Kristina Bleiler
Kristina’s a graphic designer and branding specialist building her dreams from Rochester, NY.
With a willingness to go beyond her comfort zone, Kristina’s seen the big things that can happen from the smallest steps of faith. Whether it’s shifting her mindset or starting her own company, she’s been making the moves that take her dreams from an idea to reality.
After five years of designing and building brands for the local church, Kristina immersed her skillset fully into the online business space. She’s since served businesses in a variety of industries — including photo & film, wellness, marketing & media, beauty, home improvement, and real estate.
She’s seen how the power of elevated branding builds momentum, fosters connection, and engages a trusting community.
What dream are you currently turning into reality?
I dream of building a trusted branding company that supports forward-thinking entrepreneurs at different stages in their journey. My big-picture goal is to continue offering 1:1 custom branding, logo, and web design services while building a library of online courses, trainings, and educational resources to teach small business owners how to maximize their brand as a tool for growing their business. Ideally, this pursuit will create a flexible lifestyle for me and my husband to build a life and a family.
When did you first realize you discovered your dream?
I originally disqualified myself from working for myself. I was of the mindset that I was more of a follower than a leader, and believed I wasn’t cut out for the entrepreneurial life.
It wasn’t until I was 4-ish years into my career after college that I started to see past this mental block. I was heading into my 5th year of working as the lead designer for a local non-denominational church. Year after year, the environment stretched my creative capacity beyond just my design skills. it taught me how to apply big-picture thinking to the nitty gritty details, how to solve problems quickly and swiftly, and how to work with all kinds of creative leaders. This experience boosted my confidence in my creative autonomy and exposed me to a wider community of people, some who eventually became my first freelance branding clients.
I also began to notice designers on social media building successful online businesses. I started following along with their business journeys, getting curious about what I might learn from people doing what I didn’t think I was capable of doing. To my surprise, it completely demystified my perspective about what was possible for me and my career.
Soon enough, the priorities within me started to shift. I wanted to extend my skills outside the church. My excitement about serving small businesses began to outweigh the fears I had about working for myself. I saw the potential for more flexibility finance-wise and lifestyle-wise, which especially matters if we’re to grow a family someday.
The moment of realization came when another birthday rolled around. Years were passing by, and I could no longer resist the constant thought in the back of my mind that it was time to give myself a shot. I started investing hard-earned money back into my side business for mentorship, which was tangible evidence that this endeavor was worth the risk. I finally wrapped up my 5th year at my church position and went fully self-employed.
How does your faith go hand in hand with pursuing your dream?
My faith journey is marked by countless milestone moments of overcoming fears and learning to truly believe in the intrinsic creative capacity God has given me.
My default is to doubt. Growing up, my tendency has been to seek external validation to inform my beliefs, decisions, and self-understanding. I’m constantly aware of potential things that could go wrong. “Do not worry about tomorrow” (Matthew 6:34) is one of the most difficult Biblical teachings for me to follow.
Choosing to pursue solo entrepreneurship goes against everything in my fallen nature, but it’s exactly what God is using to heal me from my fears. God has provided for me and my husband through many low-income years and semesters of schooling. He sees our day-to-day work. He’s in the thick of these slow seasons of planning, building, and pursuing. And He’ll keep providing.
This journey has shown me that it’s not selfish to believe in myself — that it’s actually God’s intention for us to fully embrace the gifts He’s given us. He celebrates our choice to pursue meaningful endeavors, even if that looks like doing the big & scary thing we thought we weren’t good enough for.
What’s one or two practical steps you take to keep moving forward?
I know I need to be more intentional about routines & habits! So much of my business journey so far has been learning, serving, overworking, adjusting, evolving.
The most foundational pieces that keep me moving along are maintaining organization systems. Not every business owner starts out this way, but I know things would feel quite a bit more overwhelming if I hadn’t established accounting systems, client management systems, and project management systems BEFORE going fully self-employed. These systems are the backbone of my business that help me feel more grounded as I take steps forward.
What encouragement would you share with someone who’s going after their dream?
I’ve seen incredibly talented people lose heart too early. Do what you can to fully see your dream through, even if it gets boring or complicated or unglamorous on the way there. Trust the timing of your own journey and don’t focus on trying to play catch up with anyone else. Treat every potential failure as an opportunity to expand on your life experience and let it teach you something new. If it becomes clear that it’s time to pivot your dream, you’ll know. But don’t give up on it too early.