Erin Beacom
Erin Beacom, founded Sunburnt Studios, LLC. after graduating from college with a degree in Fine Art. Shortly after, she knew she had to keep doing creative work and she knew she could help businesses with their technology needs, so Beacom created Sunburnt Studios, LLC. Sunburnt Studios, LLC focuses on Digital Design + Virtual Project Management + Videography for forward thinking and hard working businesses.
‘’Businesses everywhere get burnt when trying to keep up to date with the ever-changing online world and trying to run a business. I want to help you avoid getting burnt by creating unique, eye-catching digital designs that will attract your ideal audience and managing all of your backend technical needs.’’ Says Erin Beacom, founder and owner of Sunburnt Studios, LLC.
Beacom’s passion for creativity began early on as taking photos on family vacations. For a creative like Erin Beacom It is almost impossible to sit still. Beacom spent most of her first two years of college in the editing lab writing, editing, producing, designing, and pretty much everything else needed to create a campus television show.
Just like every entrepreneur Beacom was looking for a new challenge and joined a small documentary team her junior year, where she was a videographer and artist. The following year she was a co-director and videographer for the award-winning documentary team. During this time, Beacom was also showing art in shows around the small town, on campus, and in the Twin Cities. After graduation, Beacom began to do freelance video work and graphic design for clients. She was fortunate enough to be invited along to Arbollé, Burkina Faso to document the installation of a water well. After returning, she continued her work of freelance jobs for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and foundations.
And then magic happened, in January, 2018, Beacom began Sunburnt Studios, LLC. a digital design strategist, virtual project management, and videography company. Her journey with Sunburnt Studios, LLC., though just beginning, has been exhilarating and challenging. Erin Beacom is very excited to share more of what Sunburnt Studios is up to with you!
Erin, tell us something about you, something we would not be able to find online.
I honestly could work forever. I have a pretty hard time sitting still. So, having a project or a job to focus on allows me to zone in and days to pass without noticing. For example, my old art studio did not have any windows and what I had thought had been a little over a day working in my studio had actually been five. A friend of mine who had a studio next to me stopped in and made me go sleep. Then one of my favorite jobs I’ve had was working in a fish cannery. I worked at the end of the heads and guts line, where I had a blast ripping out guts and making sure all the heads were cut off for 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. As long as I have a project, I can spend every minute working towards my goal.
What does Sunburnt Studios do?
At Sunburnt Studios, I work with clients to brand their business, design websites, create marketing materials, set up a strong social presence, capture video content, and other necessary business design and management duties. On our Sunburnt Studios website, I have pre-made packages for clients to choose from or combine. If our clients need a one-of-a-kind package, I work with them to make sure everything they need will be covered.
What inspired you to start Sunburnt Studios? & Why in the digital business?
I was searching for a job that would allow for creativity, independence, travel, and that would continuously challenge me. I was already doing freelance design and video for companies but I wanted to take it further. So, I began researching and was inspired by the growing number of women running online businesses remotely. The further I dug into their businesses and lifestyles the more I knew that this is exactly what I need to do. It had everything I was looking for and the invaluable bonus of a strong, inspiring community of women already blazing the trail, empowering other women start up their own businesses. There is the amazing recognition that each of us are running a personally authentic business that offers our clientele something unique and that someone else’s success does not mean our failure. We all have ups and downs on our business journey and this industry of women has proven to be the most extraordinary group of supporters for each other that I have ever experienced. It is truly a business experience that empowers and I find that completely inspiring.
What are Sunburnt Studios’ goals currently?
To go beyond clientele expectations to provide the highest-quality, creative designs and services, while highlighting the unique authenticity of the brand.
As an entrepreneur, we all have our good days and bad days. What is your typical bad day and typical good day look like? And how do you stay motivated all the time?
Those days with no motivation are my bad days. The days that getting out of bed seem like too much, when I would rather turn on Netflix and just binge the day away. I try to get moving, get outside, and get out of the unmotivated funk I’m in. I might turn on an empowering podcast or listen to the summary of an empowering book on my Blinkist app during a quick yoga session or workout. Most of the time this will help, but there are those days that nothing seems to motivate me. Those days that I continuously try to do work and get motivated but nothing helps, I will turn on a documentary, show, or movie of a director or cinematographer that I like or is simply something filmed in a style I find pleasing. Though, this isn’t the work that I need to be doing and it is giving into binging the day away, sometimes a day to enjoy beautiful footage and shooting techniques comes in handy on my next video job. Also, sometimes it just gives me the refresher that I need to crank out great work the next day.
On the other hand, my good days start with me popping out of bed, getting in a workout and having breakfast while catching up on some reading. After eating, I will head to a co-working location or a café to get some work done and meet with clientele. I travel full-time while working online, this allows me to explore and shoot footage around the city after lunch for a few hours. Then I will settle back in and finish up my work for the day. Meeting with locals or other remote workers for dinner is always fun and a great way to wrap up the day.
There are so many sources to find motivation, from podcasts to blogs, from books to conventions, they are everywhere. If you are in a career that you are passionate about, finding these sources is about as motivating as taking them in. They hold limitless information, answers, and inspiration that you cannot possibly ever run out of material that relates in one way or another. Rewards are another great motivator. I set these at the end of projects, big partnerships, completion of challenges, etc. to celebrate the hard work and time that I have put in to get me there. These rewards can range from eating out to skydiving depending on the time and dedication it takes to complete the end goal.
What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
Persistence, creativity, and curiosity are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur.
To keep pushing through barriers, finding alternate solutions, working more hours for little to no pay to get your dream moving is not an easy path. It requires a good amount of persistence. So, find a path/career/business that you are passionate about. Find one that makes you excited to push through every challenge, roadblock, and failure. A successful entrepreneur is one who has the persistence to get back up time and time again.
Problems tend to pop up every day when running a business. Having the ability to look at these problems and come up with creative solutions is a necessary quality for successful entrepreneurs. Creativity is incredibly useful when formulating ideas on making your brand unique and authentic, making sure your clientele receives a one of a kind experience, and enhances your business.
Never stop learning, reading, and seeking out new information about the industry and running a business. Having the curiosity to continuously improve your knowledge and understanding will allow for being better prepared for the changing variables of running a business.
How would you describe your work style?
My approach to challenges and business tasks is unstructured. I enjoy having the freedom to think creatively to produce innovative solutions. I make sure to do the research and make the connections to further my expertise in my industry, pushing my business forward. I think in a very visual way; this requires me to produce work from start to finish that is creative and highly conceptual. By creating a work flow that is visual and conceptual I am fully absorbed by projects and tasks. This allows me to create work that my clientele will be excited to have for their brand.
How do you want to improve yourselves in the next year?
I have been reading and listening to everything I can reach to further my knowledge in my field and continue to expand Sunburnt Studios. In the next year, I will continue to take online courses to earn certifications, become an expert in my field, and further enrich my company. Improvement of a company as an entrepreneur you must also improve yourself. Most of my time is spent working on growing a business, but there is a need for making time for other interests to not burn out. For example, I am working to learn American Sign Language. Within the next year I hope to grow in ASL and be working towards a fluency of ASL. Improving my skills on an outside interest allows me to refresh and clear my mind of projects, allowing me to come back with rejuvenated energy and excitement for ongoing projects.
What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
The freedom of being an entrepreneur and working for myself is the best aspect of being an entrepreneur. I don’t think I will ever be able to go back to working for someone else again. Running my own company has allowed me to create my own work schedule, create a space that allows for my work style, a job that continuously challenges, and a career that has everything I was searching for from creativity to travel. This freedom has allowed me to grow and improve in the past more than any other job would have allowed and I am excited to see what the future holds for myself and Sunburnt Studios, LLC.
What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?
One of the best pieces of advice that I have received was that failures are never complete failures. Every time I fail, sure the outcome was not the one I was searching for but in the process of failing I learned something about why it didn’t work. Each failure brings you one step closer to success. Failure is a part of everyday life as an entrepreneur. They can range from miscommunications with clients, missing contracts, lost footage, and pretty much everything else in a company. Everything that can go wrong typically does but being adaptable and creative about the solutions is key. I have learned through failure you learn your strength and commitment. If you see failure and you start thinking that it’s over and angry that it didn’t go correctly, you’ll stop. If you see failure as a lesson and a temporary roadblock for you to overcome, you’ll grow and overcome the challenge.
If you had one piece of advice to our readers to those just starting out a business, what would it be?
I would tell them to always seek new information. You should be reading books, articles, and blogs, listening to podcasts, learning about your industries and learning about running a business. The best thing you can do is educate yourself to best prepare for the road ahead. This road consists of long nights, sacrificing many social events, and requires loads of persistence but if you are passionate about being an entrepreneur every sacrifice is worth it.
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