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Jul 25, 2026
From Fine Arts to Business Owner With Monica Seaberry
From Fine Arts to Business Owner With Monica Seaberry
00:00
22:07
Transcript
0:00
Today, we are thrilled to welcome Monica Seaberry. Monica has owned and operated Seaberry Design & Communications for almost 20 years.
0:09
She's used her background in fine arts to kickstart a career in illustration and eventually graphic design.
0:15
Monica has led her firm through periods of challenge and growth while consistently evolving to meet her customers' needs. Thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you for having me. It is our pleasure.
0:27
So your entrepreneurial journey is a little, a little unusual in that you didn't start out studying business. You started out as a painter. Right.
0:37
How-- Can you talk to us about how you went from earning your BFA in painting at Syracuse to running a design and communications firm? Sure. Yeah. I took a different road. I, I guess it's the road less traveled.
0:51
But I went from painting and, uh, having shows, and then for money, I ended up getting a job at the Syracuse newspapers because my husband worked there.
1:02
Back in the day, newspapers used to have illustrations and graphics. And I said, "You know what? I can draw that well." So he went to his boss and he said, "My wife says she can draw as good as what's in the paper."
1:16
So they said, "Well, tell her to come in." I went in, and then next thing I knew, I had to draw Stevie Wonder, but I did it, and next thing I knew, I was working at the Syracuse newspapers as an illustrator.
1:29
That was when there were illustrations and graphics and infographics. So I had a lot of fun with that. And so that-- those skills that I got from that led me to be able to do graphic design.
1:43
I was always kinda designing, even when in my paintings. When I went to Syracuse for grad school, I taught design, so it was kind of a easy move.
1:55
And can you tell us a little bit about your experience in Chicago when you got, uh, your fir- I think it was a job or an internship, and how that exposure also informed your path? It's in it. Yeah.
2:06
When I was in high school, I was looking for a job so bad. It was my senior year in high school. I would go everywhere. I mean, I was looking for jobs at McDonald's, and I, I couldn't even get a job at McDonald's.
2:17
So I, um, I just decided, "Oh, I'll just go home this day." My cousin calls me and she says, "Hey, Monica, do you want a job?" I'm like, "I've been looking for a job for months."
2:27
[chuckles] And she, she happened to work at Foote, Cone & Belding, which is now FCB International, I think it is. FCB International, yeah. And she worked at Foote, Cone & Belding, and she asked me to come on down.
2:39
So I went downtown Chicago, and the job was in the mail room. And since I delivered the mail to all the offices, I found-- I got a lot of information I had to deliver to illustrators, agents, the vice president.
2:55
Like, and I also went to the parties, which was a plus.
2:59
I mean, I'm like 17 years old going to these advertising parties 'cause they, every time they got a new client, they'd have a party right in the office, and everybody was invited. Of course, I couldn't drink, but
3:11
it was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot about advertising from that internship. Then from that job, and then I got an internship the next summer after college in the presentation department. Really cool.
3:23
So we're gonna fast-forward because you take the skills and the experiences you've learned, and can you talk to us about how eventually you went out and started your own company? Yeah.
3:37
So I worked in Syracuse newspapers, and that moved to me to Washington, DC. Syracuse newspapers was one Newhouse newspaper, but then I became the graphics editor for all the Newhouse newspapers.
3:51
And around 2008, well, I, I knew something was going on when the owners came in and said, "You know, newsprint is costing a lot of money right now." Why do they care about the cost of newsprint?
4:05
Are, are they budgeting now? [chuckles] And, uh, and you know, just a lot of signs told me the internet was really booming. And I was like, "I don't think this is gonna... I think this is gonna change.
4:17
I don't think this is gonna last long, and there definitely weren't gonna be infographics with newspapers."
4:22
So, um, I thought, "Well, with all the skills I have and all that I've learned, I think I can go out on my own and do this." So I told a friend, I said, "I'm gonna be gone in April," and I
4:36
left my job at the end of February 2008. Started the office in March. And you're 18 plus years in now, right? Yeah, 18 plus and years in, and in the same office building.
4:49
And that was a funny story because a bunch of us went to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to canvas for Barack Obama. This is back in 2008. And we were in a, like a rent-a-wreck, a big van. And it was a bunch of hippies.
5:04
And one person said, "You know, I have to share my office, and I don't have anyone to share my office." And I thought, "I just left my job. I just started a business. Where's your office?"
5:16
And she said it was on P Street in DC. So I went to the office, and I ended up sharing the office with her. I think I did that for maybe a year, a year and a half.
5:24
And then since I had been in the building, I was able to get a lease to have an office of my own. Since, since then, I think I moved a few times. Amazing. So how did you get started?
5:38
And we're wondering about, like, the most effective ways you got clients at the beginning. I know that you have a very high client retention over these years. So what's the secret? Well, that's funny because
5:53
I thought that I was gonna do brochures. I thought I was gonna leave the, um, Newhouse News Bureau and do brochures and-... folders and things like that. So I actually went around to places. I didn't have that.
6:06
I had done a lot of infographics and illustrations. Mm. But I just thought, "Oh, brochures are the thing." So I went around with brochures [laughs] that I didn't do. They'd say, "Did you do that?"
6:16
"No, I didn't do that, but I can do that." Mm-hmm. And they're like, "Eh, that's not gonna work." And then I ended up with a client, and that client wanted infographics. I'm like, "Infographics?
6:27
Well, that's what I've been doing all this time. I thought I was gonna do brochures." And so I ended up doing infographics for that client.
6:34
I did a lot of infographics for government proposals, and I did a lot of infographics for this client, and the client is still my client now. Wow. Yeah. That's wild. It was my first big client, and he was still around.
6:46
Did you start out with anybody, uh, to help you when you went out on your own, or was it just you? No help. I had to... I was just- I would just make things up.
6:57
I read a lot of books, though, a lot of books, and I still read a lot of books on mindset and on branding yourself. Because I was really shy, and I was like, "Okay, I gotta do something about this.
7:08
That, that's not-" [laughs] "... gonna work," you know? So about branding yourself and networking and going out there and just meeting people and, and I was so gung ho that people would kinda be taken aback.
7:19
They'd say, "Well, why are you so excited?" "I just started my business," you know? I was- [laughs]... you know, like, I just followed the books. They said be excited. I was excited.
7:30
You've said a few things in our, in our prep call that I wanted to bring up because I thought they were such, so insightful. So one of the things you said was you never lost money on a job you didn't take. Yeah.
7:42
I got that from a book, and I don't remember what book it was, so I just wanna make sure that if that writer is out here, you know, I'm giving you credit.
7:50
But anyway, yeah, because t- we've taken jobs before that you actually lose money on. So you have to really look and think about before you, you know, offer a proposal or before you really wanna go after something.
8:05
'Cause sometimes clients can nickel and dime you until you just don't make any money. Or they keep, keep having revisions and revisions, and you know you stipulate a certain number of revisions, but
8:18
you also want the client to be happy. You can't a- ask them to pay for something that they don't want. So sometimes that gets a little, the scope creep gets a little rough, but you have to bill for it. We got a big job.
8:33
We were subcontractors on it, and we ended up doing all the work. But we didn't wanna leave the job. I mean, we were glad to have the job, but we did so much of the work that we were losing tons of money.
8:47
And you could think, "Wow, this job was so big. How could you lose money?" But d- just don't be fooled by the amount. We had to hire a lot of people. Just ended up being really expensive for us.
9:00
A lot of times when people subcontract, they're subcontracting just to help the person get the job, and then they get the job, and then there's just like, you don't hear from them.
9:12
Or, or you don't know they got the job, or, or they just dismiss you, and they take the job themselves, or they get you off the job. A lot of our work is subcontracting, but I, I wanna be the prime now.
9:26
I wanna be the prime all the time. Mm. If I can, you know? And the other thing you mentioned, and I think this was from an advisor of yours, she said, "Hire slow, fire fast." Yeah.
9:36
Can you give us an example of a time when this worked for you? Um, yeah. Well, it's one of my coaches said that, and I couldn't understand. I'm like, "What do you mean hire slow, fire fast?"
9:48
Well, at hire slow, they want you to do four interviews so that you really get to know the person, and they say that at the fourth interview, the interviewee cannot pretend anymore. [laughs] Yeah.
10:03
They're, they're at like... They're, like, done. Another interview. Either give me the job or don't. And so all the, you know, the mask comes off, and you see who they really are. Well, we did that.
10:15
We interviewed someone four times, and it still didn't work out. [laughs] Because you just can't tell who the person is through interviews, so it's just gonna be trial and error.
10:24
And fire fast because when you see that you're not making payroll easily, that's when you just have to... You know, you don't, like, I'll get a loan, or I'll, we'll scrape by, or I won't get paid and I'll pay payroll.
10:40
No. Just you have to just let them go. I mean, it's sad, and it's terrible, but in order to save your business, it's, it's the truth. Sometimes it's easier said than done. Yes, it is. Well, they said it.
10:56
Hire slow, fire fast. You're like, "Oh, yeah, okay." You said it. But it's really difficult. I mean, oh, it's gut-wrenching- Yeah... to have to let someone go, but you have to look at your numbers.
11:07
You have to look at your business, and you have to save your business. It's not about saving other people, and they'll be fine. And that's what the coach told me too. She said, "Oh, they'll be fine."
11:17
I'm like, "They'll be fine? They're not gonna be fine. They're like my children. You know, it's my family. We're all friends now." And they were fine. Actually, maybe some, some of them were even better.
11:28
You've mentioned a couple times that you have a coach that you hear really good advice from. What kind of role has that coaching played in furthering your business, furthering your career?
11:38
How early on did you accept advice from a coach or seek one out? Well, early on, we, we got a coach, and I didn't connect with the coach. I didn't understand what the coach was doing.
11:49
The coach was doing a lot of numbers. Mm. But I found out that the coaching I need is mindset coaching, and so I need someone every day to get me up and say something inspirational and get me going. I mean, I do...
12:02
I guess everybody needs a coach that's, you know, gonna look at their numbers and tell them what to do. But I need the mindset coaching, and I, I love it. And I read a lot of books on mindset because you have to believe.
12:18
You have to believe in what you're doing. If you have doubts, then it, it, it just doesn't work. And when you believe in what you're doing, you just have a completely different attitude about it.
12:30
You go after people in a different way, 'cause you, you think about, "I'm doing something good for them," not, "I'm selling them this, and I hope it works." No, you really believe you're doing something good for them.
12:42
I'm gonna take that. You're coaching me now. Really? [laughs] Oh, 'cause I've tried a lot... I've, I've gone through a lot of different coaches, and I just love the mindset changes. Yeah.
12:54
I started, well, like everybody did, um, well maybe everybody did, Think and Grow Rich. That was my first, like, mindset book for business. I think I read that before I even started the business.
13:09
I had never even thought that way before 'cause there are different levels of thinking. Some people just want comfort, and so they teach you how to leave comfort. It's not always gonna be comfortable.
13:21
If you want what you want, if you wanna get it, it's not gonna be comfortable.
13:26
One of the other things you mentioned is you were teaching me about this concept in entrepreneurship and business building, the valleys of death.
13:32
I just found out about it myself, but I found out about it when I went into it.
13:37
There's this graphic out there that shows the valley of death, the different valleys of death, and this graphic says at one million you're gonna go into the valley of death. I mean, it, it sounds ridiculous.
13:51
10 million, you're gonna go into another valley of death. And, and there are these valleys of death along the way, and if you don't get out of them, then you're out of business.
13:59
And of course, I went into the valley of death, and I think it's the best thing that ever happened to me. It was v- it's very hard, and it's hard climbing back up, but when you're climbing back up, it's just so,
14:13
it's just so invigorating, and it's just great to know that you're climbing back up, and you're climbing out of it, and that you're succeeding. The thing that I couldn't believe is that everybody goes through this.
14:27
And you're thinking, "How could every business go through that?"
14:29
But when you get to these certain stages, something, could be a outside force, something is gonna happen, and the reason that something's gonna happen is because, this is another thing my coaches say, when you get where you are, you're not gonna get to the next level with the same people or the same practices at all.
14:47
Say you're a million-dollar company. You're not gonna get to be a $10 million company by doing the things that a million-dollar company does. You have to do something different.
14:57
But the problem is you don't know what that is. Ultimately it made your business stronger, right? 'Cause- Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And leaner and more profitable, 'cause that's what it's about.
15:08
I mean, it might be fun, you know, "Oh, we have a business, and we're just doling out this money to everybody, and everybody's happy," but did you make any profit? Did you hold onto anything? Like, no.
15:20
That's not sustainable. You can't keep going like that, so then you're gonna rebuild. Something's gonna happen, and you're gonna rebuild.
15:28
And then I'm watching it happen to other companies, so I'm like, "Oh, wow, it's true. It's really gonna happen." Something breaks, and then- Yeah... you get the opportunity to build it better. Yeah.
15:40
To build it better for your future. Yeah. And if you really believe in it, you will do whatever it takes to build it better. I'm just hearing such an analytical mind under all of this.
15:52
I mean, your background is in fine art, but you have a business savvy and an awareness of the ups and downs of running a business. And I know you've mentioned you read a lot of books.
16:04
You're listening to a lot of advice, but was that a natural inclination for yourself, or did you have to really seek out those business-minded traits to get where you are? Act- It was natural because I used to...
16:21
When I was, um, maybe about 11 or 12, I used to get the seeds out of marigolds in my neighborhood.
16:29
I'd find the seeds, and I'd wrap 'em up in little packages and draw pictures on them, and I'd go around the neighborhood and sell 'em.
16:37
I also made posters that I would do portraits, and I went around the neighborhood and put those in people's mailboxes. And then I ended up getting some clients doing portraits. So I was always doing that. But
16:49
if you're a fine artist, you are already in business because that's j- that's just the nature of fine art. You're in business. And, um, grad school teaches you that more than even undergrad.
17:01
Undergrad teaches you the skills, but grad school, they teach you the business of it. And I also, between college and grad school, I went to this free school of business management in Chicago after work.
17:17
I don't-- I didn't know why I was doing it. I just knew I just wanted to do this. My parents were like, "What are you doing?" And I learned so much from that free school. And actually, our, um,
17:30
our speaker at graduation was a female owner of an ad- advertising agency in Chicago. So little things like that from a long- Yeah...
17:37
time ago, you just remember, and you go, "Oh, that's why this ended up he- that's why I ended up here." You don't even know what road you're going in.
17:45
You just make all these stops, and next thing you know, "Oh, that's why I'm here." One question I wanted to ask.
17:51
You mentioned that, you know, when a proposal, proposal doesn't work out, you give yourself five minutes to mourn, and then you move on. How do you develop this muscle of not lingering and moving on to the next?
18:04
I'm working on that. I'm working on that. So now I'm reading this-- I'm listening to this book. I don't remember the name of the book.
18:11
But anyway, if you look up "117" you find this book, and it's all these ways that, you know, you just keep moving on. And there's a saying in a group I'm in, "SWSWSW next." And that's "Some will, some won't, so what."
18:29
Next. I love it. You know? Just keep going. Just keep going. And, and I'm try- I'm working now on removing emotion from business. So if somebody says no or if I lose a proposal,
18:44
that has nothing to do with anything that my life... You know, I just have to find the happy stuff, keep going. I can't let that intrude on my life. So I'm a lot more relaxed.
18:56
Because last year I was working on worry, and I- Mm-hmm... because of that, I don't worry anymore. So this year I'm working on fear. That's what I'm gonna conquer, fear. Just one right after the other. Yeah.
19:08
Just gonna work through all the emotions until you have them all managed. Yeah, yeah. To having them all done, then maybe you'll finally be relaxed and- Mm-hmm... blood pressure will go down.
19:17
I've, I've got-- I have so many questions, I can't, can't fit them all in, in the time that we've got.
19:21
But I started working in an agency as an intern who wa- it was owned by a woman, and she had started it decades earlier, and it was kind of an anomaly, you know, to have a woman running a creative agency at the time that she started it.
19:36
Have you ever felt that? Like, has it ever been like a tangible feeling of noticing that you might be the only woman founder around?
19:44
Or is, is that something that, like, doesn't even cross your mind because it's not important in how you move through space? Exactly. It's kinda not important. I just always had my own idea, and I'd never thought about
20:00
being a woman or being African American. I just was like, "I'm gonna do this." And then, you know, sometimes when things don't work out, I'm like, "Oh, maybe it's 'cause I'm a woman. Oh, well." You know.
20:12
But I, at the time, I don't think about it. But there... I know a lot of women, well, not a lot, but I know other women agency owners. Remember when I said about that graduation? Yeah. A woman was the guest speaker.
20:28
Yeah. So I just kinda didn't think that it was an issue. Yeah. 'Cause I just looked at her. No, I love that. And when you have someone that you can see doing it, and it feels very possible- Right...
20:39
then it's like, why would I even doubt that it's possible? I've seen it. I know it, what can happen. When I, when I left in 2008, I had gone to visit a friend, an old friend of mine, and her husband.
20:51
I mean, I'd known them for a while, and they were doing really well, and her husband was a government contractor. And I'm like, "What? Wait a minute. I live in D- near DC.
21:01
I mean, if he's gonna be a government contractor, I know I can do this."
21:06
[chuckles] So, uh, that kinda got me going, started starting the business at all because I saw someone else that I knew from before that wasn't a business owner. And I'm like, "Wait a minute. You're a business owner?
21:20
Okay. I, I can do this." But only when you see someone else that you feel like you can do it. Yeah, 100%. I love the, uh, the S- the S... What is it? SWSWSW? Some will, some won't, so what?
21:36
Some will, some won't, so what. It lo- I love that. I'm gonna use that all the time. Um, but is there a place where folks can find you and C Berry Design? Yeah. Um, cberrydesign.com.
21:49
Also, we have a social media arm, too. So that's cberrysocial.com. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for your time and insights. It's been such a pleasure speaking with you. So much fun.
22:01
I hope you have a great rest of the day and, uh, we'll be in touch. All right. Thank you for allowing me to join you.
FemmeFactor
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