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How did you end up on your first client?
(0:02 - 0:22)
Well, I think there was one of my clients who I still do a bit of work for now. He'd heard that I'd left this, you know, that the church design, I guess, agency. So he heard that I left and then he contacted me and asked me whether I would do some work for him.
And, you know, he gave me quite a lot of business, which I was really grateful for at the time.
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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Strugbits Unplugged. Today, I had the opportunity of speaking with Loulita Gill, a creative powerhouse. She's not only an acclaimed singer-songwriter, but also a founder of a design agency that helps businesses shine.
Let's dive right in and meet Loulita. Thank you for joining in, Loulita.
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Thank you for having me on your show. This is amazing.
(0:54 - 1:09)
Thank you very much. All right, Loulita, let's start from the start. I want to know, how was your childhood and what type of a kid you were?
And where were you born? Where were you raised? Tell us about it.
(1:09 - 1:58)
So I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. I think it's a really difficult question, actually, to start this whole podcast off with, because my childhood was quite traumatic. So I didn't have a very happy childhood.
However, a lot of people said that I was a very happy child. And I think a lot of that is what you call masking. So for me, I learned that in order to survive my childhood, I needed to put on a mask and, I guess, pretend to be happy.
So yeah, I didn't have a very happy childhood, but I grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. And then when I was a teenager, I moved over to the UK, which is where I am now.
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So did you move to the UK with your parents or only you moved?
(2:04 - 2:13)
No, I moved over with my whole family. So yeah, that was a number of years ago. So yeah.
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All right. So what inspired you to start pursuing music in the first place?
(2:23 - 3:33)
I wasn't, it was never really part of my plan, to be honest. I always wanted to be like a dancer. So when I was growing up, I did ballet lessons, ballet dance lessons.
And then I did, I used to do modern dancing and tap dancing and jazz. So I always thought I was going to end up being like a dancer and go around the world in a dance company. And, you know, but it just kind of never worked out that way.
And then when I finished school, I did this course called Samadhi Academy. And that's when I started writing songs. But even at that point, I wouldn't necessarily say that music was my passion.
Anyway, to cut a very long story short, I ended up singing a lot in church and leading worship in church. But yeah, I would say probably about seven years ago when I started my music career. So it's kind of evolved.
I don't think it was any point where I just thought, yeah, I really want to do music and I want to be involved in the music industry. It's kind of been a, it's kind of been like a process.
(3:33 - 3:53)
This is a very different answer. I was not expecting this because usually when you ask people that, how did you pursue this music? And they were like, oh, since childhood, we wanted to be a singer.
We used to sing in schools. And you know, I went to that performance and I got an award. And you started like, I wanted to be a dancer, but I became a musician seven years ago.
(3:54 - 6:39)
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I don't know. I did sing in school. I mean, I auditioned for a couple of things where I had to sing, but I didn't think I had a really very strong voice at that point.
And you know, when I actually did start sort of, as when we came over to the UK, I, at that point I kind of, I had friends that were in the music industry. So they were bringing a lot of famous artists over to the UK to do concerts. So I was really inspired by this.
And then I thought potentially I can pursue something to do with music at that stage. So I entered a competition, but I didn't think vocally, like I was a really good singer. I thought, okay, well, I'm, I can write kind of songs.
So there was this competition going and you could enter into the States. And basically I entered like two of my songs and one of my songs got through to like the semifinal. And then in order to go through to the final of this whole competition, you had to win, you know, that could have, that's kind of a semifinal.
And I came second. But, you know, I guess I came back thinking, well, at least, you know, I can write songs. But still, from a vocal perspective, I didn't think that I was a very good singer.
So I didn't ever really think I wanted to pursue anything myself being an artist. Or I thought, well, even if I do, I'm not quite sure if I'll do very well at it. Because I don't think I can sing very well.
I think my singing is, you know, average. Um, so yeah, it's, uh, it's been quite interesting, um, to see how this is kind of all unfolded. Because it was very much not what I expected.
And even when I started my music career, you know, it was very much a now or never moment of like, if I don't do something now with all this music that I've written, I potentially never would. So I had booked to go and see this guy who had a production studio. And I asked him whether he would listen to one or two of my songs.
And I thought at that point, if he turns around and he says to me, well, the songs are great, but, you know, potentially we could use them for other artists, then I would pursue that. Um, but what ended up happening is I went and, um, my husband said that he just, after I played one song, he was like, wow, you know? So then I was like, well, maybe I can pursue, you know, do like an album or something or an EP.
I think it was an EP at first. And then he gave me a really good deal and I ended up doing an album. But honestly, when I started this music career, I had no idea I was actually starting a music career.
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I completely understand.
(6:43 - 6:52)
I just thought I was releasing out, you know, releasing an album. I didn't think like I'm actually starting a music career, but here we are. So amazing.
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Okay. I have so many questions because I want to, I want to move with two parallel things. One, I know Loulita Gill, who is an agency owner, a founder who helped businesses grow at the same time.
I know a Loulita who sings and writes songs and is an artist. And, uh, these are two very different things, uh, what I believe. So the first question is which one is your bread and butter and which one is your passion?
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Okay. So my graphic design business is definitely my bread and butter, but music is my passion.
(7:26 - 7:35)
So, okay. Let's now move to the founder, Loulita Gill. How did you find it?
Your, uh, Loulita Gill design agency.
(7:35 - 8:12)
Okay. So I was actually working for my father in his, um, design department in, in the church. And, um, I had been there for quite a long time.
And I kind of wanted the freedom to be able to work for whoever I wanted to work for, because we didn't really have that freedom. You know, you had to work for the clients that were coming in. Um, and so I decided, um, to leave and to start my own business.
And I literally started with one little Mac computer and, um, no clients.
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Of course, no clients.
(8:14 - 8:28)
No clients. I started, well, I think I had one friend who asked me to do something, you know, some work for her husband, but that was about it. Like I literally had zero clients.
So I built it from scratch and that I started 14 years ago.
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14 years ago. So how, how did you end up on your first client? Just a short story about it.
(8:35 - 8:56)
Um, well, I think there was one of my clients who I still do a bit of work for now. He'd heard that I'd left, um, this, you know, that the church, um, design, I guess, agency. Um, so he heard that I left and then he contacted me and asked me whether I would do some work for him.
And, you know, he gave me quite a lot of business, which I was really grateful for at the time. So, yeah.
(8:57 - 9:41)
Amazing. Amazing. Again, coming back to Loulita Gill, the artist.
I was, I was going through your YouTube. I was going through, uh, it's, it's like, uh, whenever I host a guest, I try to research about them as much as possible. Just to let you know, I was very impressed by going through your videos.
And I literally, I knew you were a singer, but I never knew you sang so well. I saw some of your performances. I saw some of the, uh, music and I was really impressed.
So, um, you mentioned a now or never moment that led to your debut album. So what was that turning point?
(9:42 - 10:15)
Well, it was when I was working late one night. Um, like, cause you know, when you're self-employed and you're a graphic designer and you work from home, you work all hours, crazy hours sometimes. And so I was working late one night and I just was like, I need to do something with this music.
So that was my moment. And I thought to myself at the time, if I don't do something with it now, I don't think I ever will. So that's when I got in touch with the guy who, um, you know, he, he, he runs a production agency and I asked him if I could go and play one of my songs.
And that for me was the turning point.
(10:16 - 10:22)
And was there any difficulty pursuing it when it comes to the family or stuff like that?
(10:22 - 10:40)
Um, not really, because my husband is so supportive of me. So, you know, um, I knew that if I pursued this, he was going to be behind me and he really wanted me to do well and to succeed. So I didn't have any hesitation chasing my dreams.
So he's very, he wants me to chase my dreams.
(10:41 - 11:54)
So that I can see very clearly you're pursuing two, two different careers and a lazy person cannot, cannot even imagine doing that. Being a singer, which is a time consuming thing as well. And then being an agency owner, both are extremely time consuming and need your undivided attention.
Exactly. I'm, I'm not a singer, but I, uh, I'm a CEO of an IT company, but I always wanted to be a singer by the way. I always, you know, actually the problem, the only problem is I don't have a good voice.
That's the only problem when it comes to it. And I still remember my mother used to say like, she used to say it in a very lovely way that my son has everything. He just doesn't have a good voice.
Mom, are you complimenting me or what? And she was like, no, I'm complimenting you, but you don't sing well. Whenever you sing in the washroom, it's, it's pathetic.
So I remained a washroom singer only, and I sang while taking a bath only. And I always, when I was a kid, I used to have a, you know, badminton racket. I used to make it on a bat with a guitar.
And, you know, I used to imagine that I would be singing to a girl or someone, but I tried, but I don't have a good voice.
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But you could have pursued playing an instrument.
(11:58 - 12:13)
Yes, but, uh, it, it wouldn't be nice. I'm just playing the instrument.
Someone else is getting all the credit because I see people playing the instruments and the other is a singer.
And, you know, even when it's a band, who is leading the band?
(12:13 - 12:19)
The singer and the others are like, it's so funny. I love that.
(12:20 - 12:44)
That's true. So that's why I said, okay, let's, let's not be that. Let's, let's be, let's, let's run a company and become a businessman.
So eventually it's time consuming. And I, I, I'm really impressed how, how you manage both. And when it comes to singing, do you practice?
Like how, like, do you need to remain in practice? How does it work?
(12:44 - 13:45)
Yeah, I mean, I've been going for singing lessons probably for the last 20 plus years. So, you know, I think it's very important to, especially when you're a vocalist, to make sure that you look after your vocals, because if you want to have longevity in the industry, you need to look after your vocal cords. Because if you have bad technique, you can damage your vocal cords.
And it just means that you shorten your career. So I've been going to singing lessons for a long time. And yeah, I mean, I do practice.
And because I'm just doing events all the time, I think like, obviously, you know, you keep, you keep working on your vocals. But yeah, for me, because I've gone for singing lessons and I've really invested into my voice, my technique's pretty good. So yeah, you know, I think it's good to look after that.
I think it's the same with any, even if you're running a business or something, you have to continually learn, isn't it? Grow, develop.
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I completely understand. I completely understand. Okay, Lalita, when again, it comes on Lalita Gill Design, how do you approach your design projects?
And what's your process in bringing your brands to life?
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Well, normally when I get somebody that contacts me about wanting to kind of either upgrade their branding or upgrade their site, the first thing I do is just have a meeting with them and just talk to them and find out what it is that they're trying to achieve. You know, kind of what vision that they have for their branding. A lot of clients will say, oh, I have no idea.
But actually they have an idea. They know exactly what they want. And so that for me is my process of discovery to try and figure out what it is that they want.
And then yeah, just take them through the process of how I work in terms of whether I was going to build them, you know, branding through like a logo design or a complete brand guide to building a website. And so, yeah, when they come and inquire from me, I interview them basically, ask them loads of questions, give them an estimate and then we crack on and we work together. And it's actually just been amazing because so many of my clients have come back to me and said, you know, I don't know how you do it, but it's like you are in my mind.
You've seen exactly what I want and you've been able to kind of bring it to life. And I think part of that is also just having a gift, isn't it?
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Of course. I completely agree. Let's talk about Wix Marketplace
How long have you been in Wix Marketplace?
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I have no idea.
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It's been so long.
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It's been a long time. Gosh, Wix Marketplace. I must've been in the marketplace.
I don't know. When did Wix Marketplace even start? Do you know?
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I don't remember. I think we were one of the first people.
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That's what I feel.
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I feel like we were one of those batches. We were first.
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How long have you been in the marketplace then?
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Seven, eight years maybe?
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Yeah, I think so. Same here.
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Seven, eight years. And for a very long time, I didn't even know it existed. And then I came to know it existed and then it took, and then we started helping.
Do you know we even help other Wix partners? We have so many Wix partners with us. And we help them grow their Wix Marketplace, grow their lead and stuff.
So I don't even remember how long it has been. So how do you choose Wix? Like you were a graphic designer.
What was that moment when you came to Wix? Like you could have done in something else as well. Like you have Shopify maybe or Webflow maybe.
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Do you know, I've never, because I've, I don't really know coding very well, I used to build like when I first started designing websites. I mean, I built them from scratch using HTML code, very basic websites. But I didn't know coding very well.
And I think with Wix, it kind of gave me the opportunity to be able to design without having really in-depth code knowledge. And to be honest, I have, I cannot remember how I got into designing websites on Wix. But all I can remember is that when I started designing websites on Wix, I felt like they were making it really easy for me to do that.
And because I've got a lot of like design ideas, it was then easy to translate that into websites. And that's kind of like why I started on the platform and then stuck with the platform. So yeah, that's kind of how I got into Wix.
But I don't remember the specifics. Can't remember. And I can't even remember which is the first website I ever did on Wix.
No idea.
(17:30 - 18:10)
Amazing, amazing. And I noticed between almost all the questions, you mentioned your husband again and again. And we usually hear that every successful man has a woman behind him.
So can I say that here, behind a successful woman, there is a man. So I think your husband changed that saying. And that's amazing.
And I'm really happy to hear because whenever someone praises your husband, I don't know, I feel proud being a man. Then I'm like, okay, my man is doing a good job over there.
(18:13 - 18:14)
Amazing.
(18:15 - 18:34)
Okay, Loulita, what are your future plans with your music and your design agency? And are you... Because I know the music, it's not gonna end.
It's your passion. But is there anything where you want to be? Do you have any goal or you're like, just go with the flow?
(18:35 - 18:37)
I mean, I would love to sing in a Disney movie.
(18:39 - 18:39)
Amazing.
(18:40 - 18:48)
Because everybody tells me I sound like a Disney princess when I sing. So I'm like, you know, well, why couldn't I do a Disney movie? That would be amazing.
That would be fun.
(18:48 - 18:48)
Yeah.
(18:51 - 21:13)
I don't think, you know, it can be really difficult when you're in the music industry not to fall into the trap of trying to be rich and famous. You know, like a lot of people go into the music industry because they want to be famous. They want to be rich.
But I don't think I ever really did it for that reason. I think I did it more because I want to impact people's lives. And so, you know, I just want to keep serving with my gift, serving my community.
And for example, like this year, I'm saying this year, this month, my singing teacher and I were going to go and do concerts in care homes. So, you know, where they look after the elderly, senior citizens. And we're going to go and bring some joy to these people.
There's some people there that will have been, you know, either neglected by their families or just feeling really lonely at this time in Christmas or struggling with health issues or, you know, just having a bit of a hard time. So we just want to go and bring joy. So, you know, I want to keep doing stuff like that.
If you say, what's your goal, just to keep impacting my community, keep positively bringing change and inspiring people and giving people hope for their lives. You know, in terms of my design business, I don't really know. I just, I'm kind of really happy with where things are at the moment in terms of maintaining, just maintaining my business kind of where it is.
It's doing really well. And I've got loads of clients and I keep getting new ones. And, you know, I'm still servicing clients from like 10 years ago.
So, yeah, I don't think I've got any sort of major plans to grow it into this huge agency or anything like that, because I just don't have the time. And like, it's not my passion, you know, but it pays my bills. And so I want to just keep doing a really brilliant job at that and keep servicing clients very well and keep learning and growing in my development and my abilities within, you know, within the design world.
Because I know things are changing so much. And with AI, it's all changing everything. So you have to keep up with the times in order to service your clients well.
So it's constant development. I want, that's probably part of my plans, just to keep developing myself and my skills.
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Loulita, I believe it's time to end the podcast now because, yeah, we, I really had an amazing conversation with you.
(21:24 - 21:25)
Likewise.
(21:26 - 22:02)
Thank you so much for your time. And it was amazing to know about your journey and everything, your passion for music and life is truly inspiring. And I would also like to thank you, our listeners, for tuning in.
And I would like to remind them to subscribe to Strugbits Unplugged for more amazing episodes. And one last time, I would like to know if there would be one advice which you would like to give to our listeners, what would that be?
(22:03 - 22:08)
I think one piece of advice I would give to listeners is never be afraid to ask for help.
(22:08 - 22:11)
Beautiful. Thank you very much, Loulita.
(22:12 - 22:13)
Thank you so much.
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You don't even have that electric heart.
(22:17 - 22:17)
Yeah, exactly.
(22:18 - 22:20)
Yeah, I don't even have an electric heart.
(22:20 - 22:24)
Yeah, not yet, not yet.
