Life & Work with Molly Drake

Today we’d like to introduce you to Molly Drake.

Hi Molly, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’m a Carrboro-based graphic designer who specializes in brand identity design & web design. I work under the studio name Parson Lane, and my clients are primarily creative small business owners who are looking for thoughtful & results-oriented design.

My educational background is in the liberal arts – I graduated with a degree in Comparative Literature from the University of Georgia. I was first introduced to graphic design while I was working in the private events industry a few years after college. At that time, I was the Events Coordinator & Marketing Manager for a private event space in Chapel Hill. The management team was pretty small, and if we noticed a need for something that would help the business grow, we were encouraged to take initiative and make it happen. So, I took it upon myself to begin creating print goods for our private event clients & for our own marketing – menus, wedding signage, ceremony programs, in-house ads, etc.

I’ve always been interested in design, but this was the first time I had the chance to try my hand at digital graphic design. My boss agreed to buy me an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription and the rest is history. I taught myself Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, and later on, web design platforms like Squarespace, Shopify, and WordPress, using a combination of YouTube videos, Google, and trial & error. Eventually, I realized that the small amount of time I spent at my job doing graphic design was my absolute favorite part of the day and decided to pursue it more seriously.

I enrolled in online design classes at Wake Tech for a few semesters and simultaneously had the chance to work on several freelance design projects for friends and colleagues. My first freelance projects started back in 2016 and I knew pretty quickly that I wanted to go full-time eventually. I adopted the Parson Lane moniker in 2018 to house all of my freelance design work under a studio name that felt a little more like a “real” business. (Parson Lane is named after the street I grew up on – technically that was Parson Brown Lane, but Parson Lane sounds better!)

Fast forward to May 2019, and I decided to take a leap of faith and quit my job to pursue graphic design full-time. I’ve been fortunate to see my little business slowly but steadily grow in the past two years, mostly by word-of-mouth & referrals. I’m so excited to continue down this path and see what lies ahead!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
To be honest, for the most part I’ve been surprised by how smoothly my transition into business ownership has gone. I think I expected all of the practical stuff (taxes, billing, project management, etc.) to be a lot more overwhelming than it has been so far.

What *has* surprised me is how much of an emotional toll business ownership takes, especially as a solopreneur. Being your own boss gives you a lot of freedom, but it also means that every decision you make is yours alone. I’m a perfectionist and, particularly in the early days, I would feel totally paralyzed and avoid making business decisions altogether for fear of making the wrong choice. When you’re self-taught and working alone, it’s really easy to convince yourself that everyone else has it way more figured out than you do. But, over time I’ve learned ways of managing my impostor syndrome. Seeking out community with other business owners has been a huge help.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in branding & web design for creative small businesses. Coming up with a brand’s full visual identity system is so fulfilling to me – I’m very detail-oriented, so I love seeing all the brand design pieces come together. Great branding is so much more than just a pretty logo! I also really pride myself on taking a holistic approach to any design work I do for my clients, taking the time to really understand their business and goals. I view my clients as collaborators, and I love building lasting relationships with them.

I love working with fellow solopreneurs & small business owners, particularly businesses that are led by women, BIPOC, or LGBTQ+ founders. It’s inspiring to me to be able to play a part in helping someone accomplish their dream of creating a business on their own terms. I believe that every business deserves good design – not just the ones who can afford to work with big agencies. So, I really try to go the extra mile for my clients and make them feel seen.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
My curiosity. I love to learn new things, so I’ve never been afraid to try my hand at something new and see what happens. This is extra important in the design world as technology changes our field so often and so rapidly.

I also think this curiosity is part of what drives me to develop such a thorough understanding of the clients I work with. I like to understand the ‘why’ behind things, and this helps me approach every new project with intention.

Additionally, I think my love of storytelling has really shaped my career. When I was younger, this mostly manifested itself as a love of reading. But these days, I find myself so much more interested in the stories of the people I meet. Graphic design is just another form of storytelling, much like other art forms. Deciding what that story is and how to tell it is always a fun challenge.

Pricing:

• Brand Design packages start at $1,000
• Web Design packages start at $1,500

Contact Info:

• Email: molly@parsonlane.com
• Website: parsonlane.com
• Instagram: parsonlane

Image Credits
Kristin Austin (Studio Aray)