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Could you land a $75/hour freelance gig without even showing a portfolio? Sara Bleske did—and her story might just change the way you think about pitching.
After being laid off from her full-time design job, surface and textile designer Sara Bleske didn’t wait until everything was “ready.” Instead, she led with sincerity, curiosity, and a desire to be helpful—and ended up landing her dream client from a cold email (yes, really). In this episode, Sara opens up about the moment she hit “send,” the nerves that followed when she thought she got ghosted, and the surprising way it all came together.
You’ll hear how she navigated the leap into freelancing while juggling motherhood and self-doubt, and how she figured out her niche when her skills felt all over the place. From crafting thoughtful outreach messages to experimenting with social media and tools like ChatGPT, Sara shares the real, raw, and refreshingly simple strategies that helped her get started—and get paid.
If you’re new to freelancing or have been at it a while, click play now to hear how genuine connection and a little courage can open big doors—even without a perfect portfolio.
Resources:
008: Freelance Textile Designer: How to Have A Successful Career with Michelle Fifis
About Sara:
Sara Bleske is a textile and surface pattern designer with over 15 years of in-house corporate experience in home textiles, decor, apparel, and craft ribbons/trims. She is passionate about creating patterns and surface designs that make people happy.
Connect with Sara:
Email her at sarablesketextiles@gmail.com
Download my Freelance Price List just for fashion (it’s free!): sewheidi.com/price
Creators and Guests
Host
Heidi Weinberg {Sew Heidi}
Heidi (aka Sew Heidi) is a self-taught freelance fashion designer who built a six-figure business without a degree, portfolio, or industry connections. After years of burnout in the fashion industry, she went freelance—and never looked back. Now, she helps other designers ditch toxic jobs, land better clients, and build flexible careers they love. Through her podcast, courses, and resources, Heidi has helped thousands of designers take control of their fashion path and finally get paid what they’re worth.
What is Fashion Designers Get Paid: Build Your Fashion Career On Your Own Terms?
This is a show for burnt-out fashion designers (and TDs, PDs, patternmakers, textile designer and beyond) who want more flexibility in their career while still doing work they love.
You'll learn how to build a freelance fashion business, so you can do the work you love on your own terms. Freelancing in fashion is the only way to get freedom in your day (instead of being tied to a desk).
Whether you want to earn extra money on the side, fund your fashion brand, or replace your salary, the FDGP podcast will help you get there. Listen in for actionable tips and strategies to kickstart or grow your career as a freelance fashion designer, build your confidence, and create the life you want.
Hosted by $100k+ fashion freelancer Sew Heidi, the show features interviews and strategy sessions with successful freelance fashion designers from around the world who've ditched toxic fashion jobs and taken control of their own destinies. This is the only place to get REAL insights from REAL freelancers who have built REAL careers on their own terms. (Formerly the Successful Fashion Freelancer podcast.)
Heidi [00:00:00]:
Imagine landing your first freelance client at $75 an hour without even showing your portfolio. That's exactly what happened to Sara Bleske, a surface and textile designer who cold emailed a brand she genuinely admired and landed a new gig in about a week. All it took was a heartfelt message, a real conversation, and a ton of value delivered upfront. So how did Sara go from getting laid off to securing her first freelance client? And why is she finally stepping into the freelance world after years of thinking about it? This episode will show you that leading with curiosity and confidence can open doors even if you don't have everything else perfectly polished. Oh, and a quick note, we had a tech issue, and my audio may sound a little lower quality than usual, but you're still gonna love this episode. Let's get to it. Alright, Sara. I wanna hear about how you landed your first freelance client for $75 an hour.
Heidi [00:00:47]:
You thought you were getting ghosted, and you didn't. It worked out. So tell me more about how this all went down.
Sara Bleske [00:00:54]:
Well, I was researching companies to reach out to to do customer research. And I found this company on I think it was Fair, on the trade show websites. And then Fair, I think, is a more of a wholesale website. So, I she her particular product isn't in my niche, but I really, really liked it. It was fun and super original. She draws all the original art, and she's a small business owner. So I just thought I'm gonna reach out to her. I went on her Instagram, and she had posted a video, kind of a tutorial of how to use her product, which is actually an accessory, like a hair accessory.
Heidi [00:01:36]:
Okay.
Sara Bleske [00:01:37]:
And well, it can be more than a hair accessory. Anyway, I reached out to her because it's something that I use in the summertime when it's hot and my crazy curly hair is in my face. So I reached out to her just, you know, telling her I I really love your product. I love your tutorial because it helps people with me who have crazy hair. Mhmm. And just how I would love to learn more about her business and if she has any pain points in her process. Process. And she responded less than two hours later.
Sara Bleske [00:02:10]:
And in her response, she said, absolutely. Let's talk. And she sent a couple dates to connect with her on her Calendly. So I was able to arrange it, like, right away. And so we met, like, a week later, and we I just I felt like I was just talking to a friend, you know. She was super easy to talk to. She's a graphic designer by trade, so she loves to create her own art, but she was having, you know, everything that goes into your own business, it's it's more than obviously just the art. So she's busy with, like, a million other things.
Sara Bleske [00:02:50]:
She creates the original art, but then needed help with, like, some borders and filling in spaces. And, so we talked about that, and she showed me some of her products, while we were chatting, video chatting. And I'm trying to think what else. She she also talked about some of the pain points she has with factories. Like, she works with, at least one factory in India, and she will send them high res files, but they end up converting them to low res JPEGs. And she's like, no. Like, what do I do? You know? So we kinda talked about that. Yeah.
Sara Bleske [00:03:26]:
And then yeah. And then there was a particular type of, pattern that she was wasn't sure exactly how to create it in Illustrator, so I kinda walked her through how I would do it. And, and then let's see. And then she said, well, you know, maybe we can just work on a project. I wanna see, you know, if this is something that we could do. And so I said, great. You know, we hung up and, I sent her a thank you email and didn't hear from her for maybe, like, seven days. And so I was thinking, oh, I don't know.
Sara Bleske [00:04:05]:
You know? I'm so used to
Heidi [00:04:08]:
for your pricing or, like, how where did all that work in? Because I think it said, like, you dropped the hourly rate of 75, and then you thought maybe you got ghosted. So was that in the email, or did you guys talk about that on the call?
Sara Bleske [00:04:19]:
No. Actually, I didn't let's see. I'm trying to think. I have the email pulled up. I believe she had said, yeah. I wanna work on a project, sent her my rate, and then yeah. So seven days later, after I'd sent my rate
Heidi [00:04:37]:
Okay.
Sara Bleske [00:04:37]:
She hadn't responded until seven days later. And I was like, oh, I don't know if this is gonna work out. And then she got back to me. And and in that response, she just said seventy five hours, you know, is great. I think it's a little high, but she said, but I've also worked with designers that don't have as much experience, and they don't work as quickly, and they charge a lower rate. So I'm fine with it right now. And maybe in the future if we work together, we could work, like, with the retainer.
Heidi [00:05:10]:
Mhmm.
Sara Bleske [00:05:12]:
And then in that same email, she sent a link through for her, she sent a Loom video that kind of, like, walked through the project that she was hoping I could help her with. And then also linked to her Dropbox, which had all of her art files. And so she I felt, like, this trust from her, and I just met her,
Heidi [00:05:32]:
you
Sara Bleske [00:05:33]:
know, a week week earlier. And through that whole time, she never said, send me your portfolio. I'd like to see what you worked on. And I just it never hit me until after these conversations with her, and it was just I don't know. I was mind blowing, you know, that she didn't ask for it. So that's when I posted my win in the chat or in the group, yeah, that was one thing that I was super surprised about that she must have felt something after talking with me that, you know, I think this woman can handle it. So she never asked. Yeah.
Heidi [00:06:11]:
Okay. So you found her on Instagram. Is that where you reached out in the Instagram DMs?
Sara Bleske [00:06:17]:
I actually found her on fair on the
Heidi [00:06:20]:
on the fair
Sara Bleske [00:06:20]:
call. So I
Heidi [00:06:21]:
was like, yep.
Sara Bleske [00:06:22]:
I No. It's okay.
Heidi [00:06:23]:
Yeah. Okay. And so And then where did you reach out? On email or do they have a platform? Like, a messaging?
Sara Bleske [00:06:29]:
So I I found her unfair, but then I went to her Instagram just to see, like, what has she recently posted because I wanted to have a talking point. And that's when I saw her tutorial video on, you know, how she does this thing with her accessory for hair. So then I found her email because I went to her actual website, found her email for her company, and just sent her an email straight from there.
Heidi [00:06:55]:
Okay. Because I was thinking I knew you had mentioned Instagram somewhere in there. I was thinking, like, maybe she clicked through to your Instagram profile and saw, like, a little bit, but she's literally seen nothing.
Sara Bleske [00:07:05]:
She's literally seen nothing. I had an Instagram, but at that point, I had nothing on it. Like, I've just started posting now. Okay. And even on my even on my LinkedIn, I don't have much artwork. I mean, I just wrapped up my portfolio a few weeks back and Okay. Yeah. That took me a while, but I got it done.
Heidi [00:07:24]:
It takes time. Yeah.
Sara Bleske [00:07:25]:
Yeah.
Heidi [00:07:26]:
Okay. So you found her on FAIR, which is what is it? Faire.com? Yeah. I feel like I've heard of it. Okay. FAIR.com. Found her Instagram, poked around to learn a little bit more, then sent her an email and really leaning into, like, just research mode, like, leaning leading with curiosity. Like, this wasn't a pitch. I love so many students land clients in the customer research process, and there's a lot of resistance to this process, that I teach in steadfast, but it can result in clients.
Heidi [00:07:57]:
And I think it's a lot of it's because, like, you're just leading with curiosity and, like, you're just trying to learn more about their brand and and, like, you said, where they're struggling, where things are challenging. And so it sounds like you really led with that, which I imagine is the reason why she just kind of opened up and was like, yeah. You really care to, like, make my life better.
Sara Bleske [00:08:18]:
Yeah.
Heidi [00:08:18]:
And and my yeah. Go ahead.
Sara Bleske [00:08:20]:
Sorry. I was just gonna say, I think to just the value add that I I didn't even realize I was doing it. It was so organic. Was just talking about that one pattern that she wasn't totally sure how to create an illustrator, and so we could kinda speak the same language. And so I think that helped too. She realized that she, you know, could feel good about giving me a project because I I was talking about Illustrator, you know. Yeah. And she understood it too.
Sara Bleske [00:08:48]:
So Yeah. Yeah.
Heidi [00:08:50]:
And I think those little value adds in any type of phone call or conversation, whether it's, you know, a discovery call or there's a customer research call, are really beneficial because a lot of people, especially in the fashion and apparel industry and I know you're you're in it, but you're a little adjacent as, like, a surface and textile designer. You do stuff outside of fashion and apparel. I know this is a hair accessory, so that arguably fits in. But I know you do some surface stuff too, like, wraps and ribbons and etcetera. But, it's such a tight lipped industry, and people are often like, oh, I can't tell you that until you, like, hire me, or you have to pay me for that information.
Sara Bleske [00:09:28]:
Yeah.
Heidi [00:09:28]:
So I think when you can kind of lean in and just offer that little bit of value in those conversations, it goes a long way for people to feel like, oh, you do care. You are here to help me, and you know what you're talking about. It's validating on
Sara Bleske [00:09:40]:
so many levels. Absolutely. For sure.
Heidi [00:09:44]:
Yeah. Alright. So this is, this is your is this your first freelance client ever?
Sara Bleske [00:09:48]:
This is my first ever. I mean, I've done freelance, but it was many years ago. K. And it was, kind of a permalancer position. Yeah. Gotcha. So yeah. So this is my first official.
Heidi [00:10:01]:
How did it feel to land that project? Your first It was
Sara Bleske [00:10:05]:
amazing. I was on a high for, you know, a couple weeks. Just like, wow. This can really happen.
Heidi [00:10:11]:
Yeah. Is Yeah. Have you done the project yet or are you still working on it?
Sara Bleske [00:10:14]:
Oh, yeah. Yep. I did the project. Okay. Well, first, I kinda typed up, you know, kind of like a proposal, I guess you'd call it. Just an outline of what we talked about. She had estimated the project would take a certain number of hours, and so I put that in there too. And then she asked if I could kind of keep in touch with her to let her know once I got to that maximum number of hours that she mentioned
Heidi [00:10:41]:
Mhmm.
Sara Bleske [00:10:41]:
That, you know, we could chat more. And so I did, and it the project took a little bit longer, but not much longer. So I just kept her in the loop. Yeah. Every time I'd upload a new revision in Dropbox, I would let her know. And then if any questions came up, yeah, we were communicating via email. So it was super easy. Yeah.
Heidi [00:11:00]:
Yeah. That's exciting. Congrats. This is a big moment.
Sara Bleske [00:11:05]:
It is. For sure.
Heidi [00:11:07]:
Yeah. So talk to me a little bit. I'd love to hear, like, your trajectory to go freelance. And, like, I don't know much about even, like, your history in in, textile and surface design. Like, where did you get your start, and what does your career path look like? And what is the tipping point that is pushing you into freelance now?
Sara Bleske [00:11:30]:
So I I went to school, in the Midwest for, it was it's considered a polytechnic university. It's a four year school, for apparel design and manufacturing. And it was a while ago. I'm not gonna lie. And so, you know, people weren't running around with laptops or cell phones. And so we only had a few computers at the school that where you could work on, you know, CAD stuff. So honestly, I feel like my education was very technical. Like, I learned how to do flat pattern.
Sara Bleske [00:12:07]:
I've learned how to do, grading and draping and actually learning how to sew and stitch types and all of that. Fabric text or fabric testing, to see, you know, like, burn burn rates. I can't remember what they call it. But,
Heidi [00:12:23]:
The burn test. Yeah.
Sara Bleske [00:12:24]:
Yeah. All of that. And so it was a super great, foundation, but there wasn't a lot. I don't remember much about textile design. I'm sure we went over it, but it wasn't a design school, like an art school per se. Mhmm. So my first job out of college was as an assistant tech technical designer for, a company called Shopko. I don't know if you've ever heard of them.
Sara Bleske [00:12:55]:
I feel maybe. Yeah. I don't think they're still around. I think they only have optical stores now. So they're really similar to, like, a Target or something, but they're smaller.
Heidi [00:13:05]:
Okay.
Sara Bleske [00:13:07]:
So I worked there for a little bit and then jumped over to more of the apparel side when I changed jobs and were started working for an apparel company. And from there, I worked in apparel for up until, let's see, a few years. And then I, resigned from my job. This was after we had moved to Minneapolis for my job. I worked there a couple years and then I resigned to stay home with my kids full time. So I stayed home with my kids for seven years, and I I honestly had no idea if I'd ever be able to get back into the industry just because the technology changes so fast. Mhmm. And I wasn't exactly keeping up on my skills because I was so busy with my kids and Yeah.
Sara Bleske [00:13:53]:
But I did get a a small gig working for the company that I had just resigned with, where they said, you know, you can come into the office in the evenings and, you know, work on these projects because we do have enough work that you can freelance at night if you want. So I'd be with my kids during the day, and then I'd go in to the office at night and work for a little bit. And
Heidi [00:14:14]:
Okay. This was, like, after your seven year break?
Sara Bleske [00:14:18]:
This was during the break. Okay. Yeah. And it wasn't it wasn't the whole seven years. It was just like a little blip. So that worked out okay. And but for the most part, I didn't do much work when I was staying with my kids. You know, we were busy.
Sara Bleske [00:14:34]:
They're in sports. They were in school and all of it. Yeah. So after that, I, I think my son was four, and he's the younger of the two. And I received an email from a former coworker, and she said, hey. I'm at this other company now. We're looking for, a CAD designer just part time. I know that you've been home with your kids.
Sara Bleske [00:14:59]:
Would you be interested? And right away, I was like, oh my gosh. That would be awesome. Like, what a great transition just to do part time. Mhmm. So, put him in day care and then work part time, and it was just really nice to get out of the house a few days a week. And, I think it was good for him too to be with other kids and
Heidi [00:15:20]:
Yeah.
Sara Bleske [00:15:23]:
So I worked at that job part time for six years, and then that was women's apparel. It was all, like, kind of like, I I don't know if you'll remember this reference, but do you remember Garanimals?
Heidi [00:15:35]:
Yeah. I sure do.
Sara Bleske [00:15:39]:
Is it
Heidi [00:15:39]:
Garanimals for adults?
Sara Bleske [00:15:41]:
Yeah. That ages us. Right? Yeah. It was like Garanimals for adults. So it was like matching tops and bottoms. So it's like an older customer, female customer, designing, you know, placed prints and engineered stripes and things like that Okay. For that. And I think that most of the the customers that we worked with were, like, Bon Ton and Bells, like, department store type
Heidi [00:16:07]:
Mhmm.
Sara Bleske [00:16:08]:
Customer. So I did that for six years and then moved, then I heard from another former coworker who had a position open. She was working for an Indian weaving vendor, creating, like, home decor textiles for Target and Lowe's. And so I started working with her and, learned so much about how Target works and how Lowe's works and, you know, the expectations and, like, you know, when we first started, we would do the trending and the color and all of the artwork and then present it to them and see what they chose. And we would actually develop about three times more than we thought that they would need because we just really wanted to keep that business. So I I was in that position for almost three years, and then decided to take a break because I we were working a lot, a lot of hours. Took a break, and then after that job, I ended up doing I got a job as a product designer for, like, a home decor company. It wasn't fabric.
Sara Bleske [00:17:20]:
It was, like, seasonal gift type items and fun wall signs and things like that. And they worked very heavily with Walmart. So I had worked with them for the last five years and then, got laid off in September. So Ah. That's what led me Okay. Here. Yeah. And, actually, I've been following you probably since I don't know.
Sara Bleske [00:17:48]:
When did you start posting videos online?
Heidi [00:17:51]:
Oh, well, let me also date myself again. I mean, my YouTube started in I think it's 02/2009, '2 thousand '10.
Sara Bleske [00:18:02]:
Okay. I I think I probably started following you around that time. Oh, gee. You were
Heidi [00:18:07]:
here. Original gangster Sara.
Sara Bleske [00:18:10]:
Yep. That's us. Yep. And I was also following, Michelle Pfeiffes.
Heidi [00:18:16]:
Uh-huh. Yeah.
Sara Bleske [00:18:16]:
She's been on
Heidi [00:18:17]:
the podcast.
Sara Bleske [00:18:18]:
Yeah. And kind of went through one of her, you know, training Yeah. Programs or whatever, and that was really fun. But yeah. OG for sure. Yeah. Yeah.
Heidi [00:18:28]:
So okay. Two couple questions. First, where in that time period did you really get to, like, update and learn the CAD skills, like Illustrator and I imagine Photoshop as well since you're doing, you know, placed, engineered, all of your prints, etcetera?
Sara Bleske [00:18:45]:
So I I think it was mostly when I think I started working more with patterns and things like that when I worked, like, after I'd stayed home with my kids and I started working part time for this apparel company. It was a local smaller company, but she had some decent sized accounts. And so that's when I started learning more about, the pattern tool in Illustrator and, you know, it's not super intuitive, so I just kept figuring, you know, working on it and working on it, working on it and just dug my heels in because I don't love creating patterns manually. I would much rather use the pattern tool because I feel like it's more exact. So that's pretty much how I create a lot of my repeat patterns in the pattern tool. So it
Heidi [00:19:37]:
sounds like it was on the job slash self directed. You were just, like, figuring it out in real time, like Yep. YouTube, whatever. Yes. Okay. Gotcha. And then second question is, I mean, you've been hanging around for a long time. And and starting in 02/2021 was when I officially made the shift to, like, only focusing on freelancing
Sara Bleske [00:20:04]:
Okay.
Heidi [00:20:04]:
And walking away from my my the illustrator tutorials, etcetera. So I'm curious. There's a couple years where you're hanging around and all I was talking about was freelancing. Did you ever think about pursuing freelancing, or were you everything was good in your job and and you didn't, like, need to change anything, and then you got laid off. And so you're like, okay. Maybe now is the time. Like, I'd love to hear a little bit more about where your head was at with all that.
Sara Bleske [00:20:32]:
I think for a while, I just you know, I I don't think that I realized that you had transitioned into kind of like freelance coaching or, you know, teaching strategy about all of that. And then, I think I had you know, after I lost my job, I was just doing research about things because I've always wanted to freelance and just do my own thing. Mhmm. Patterns are what I love to do, and and I I kind of found you again after, you know, not realizing that you were teaching all of this. And so then I, attended one of your workshops, the first one I attended, and I don't know if you remember, but you had chose my pitch.
Heidi [00:21:17]:
Oh, very
Sara Bleske [00:21:19]:
I had written a pitch for Marimekko.
Heidi [00:21:23]:
Oh, yeah. I do remember. Yeah.
Sara Bleske [00:21:27]:
And you had chosen it, and I didn't end up sending it because imposter syndrome, but I should've. Yeah. So that was, like, super fun and super motivating. Like, all of your, workshops are super motivating. I love attending them, and I feel like I learn something new every time. Yeah. I don't know. You just have a way of getting people all excited.
Heidi [00:21:52]:
Yeah. Well, thank you.
Sara Bleske [00:21:53]:
Yeah.
Heidi [00:21:54]:
So you had been thinking about freelancing a little bit in the background. What was and I'm not I I wanna clarify when I asked that. I'm not like, well, why didn't you join Fast or Fastrack sooner? I more was just like, where was your head at in terms of, like, pursuing freelance, whether it's through support, through our community, or just on your own? It sounds like you were thinking about it, but hadn't you actually taken action on it. What was preventing you from doing that?
Sara Bleske [00:22:22]:
I think just working full time before
Heidi [00:22:25]:
Yeah.
Sara Bleske [00:22:26]:
I was working on a lot of product that I wasn't as used to working on. And, every once in a while, they would have a craft ribbon project that they would grab me for because they knew that I understood repeats and textiles and things like that. And that was just kind of my saving grace because I just loved it so much. It was so fun. So I just didn't really feel like I had time to pursue freelancing when I was working because I was working forty to fifty hours a week. Okay. And, you know, raising my family and Yeah. We have two dogs and two cats, so our life is kinda hectic.
Sara Bleske [00:23:03]:
But, so, yeah, when I got laid off this fall, after the company was downsizing, I just thought, you know what? I kept talking to my husband, and he said, I just want you to think about, like, what you really wanna do. Like, do something that you really, really wanna do. I'm super fortunate. He's super supportive. And so I was, yeah, doing some research, and I kind of found you again. And I just thought, you know, now is actually, like, a better time than any because I had received a severance package from my previous company. So I could I knew I could float for a little bit, and Mhmm. My husband has a stable job.
Sara Bleske [00:23:42]:
And so, yeah, it was the timing was right. Yeah. So yeah.
Heidi [00:23:47]:
That's exciting. And you're doing it. You're here doing it.
Sara Bleske [00:23:50]:
This is amazing. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's so much. You know, I feel super comfortable talking about my skills, but, wow, the business part is, like, it's a lot. It's it's awesome, but I'm learning so much, you know, about marketing and, you know, I understand social media, but I've never had to use it in a way to market myself.
Heidi [00:24:15]:
Yeah.
Sara Bleske [00:24:16]:
Yeah.
Heidi [00:24:17]:
Like, what are some of the things that you're just, like, oh, like, light bulb moment or, like, brain exploding moment of, like, oh, right. I gotta think about that that way or I don't
Sara Bleske [00:24:28]:
know. I think just being able to utilize ChatTPT to get me ideas for Instagram post because sometimes I'll be sitting there and thinking, like, I don't I just don't know what to post. Like, what would people wanna see? You know? What would what would my ideal customer wanna see? And so, I'm just kind of figuring all of that out right now. Yeah. So it's that's it's a learning curve, but it's also, like, super fun because I love to design anyway. So I create my templates in Illustrator and then export them and yeah. Yeah. So just learning about that, like, how do you reach your customer?
Heidi [00:25:12]:
Yeah. Yeah.
Sara Bleske [00:25:15]:
So
Heidi [00:25:15]:
Yeah. It's, I mean, I think so many of us in this industry are really good at the creative part of things. And then, like, the business side is, like, a whole different part of your brain that you haven't really exercised and kinda have to build some of those muscles from scratch, and it, it can feel like a lot. Yeah. So it's exciting to get to explore that space.
Sara Bleske [00:25:37]:
Yeah. For sure. Yeah.
Heidi [00:25:40]:
Okay. So you've done a decent variety of work in your career. Talk to me a little bit about, like, your and and you even said the the client who you reached out to for the customer research, like, wasn't exactly in your niche or the exact services you were looking to offer. Like, talk to me a little bit about your niche and how you landed on that because something so many people struggle with, especially Yeah. Who people who have a longer career history where they've done a variety of things and do have a breadth of experience. So, like, how did you kinda what is the niche, first of all Okay. Outside of textile and surface design, and then how did you sort of get to that? Or maybe it's still living and breathing thing, which it often is for many people.
Sara Bleske [00:26:25]:
So I decided to well, I feel like my niche is more service based, so obviously patterns. But I also tried to kind of narrow it down a little more to home textiles and, well, I I'm saying home and lifestyle, really. After talking with Allison, my coach. And kinda working through some things and her helping me narrow it down, because of what I was really having what I really enjoyed doing, you know. So we narrowed it down to home and lifestyle because I feel like some of my strongest work is is the the table linens and the kitchen textiles work that I did for Target, and to be able to show that on my portfolio. I would love to eventually work on kids' home, because I love bright colors and fun, motifs and things like that. So I'm kind of hoping it will gradually, you know, evolve to something like that, or maybe I can do both. Yeah.
Sara Bleske [00:27:29]:
I just don't have a ton of that kind of work to show right now. A lot of it is home decor, which is, you know, a little more subdued and, more sophisticated, obviously.
Heidi [00:27:40]:
Yeah.
Sara Bleske [00:27:40]:
So we'll see where it goes.
Heidi [00:27:43]:
But you chatted with this woman who's got this hair accessory. I never even showed her your portfolio. So Oh, yeah. You know, might be worth it just to, like, start striking up conversations with some of these kids, home decor brands that you're interested in. Absolutely. Just toss that out there for an idea. I mean, why not? Yeah.
Sara Bleske [00:28:04]:
Absolutely. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. Yeah.
Heidi [00:28:06]:
I love that. Alright. So a little bit of a living and breathing thing, kind of maybe wanting it to evolve to something else. But for now, focusing on home. And when you say lifestyle, what do you mean by that? Yeah.
Sara Bleske [00:28:17]:
Well, Allison mentioned that maybe I should kind of add that at the end, you know, home and lifestyle. So it could kind of leave it a little bit open.
Heidi [00:28:26]:
Mhmm.
Sara Bleske [00:28:27]:
And I think she was thinking kind of what we had talked about, like, how I would eventually like to get into kids' home decor too. You know, whether it's bed sheets or even pajamas. You know? A lot of the textiles that have so many fun prints and patterns and bright colors. So
Heidi [00:28:45]:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah. Alright. So you wrapped up your project with your first client, but we all know, like, freelancing is not all rainbows and roses.
Heidi [00:28:56]:
Like, where do you feel like where do you feel like you've had struggles or you're still struggling or, like, challenges or, like, what's feeling like a a a big a big heavy lift for you during the process?
Sara Bleske [00:29:10]:
I think just kind of the overwhelm of, making sure I do social media and then, you know, researching companies who might be in the aesthetic that I'm kinda looking to work in. And I feel like that's been more of a challenge. I have lists and lists and lists of companies that, I got from ChatGPT. Mhmm. But I need to you know, I've I've dug in and started researching some some of their websites, and a lot of them are kind of a no go because they're just more plain and simple, like linen, like, actual linen base, table linen. So, you know, not print heavy. And so I really need to figure out how to, recreate my prompt so it will draw the correct, you know, results that I need. Yeah.
Sara Bleske [00:30:01]:
So yeah. So it
Heidi [00:30:03]:
sounds like maybe just, like, finding the right brands that align with the design aesthetic that you wanna go for.
Sara Bleske [00:30:11]:
Right. Right.
Heidi [00:30:13]:
Yeah. I wonder if you could, prompt g p chat GPT with a PDF of your portfolio, like, visually prompt it.
Sara Bleske [00:30:19]:
Yeah. Maybe.
Heidi [00:30:21]:
You could try, like, uploading that and be like, find brands that visually match with this. I've been pushing ChatGPT pretty hard these days. And Yeah. Every day, my head is like, oh my gosh. That. Are you gonna come to the training on Thursday?
Sara Bleske [00:30:39]:
I am. Yes.
Heidi [00:30:40]:
Okay. Cool. Yeah. I'm gonna be teaching some of that new stuff. Not that PDF portfolio idea I just had. Literally, that just came out of nowhere. But that would be interesting to prompt it visually. Just
Sara Bleske [00:30:51]:
For sure.
Heidi [00:30:52]:
Upload a few of your designs and yeah.
Sara Bleske [00:30:58]:
Yeah. That's a great idea.
Heidi [00:30:59]:
Have to let me know how that goes.
Sara Bleske [00:31:01]:
Yeah. Right now, I think I just have the free version of ChatGPT, so I I think I might need to pay for that.
Heidi [00:31:07]:
Oh, I don't know. I'm pretty sure you
Sara Bleske [00:31:08]:
should still
Heidi [00:31:09]:
be able to prompt it with the PDF. Mhmm.
Sara Bleske [00:31:11]:
Okay.
Heidi [00:31:11]:
You're gonna have to
Sara Bleske [00:31:12]:
I think it'll Appreciate it. Okay. Okay. I think it allows so many images or whatever, but Okay. We'll see. I might try it.
Heidi [00:31:20]:
Give it a try. Give it a try. Yeah. And then the other thought just I had, I was like, just because a brand is only doing mostly solids doesn't mean there's not opportunity for print. I think there's always interesting angle to go in. I know this isn't a strategy session, but I can't not share this idea. I'm like, I think there's an interesting angle where you could just kind of, like, kick start a conversation of, like, you know, have you guys ever considered doing prints? Like, maybe it's, like, a special capsule collection or I don't know. Maybe this an idea that they're thinking about, and they're like, well, we don't wanna go dig through, you know, thousands of print options online, and it just there's a lot of work.
Heidi [00:32:02]:
But if someone like you magically fell in their lap and you're like, you know, I'd love to help you guys, that could be interesting, possibly.
Sara Bleske [00:32:09]:
That's a great idea. Yeah. Yeah. Just suggesting it. Yeah.
Heidi [00:32:12]:
Yeah. Just suggesting it. I know, the one story I always think of is, Mari Medina, one of our coaches in Fastrack, she does sweater knits, and she pitched a brand that was doing, like, socks and beanies. And she was like, hey. Have you ever considered introducing sweaters? And they were like, you know what? We have, and we just didn't have the person to do it, and it's not into a great project.
Sara Bleske [00:32:37]:
Yeah. Oh, that's awesome.
Heidi [00:32:38]:
Yeah. So I think there's there's always an angle, with that. So just some some food for thought there.
Sara Bleske [00:32:44]:
Yeah. Thanks. Thanks for the idea.
Heidi [00:32:47]:
Alright. Well, where can everybody connect with you online, Sara?
Sara Bleske [00:32:51]:
They can find me on Instagram at sara bleske, all lowercase, and then an underscore and then textiles, all lowercase. Okay. Well and then I'm also on LinkedIn, you know, under my name, Sara Bleske. So
Heidi [00:33:05]:
Awesome. I'll link to both of them. Yeah.
Sara Bleske [00:33:07]:
Awesome. Thank you. Yeah.
Heidi [00:33:09]:
Well, I you're not done yet. I'd love to ask you a question that everybody gets at the end, which is what is one thing people never ask you about being a freelance fashion slash freelance textile slash surface designer, that you wish they would?
Sara Bleske [00:33:26]:
I kinda wish they would say why. Why why would you do that? You know? And not even in a negative way, just them being curious. You know? Why would you do that? And there's honestly so many reasons. You know? Yeah. Sure. Being my own boss, having that flexibility, you know, choosing my own rate based on my experience and also what what what other freelancers charge in the in the industry. Working with different companies and people and working on different products, like, I I kind of need that to stay inspired and, yeah, because working on the same thing every day is not good for
Heidi [00:34:06]:
anybody. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I love that. I'm so excited that the timing all worked out, last year with, the layout from your job and everything just kind of panned out for you to take this next step in your career. It's very exciting to to see you building this out.
Sara Bleske [00:34:23]:
Thank you. Me too. I'm excited.
Heidi [00:34:25]:
Yeah. That's amazing. Thanks for coming on the show. It was great to chat with you, Sara.
Sara Bleske [00:34:29]:
Thanks, Heidi.