BEYOND Design: The Business & Mindset Podcast for Designers & Creatives
BEYOND Design is a podcast for designers, freelancers, and creatives who want honest conversations about the creative process, mindset shifts, self-doubt, burnout, pricing, confidence, and building a creative business that feels good to run. Hosted by me, Nelett Loubser, I share real stories, lessons from the design industry, and the business and emotional side of creative work that people do not always talk about. Because design is only one part of it — the rest is mindset, boundaries, growth, and learning how to build a creative career and life that works for you.
Episodes
24 episodes
How to Set Up Your Freelance Design Business
In this episode of BEYOND Design, I’m talking about the part of freelancing we often avoid in the beginning — setting up the basic foundation of your freelance design business.Not the fancy website.Not the perfect brand.No...
Business Side of Design: Talent Gets You Hired — This Keeps You Booked.
The 80/20 Truth: Design talent might get you hired once… but it’s the other 80% that keeps you booked.In this episode we talk about the part of freelancing nobody posts about: boundaries, client communication, systems, confidence — and e...
How I Started Kunshuis (And I’d Do It All Again Today)
This is the most requested episode I get: how I started Kunshuis.I’m taking you back to 2009/2010 — the spare-bedroom days, after-hours work, the awkward phone calls, the “Eish… I hope this works” moments… and the simple things I did tha...
Working From Home Without Losing Your Mind
Working from home sounds like the dream… until it’s week two and you’re sitting in the same spot again, feeling flat, distracted, and a bit alone.In this episode, I share the real story of how KunsHuis started (dining-room desk, pay-as-y...
Find Clients Without Social Media: Start with Your Inbox
Somewhere between the school bags, the “quick” client emails that are never quick, and making supper… a lot of creatives are quietly waiting for work to just… arrive.And babe, I get it. I’ve done it too.In this episode, I’m sharin...
Design Your Days (So You Don’t Lose Yourself by Wednesday)
Somewhere between the school bags, the client emails, the dog walk, and making supper… a lot of creatives are quietly burning out.In this episode, I’m sharing the simple rhythm that’s helping me hold client work and build what’s n...
How to Stay creative in the holiday season
If you're in that weird space between wanting to rest and still wanting to feel inspired — this one's for you.In this episode, we’re talking about how to stay creative during the holidays without forcing it. Because let’s be hon...
Why we need to stop designing lives we constantly want to escape from
If December is the only time you finally breathe, this episode is for you.I’m talking about the moment I realised the life I was designing — the one I thought looked “successful” — was actually exhausting me by the end of every year....
The System Behind My Creative Life
Let’s be honest — running a freelance design business can feel like a mess. And no, it’s usually not the design work that’s the problem… it’s everything around it. The emails, the timelines, the feedback loops, the invoices, the “wait,...
Educating Our Clients — The Unsung Responsibility of Graphic Designers
Clients don’t come with a manual — and neither do we.So when a project goes sideways, it’s usually not about the design… it’s about the gap between what we know and what our clients think happens behind the scenes.In this ep...
What Makes a Top-Rated Creative (It's Not Just Talent)
Let’s be honest — being a “top-rated” creative isn’t just about having talent or pretty work on your feed. It’s about how you run your freelance business. How you communicate. How you lead a project. How you carry yourself when no one’...
Creatively Tired, Still Inspired: A Soft Reset for Designers
Feeling creatively drained… but also kinda excited for what next year could be?In this episode, I’m talking about that strange end-of-year feeling we creatives know too well — tired, worn out, low on ideas… but still catching little spar...
When Clients Ghost You (And You Start Doubting Everything)
Ever been ghosted by a client?You send the concept, the quote, the carefully worded email… and then—nothing. No reply. No feedback. Just silence.In this episode, I’m sharing what to do when a client disappears—without disappea...
Ask, Don’t Guess — Why Great Designers Ask Better Questions
Have you ever been told to “just do what the client wants”? 🙃Yeah... same.In this episode of BEYOND Design, I’m sharing why asking smart, strategic questions isn’t “too much” — it’s exactly what makes you a powerful, profess...
Are You a Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda or Samantha… in Business?
What do your business habits say about you?In this light-hearted (but sneakily powerful) episode, I’m blending two of my great loves—Sex and the City and helping creatives build businesses that actually fit them....
Episode 8: Mental Health in the Shadows of Design
Behind every design file is a thinking, feeling, human—and sometimes, our biggest creative battles happen in the quiet spaces no one sees.In honour of World Mental Health Day (10 October), this episode goes beyond the deadlines ...
Graphic Designer Burnout – Are You Creating or Just Managing?
EPISODE 7: Graphic Designer Burnout – Are You Creating or Just Managing?🎧 A quiet crisis in the creative world... let’s talk about it.Are you actually creating… or just managing chaos?This episode goes straight...
Face it, Your Clients are Running Your Freelance Business—Not You.
Ever feel like your clients are secretly running your business?Like your inbox has become your boss and “quick edits” turn into all-nighters?You’re not alone. In this episode of BEYOND Design, I share the raw truth of what h...
What 20 Years of Deadlines Made Me Realise—And 7 Tips to Change It
Twenty years of deadlines taught me something no design degree ever could: you can’t create your best work when your body, mind, and spirit are running on empty.In this episode of BEYOND Design, I’m opening up about how deadline...
Mastering the Art of Pricing for Graphic Designers
Because your price isn’t just a number—it’s a mirror of your confidence.Let’s talk about the part of freelancing no one prepped us for: pricing.If you’ve ever stared at a quote, second-guessing yourself… wondering if you’re as...
The Only Way the Industry Will Respect Us Is If We Start First
Ever whispered “I’m just a graphic designer” and felt that pang in your chest?In this episode, I’m talking straight from the heart—about why so many of us shrink when asked what we do, and how the only way the world will ever truly respe...
Business for Creatives (Tiny Moves, Big Results)
This one’s for the creatives who feel like business is the part they’re “not good at.”In this episode, I’m sharing what finally clicked for me after years of thinking I had to be more “corporate” to be taken seriously. Spoiler: I was wro...
Hello to Beyond Design
This podcast has lived in my heart (and notebooks) for years. BEYOND Design is finally here—and in this first episode, I’m taking you back to where it all began. From the agency days in Cape Town to flipping through a phone book in Windhoek loo...
