Entrepreneurship is the most versatile job there is – every day is different and you can make your work to be different on any given day. I also have the unusual (and, let’s be honest, the best) freedom of choosing my clients and the most interesting projects out there.
I’m a graphic recorder and an entrepreneur. Now, you might wonder what graphic recording is, as many do. It is the act of drawing the thoughts, ideas, content and memories from workshops, events, webinars and whatever else you might think of live, in the very moment they are happening. I basically take everything from the events and visualise them into a lively visual piece for the attendees and companies to dive in after the event.
Graphic recording and hand-drawn visualizations is a growing field: information overload makes us people want simplicity and efficiency in communication. Sketchnotes make people take a closer look at them.
Graphic recording and hand-drawn visualizations is a growing field: information overload makes us people want simplicity and efficiency in communication.
My entrepreneurial journey started when I shared comic strips about my life on my blog, funnily enough. It wasn’t anything big, but somehow people started to become interested. What really “broke the bank” was my work at Nordic Business Forum in 2011. After that, companies got interested in my work and started to invite me to do live sketchnoting for them. It didn’t take me too long to leave my daily job and do this full time. Besides sketchnotes and graphic recording, I also do illustrations and animated videos for corporate use. There seems to be a huge demand for hand-drawn illustrations in the business world.
All entrepreneurs are not startups, contrary to the current popular belief. For my business, the growth comes from other things than pure numbers. I want to grow my business to be better in quality and bigger in terms of impact. As someone who does live sketchnoting and visualises a lot of company strategies, I’m at the forefront of seeing where Finnish companies are heading towards. I usually try to visualise the possibilities of a better future, while bringing out the things that also personally matter to me; diversity and inclusion, among others, in my work. They lie in the small details, slightly visible for the watchers.
There seems to be a huge demand for hand-drawn illustrations in the business world.
My first most useful advice for other entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs-to-be is to realise that you are enough. We are often compassionate towards others but too rarely towards ourselves. Doing less is ok. I learnt this the hard way of losing sleep to work and being almost overly eager to accept work projects with too little pay.
The second useful piece of advice is to hire a really good accountant when you start. It saves a ton of time and a massive amount of stress. Best decision of my life – on top of starting this business of course.
Learn more about Redanredan and Linda’s work at redanredan.fi/.
Follow Redanredan and Linda on Instagram @redanredanfi and @sauraulinda.
