It feels like I’ve lived multiple different lives. Some way more fun than others, but all of them were transformative and brought me to where I am today. Today, I am grateful.
Beginnings in Illustration
For as long as I can remember, I knew I wanted to be an artist. In terms of transitions, college was really the first transformational phase in my life. It’s interesting how certain decisions lead to a path you could have never imagined, but worked out perfectly. I went to school in upstate New York for illustration. Many sleepless nights completing projects and hours and hours of drawing, painting, and exploring different types of art helped me to develop my artistic skills and opened my eyes to the possibilities that lie ahead.
Even though I’ve worked in many different design roles, I have always been an artist first. The late night art projects started back in high school, painting late in the basement while listening to music and drinking coffee. It is where I felt most at peace. Creativity is at my core. Art has always been my passion and I dreamed of making a career out of it someday. Minoring in business, I had a feeling someday this foundation would also come in handy. It is the friends I met in college that helped shape my path and even introduced me to my husband.
Starting out in NYC
When I want something, I tend to go for it. That’s likely how I’ve ended up in so many different cities, apartments, and working in different careers along the way. Each of which, taught me something that serves my current vision and clients.
After college, I moved to New York City and found an internship at a design studio which turned into a full time design position. This is where I first fell in love with wedding stationery and realized how much design skills would serve me in my career. Since I had majored in illustration, I learned graphic design on the job and perfected my Photoshop skills, teaching myself as I went. I realized that stationery design pairs perfectly with my illustration style and love of organization.
New York City has an incredible energy and for me, it was the perfect way to start my life and career after college.
exploring another city
After some changes in my personal life, a friend from college asked if I wanted to move to Chicago with her? And the answer was an absolute yes! Sometimes, you just have to go with what feels right. I’m not one to turn down a great opportunity. A welcomed change, Chicago was where I was introduced to my husband (by my college roommate and her boyfriend who met my husband in Alaska - so random, yet seemingly meant to be!) and spent some time having fun and figuring life out.
In Chicago, I found a job as a cookie decorator at a high end bakery. I really did make some beautiful cookies, but it started to take a toll on my body leaning over for hours on end. This is when I first became a barista at a local coffee shop (I’ve had 2 barista jobs over the years!). I’ve always had a love for coffee and the people I worked with made it such a wonderful environment. I, of course, perfected my latte art, bringing creativity to this role as well.
“It was at this time the very first thoughts of Bjork Design Co. started.”
I didn’t realize at the time all that would come out of these initial thoughts. I didn’t have a business name or any sort of plan, but this was when I started doing freelance illustration and design and taking on projects of my own.
Remember those college friends?
One day, I saw a Facebook post from an old college friend found a new job and was leaving his previous job in Florida. He had included the job posting where they were looking for his replacement. I had been following him on social media for a couple years and always thought it was so cool what he did. He was a Store Graphic Artist for Whole Foods Market. So, I reached out, applied and 2 weeks later, I was on my way to Tampa! I packed up my car with all of my belongings and found an apartment when I got there. My husband joined shortly and brought our kitty on her first flight (she really was the best!). During this time, we made some lifelong friends and truly had so much fun!
A chalk art design created with Tampa Artist Stefanie Storm to use across the Florida region in each store’s coffee bar.
Like I said, I tend to just go for it. And it all worked out, this was a dream job in a beautiful location! I worked with some of the coolest people and got to do art all day! From chalk signs to advertising design, I was in an amazing creative roll. After some restructuring about a year later, I was promoted to oversee the graphics for 5 stores on the west coast of Florida - sort of like a creative director for the local area. I also got a chance to work on new store openings across the state with other artists.
“I enjoyed creating concepts, designs, and artwork and working with a team to bring them to life!”
I’ve always been a very organized person (my business coach and previous coworkers can attest to that!) and in this position, I was able to develop these skills even further. I learned about sourcing, project planning and execution and leading a team. I also learned a lot about how people tend to view and process information. I started to recognize what people tend to notice first, what size fonts are readable, how the placement of signage affects the effectiveness of it and how to coordinate multiple sales and seasonal launches simultaneously across multiple stores.
Both time management and planning were key in this role, as they are in my current direction in business (more on that soon!).
the start of something special
Deciding to leave Whole Foods and the wonderful people I worked with was a truly difficult decision. My husband found a new job in his home town in Michigan and we decided to embark on our own adventure, restoring an old farm house and spending time with family and our 3 adopted kitties!
Logo & Branding Design for Jennifer Neville with a custom alcohol ink background painting.
Having continued working on freelance design projects, my vision for running my own design business strengthened and in 2018, I officially began Bjork Design Co. I initially started designing logos and this direction took off for my business. When I started my business, I became well versed in branding design and worked with some really amazing clients and companies during this time, all the while continuing illustration work and designing an occasional wedding invitation or other wedding stationery for friends and family. This was something I still loved doing and was so excited every time I got a new project. I also created (and still create!) illustrations for other designers - I really do love the teamwork!
In 2021, I realized I was getting to be pretty busy and needed some help making my business more profitable and stress-free. I was introduced to my wonderful business coach Nikita, with Thrive with Nikita in a co-working call with Babe Crafted, a community for women entrepreneurs that I’m a part of. Nikita is a business coach for women living with chronic illness. At the time, I didn’t have an official diagnosis, but I knew something wasn’t quite right with my health. She understood the importance of doing things in a way that worked for me and through our work together, I realized several things in my business needed to change. We worked on boundaries, pricing, processes, and leaned into my creativity.
This is when things really started to get exciting! One day, we were chatting and I had the realization that I wanted to transition my focus in business (back) to wedding stationery design. I realized how much I loved when I was hired for these projects. Designing wedding invitations allowed me to bring in a unique creativity and really focus on interpreting the vision of each individual client to deliver personal, beautiful and meaningful artwork. Most of all, it brought me so much joy. With wedding stationery, I would be able to combine my skills in organization, illustration, design in a way that creates a wonderful and stress-free experience for my clients throughout the design process.
Illustrations for a wedding invitation design by Lauren DeFilippo.
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Tough times
While I was still processing this realization and brainstorming what my ideal business could look like, I had a follow up on a lump that I had found in my breast. Deep down, I knew I had cancer. Being in a bit of an uncertain place of waiting (I had a surgery scheduled for the end of December to find out for sure), I decided to spend some time leaning into my creativity.
“For the first time in years, I painted just for myself. And it felt so freeing.”
I painted a series of abstract paintings. For me, this was a creative outlet and way to process my thoughts and feelings during a particularly stressful time. This painting shown was the first in the series, titled “New Beginnings”.
New Beginnings painting. See matching journals, mini journals and notecards in the online shop!
See more of this series in my online shop, where it has evolved into journals and other stationery to share with others.
My life was essentially on hold. During this time, I journaled a lot and this lead to the idea of creating journals from my artwork.
I continued with my artwork and things took a turn in early January, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. These were some of the toughest times of my life, both mentally and physically. Some days, I honestly didn’t know how I would make it through, but a close friend helped me realize how helpful it can be to take things one moment at a time. All these moments added up and I finished active treatments in July. I was so excited to have turned a corner and finally start feeling better. There is sort of an expectation that once treatments end, life will go back to normal. I have since realized this couldn’t be further from the truth. In some ways, things did improve. I worked with a cancer exercise specialist, Foobs and Fitness, who helped me safely get my strength back.
Even though I was physically stronger, I kept feeling worse and worse. I went to numerous doctors, trying to figure out what was going on. Everyone blamed it on my cancer treatments or anxiety, but I knew something else was going on. Finally in early December of 2022, I ended up in the emergency room and received my chronic illness diagnosis. I left the hospital with a fantastic new doctor and plan to start feeling like myself again. This is really where things started to turn around. I had made it through the worst of times and was starting to see a glimmer of hope.
Finding my calling & living a life I love
Hiking in the Valley of Fire State Park, NV.
During all of 2022 and most of 2023, I took time off from Bjork Design Co. to focus on healing. At that time, my business was not yet set up in a way that I could thrive and deliver my best designs while going through these health challenges. In a way, I’m glad I was able to take this time off to reset. This helped me not only process everything and heal, but gain so much more clarity about my priorities and what I wanted in life. As I healed, I was able to travel and say yes to opportunities once again. This was the perfect way to reset before coming back to work.
Going through an extended period of uncertainty with my health made me realize the importance of living in the present.
I am ready to design a life I love and find a community that lifts me up and brings me joy. I want to go to work every day and create beautiful artwork that brings joy to others. I want to have a balanced life and the space to say yes to the things in life that make me happy without hesitation.
I realized, now more than ever I needed to restructure my business in a way that works for my new way of life and allows me to thrive while living with chronic illness. I’m back working with my business coach Nikita, and couldn’t imagine navigating this transition without her. Together, we are creating plans and action items that I am truly so excited about.
Fully custom fine art watercolor wedding invitations.
We picked up where we left off in 2021 dreaming of transitioning back into wedding stationery. I have spent a lot of time expanding upon this dream, developing a clear vision and I am working to make it a reality. This transition to wedding stationery has been a long time coming. It perfectly combines my strengths and draws from my experience and in this industry. It is a career where I know I’ll be excited to come to work and have the privilege of being creative each and every day.
All of my jobs and phases of life have lead me to this one and contributed in their own unique way - some of which aren’t even mentioned here! I have learned about customer service, business management, using creativity to bring a vision to life, time management, and team work. Most of all, I have learned to prioritize, set boundaries and the importance of enjoying the present moment.
more to come…
I don’t want to get ahead of myself, as we are still finalizing the details, but if you’ve read this far you might expect that Michigan isn’t the last of my phases in life. And that is 100% true! Michigan has been really good to us in a lot of ways. We’ve been able to spend time with family and I’ve had a chance to heal and grow. But, for me, being in our house is a constant reminder of all that I’ve been through. From covid to cancer treatments and being diagnosed with a chronic illness, every day I am reminded of some of the hardest days of my life. It reminds me of being sick and honestly, I’m more than ready to move forward.
This is the first time I’ve announced this, but we’re planning a move back to Florida! I have so many exciting details to come once they’re finalized, but I am confident that this is going to be a great move for us! I’m looking forward to having a more active social life and community of creatives and close friends. To being active, creative and healthy. More than anything, I’m looking forward to a fresh start.