Inkpot Creative is a unique website development company founded by Communications major Krystianna Pietrzak (KP) ’20. With KP as head designer and Psychology major Jessie Andrew ’20 as web developer, Inkpot offers cutting edge website design for photographers, with a focus on inclusivity. We spoke to Pietrzak and Andrew about what inspired their joint venture and how Simmons prepared them for running their own business.
“One of the better things that came out of our time at Simmons was meeting each other,” says Jessie Andrew ’20, who met Krystianna Pietrzak (KP) ’20 on a Facebook page for the Class of 2020. “We were roommates for all four years at Simmons and have been best friends ever since.”
That friendship was vital, especially when the two graduated in 2020 and entered the workforce, in the midst of a pandemic. KP landed an internship doing social media and design work for an online course creator. The work inspired her to start her own business, which she did in spring of 2021.
“It started as a social media business, then pivoted into branding and website design,” says KP. “It occurred to me that I would love to work only with photographers, as it makes design so much easier.” The inspiration was also personal. KP first came out as queer in 2018. At that time, she noticed “So many cool photographers were really great at photographing queer love,” she recalls. “I loved to see that representation — both by queer photographers and of queer people…Inkpot became known as queer-led web design for photographers.”
Andrew was in a full-time customer service job for two years after graduation, but had begun to feel exhausted due to a lack of fulfillment. “I saw how overwhelmed KP was [with work]. I’m pretty good at picking things up and familiar with development platforms.”
For her part, KP knew she needed help. “I told [Jessie], either I need to hire someone or you need to join me.” After a “crash course” in web development from KP, Andrew was ready to dive in. “I had a lot of fun learning coding and different website platforms,” she recalls. “It was fun for me to explore; every day is different. I’m doing more work than before, but I feel more fulfilled. I feel like I’m doing something meaningful, every day.”
As head designer, KP designs the website and Andrew builds. They tend to work with a lot of wedding photographers whose work, KP noted, can start to look very similar. For a unique design approach, she involves the diverse personalities of the photographers, themselves.
“[For your wedding], you want [a photographer] you’re going to vibe with,” notes KP. “They will be there for one of the most important days of your life. The key is to infuse their personality throughout their website. Once a [potential customer] visits the site, they feel they know them already.”
Though Andrew didn’t directly study web development at Simmons, the skills she learned are highly applicable. “The Psychology courses taught me a lot about human design, about how people work and think. It helps me determine how to talk to and support [our clients], because I can tell when someone wants to be more hands-off, while someone else needs more support and information about the process. Understanding human behavior helps with the client experience.”
In her design courses, KP learned the value of taking constructive criticism. “There are a million ways you can solve a problem, the trick is finding the right one to realize the client’s vision.”
While at Simmons, KP and Andrew were on the Simmons Lacrosse team, which prepared them for the high pressure of having their own business. “In Athletics, you’re interacting with people and dealing with crazy schedules and long days. Just like running a successful business,” says Andrew. “Sports were a highlight of my Simmons career. It taught me so much about time management and prioritizing.”
KP notes that team sports helped her learn how to work with other people, including Jessie. “I know what it’s like to be in the heat of the moment, trying to get something done,” she says, noting that they each play to their strengths. “Jessie is so good at customer service and onboarding clients, while I really like to be more introverted and stay in my zone and design all day. We get to do what we are naturally good at.”
The two also did a study abroad program at University College Dublin. “We saw other perspectives and cultures, and were able to mesh that into our own personal experiences,” says Andrew. The experience lit a flame for both of them: the two are currently traveling through Portugal, with the intent of traveling around Europe, the U.S. and Canada for the rest of the year, if not longer. “Hopefully as time goes on we’ll expand, visiting Japan, Australia, New Zealand.” KP has been documenting their travels on her travel blog, Volumes & Voyages (she has also documented traveling in Las Vegas, Nevada and Denver, Colorado).
Aside from travel, they are looking forward to a future with Inkpot Creative. In addition to potentially expanding the business, they’ve branched out into support for fellow entrepreneurs. “In the past year, we’ve delved into education,” says KP. “We hosted a webinar on how to start a blog, how to use keywords to generate more organic leads. It may be cool to follow that path.”
Overall, they want to show others that anything is possible. “There is such a big online business world, and almost anything that you love doing can be monetized,” says KP. “If you really put the effort in, you can [make it into a business.] It will be slow at first, but the more you push through, the more it will snowball.”