Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Tate Ehrich.
Hi Sarah, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
Ever since I can remember, I’ve loved creating art. I grew up in a pretty chaotic and traumatic environment. Art was and always has been my escape- a source of peace and stability for me. Funny enough, my mom was an artist among other things. I guess that’s where I learned to appreciate art in the first place. She drew the sketches that were made into molds for our family’s statuary business. She always encouraged my creativity and put me in art classes starting at a young age. My love for art continued into high school and, eventually, college. Upon graduating high school, I went off to Auburn University. After multiple attempts to find a major that would make me more money, I eventually accepted that I was made to be an artist. So, I began pursuing a degree in studio art. During that time at Auburn, I needed a way to make extra money. I was always complimented on my good handwriting, so I made an Etsy account and posted one listing for “Custom Hand-Lettered Wedding Invitation Envelopes”. That was really the beginning of my career. I custom addressed thousands of envelopes and as tedious as it was, it’s the reason I am so good at hand-lettering now. There is, obviously, a natural skill to being an artist, but so much of it is learned from practice. From there, I started getting inquiries for designing actual invitations for people’s weddings. I had no idea how to do that. So, I bought Adobe Creative Cloud and began spending all of my time in the graphic design building- bothering my friends and learning from them. I even took design courses as electives. After I graduated in 2015, I spent some time freelancing in the wedding industry, and I quickly realized that I was not made for high-stress environments. I took a month-long break to travel out west and “find myself” with a friend. Ah, the classic artist pilgrimage. There’s nothing like the great outdoors and space to give you clarity of the mind. It was on that trip that I decided I wanted to be an illustrator! I think I knew that is what I wanted to be, but I didn’t have the language for it until then. Up until that point, I thought illustrators were just people who drew for children’s books. Turns out, the industry is much larger than that, and it is only growing! After that trip, I spent weeks back home in Alabama making a digital portfolio of my work. Somehow, I landed my dream job as a junior designer and illustrator for Brit+Co in San Francisco. I had a bank account with 250 dollars in it and an Old Navy credit card that just had its limit increased to 500 dollars. I took that as a sign that God was making a way for me to follow my dreams, so I packed up my car and drove out west without knowing a single soul in the city. I met a friend on Instagram and slept on her futon for weeks until I finally got a paycheck and found a place to live. The rest of the story is just a series of hard work and good fortune (some misfortune as well, but hey, that’s just life).
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been many challenges on my career path! I have really had to fight for what I want. I am so thankful to have found success in this industry. In the beginning, it was a lot of hard work, saying yes to anything and having zero clue what I was doing. It’s still hard work, but I find the business side of things to be a bit easier now that I’ve spent some time establishing myself and my process. When I decided to go full-time freelance after moving to Nashville in 2018, I was really lucky to still be working at Brit and Co part-time to pay the bills. That provided the cushion I needed and the time to build my business. Unfortunately, in 2019, B+C had to let go of most of the company, and I was one of those people. It was scary not having that safety net anymore, but there’s no motivation like an empty bank account. That was a big make-it-or-break-it moment for me. I realized I could try to find another design job, or I could really give it all I’ve got. The summer was tough. Money was tight, and I was grinding my gears figuring out how to be an artist while also being an entrepreneur, but it paid off. That fall, the clients started to roll in and I got to work with a few big brands that helped set the trajectory of my career.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
First off, my community. Most of my first clients were people I knew or friends of friends who were excited to support me through my work. Second, working for Brit+Co was a huge contribution to my success. I don’t know any other artists/illustrators/designers that are employed in-house to draw 40 hours a week! Over the course of the 3 years I was there, I got so much practice in, and I got to learn from some of the best designers in the industry. I like to think of my time there as my grad school program. It’s where I really learned how to hone in on my skills and find my potential.
Contact Info:
- Website: sarahtate.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heysarahtate
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahetate/
Image Credits
Nicola Harger
Adrienne Trematerra
