’ve overcome a lot in my life and whatever I can do to help someone to not be stuck or held captive from things that they have gone through in their life, and just…you know, rooting for them and letting them know, “hey, you can do this!” And you know, oftentimes you’ll find their dream or their purpose locked up behind an insecurity or something, or a lie that they were told. “You can’t do that, you can’t be that.” It’s just that unlocking, and when a person realizes that they actually can do this.
(4) Anything about being an entrepreneur that you’d like to break up with?
The paycheck that isn’t guaranteed. It’s like, okay, what are the numbers this month? What are we on course to do? And where are we actually? And the hours! You know, I’m definitely a mom first, and there are times where, you know, the season is more mom than the entrepreneur than I would like for it to be. Just the balance sometimes. It’s like a juggling act. And ultimately the buck stops with you. It’s all on you, whereas when you’re working for a company, you have your hours, you do what you were hired to do, and you receive pay for that and its like clockwork. When you’re an entrepreneur, its not.
(5) I always want the ladies in my stories to be feminists, but feminism can be a loaded word. Do you consider yourself a feminist? If so, how do you feel that affects you as a businesswoman?
I would say that I probably am not a feminist, but I am all for women advancing and owning and walking in their power. I actually think that women and men were created to just do different things. You know, and in my mind there’s nothing wrong with that. My role as a wife and a mother and the different things, you know, that we endure as women is just…it’s not for men to do.
And my, husband he’s just, like, you know, oh my goodness…he’s absolutely amazing. But he definitely is not created to be a mother, you know? Dads just do dad things. Guys do guy things.
I don’t think that that should have anything to do with pay or being honored or anything like that, I just believe that there are things that women were created to do that men absolutely cannot and that men were created to do that that women cannot. And I’m okay with gender roles being defined. But that doesn’t mean, like, “Hey, cook all the meals, do all the cleaning, or anything like that. I just kind of like it the more traditional way.
[Do you think women are especially well-suited for the “gig” economy?]
Probably so. We’re are multitaskers. You know when, when I try to send a man to the store, if I try to ask him to get too many things, it’s like, just text it, take a picture of it, and send it. So I’m not saying that all men are like that, but I think they’re more task-oriented. Like, let’s get this thing done. And women, we juggle so much. I think that we are created to, especially being creators, you know? And life carriers and nurturers. Like, there are just so many roles that we have to fulfill. I mean it’s like you know not across the board, but it’s like you know, men go hunt, kill, bring home the bacon, and protect you know?
So yeah, I think that as women continue to realize their strength and their power that yes, as we awaken from lies and slumber, yes, we’ll begin to—no not begin to, but continue to launch out and to branch out and to do the things that are within us that may have been locked up or dormant.
(6) There is nothing sexier than power. What do you do to make yourself feel powerful when you’re working it?
You know, we’re all human and there are times when I’m not feeling sexy or powerful, but I have to remind myself of who I am and the strength that I possess and the things that I’ve overcome and drawing confidence from that. So, I think that being confident and walking in that and in your power…just to me, I think that the sexiness then just exudes…it just oozes out of you when you are sure of who you are and confident. So I just remind myself, you know, in those moments when insecurity wants to try and rear its ugly head or fear…it’s like, “Oh, no no no no. I know who I am.” And so, walking in that. Then you sashay a little more. Your stride shifts a little bit, and your like “hey, I am woman hear me roar!”. Confidence causes you to stand erect. I feel when your spirit is strong, others feel it. They sense it. And it’s like they stand at attention.
[Were you always this confident?]
Oh, absolutely not. Absolutely not. You know, one of the reasons, Weslie, that I push so hard for people to overcome and to walk in their truth is because I lived in a lie for so long. I experienced horrible tragedy as a child. I came into this world with struggles that I did not ask for. On the outside you would never know, and I’m going to tell you so you will know, but when I was born, I was born addicted to cocaine and heroin. My mother was murdered in front of me at 2 years old.
And I do remember, and I went through so many things after that, that just kind of set the stage, and for so long, my identity was, “oh, that’s the little girl whose mother was murdered in front of her.” And so it wasn’t until I separated myself from her life that I was able to then begin living. It wasn’t until I realized that that was not my identity. That is not who I am. It’s horrible what happened. She did not ask for that. Her choices, you know may have led to certain things happening, but that’s not who I am. That’s not me.
I’m not perfect in that I definitely have my days, as we all do, but it wasn’t until I said, you know, “I’m Kaleena.” You know, like, “Who are you? Who are you created to be? What were you put here to do?”
So, I’ve gone through a lot of healing and I’ve done a lot of soul work, but it wasn’t until I separated myself–or cut that umbilical cord so to speak–that I began to really walk in the truth of who I am.
I don’t have to be a statistic, and I’m just grateful to God that he has placed strength on the inside of me to be able to overcome. But it’s like, no, that isn’t my identity. I mean, for so long it was, but I had to climb out of that and fight, so that’s why when I’m helping people, you know, yeah, I can design your site, do your logo, but there’s often something there that’s locked away or that’s hidden under a lie. It’s like, you know what? No, absolutely not. Give that painful past–uh, excuse my term!–but the middle finger. Say goodbye to it, and full force forward. Forward motion.
(7) Do you have any badass women in your life that you’d like to brag about?
Yes, I actually have an amazing coach that I work with. I have, you know different business mentors and coaches that have helped me through various seasons of my life. And Markita D. Collins, she’s so transforming. She’s overcome so many different things in her life. She has the ability to, like, just look straight through whatever it is you’re going through. You know not dismissing it or anything like that, but she calls forth destiny and she speaks to it and helps you to do the soul work and to do the healing and the building that you need to do within your life.
Overcomers, I believe, are called to help others overcome. And that’s what she has done for me. She’s an author and a speaker, but she’s very tangible and very very much human. And so, I just I appreciate her for all that she has done in my life and, like, the increasing that I’ve done because of her. She sees me.
(8) Romance novels have some questionable tropes. Are there any tropes about women in fiction that you wish you never had to read again?
Oh, the helpless woman, brainless, and having to use her body, or her body is who she is, you know? I think I could do without that.
(9) What would a romance hero/heroine have to be like to live up to you and the women you work with?
Um…not settle for the status quo. To own her strength, to be okay with that and to not dummy down. I think that is to me what a “shero” is. She is someone who doesn’t let life or the different curveballs that life throws stop her.
[And what about the guy?]
He needs to be patient while she becomes that woman. No! Just supportive and loving and a protector of her potential and purpose and destiny. And like my husband. Like a great cheerleader for the shero. I think just, you know, integral.
My husband, he’s definitely been that for me. Like, he would see what I wouldn’t see, and he would just blanket that with, I guess you could say, positivity. You know, speaking it into existence, I guess, and just really holding onto that and being patient while I grew into what he was seeing. And while I am continuing to grow into that. So he protects it. It’s like he holds it, you know, not so that I can’t have it, but holding onto it in the moments where I may feel that it doesn’t exist. You know? Until I realize it’s there.
(10) What advice would you like to give to other women who want to start businesses?
To not give up. You know it’s not easy, but it’s definitely worth it. The reward is there. And just to not give up. And regardless of what people have to say about your dream, your hopes and your goals. Go for what it is that that you want. Go for what it is that you want. Surround yourself with people with like-minded people. Surround yourself with people who are where you desire to go and go for it. Don’t be ashamed if there are things that you don’t know. Get a book, read about it. Take a class, take a course. Learn about it. Google university and YouTube University are awesome helpers, you know. You of course want scholarly resources but there’s so much out there and you know, seek the help that you need.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Start with what you have and go, you know? And also, more importantly, invest in yourself. You are worth it. Invest in yourself, invest in your dream, invest in your business, your book, your blog…whatever it is, invest in you, financially and also with your time.
Anything else?
Well, I love love helping new entrepreneurs. And I also really love helping mompreneurs because there’s a different balance and struggle. And sometimes we just need to know that we can do it. You know, nurse the baby, put him down, and dig into what you need to do for your business, sometimes we need that little push. But really, anyone that needs any assistance with their brand, or you know clarity concerning their brand, I’m definitely here to help. Definitely here to help you strategize, get your ideas out there, clarify what it is that you want to do, point you in the right direction. If I don’t know it, I’m very resourceful and can help point you in the right direction.
What a great interview, right? Kaleena was an inspiration to talk to, and she specializes in helping other entrepreneurs figure out how to make their brand speak to others. Want to meet Kaleena yourself? Need help with your brand identity? Reach out to Kaleena via her website at http://kaleenaroseburr.com/.