As part of our Create & Cultivate x Vistaprint Brand Campus, we’re sharing all the ways that Vistaprint can help you grow, adapt, and evolve your business. Explore ‘Real Stories’ from Vistaprint Alums, and learn how entrepreneurs use Vistaprint as a one-stop-shop for all of their small business marketing solutions.
Whether you’re sourcing a physical product, seeking digital design services, or simply looking for inspiration, Vistaprint is the marketing partner that enables small business owners to elevate their brands – at every stage of their journey. Read on to discover how real business owners use Vistaprint's design capabilities and wide product selection to help their businesses grow organically—and how you can too.
Krista Williams and Lindsey Simcik, Co-Hosts & Co-Founders of Almost 30
What do you love most about having your own brand/ business?
Krista: Where do we even start? We’re grateful for so many aspects of having our own brand, but what we love most is that we get to be completely true to ourselves and share our own voices. When we feel called to create or share something, we get to follow that intuition — without being blocked or influenced by others’ opinions or objections. When I was in the corporate world, I felt like there were a lot of barriers to creation and innovation. As the leaders of our own brand, we get to remove those barriers (for ourselves and our team) and do what feels right to us.
We also love that the brand evolves as we do. We’re not the same people we were four years ago when we launched Almost 30 (for starters, we’re past 30 now!), so the podcast and brand has grown and matured along with us. We’ve gone through several visual rebrands, new logos, and changes to the podcast to reflect who we are now. Having our own business allows us to have that evolution.
Have you always been entrepreneurial? What led you to take that first step and establish your own brand/business?
Lindsey: Yes, we have both always been entrepreneurial. Before starting Almost 30, I was an actress and singer, and I worked as a bartender, fit model, and a senior SoulCycle instructor, among many other jobs. Krista worked in marketing in the corporate world, but also had side hustles as a blogger, starting a travel business, nannying, and serving. We both always knew there was “more” for us — that there was a more impactful way to share our gifts. We met when I was an instructor at SoulCycle and Krista was auditioning to be an instructor. We were transitioning from our 20s to 30s, and we both felt really lost. We started having deep conversations around growing up, purpose, fear, and rejection. We thought we couldn’t be the only ones having these feelings, so we brought our conversations to a podcast. It took a LOT of work (we recorded for 7 months before putting anything out there and balanced full-time jobs with podcasting for 2 years), but making that leap was the best decision we ever made.
What challenges have you faced in launching your brand / business? How did you overcome them?
Krista: We launched our show before podcasts became really mainstream, so there was no blueprint for how to do this. In fact, some people told us we were crazy for putting so much of our blood, sweat, and tears into this thing that no one else was doing. That was our first big lesson to tune out unaligned feedback and follow our own intuition — and we always come back to that lesson.
In the beginning, we had to figure out in real time how to record quality audio, grow our numbers, get sponsors, and structure our pricing. We didn’t have a lot of other people to look to and model ourselves after. That turned out to be a huge blessing because we got to follow our gut, experiment, and figure out what worked for us — and that paid off in a big way.
“Vistaprint has helped us express our creative vision in so many different ways”
How has Vistaprint helped you grow, evolve, or adapt your business? What are some of the tools and services you have used and how did they help you?
Lindsey: We love that Vistaprint has helped us express our creative vision in so many different ways. We used Vistaprint to create thank you cards to send to our podcast guests, which adds a personal touch that helps us build authentic relationships with our customers. When we were on a worldwide tour to meet our community in person, we used Vistaprint to create beautiful signage that made the events feel even more special. And most recently, we launched a line of sustainable slow fashion merchandise. We used Vistaprint to create stickers and postcards that we sent with each product. We were able to translate the branding and aesthetic of our merchandise onto these postcards and stickers, and it added a special touchpoint when customers received their purchase.
How do visual elements play a role in your branding? How are they important to your overall marketing strategy?
Krista: Visual elements are hugely important to our brand — they help us express who we are, how we’ve grown, and what we represent. Whether it’s graphics on our website (we just rebranded it with a new look!), social channels, downloadables, merch packaging, or podcast art, our look conveys our vibe and it helps attract the people who resonate with us.
“I hope that the next generation feels more free to express themselves openly, take risks, and try things that have never been done before.”
What tips would you give to other aspiring female entrepreneurs to help them launch or scale their businesses?
Lindsey: I would tell them, before you do anything, get really clear on the intention behind your business. Why are you launching this? Why are you passionate about it? Who is it serving? Having this idea in your head isn’t enough — speak it out loud, write it in a mission statement, infuse it in your branding and marketing. This intention may change over time, and there’s absolutely no shame in change (that’s called growth!), so revisit your intention every year or 6 months to make sure it still resonates.
What would you like to see change for the next generation of female entrepreneurs?
Krista: I hope that the next generation feels more free to express themselves openly, take risks, and try things that have never been done before. I think they’ll be fortunate to have a lot of amazing role models from this generation of female entrepreneurs, so I hope they learn from us but also do things in a completely new way that keeps us all evolving.
With 400+ episodes and more than 20 million downloads, the Almost 30 Podcast has been hailed as “The Best Wellness Podcast to Listen To Right Now” by Covetuer and nominated for “Best Wellness Podcast” and “Best Spirituality Podcast” by iHeart Radio. Hosts Krista Williams and Lindsey Simcik are your virtual best friends, impactful female founders and seasoned event speakers as seen on the stages of Create & Cultivate, BlogHer and POPSUGAR Play/Ground to name a few. Almost 30 is the go-to place for heart-centered, hilarious conversations and real, raw, impactful interviews with brilliant guests. In each episode, Krista and Lindsey dive deep into everything from modern spirituality to health and wellness, aliens to entrepreneurship, and social justice to self development. Almost 30 also hosts life changing events and retreats, as well as provides courses, workbooks and programs to assist in your spiritual and emotional evolution.
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