5 Lessons Rebecca Atwood Learned in 10 Years as a Designer

Take notes, entrepreneurs!

Making it as a textile designer isn’t easy, even if Rebecca Atwood makes it look like it is. Best known for her gorgeous printed fabrics and wallpapers, Atwood will celebrate a decade in business in June 2023. Her plan is to celebrate by making 40 one-of-a-kind pillows. It is the same way she started her business, making this a true full-circle moment for the designer.

Ten years in business is a major accomplishment for any brand, but even more so for creative entrepreneurs like Atwood. I recently spoke to the designer about this achievement, what she learned along the way, as well as her advice for other creatives trying to build their businesses.

Related: How to Use Color and Pattern to Design a Calmer Bedroom

Hire a Business Coach

When Atwood launched her brand, she felt uncomfortable with the word entrepreneur, but she worked with a coach who helped her embrace the non-creative aspects of growing her business. “I found the word entrepreneur very enticing. Starting my business, it was a word I didn’t really relate [to], and then it was a word that I aspired to. When I was taking a class with my business coach, Ask Holly How [...] and it opened me to thinking about and identifying with the part of myself that had taken a risk, started a business, and could grow it,” she explains.

Balance Is Key

Balance is one of the biggest challenges for most entrepreneurs, especially those with families. There’s so much to do and so many life obligations that all of us have. While it isn’t easy, Atwood has found a system that works for her. “I time block my projects and different areas of the business that I need to focus on. As we’ve grown, I’ve been able to carve out studio days again. I start my week with creative work and try to devote two to three days of my week to that,” she tells me. “Thursdays are generally mostly meetings and catching up on emails, and then Fridays I work on projects.”

Create Your Own Structure

When you work for someone else or a large corporation, there is a pre-established structure to follow. However, creating that structure for yourself is one of the biggest challenges that entrepreneurs and solopreneurs have. Nonetheless, Atwood finds that structure actually helps boost creativity. “I find not switching between wildly different tasks is helpful for my brain. For example, switching from a photoshoot to reviewing the profit and loss can be harder to do than if I started my morning with the profit and loss on a day that was devoted to more operations-related thinking.”

Take Risks and Learn From Your Mistakes

Taking risks in business is essential for growth. While they don’t all work out as planned, Atwood tells me the key is to learn from them. “I think it’s important to have some practicality with your risks—but it's OK if they scare you too. I like to work out different scenarios on paper so I have some ideas about various ways it could work.”

Still, the designer has a few risks she regrets. “Spending money on a bedding line that we eventually decided to close was a risk that didn’t pan out as I had planned. But, we learned so much doing it, we had fun doing it, and it led to more clarity about what I do want to focus on.”

Trust Yourself

No matter what your business is, it’s crucial to trust yourself. “The most important thing I’ve learned in business is that I need to trust myself. I think it’s important to look at the data, talk with industry contacts, and get outside advice—but then I find writing and thinking things through independently brings a lot of clarity.”

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