In The Biz: Janina Victoria, Artist & Designer
Updated: Aug 21, 2021
On the blog series today we have the brilliant and creative soul, Janina Victoria.
I have known Janina since about 2010 (it might even be earlier!) when she was one of my youth leaders. We immediately bonded over our love of Lord of the Rings - the gal has good taste - and we've been friends ever since! I've always been a bit awestruck by Janina's ability to put her creativity and artistic flair into everything she does. She's possibly one of the most fashionable people I know, and I envy her style all the freaking time! I'm also hugely in awe of her watercolour work, and even have one of her pieces hanging on my wall!
Janina is based in the UK in London, and is a full time designer and creative director for Media Collective London X Hillsong London, and runs her watercolour artistry on the side through Janina Victoria Design. She just oozes creativity!
Find Janina Victoria Design online!
You can check out her business Janina Victoria Design on Instagram and her website!
IG: @janinavictoria
Web: http://www.janinavictoria.co
How long have you been running your business for? And what is your business about?
I’m a London based watercolour artist, working full-time as designer and creative director and running my art on the side. I’ve been painting proper since 2012.
What made you decide to go down the path of running your own small business?
There’s something beautiful about creating something from scratch that didn’t exist before. I love painting, because I can pour something on paper that only existed before in my imagination and as an artist I get to share what I see with the world around me. When people resonate with my work and want to buy some pieces for their home it literally means so much to me.
Do you ever feel pressure to be “killing it” on social media? i.e. - do the number of likes or comments impact you?
Haha yes, all the time. I’m extremely critical with myself and I have a love hate relationship with the Instagram algorithm. I don’t ever take it personal though or see it as a reflection of how people genuinely feel about my work. When I don’t receive many likes for a post, I know it’s because of how the algorithm is set up. The way to beat the algorithm is by making sure your audience is engaging with your post – so getting those comments, reshares and saves in. Likes don’t matter too much anymore these days. The more engagement your posts get, the longer it stays in rotation and pops up on people’s explore page. And hashtags are your greatest friend! That way people who don’t follow you can find your work.
"Learn to trust yourself. You’ve got a spirit an