The One About Creative Leadership

Meet Joana Galvão

Joana Galvão is the co-founder of Gif Design Studios, an award-winning design agency specialising in brand identities and conversion-obsessed design.

Based in Porto, Portugal, with a team of 10 designers and developers, Gif Design Studios offers the full range of print and digital design services to industry leaders in seventeen countries on five continents.

Joana speaks internationally on the power of design and creativity and her work has been featured in the Guardian UK, Brand Brilliance, and Digital Arts magazine.

You can find Joana on her website - http://www.joanagalvao.com - and on Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/joanagalvaodesign 

Fav quotes from this episode:

“When you’re trying to be successful, you may need to compromise on quality in order to ensure that the product is delivered on time and profitability.”

“Adulting means taking responsibility and ownership of your actions and what’s happening in your life”

“Being someone’s boss is hard. Hiring at 22 was hard! I definitely wasn’t taking responsibility and ownership of my actions at that point.”

“There are always lessons to learn!”

“If you’re not willing to take responsibility in my business, it won’t work. I don’t have the capacity for that.”

In this episode we talk about:

Joana’s first experience of ‘Adulting’ as a boss at 22, and the lessons she learnt from a difficult situation

The importance of not ‘diluting’ responsibility when you’re working with a team - Joana talks about how she gives different designers leads on different projects to ensure that there is always someone there to take ownership of quality and delivery.

Why it’s so important as a creative individual to take some time out to create just for you.

That sometimes you need to take a leap in order to get out of your comfort zone and closer to what you want to actually achieve. 

Plus, we talk how a last-minute competition entry has opened up a world of public speaking opportunities for Joana.