Thriving in Chaos: How Lynde Pratt is Designing Her Own Future
This fourth edition of Thriving in Chaos: A Focus on Women in Small Business features an incredible business owner in Baltimore, MD. When we met about a year ago at a networking group, I was captivated by her energy and enthusiasm for entrepreneurship.
She is definitely a “girl’s girl.” She’ll mention your name in rooms of opportunity and is passionate about helping others find success in the digital space. In a group of people, she’s the one creating opportunities for connection and collaboration without giving it a second thought.
Without further ado, I present to you … Lynde Pratt of LP Design Collaborative, a woman-owned creative design studio based in Baltimore, MD.
Lynde Pratt of LP Design Collaborative
From Architecture to Design
Lynde may be running a successful graphic design business now, but she didn’t start out that way. In fact, she didn’t start out as a graphic designer at all.
Her degree from Syracuse University is in Architectural Design. Immediately after college, she started working for an architectural firm in Northern Virginia, where her true love of graphic design started.
After five years of architectural firm experience, she found herself feeling more drawn to the drawings than anything else. She wasn’t in love with being an architect, but she sure loved the creative process behind the presentation of the drawings.
The Art of Branching Out
While Lynde enjoyed her time at the architecture firm, she knew she needed to shake it up if she ever wanted to find true fulfillment. She began taking graphic design classes at the Maryland Institute College of Art and found that her training as an architect paired incredibly well with the art of graphic design. In 2004, she left her position as an architect to pursue graphic design.
After a year of freelancing, she landed her first in-house graphic design job at the International Youth Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Baltimore. This career move was instrumental in her success and where she is now.
At the International Youth Foundation, she learned a lot about marketing, communications, and graphic design in the nonprofit space. She also got hands-on experience with various programs and software, did a lot of client-facing work, and really honed her interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
An Unintentional Entrepreneur
For 15+ years, Lynde loved her job at the nonprofit. She eventually moved up to be a Creative Design Manager and then to a Visual Media and Design Strategist.
And then… 2020 hit. Lynde was left to face the unprecedented challenge of raising two young children during a global pandemic.
Of course, the pandemic wasn’t kind to anyone, but especially not to the nonprofit sector. That’s when another hard reality hit: Lynde was laid off.
The pandemic was scary for a lot of reasons, and now she had to have the idea of interviewing for a new job on top of it. After working in the same place for almost two decades, the thought of interviewing was daunting.
Lynde spent hours searching through job descriptions but wasn’t finding what she really wanted. She knew she was qualified to be a creative director, especially given her years of experience and glowing recommendations. But she didn’t want that. She wanted to get her hands dirty. She wanted to be a designer.
Lynde Pratt of LP Design Collaborative Business Cards
Lynde was always confident in her design skills, but she wasn’t confident in her ability to be an entrepreneur. She is the first person to say she never planned to be her own boss or work for herself. But desperate times call for desperate measures. She eventually accepted a few freelancing offers from friends and former colleagues and LP Design Collaborative was born.
Stepping Into Her New Role
In the 3.5 years since starting her graphic design studio, Lynde has finally found her stride as an entrepreneur. She has seen her confidence in herself flourish through her work with educational institutions, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations.
She credits her 20+ year career, especially for learning how to build relationships and collaborate with people. Over the years, she has built a reputation for energizing the creative process and delivering top-notch results. Whether it’s a brand identity or a year-end report, Lynde’s clients know that they are going to get an incredible piece of art by working with her.
In a full-circle moment, Lynde calls herself a document architect. Everything about her designs is structured. It all starts with a foundation and is designed like a building. Just one look at her annual reports or digital marketing pieces, and you can tell that she followed an extremely detailed creative process to arrive at her final deliverable.
Although she didn’t set out to be an entrepreneur, the life of a small business owner looks good on Lynde. She loves meeting and working with new and interesting people all of the time while connecting with former colleagues on exciting new projects.
In the past few years, there’s been a lot of talk about career pivots. If Lynde is anything, she’s the poster child for how to take what the world has thrown your way and make it work for you.
A Q&A with Lynde Pratt
Q: Lynde, what is your favorite part about owning a small business?
I love getting to make my own decisions. I have the opportunity to craft my business exactly how I want to see it be. I get to bring everything I learned in my past positions and make it work for me – exactly how I wanted it to.
I am also incredibly honored that people choose to work with me. I love that people trust me to allow my designs to represent them out in the world. Because of this, I take great pride in the authenticity and quality of my work. There will not be typos. There will not be grammatical errors. In fact, I learned the nickname “Eagle Eye Pratt” in my past life for my detail-oriented editor’s eye!
Q: How did you know it was time to step into your new role as a business owner?
I don’t know if I knew exactly. I loved my position at the nonprofit and I never considered any other professional options or possibilities, until I had to. I couldn’t find any job posting that truly appealed to me, so after the layoff, I gave myself a year to see if it could work. When I took the time to think about it, I loved working with a variety of people at a variety of nonprofits. I’m a relationship builder at heart and absolutely love nonprofit and mission-based work. Working for myself allows me to meet new people, learn about their missions, and help them put that mission out into the world.
Q: What sets your business apart from other design businesses in your area?
You can trust that I will deliver authentic and quality work when you work with me. I won’t put my name on something I’m not proud of. You can trust me to put your brand’s best interests first. I can visualize your brand’s hidden genius and use my zone of genius to make it sing.
Overall, I have a true passion for excellence in all areas of my life, not just my work. This benefits my clients because they know I won’t deliver anything that isn’t incredible.
Q: If another woman came to you about starting a business in your industry, what would you tell them?
Lynde with her coworking group
I would say go for it! Knowing what I know now, I would warn them that it can sometimes be lonely. You need ways of communicating with the outside world. To be honest, I miss the relationship aspect of working for a company, but things like coworking, networking, and coffee dates are great ways to fill that void.
Q: If you could go back in time to 2004, what would you tell yourself about your life now?
Oh man, in 2004, I was about to get married. We had just bought a house and were about to take over the world…
I think I would tell myself not to rush into things. Don’t rush your life. You don’t need to be on a schedule. Everything happens for a reason, and if you’re patient, good things will come. Nothing happens overnight. It takes time to grow. You gotta build the foundations and then the structure. There’s that architect in me again…
Q: Why did you want to be featured on this blog?
I just want to tell my story. It’s a story of making decisions and following through, of understanding that things take time. I wanted other women to know that it is possible to build a career that works for your lifestyle.
My Take on Lynde’s Story
Lynde says she’s a relationship builder at heart, and honestly, after just one conversation with her, you can see that that’s true. It’s so evident that Lynde puts the relationships she has with her clients and her colleagues at the center of her business.
It was so funny to me that she said she didn’t have the confidence to be an entrepreneur because confidence is all I see when I look at Lynde. She has a way of making everyone feel seen, heard, and included.
Those relationship-building skills pour over into her work, which is important when looking for a designer for your brand! In fact, her own business’s designs are what drew me to her in the first place. I remember seeing her posts on Instagram and thinking who is this new person in our group?!
Example of Lynde’s work for the United Way of Central Maryland
Since then, I’ve gotten to know Lynde and can see why so many big names like Johns Hopkins University, the United Way of Central Maryland, Room to Read, Maryland Food Bank, and AIR Equity Initiative flock to hire her. Not only is she incredible at her craft but she’s a kind, caring, and remarkable person that I am honored to call a friend.
If you’re interested in learning more about Lynde and all of the incredible work she has done, check out her website. She is also on Instagram and LinkedIn.
