Erin Gates got in at the ground floor of the design blogging boom. When her career took off during a major period of growth for the industry, she managed to hold onto her voice—now she’s using it to share a few hard-earned lessons from the other side.
Erin Gates has a special talent for identifying untapped potential: She started her own firm geared toward young professionals in Boston in 2007, finding great success among an underserved clientele; she was also an early design blogger, part of a shift that would transform the design industry (and send her own career skyrocketing). In this episode, the Wellesley, Massachusetts–based designer explains how she stayed authentic amid pressure to bend, how she finds team members that support her vision, and why she’s so excited about the new hire keeping her firm’s operations in check.