We had the good fortune of connecting with Sarah Rose Andrew and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarah Rose, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
We primarily work with minority-owned start-ups of first-time entrepreneurs or small businesses across the country. Almost every one of our accounts has a brand ethos pillar of sustainability and/or giving back in some way to their own dedicated causes. Young me was so naively ambitious that I just said yes to everything without fully considering the potential fallout either socially, economically, professionally, etc. Now, I am blessed to work with clients who also have a vested interest in doing better for everyone. My clients have become like close friends. I help them take their fledgling aspirations and evolve and transform them into a real working company. I couldn’t be more grateful for all the events that have happened to put the people and clients I’m currently surrounded by into my life.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I focus my efforts mainly on branding, identity, strategy, packaging and websites for ambitious, shoe-string budget startups. I have a rigorous interview process of client onboarding before deciding to work with a company. I am inspired by the passion and motivation that my clients exude. I was a scrappy little kid doing the classic artist struggle in New York, saying yes to any opportunity. That same vigor I had I can see that in these startups we work with, and it’s so rewarding to see them take flight on their own with guidance from my design expertise. I joke that I’m also a part-time therapist for my clients, but they seem to unknowingly unanimously agree that it’s accurate without knowing it.

I’m at an exciting and pivotal part of building my own company, Gyst. We have found a talented and passionate team of creatives. I’m hoping to have a new full-time hire by next year. I had a failed attempt at a first design company. But looking back, now I am thankful for that endeavor and even more grateful to have learned what I did from it. The experience opened my eyes a lot to the real world of business. I learned a lot of harsh lessons in a short amount of time, but it made my second business even more successful.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Orange County and moved here right before the pandemic. But I have visited San Diego a bit and love it a lot more. Petco Park is a must-see, it’s easily the coolest and most beautiful ballpark I’ve seen and in a fantastic location. It has a lot of different local breweries and eats and lush with live plants growing all around the park and pillars. I am kind of plant nerd. I do wish the Padres would change their colors but I am pretty biased when it comes to branding. Parking is kind of a nightmare though.

If you like fancier seafood, Water Grill has a unique selection of food and drink and a very impressive copper-top bar. It has a steampunk industrial deco-type style to it which is all of my things. And if you’re feeling extra-bougie, Lionfish is also excellent as a special occasion place.

For brunch, I like Garage Kitchen + Bar. I had my first breakfast shot there, and if you like brunch drink options, this is the place to be (and bottomless mimosas!). It has more of a divey vibe to it without being sketchy.

My company just did a huge push for ComicCon which takes place on the Waterfront. And by takes place I mean takes over. It’s a huge convention, and most of the accounts we worked on were experiences for new TV shows and streaming networks. There is a ton going on outside of the convention floor itself that you can do for free and the extravagance of costumes is impressive. Also good celebrity sightings around this time if you’re into that kind of thing.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Shoutout to Dancing Daughters Whiskey, one of our clients, and their founders Kelly Nolan and Jessica Steelberg for recommending me for this interview and being a very compassionate and dedicated client trying to break the male-stigmatized glass box of the whiskey industry. Lady power!

Website: www.gystdesign.com

Instagram: @gyst.design

Image Credits
All images are copyrighted by the respective brands represented in them: Day Rate Beauty, Dancing Daughters, Moto Ramen, Versine Skincare

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