Meet Andrea Kelsey | Web Designer & Developer

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

Hi Andrea, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I seek experiences and growth in life and you can’t get those without taking risks. I’d like to say I make informed risks, but more often I go by what I feel like I must do. I admit to having a large amount of FOMO that directs me, I have put myself in all sorts of situations in order to have the experiences I want. I don’t think about myself as a risk taker, but when I look back at my life and the really big choices I’ve made like moving alone to Brooklyn, trying different careers, pursuing a Media Studies grad degree, moving to Los Angeles, becoming a full time freelancer, those were all incredibly risky moves! For each one I was betting on myself to make these things happen and work out in my favor, to fight through the hard times and keep working toward the things I want. I feel like if you follow your heart and listen to your gut and let those instincts guide you, you’re bound to be headed in the right direction. Our minds and bodies pick up a lot more information than we’re immediately aware of. When you can tap into that and learn to listen to yourself, I call that intuition and it’s so helpful. As a freelance web designer and developer, I have to rely on my intuition when taking on new clients and projects because they are always risky! But you have to take those risks to keep going so learning to hone, listen to and trust in your intuition is imperative.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a freelance web designer and developer. I really enjoy learning about new clients, their goals and dreams, and turning it into a reality, so web design and development is a great field for me. I get to apply empathy, creativity, and logic, and you have to be learning constantly. It’s hard to do both design and development sometimes because as a designer you just want to dream as big as you can! And the practical developer side of me wants to chime in and start telling me what the design can and can’t do. Then the UI/UX part wants to get involved too. I’ve historically done more development than design because I find development easier- it’s directed by logic and rules, and you know if you’ve messed up. I love design because it’s based on creativity and humans, and it’s scarier to me because it’s so subjective. I’ve designed websites and newsletters that I think are horribly ugly, but that’s what the client wants! That’s a difficult part of creating art for clients- you often have to make compromises you would never make on your own. For me, I can make those compromises for my clients if I believe in what they are doing. I learned very early on in my freelancing career to work with the clients that I want to work with- be it that they run an awesome nonprofit, have a great film or product, or are just a person I want to spend time with (because we will be communicating together quite a lot)- I do my best work if I believe in my client. It has definitely not been easy, it’s a hard road and initiatively not as financially advantageous as maybe taking everything that comes your way is, but it’s the best way to really curate for yourself an excellent group of clients that are dependable and lead to other dependable clients! I feel like my ability to make compromises and my constant effort to communicate better are two big things that set me apart. I like to say that there is no “no” in web building, just lots of compromises, and I’m pretty good at finding creative solutions. Along with that is just a ton of communication and finding the best ways to communicate and understand one another so we can end up with the best results. I have to learn a lot about the client and how they communicate just to figure out what they want and need, and then how can I do the best job communicating what I need or think back to them? Each client is different so it’s a lifetime learning project for sure!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh wow we would have the best time! Assuming that everything is open in this fantasy, we would go to Harry Potter World first (I cannot speak to it’s awesomeness yet I am just assuming). We’d eat at Poquito Mas at least 3 times, Nature’s Grill anything for the win. Drive out to the Zuma beach area for stress free beach time and beautiful coastal drives, probably drive down to Solstice Canyon for one of my favorite hikes, and then swing by Venice for Sunny Blue omusubi and Gjusta, because, we’re basically already there. Also probably have to go to Samosa House because they have the best indian in LA (in my experience), the chili paneer! Oh and Satdha for their delicious vegan Thai food. Then we’d head back to my new neighborhood (Sunland) for beautiful hikes at Deukmejian, take Pilates classes with my friend Julianna at Treehouse Pilates in Atwater Village, and probably eat our way down Glenwood Ave. Is the week over yet? Do we have time for Joshua Tree?

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would love to recognize my long time friend Nicole for all of her love and support- we’ve lived in separate states for more than 3/4 of our friendship but she helps me see the clearest version of myself. I think everyone needs someone or something to help you get past the blinders of who you think you are and what you think other people think of you- to help you get unstuck from your own perspectives and try on some new ones. I really appreciate that in my friendship with Nicole. Her support and encouragement is truly magical and like a balm to my inner wounds. 

Website: https://andreajkelsey.com
Instagram: @atomiciam
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreajkelsey/