[Coworker] + [Freelancer], Michelle owner of MKW Graphics
It is no secret anymore: freelancing is on the rise. More and more professionals are starting their own businesses, getting access to more flexibility and diversity at work. They have the freedom to chose the project they want to work for as well as the people they want to collaborate with. Coworking plays an important role in freelancers work-life. In a span of a few years, it became a great way to surround ourselves with other professionals as well as a potential clients.
Coworkies — Coworking Communities is launching “made in coworking” a collection of interviews of different type of professionals based in coworking spaces all around the world. Thanks to it, we’ve met Michelle, a Freelancer who launched her own creative studio MKW Graphics.
With Michelle, we spoke about being a freelancers, the challenges but also the diversity the work offers. We spoke coworking and we also spoke about digital nomadism as well as her favorite address in San Diego(which looks STUNNING). Scroll down to discover her story.

Hello Michelle and thank you for your time! Before we talk about the present and what you do now, we would love to know a bit more about your background.
Hi there! My name is Michelle Wintersteen and I am originally from San Diego, California. I come from a long line of female entrepreneurs; my great grandmother, grandmother, aunt, mom, and sister are all business owners, so you could say it is in my blood.
I studied Fine Arts and Art History at the University of San Diego and graduated with those as my double majors in 2015. As much as I will always love the arts, I realized early on that I had more of a knack for business and marketing that I thought.
I started my freelance design business in 2014 with the encouragement of my parents. At the time, I was in my senior year of college and also nannying a few days a week. I loved that I had the opportunity to make money without leaving the house or changing out of pjamas! Ha!
My family splits time between San Diego and Lake Tahoe so having the ability to work from anywhere is a huge draw for me. I studied abroad twice in college and loved immersing myself in new cultures and environments.


In 2017, I decided to pack up my apartment in San Diego, forgo my car, and start traveling more. I joined my first digital nomad experience with WiFi Tribe in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica that summer and continued to travel. In the winter, I spent 4 weeks in Europe, and then Jan, Feb and March of 2018 in Cape Town, South Africa. I recently returned from a summer trip in Europe, visiting Portugal, Italy, Greece and Croatia, and now am gearing up for spending the fall in South East Asia.
The projects that I work on vary, but for the most part, I am helping female entrepreneurs in service industries launch their entrepreneurial businesses as their second careers. I have been able to narrow down this ideal client avatar for a few reasons, but here’s the synopsis. Someone who has worked a ‘corporate job’ before understands that you need a marketing budget, and usually knows their way around a brand guide. Someone who is on their second career, but first entrepreneurial venture is HUNGRY to learn, and self-motivated to take what I design for them and implement it effectively. Lastly, coming from a family of female entrepreneurs like I mentioned above, there is no doubt that that’s the audience I connect with best.
Thanks for your intro! Now, if we talk about today, what do you do exactly?
My specialty is creating beautifully functional, vibrant and creative brands for go-getter entrepreneurs. Brand design may sound like one service, but in reality, we are designing a digital toolbox of logos, fonts, colors, photography, graphics, and icons that can best explain the product of service that my client is offering.

As a result, I often start designing a brand with a client, which then rolls into social graphics, content marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, website design, funnels, PR, etc.
LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR WORK
You are involved in several projects, how do you manage your time?
On average, I would say I am working for about 15–20 clients at once (which sounds like a lot, I know!). The reality is that not all of them are strictly branding as I mentioned above. I am in the process of expanding my team to be able to help more clients!


Time management is tricky, because although I work well over 40+ hours a week, not all those hours are ‘billable.’ I quote projects on a flat rate basis and then measure the total project fee against my hourly rate ($65/hour). This gives me an ongoing cross reference of my exertion per project, and helps me to inform more wishy-washy clients of when their project should be wrapping up.
I use Harvest App for all of my time tracking and invoicing.
What do you find challenging in your work?
For me, the most difficult aspect of my work is when I hit a creative block. Some days, it is really hard to feel like you’re making anything ‘good,’ which can affect how you feel about all your projects. But, on the flipside, there are days (or sometimes weeks) where I feel totally on my A-game, my clients are happy, and I am happy with the ideas I am bringing to the table. The hardest part is knowing/predicting when those waves of creativity happen!
My sister describes it as playing offense or defense with your business. Some days you’re on offense, making moves, killing your projects, pleasing your clients, going after new business opportunities… then some days you just have to play defense, doing just what’s necessary to keep you afloat and keep your clients satisfied!
How do you keep learning and educating yourself about your work?
YES! I am definitely a Type-A person, and was always a really good student. I love being a sponge for knowledge and actually lamented to my mom about graduating college and feeling like I wasn’t ever going to ‘learn’ again. She assured me, you don’t ever stop learning, you just learn in new ways.



I love to read blogs about design and marketing. I listen to a lot of podcasts. I read business books often. I try and connect regularly with other designers and entrepreneurs on social media and constantly attempt to uplevel my services and offerings to my clients and community.
Where do you find inspiration?
Travel. Definitely. Travel is an incredible way to stretch your mind and get out of the monotony of a routine. I lived in San Diego for a year and a half after college, and although I loved it, it started to get stale. You start seeing the same people in the same places doing the same things and it got to me after a while.
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Travel breathes fresh air into my creative process, my social life and my personal development. I am way more comfortable getting out of my comfort zone in a new city because I know I didn’t go all that way for nothing! Thanks to social media, I also get the chance to connect with people as I travel that I otherwise wouldn’t know, which is also great for business! I can work for anyone, from anywhere, so the more people I know, the better!
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LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR COWORKING SPACE
What is the name of your coworking space?

I work from WeWork Coworking Space at B Street in Downtown San Diego.
Why did you choose this one over the others in your city?
I have been a member of about 3 different coworking spaces in San Diego. I ultimately chose WeWork in Downtown because, although expensive, they had the type of community and amenities I was looking for. I used to be a diehard coffeeshop worker, but I have recently been using more video conference tools, and contributing to podcasts, so a quieter work environment with great wifi is essential.
Additionally, wework offers unlimited coffee and kombucha (aka the two expenses I usually rack up during the work week) and have lots of events to offer their members. I love how walkable the Downtown location is, and really look forward to working in a creative-library-for-grownups kind of environment.
In your coworking space you are more…
- Coffee or Tea? Coffee with Almond Milk forever.
- Quiet coworker or Loud coworker? Depends! If I am collaborating on a project, I like to be able to talk things out! If I am trying to focus, I definitely will plug in my headphones and work silently for hours on end.
- More at your desk or more in meetings? I would say a mix of both!
LET’S GET PERSONAL

You are also involved in a book project called Small Biz Start Up Guide, how did it all started and what is the objective behind it?
Yes! I recently co-authored an eBook called the Small Biz Start Up Guide with two colleagues of mine: a small business coach, and a small business lawyer.
We found that all of our services really catered to new entrepreneurs who are taking the first steps in starting their small business. Most of them would come to me first, needing a logo and brand design, but when we started working together, they often didn’t have their mission or vision statements, business plans or legal entities in place.
The Small Biz Start Up Guide is a 100+ Page, no fuss, e(work)book that walks new entrepreneurs through the small business planning, legal and branding process in a way that chronologically sets them up for success.
The Small Biz Start Up Guide is more than just the eBook, but a community for entrepreneurs to grow their idea. All purchasers are added to a secret facebook group with other small biz entrepreneurs, and also have access to us three authors (Michelle, Braden, Lauren) to ask any questions that they may have. Our blog will be an ongoing small biz spotlight, as well as a resource for entrepreneurs to get more information about small biz planning, legal and branding.
What has been the most impressive place you’ve been to while traveling?
I was really impressed with Cape Town, to be honest. I loved the variety that the city had to offer and how different each neighborhood was. I loved how you could go from beach, to mountains to wine country all in the same day. The communities were very nomad friendly and the food scene was incredible (I am a major foodie!) It reminded me a lot of San Diego which is why I think I liked it so much!
Your current favorite place in San Diego to eat?
I LOVE Campfire in Carlsbad. Everything that restaurant makes, from the food to the cocktails to the desserts, is incredible and the branding is on point!



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