Better: The Brand Designer Podcast
Better: The Brand Designer Podcast, founded by Giselle Field of Wander Design Co. and Jen Davis, was founded on the belief that designers need community. We find that the branding world often feels secretive, competitive, and sometimes just plain old confusing. When we realized that our honest, soul-chat-level convos could potentially help other designers, we realized a podcast was only natural! Better: The Brand Designer Podcast was officially born.
Giselle passed away during a climbing trip in Peru in summer of 2020. We encourage all listeners of our podcast to listen to our two Celebrating Giselle episodes. Giselle's adventurous, kind, funny, and supportive presence is missed every day—each and every episode that we record is dedicated to her legacy and her vision for this podcast. It is our honor to continue recording episodes in Giselle's memory and we know that she is with us every time we sit down to record.
In winter of 2022, we welcomed Esther Knox-Dekoning from Sereth Design as a new co-host. Esther brought an incredible and fresh perspective to the pod—her transition from agency to design studio as well as her love for web design, sustainability, and world change brought new guests, ideas, and amazing episodes to our listeners. She departed the pod in spring 2023 to dedicate more time to her studio's growth, and will be greatly missed!
Now, Jen runs the podcast solo and is beyond excited to continue interviewing guests, having interesting conversations, and sharing the behind-the-scenes of running her design studio.
Episodes
252 episodes
S13 E15: Motherhood & Creative Business Q&A with Sydney Walden
In this weeks episode I'm chatting with fellow design business owner and mom of three Sydney of Rouse Design Studio in a fun Q&A style all about motherhood and business, and also how we both live on land and raising animals and what that br...
S13 E14: I’ve Stopped Doing These Things in My Design Business
Running a business means you're constantly evolving, and in this solo episode I'm sharing with you guys what that's looked like for me lately, what I've outgrown, what I've let go of, and what's working in this season of business for me and my ...
S13 E13: Pivoting to and Designing for a Faith-Based Niche with Lisa Johnson
In this episode, I chat with Lisa Johnson, brand and web designer and owner of Verve & Concord. We chat about her decision to pivot her business and niche down to work specifically with Catholic and faith-based women in business, what led h...
S13 E12: Stock Isn’t Dead—You’re Just Using the Wrong Kind with Tina Loszewska & Jordan Aulin
In this episode, I chat with Tina and Jordan, the founders of Editorial Stock Images (ESI). We talk about why the word "stock" tends to make designers cringe, what's actually possible when stock imagery is done well, and how they built ESI to g...
S13 E11: How to Offer Art Direction Services with Meghan Svetich
This week’s episode, I chat with Meghan, who works full-time as an art director in New York at a corporate apparel brand while also building her studio, Reine Creative, on the side. We dive into what it really looks like to plan and art direct ...
S13 E10: Spring Clean Your Design Business with Me
I'm back with a solo episode talking all things spring cleaning… your business that is. With spring right around the corner, I'm sharing exactly how I'm cleaning up the backend of my business and refreshing my systems to stay organized during b...
S13 E09: The Pace That Holds You: Sustainable Success for High-Capacity Women with Ashleigh Henry
This week I have my good friend Ash back on the pod (last time was in 2022!) and so much has shifted for her since then. We chat about her pivot from running an agency and business consulting to stepping into personal development and life coach...
S13 E08: How to Get into the Business of Font Design with Meg Burk
*Learn more about The Brief Collective's Scaling Summit happening May 3-6, 2026 and reserve your ticket now to attend! ---In this week’s episode I have on a past Min...
S13 E07: Why Every Designer Needs An In-Person Experience (At Least Once A Year) with Kenzi Green & Marisa Burgett
*Get your ticket for The Brief Collective's Scaling Summit happening May 3rd-May 6th, 2026!---This week, I welcome Kenzi and Marisa, the founders of The Brief Collective,...
S13 E06: Designing Brands That Hold Up Over Time with Matt Ellis
*Learn more about The Brief Collective's Scaling Summit happening May 3rd-May 6th, 2026 and reserve your spot!---This week I chatted with Matt Ellis, who is the Executive...
S13 E05: How an Adult Autism Diagnosis Changed My Approach to Creativity with Jennifer Murtell
*Learn more about The Brief Collective's Scaling Summit happening May 3rd-May 6th, 2026 and reserve your spot!---In this episode, I chat with Jennifer, VP of Strategy &am...
S13 E04: How to Pay Yourself, Pay off Debt, and Save like a CEO (Even with Variable Income) with Gina Knox
In this episode, I chat with Gina Knox, a financial coach who helps small business owners craft strategic financial plans. She shares her journey from art school to QuickBooks to financial coaching, and dives into the unique financial challenge...
S13 E03: How to Reignite Your Inner Creative Spark When It Fizzles Out with Vidya Ramachandran
In this episode, I chat with Vidya, a leadership catalyzer, strategy consultant, and founder of Warrier Strategy. We talk about the challenges of monetizing your passion, especially in creative fields, which can often lead to burnout. Vidya als...
S13 E02: The Wildest Client Feedback You’ve Ever Gotten
In this episode, I read and chat about some of the wild client feedback you have received as designers that you guys submitted, plus share a few stories of my own.*Download my FREE
S13 E01: Peek Into My Daily Schedule
Happy New Year listeners! In this solo episode, I'm breaking down what an ideal day and weekly schedule looks like for me as a mom of two, wife, and business owner working 24 hours a week. I'm also chat a bit about Scale with Confidence, my new...
From the Archives | S9 E1: How to Get Faster at Brand & Web Design
Enjoy this episode from the archives while we're on our Holiday break! We will be back with season 13 next week!In this solo episode, I’ll be chatting about ways to improve your efficiency and get faster at brand and web design, allowing...
From the Archives | S8 E5: Market Research for Small Studios with Emmanuel Probst
Enjoy this episode from the archives while we're on our Holiday break! We will be back with season 13 on Jan 13th!I chat with Emmanuel Probst, Global Lead of Brand Thought-Leadership at Ipsos, a global market research company. We dive in...
From the Archives | S9 E11: How to Level-Up Your Web Services with Chris Misterek from Showit
Enjoy this episode from the archives while we're on our Holiday break! We will be back with season 13 on Jan 13th!I interview Chris Misterek from Showit! As you all know I am a huge fan of Showit and we talk everything from Chris' own de...
From the Archives | S7 E5: The Power of Having Your Ideal Clients Coming to you on Autopilot with Adrienne Johnston
Enjoy this episode from the archives while we're on our Holiday break! We will be back with season 13 on Jan 13th!Adrienne Johnston joins Jen to talk all about how she generates 5+ leads per week WITHOUT doing active content m...
S12 E18: Answering Your Inbox Questions
We’re wrapping up Season 12, which means it’s inbox question time! I’m answering questions submitted by you guys, mainly from those hopping into our podcast Facebook group. And ...
S12 E17: Jen’s 2025 Business Recap: 22 Lessons Learned
In this solo episode, I'm recapping my 2025 business year and answering some questions about what worked, lessons learned, and things I'm leaving behind in 2025 and what I am taking into 2026.Mentions in Episode:...
S12 E16: Agency vs. Courses vs. Live Programs: How to Choose the Best Path to Scale Your Online Design Business with Shay Brown
In this week’s episode, Shay, the COO of Bucketlist Bombshells, joins me to discuss scalable business models for brand and web designers. We talk about the challenges designers face, such as revenue plateaus and burnout, and provide actionable ...
S12 E15: Branding Bestie Chit Chat: How to Trade Your Design Services with Lauren Braier
This week, we are back with another branding bestie episode with my design bestie, Lauren. We chat about the benefits and strategies of trading design services, how Lauren recently did trades with vendors for her wedding, and some past and curr...