Meet Mollie Hanselman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mollie Hanselman.

Hi Mollie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
I grew up in Minnesota and always loved drawing and painting as a kid – I took art classes throughout my childhood and was first introduced to Graphic Design when I took a Photoshop class in high school. I flew 8 hours South for college and honed my craft while studying at the University of Kansas (Rock Chalk!) where I took drawing, painting, letterpress, design history, typography, design thinking, and many more fun and challenging courses.

From honey on pizza and Moose Bowls to Mass Street and ‘Waving the Wheat’, I truly got the LFK/KU experience. I worked as an Assistant Graphic Designer at Kansas Athletics, while helping out as a Letterpress TA and serving at a breakfast bar on the weekends. I interned my Junior year at a start-up in the WeWork building called Brands That Speak and after a few months there we merged with another company and became Yoodle.

After graduation, I moved to Kansas City, and currently, work as the Senior Designer at Yoodle: The Content Experience Agency for the Trailblazers, Risk Takers & Do-Gooders. Here, I work alongside my team to develop brands for local non-profits, restaurants, and hospitality. More recently, I have been designing and building websites for various KC Organizations, early education centers, and colleges across the nation.

When I’m not at work, you can catch me teaching a yoga class at Power Life, tending to my large (and slightly obsessive) collection of house plants, trying out a new bar or restaurant in town, or watching old horror movies with my cat: Bug.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I feel very lucky that I found what I wanted to DO for a career fairly early on. It was pretty obvious I would end up in some kind of creative position.

It was challenging moving so far away from home where I didn’t know a single person – but I grew a lot through college and have found that you can learn something from just about anybody, especially if you are open to getting to know new people. There was a slight learning curve moving to the city and living alone for the first time — but through all this change, Yoodle was a constant.

It is not easy working for such a small business that is growing so quickly, but it sure is rewarding. I have learned so much, failed a ton, faked-it-until-I-made-it (I think I’m still doing that?), and celebrated many triumphs. Covid was and continues to be a huge challenge.

It was scary being so far away from my family and really difficult to remain creative in such a mentally-draining time. Developing new interests and other creative outlets like yoga and plant care helped keep me grounded.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I love design because it merges my love for art and my desire to help people. I create full brands — logos, color palettes, patterns, typography standards, illustrations, and apply these to various business collateral items like business cards, menus, social media templates, websites, wayfinding signage, swag, and lots of other things.

I love color and texture and tend to lean towards a more hand-done, approachable style. It is very cool to drive through KC and begin to see more and more of my work popping up around town: Cliff’s Taphouse, The Netherland Apartments & Canary Rooftop Bar, Brookside Barrio, and The Monarch Apartments to name a few.

I am proud that my work is starting to win awards in various local shows like the KC-AFF Addy’s and KC AIGA awards. It is really cool to see Yoodle’s work alongside the big, bad agencies of KC. Another proud moment was shortly after graduation I was the National Winner of America’s Got Talent Dunkin’ Donuts Design A Cup challenge.

I was flown out to California to attend a live show where they announced me as the winner and my cup design was used by the judges that season which was very surreal. I also received free Dunkin Donuts coffee for a year which was pretty cool.

More recently, I was honored to be part of the Parade of Hearts initiative right here in KC. My design, “For the Love of KC” was selected and I worked on completing the 6-foot heart sculpture throughout the winter. The design displays a simplistic, geometric KC skyline with an off-primary color palette and some fun use of negative space.

My heart is currently being displayed at Crown Center and will be happily welcoming visitors until mid-June – go visit!

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Oh my goodness SO many to name.

My family has always supported my artistic endeavors. Some of my earliest memories are of my grampa drawing whatever animal I asked him to and then my job was to color them in. My parents — drove me to art classes, purchased supplies, encouraged me to enter competitions and always be creating.

I still remember my mom suggesting KU for school as she had read that they were a nationally accredited Design school that was pretty competitive. They drove me out to tour and visited many times during my four years.

Great teachers, coaches, bosses, and friends who taught me how to learn and be a team player growing up. I had a lot of great teachers and mentors at KU who believed in me — Andrea Herstowski, Jeremy Shellhorn, Linda Talleur, Tad Carpenter, Alex Anderson, Dave Thornhill, Kent Smith — just to name a few, there are so many more.

My current boss, Tim McCoy gave me an amazing opportunity to have such a big role at his company and it has been a joy helping Yoodle grow. Tim has taught me so many things about working at an agency and designing in the real world. He is a great leader and values our employees as people.

He has always supported and believed in me and even once saved the day when I first moved into the city and got my car towed. Yoodle is my family away from family.

I’m sure there are so many more people to thank but I’ll stop there.

Pricing:

• Ranging from $100 – $3000
• I am always willing to work within people’s budgets.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mmiss_molliee/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mollie.hanselman
• Other: https://theparadeofhearts.com/hearts/for-the-love-of-kansas-city/

Image Credits
Avery Walker and Moriah Manford