5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Launching A Design Studio

A letter from Jasmine — co-founder of Marlo Studios and the voice behind our content, strategy, and social

When we launched Marlo Studios, I had no idea how we were going to get clients. I didn’t know where to start or how to actually run a business. What I did know was that we had a point of view, a passion for branding, and a desire to build something on our own terms.

Now a few years in, we’ve worked 100+ brands, built an engaged community online and launched digital products. But most of what we learned, we learned by doing.

So this is for anyone in the early stages of starting their creative studio, freelancing, or trying to figure out how to grow a brand. Here are five things I wish I knew when we first started Marlo from my perspective as the one behind the content, marketing and social media.

1. Consistency is Queen and Content is King

Managing social media for both Marlo Studios and our personal page Freya and Jasmine in Tokyo has taught me the power of content. It is how we’ve found clients, collaborators and our community. Our viral brand identity series on TikTok brought in client inquiries and brand collaborations that continue to this day. It helped us build trust and visibility.

Freya and Jasmine started as a creative outlet for our love of Tokyo and everyday life. Since then, that channel has helped us speak at a TikTok and Visa event, launch an ebook about Tokyo with thousands of downloads, and even get interviewed by Bloomberg about matcha.

And while we still do not have a perfect system for posting and sometimes go weeks without planning content in advance, what I have learned is that showing up matters more than having it all figured out. Views will fluctuate. Aesthetic will evolve. Followers come and go. What matters most is building trust and consistency with the people who actually care. And often, that’s the people who join your mailing list, sign up for a product, or book a call. Not the ones who just double tap.

2. You Do Not Need to Wait Until You Feel Ready

Our first version of the Marlo Studios website was scrappy. We filled our portfolio with passion projects. I was still learning how to run social media consultations and worried I didn’t know enough. But the only way to get better is by doing.

After over 50+ client consultation sessions, I now know exactly how to lead them. And the truth is, I would never have gotten here without just starting, even when it felt messy.

You will never feel 100 percent ready and that is okay. Starting before you are ready is where all the growth happens.

3. You Have to Try Everything Once

When we first started, I tried cold emailing. I reached out to people on LinkedIn. I joined every Slack group and online forum I could find, hoping to find clients. Most of it didn’t work. But it taught me what did.

Those early experiments helped me understand what kind of clients we actually wanted, how to speak about our services, and what aligned with our values. Sometimes what feels like a failure is just information that helps you get clearer on your path.

4. Scaling Is Hard, So Be Creative About Growth

Service-based businesses are fulfilling, but scaling them sustainably is not always simple. It is hard to grow without a team, and it is hard to hire when you are still figuring things out. So we explored other ways to grow.

We launched digital products like our Brand Guidelines, Mockups and Designer Launch Kit. We are starting our own consumer product brand — Marlo’s Matcha — rooted in storytelling and design.

Growth does not have to follow a traditional path. Sometimes it looks like expansion, and other times it looks like creativity in new forms.

5. You Will Build Most Things as You Go

The first time I delivered a brand presentation, I Googled “how to make a branding deck,” pieced together a PDF, and hoped for the best. It was stressful and time-consuming, but it worked. Over time, we created our own systems, templates, and workflows.

That is why we built the Brand Designer Launch Kit — to give other designers the exact tools we wish we had when we started. It includes everything from proposal templates and client questionnaires to brand presentation decks and workflow guides. Whether you are just getting started or looking to level up, it is a shortcut to building a studio that feels put-together and professional without having to reinvent everything.

Final Thoughts

I’m forever thankful for the girls who took a chance on themselves three years ago. Because the truth is, you don’t need to have everything perfect to begin. You just need to start. To anyone out there thinking about launching a studio, going freelance or building something of your own — you’ve got this.