Mardi Miskit
Q What do you do?
“I’m a Squarespace Designer and also a Chef, Photographer, and Reiki Practitioner (I’ve found space to pursue all of the things I love!)”
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
By diving into many things and then ultimately realizing I could do them all! At a certain point I decided to stop judging myself for exploring so many different paths. I’ve found space in my life to pursue all of the things I love because designing, photography, cooking, and reiki are all creative outlets that energize and excite me.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
I’ve been in the creative world throughout my entire career—from photography to marketing and brand work (to cooking!)—and I bring my creative and marketing background to every project. This includes thinking through the UX/UI of a website, optimizing sites for conversion, and implementing SEO.
I know the clientele I love to work with and tend to attract fellow creatives for Squarespace projects and these the passionate, brilliant clients inspire me in return! I love working with CSS to create unique elements not offered with basic Squarespace templates.
As a Squarespace Circle & Marketplace Expert, I’m able to provide clients with plan, domain, and Google Suite discounts, longer trial periods, and optimized customer support.
Q What are you working on right now?
A few fun sites! One for a writer/editor who wants to build a portfolio site representing her vast experience. I sort of love when clients come to me with a huge portfolio and no idea how to organize it. That's part of my job as a designer—I look at everything you provide to me and curate it into an easy to digest website. I'm also working on a site for an incredible children's school in Bali that approaches education with the idea that children are competent enough to take learning into their own hands. As a Montessori kid myself, this was definitely a project that excited me. I love that my clients come from all over the world. I've worked with people in Singapore, Australia, the UK, and all over the US!
Q What’s your style?
I'd say the sites I also took the photographs for probably represent me best:
shellsloft.com
shellslofthome.com
brooklynforkandspoon.com
Generally I lean towards a very clean aesthetic, like risinglotuscenter.com, which was also a fun project to work on.
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
Cooking! I LOVE designing Squarespace sites, but if we're getting real, cooking is my true passion. Even when I'm not cooking professionally (usually catering or hosting a supper club), I find time in between site builds and other work to cook at home.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
At the moment, things are flowing pretty nicely, but sometimes I'm waiting on clients to deliver assets for their site and that can cause a funky balance when taking on new projects.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
Oooh though one. I'm not sure about this one! But real talk: at the moment I'm limited in how long I can stand/walk because of a gnarly herniated disc, so I need help with everything! As someone who is used to being super independent, it's been a huge lesson in learning to ask for help.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
I wish I could have told myself earlier on that switching career paths often is ok and actually really awesome. It's allowed me to figure out what I love (and what I really don't love) and navigate finding space for it all.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
Probably film editing! I dabbled in this back in the day, but I'd love to start dabbling again.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
Squarespace site builds and updates for creatives and fun brands
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
I'd say there are two types of ideal clients:
1. A client who has already nailed down their branding (logo, visual assets, copy) and it aligns with my aesthetic. That kind of alignment is super exciting and makes the collaborations and site build really fun.
2. A client who has an idea of what they want but doesn't know how to organize it into a digestible site. It's sort of like figuring out a puzzle, which I think I have the brain for because I get really into it.
Q What is your rate?
My Squarespace site builds typically start at $2000 for a simple, 5-6 page site. Every client is a custom quote and pricing depends upon the scope of work. Depending upon the project, I'm open to working with folks on tighter budget.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
mardimiskit.com/contact
hello@mardimiskit.com if you're not into forms
After initial outreach, I usually schedule a quick call/zoom to get a better understanding of the project and scope of work so I can provide a quote.
Always helpful to know:
-Who are you? Tell me a bit about yourself!
-What the project is
-Do you have assets prepared (logo, visual assets, copy)?
-What's your timeline?
-Budget if you have an idea
-If e-commerce, how many products and what's your plan for shipping/pickup?
-Do you need Squarespace Scheduling / Member Areas?
-Hilarious GIFS welcome!
Q Who is a creative you admire?
My friend Corey is an amazing photog and just all around awesome human. He's also a pro at building things, as in tables and bookshelves, and entire spaces.
coreytowers.com
hoofphoto.com/new-gallery
My gal Robin is an all around amazing brand/content/marketing pro: robinreetz.com
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Answering with cooking again! It really gets me into the creative zone. Also, getting inspired by browsing work from other creatives.
This member profile was originally published in January 2023.