At AdvisHer, we love supporting and featuring women and #bossladies who live with purpose and who inspire us daily. When that woman is as gifted, kind, and talented as Emily Murphy, that makes it all the more fun! Introducing the incredibly talented Emily Murphy of Lakeside Paper Co., AND the creator and designer of our brilliant and fun AdvisHer logo! We recently caught up with Emily to learn more about Lakeside Paper Co., and hear how she plans to prioritize her financial health this year.
AdvisHer: Tell us about you – who is Lakeside Paper Co.?
Emily: Lakeside Paper Co. is a one-woman design studio out of Portland, OR. I create anything from wedding suites to art prints to custom paintings. I love creating pieces that make people proud of where they came from and the places that mean the most to them. Everything I design is from scratch and completely unique!
AdvisHer: What was your inspiration for starting Lakeside Paper Co.?
E: I have always been enamored with sending and receiving mail. I have also always been very into art and design. The combination of these two naturally led to a business that celebrates paper and the connections that it can make between people. I started with wedding suites because that is some of the most exciting mail to send and receive – you’re asking the people who mean the most to you in the world to celebrate one of the most important and intimate days of your life. Now it extends to many non-wedding related pieces that can be sent as gifts, notecards to remind someone you’re thinking of them or custom pieces that are reminders to the recipient that someone was thinking of them. And every piece has one thing in common: paper.
AdvisHer: Take us through a day in the life!
E: The best thing about this business is that there is no typical day! Some days I may be packaging up online orders and writing thank you notes to whomever the purchaser is. Other days I may be working on a wedding suite in Photoshop. Or I may have my calligraphy pen and watercolors out to paint something for a custom piece! Through it all, however, there is an element of creativity involved as well as a passion for my clients and making sure that whatever I create for them resonates with their vision.
AdvisHer: What is your favorite way to stay creative?
E: My favorite way to stay creative is to take on projects that aren’t necessarily in my “job description”. I’ve been lucky enough to have clients who trust me to create something for them even if I don’t carry anything similar in my shop. I’m always amazed at their faith in me, and it strengthens my resolve to paint, draw or design something that will live up to that. The biggest challenge this past year was creating a six foot tall watercolor map of a park. That was certainly a first!
AdvisHer: If you could give your younger self some advice, what would it be?
E: I would have told her to start earlier! I spent so many years oohing and ahhing over other people’s businesses and creations and wishing that could be me. I don’t know when it happened, but at some point I realized that I had just as much right to be in the industry as anyone else, I just needed to roll up my sleeves and go for it. I still spend a lot of time ogling the amazing designs of others, but now it just encourages me to keep building Lakeside up.
AdvisHer: How do you prioritize your financial health?
E: I track absolutely every dollar spent and earned. I use an online service that links to all my cards and accounts and have my budget broken down into about 15 different categories. I have no excuse to overspend because I know exactly where I stand at all times. I also have a full time job where I can contribute to a 401(k) and HSA, and I contribute to a Roth IRA on the side. My best strategy has been to put money into my retirement funds first – this makes it feel like I have never even seen that cash so I don’t miss it! I also budget what is left pretty strictly and try to save a bit of cash each month for emergencies or future big purchases!
AdvisHer: What are your financial goals for 2019?
E: My biggest goal this year is to hit a cash savings amount that would allow me the freedom to purchase a home at some point. I’m not in the market and likely won’t be for awhile, but it would be great to have the money at my disposal in case an amazing opportunity presents itself!
We would like to thank Emily for her time and partnership on this post. For more information on Emily, follow along on Instagram: @Lakesidepaper.
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