Joy Cho of Oh Joy! (along with Bri Emery of DesignLoveFest), were the first design/bloggers that inspired me to quit my job and pursue my dreams. I remember, back when I used to work in the advertising world, being at my desk eating my lunch and scrolling through their posts wishing I could also do that…

There was something so magically creative about what they did that I felt was unreachable to me. I just didn’t know how to get from my desk job, to what they were doing so I kind of put it on the back of my mind for years. A little seed was planted though. A seed that I refused to water because I never believed it would bloom. Cut to today and I took a giant leap to learn from Joy Cho herself. Who would have thought?!

Let me just say that her office is what dreams are made of. I have been following her on Instagram for so long that being inside her studio was so surreal. Things are so weird on Instagram VS real life! The space is so versatile and it made me long for having something like that for myself someday. Joy was also a treasure. She genuinely seems to care and was there to answer any question.

I took the Licensing your Art + Designs workshop mainly because I have been working with Anthropologie for so long and I made it my goal to pitch something to them that I could license under my brand. I really wanted to push myself creatively and believe that my dream could become real. I felt it in my bones, it was time to start watering that seed. The course itself was pretty valuable and I did learn the basics of licensing, but the best part was getting to hear from Joy herself. Learning about her beginnings and her struggles was very inspiring. Knowing that she too started by working as a freelance contract designer for Anthropologie like me made me feel like we were somewhat kindred spirits. And if she could do it, so can I.

While I can’t give out much info about the workshop, I will share some very cool behind the scenes of her studio so that you can also feel inspired that anything is possible 🙂

The biggest takeaway from me is to just own myself. To really own that I am a designer. I know that may sound silly but I waste so much time doubting what I’m doing and how I’m doing it that I never truly enjoy the fact that I AM a designer… and that, like Oh Joy, is very cool!