Helen Garfield is a seasoned digital marketing professional and graphic designer with over a decade of experience working in digital marketing and social media.
Helen has held various roles in digital marketing, giving her a deep and broad understanding of the challenges faced by many small businesses.
After recognizing the common struggles that small businesses encounter in their marketing efforts, Helen founded The Creatives Desk in 2020.
A graphic design agency and digital templates store, The Creatives Desk supports busy business owners with crafting exceptional marketing and social media content.
The Creatives Desk features a range of strategic templates aimed at simplifying the content creation process, ensuring that high-quality, impactful marketing materials are accessible to businesses of all sizes. These templates not only help save time, but also enable businesses to maintain a consistent and professional-looking online presence.
Helen’s dedication to helping small businesses thrive is evident in every aspect of The Creatives Desk. She understands that effective branding and digital marketing is crucial for growth and works to provide solutions that make a real difference. Her passion for design and marketing, combined with her practical approach, has made her a valuable partner to numerous entrepreneurs looking to grow their brand presence.
Company: The Creatives Desk
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company
Helen Garfield: Hi, I’m Helen Garfield, the founder and graphic designer behind The Creatives Desk, working from my home in beautiful Somerset, UK.
My journey started long before I launched my business in 2020 as my passion for graphic design and marketing has been a driving force throughout my work life.
At The Creatives Desk, my mission is to assist small business owners in creating stunning, impactful content for their marketing needs. My main goal is to continue expanding my support to more entrepreneurs and organizations, helping them achieve their marketing goals with ease and creativity.
If you were in an elevator with Warren Buffett, how would you describe your company, your services or products? What makes your company different from others? What is your company’s biggest strength?
Helen Garfield: I’m not planning on pitching to any investors just yet! But if I were in an elevator with Warren Buffet I would describe how my design business helps small business owners with high-quality, strategic templates and graphic design services that help improve their visuals and branding.
I’m different from other graphic design services or social media post template stores because I don’t just offer one thing. I offer a whole range of pre-made editable templates in different niches as well as custom design services.
Quiet quitting, The Great Resignation, is an ongoing trend causing many businesses to struggle to keep talent engaged and motivated. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued, and misunderstood in the workplace. In your experience, what keeps employees happy? And how are you adapting to the current shift we see?
Helen Garfield: I was already self-employed when this trend was on the rise, but I have to say I don’t blame employees for quiet quitting (or actually quitting) one bit.
Working for a company with a bad culture was the main reason I quit my so-called dream job in digital marketing 2017. After only two months of working in this terrible company, I quit with no second job lined up! Crazy now I look back on it, but I was lucky, as I was able to quickly pick up a reception job in order to pay the bills.
I also realized that if I wanted to work in graphic design or marketing that I would have to create my own opportunities in which to do so. So since 2017 I have also set up and run three different businesses, before starting The Creatives Desk and I’ve not looked back. Best thing I ever did was to work for myself!
Plus, because my clients and customers are business owners, I am stoked that I get to turn around and help people grow their businesses.
Online business keeps on surging higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for the year to come and how are you capitalizing on the tidal wave?
Helen Garfield: I feel it’s certainly an exciting time for online businesses at the moment. To make the most of this trend, I’m continuing to expand The Creatives Desk’s range of social media and marketing templates and design services.
I think it’s so important for small businesses to stay competitive and connected with their audiences online. That’s why to cater specifically to the increased demand for high-quality online content, I’m planning not just new templates but also several new resources to help small businesses maintain and grow a strong and engaging online presence.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as THE real challenge right now?
Helen Garfield: Of course, business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. My main challenge right now is increasing my brand’s visibility and getting targeted traffic amidst soaring paid ad costs. Essentially I’m combining my efforts in PR, SEO, and various sources of organic traffic in order to grow the online presence of The Creatives Desk.
In your experience, what tends to be the most underestimated part of running a company? Can you share an example?
Helen Garfield: In my experience, one of the key lessons in running a business is understanding that growth takes time. It’s important to have patience and persistence because overnight success is not really a thing.
I have had to work on this mindset myself, whenever growth has seemed slower than I expected. I’ve found that celebrating each and every small win really helps! I think that having this attitude and being patient has helped me stay resilient and committed throughout my journey.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Helen Garfield: Sometimes tech, tools, integrations, website setups, and reporting systems seem like a big confusing mess, and it feels like if one needs updating or changing – then everything else could collapse on you!
So if I had the ability to pick any business superpower, I would choose the ability to simplify all that down and have everything just work!
I’m all for keeping things simple and easy to use, instead of fussy and complicated. It’s how I’ve designed all my templates, ensuring that purchasing editable graphics and done-for-you content templates really does save time for my customers and clients.
What does “success” in 2024 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision
Helen Garfield: I am still working on growing and scaling my business, so success in 2024 means increasing The Creatives Desk’s offerings, consistently reaching the income goals set earlier in the year, and providing even more value to our amazing customers and clients.
