Today we’d like to introduce you to Lydia Burns.
Lydia, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started creating websites in highschool for fun, actually! As a young adult, I attended college where I worked several jobs to pay my way through school. When a professor of mine needed a website, and I saw that the one previously created for her was not functional or attractive, I offered to create a site for her for free, since by then, I’d taken on several hobby sites and knew how to create them efficiently. After creating her website, I got more attention from those in the area asking me to create websites for them! I began selling websites on the side to help fund my college tuition. I spent most of my time working, sleeping, studying, in class, and creating websites. That summer, I interned at the state capitol as a legislative aide. I still hadn’t figured out my career path even though it was staring me in the face. I was literally making website for fun and even for money, but I was determined to try out everything else first, I guess! While at the capitol, I made many more connections with individuals who needed websites and word spread quickly that I created and managed websites on the side. My side business took off. I was making websites left and right and gaining more and more experience. As I did so, I also dabbled in aiding others with social media as these things often go hand-in-hand, and since I was young and plugged in, many of the social media projects I worked on performed well. I started to realize that I had a knack for socials and sites. After my internship and college, I took up a 9-5 office job where I continued making websites on the side and managing them or socials, and eventually incorporated my business as I realized business was steady and I was enjoying it thoroughly. About three years and lots of hard work later, I was able to quit my fulltime job to do what I ultimately love doing: bringing brands to life in every way online. I create websites, but I also help people all around the country manage their small businesses from billing, social media, content creation, membership management, updating site content and more.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Some of the biggest challenges for me were finding time in the beginning to start my business while I also worked fulltime and sometimes multiple jobs, but also gaining confidence that my work was worth something. I also had to admit to myself that although I envisioned myself working a more traditional job, that it was okay and a positive thing that I was able to instead create a business that I love, and that life doesn’t have to be exactly what I imagined. Sometimes life isn’t a straight path and that is something I’ve always wrestled with.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I actually specialize in making sites for holistic practitioners. I began working with a holistic practitioner back in 2020 and made her a site. She teaches other practitioners, so this opened up a world of clients to me. Many practitioners don’t have websites or quality social media presence, so my niche is changing their world by allowing them to show up as their most professional and authentic selves. Every industry deserves to be seen.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I like to give credit to one of my college professors who pushed me to dream big and also to take new paths if that is what I wanted to do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.burnsdigitaldesign.com/
