Meet Laura Tu: Marketing Graphic Designer & Founder of Mini School

We had the good fortune of connecting with Laura Tu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Laura, what’s the most important lesson your business/career has taught you?
Hi, I’m Laura, a marketing graphic designer by day, an artist at heart, and a builder of brands for small businesses by night. My love for the arts runs the gamut from eclectic home decor, vintage fashionwear to the most decorative art deco architecture.

In my opinion, a fulfilling career or business comes with many lessons, and all of them are equally important.

The most important lesson in my career is to always keep learning on your own terms even when your current position seems stable or when it lacks growth. No matter how busy your work gets, there is no such thing as job security even if you are a skilled and desirable designer, you’ll never know when there will be a change in the company structure that will leave you left behind. So always take care of #1, and that’s you.

The most important lesson in running a business is not letting internal and external fears dictate your moves. Let all the outside opinions in with an open mind, however, take the time to make well-informed decisions that feel right for you at your own pace. Make sure you set deadlines for yourself and your team, so you can get projects done, your campaigns launched on time, or articles written to perfection promptly when asked. It is a great thing to be time-independent although you also need to be self-disciplined.

For a free-spirited artist like myself, time management has been my greatest weakness. I am a workaholic that does not know when to quit for the day or for the week and consequently the exhaustion of piling my plate leads to slower productivity and losing focus on my daily goals. A vicious cycle of burnout, so please remember to take some time for your personal, physical, and mental health when possible. Calendar it. Do it. Win it.

Here are some more tips on how I stay focused in my day-to-day productivity:

1. NO SOCIAL MEDIA DURING WORK: Turn on Do Not Disturb on all your mobile devices and computer during your work hours. (Check that Tik-Tok or Instagram feed later, it really can wait. I always think to myself, “who’s going to pay your rent, Laura?” and things like, “how are you going to buy that nice shiny new (insert latest computer technology here) to help your business?” I know, I’m the worst, I fear-monger myself! It’s self-inflicting stress but so far it’s been working to traumatize me with the fear of homelessness. This contradicts that self-care I force-fed you earlier but come on, I’m trying!)
2. TIME-MANAGE YOUR PROJECTS: Use a project management app with calendar due dates and live by it. (Try Trello.com, Asana.com, Monday.com, for goodness sakes, even Google Sheets, or whateves.)
3. HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE: Get an accountability partner to help push you through each week. This person could be a friend, a colleague, or a lover.

Advice and constant notes-to-self:
1. YOU ARE ENOUGH: Your failures and your past do not define who you are.
2. ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER: I can not stress this enough, your industry’s community is everything! (Build it up. Show up when you can. Elevate each other.)
3. BE TRUE TO YOURSELF: You can not please absolutely everyone. Do the best you can and always stay honest and true to yourself and your “WHYs”. Ask yourself, what are the reasons you started your business or career in the first place?
4. INVESTIGATE YOUR PURPOSE: Find your purpose by questioning yourself. It will determine your goals and keep your focus. What drives you? Who are you working so hard for? What are your future goals? When do you want to complete these goals? Why do you do what you do? Start by asking your family and close friends and write it all down.
5. LIVE DEBT-FREE & GROW ORGANICALLY: Make money first before you spend it on lavish business expenses, then periodically increase your prices and re-invest it in your business (later). Grow your rates and grow your team with your income, not with credit cards and/or loans, if you can.

Take it from a super college senior and lifelong learner, you will continue to learn new lessons throughout your life. Try not to let the noise stop you from pursuing your dream career or business. Take your time, try not to compare and adjust your plans as needed. It’s ok to get derailed in another direction but never, ever give up.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I have been creating art as a service since 2011 under my personal brand, lauratu.art, and recently branched out to differentiate my art business from my design & marketing business. In 2019, my friend Judy Thang and I started a design agency called, Tiny Office. Our experiences range from freelance, contract work, to the corporate world. We were a good mix of serious creative professionals with her business degree and my design degree. Judy and I were two inventive women rushing the world with our big dreams. It was definitely a struggle, working full-time and juggling clients late into the night and every weekend. We are currently re-evaluating our partnership to accommodate our separate lives but I can honestly say, that it was a great learning experience. It was fun, exciting, and at times, moving way too fast. At this point, I plan to continue working on Tiny Office but it is not for certain I will keep our name or rework it a little as I grow the business. I have strict plans for my future but am open to changes as life changes. I eventually want to share my knowledge on a larger scale by offering internships and workshops to designers in training or just someone who wants to reconnect with the design community, it will be called Mini School, a place for creatives to grow beyond their design degree or their 9-to-5 job. Follow me on social media at @lauratu.art, @tinyofficela & @minischool.to, and stay tuned!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
– Bradbury Building, DTLA (for the architecture) – Go to Getty Villa, Malibu, before you go to Getty Center (for the art and views)
– Quality Seafood Market, Redondo Beach Pier (for the fresh oysters and clams!! Yum!)
– Lawry’s Prime Rib, Beverly Hills (for what else?!)
– The Standard, DTLA (for the bar when going to a bar was cool)
– The Ace Hotel, DTLA (for the rooftop bar, just a hip-place)
– Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles (for the space stuff and views)
– Hiking at Echo Mountain, Los Angeles (for the workout and the views)

I love views! : ) Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
– Andrew Williams, my fiancé <3 – Mara Tang, my best friend (she accepts all my crazy!)
– Moui Lam, my cousin (she is my daily encourager… pretty much my accountability partner)
– My Family (siblings, cousins, second cousins, their wives, and their babies… lol)
– Judy Thang, my business partner in my past endeavor, we will always have that period in our lives together. She brought my dreams to life faster than I could have done by myself. A true supporter of my work and a real girl with flair. Two peas in a pod, we are.
– Michael Mondragon, my friend, and design mentor. (Thank you, thank you for your time)
– Nikita Prokhorov, my cool designer friend from New York (who helped me review this article)
– TypeThursdayLA, a monthly meet-up for typography lovers. (my beautiful global design community)
– AIGA, the professional association for design. (the people I work hard together with)
– Dave Ramsey’s book, “The Total Money Makeover.” (the man, the book, the radio show host who taught me how to fix my finances and how to live debt-free happily)
– Sophia Amoruso’s online course, “Business Class.” (she is a bad-ass and I just started her class this week… I foresee a shoutout when I finish this class in a few weeks)

This is a lot of people to dedicate this to and I seriously love ’em all!

Website: http://www.lauratu.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauratu.art/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauratuart/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LauraTuArt

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauratu.artist

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=4YKEDNwgUIkbQoQrSMTFqQ

Other: Coming Soon: http://tinyofficela.com (Design, Branding & Marketing) https://www.instagram.com/minischool.to (My Passion Project: Mini School, a place for creatives to grow beyond their design degree or their 9-to-5 job.)

Image Credits
Vee C. Photography https://instagram.com/veecphotography