Jane Larsen
We sat down with Women to Women Network member Jane Larsen, owner of Jane Ink, and here’s what she had to say…
Who are your clients/customers?
I work with various business types, but the majority of my clients are active business owners who don’t have spare time. They let us know what tasks need to be completed in the graphic design, printing, and promotional product realms, and we take care of the rest.
How do you help your clients/customers?
First, we listen and assess our customer’s needs, and we ask a lot of questions to get to the heart of exactly what they want. We have a great production system that gives customers a visual presentation of various products they can choose from based on their needs.
What brought you to this line of work?
I grew up in a print shop! My dad sold promotional products, and we published a weekly newspaper for our small community in Wisconsin, The Marion Advertiser. I was working in the family shop when I was just seven years old and that’s when I began my education in marketing. As soon as I could take a typing class, I was learning how to type to help with our paper. I always loved seeing how ads came together. It all started with a linotype, but it’s changed so much. I grew with design as technology evolved, and now I use the best professional design tools available, Adobe Creative Cloud.
What brings you the most joy in your business?
When I deliver a product that my customer loves, it brings me joy. There is nothing better than hearing the words, “it was in my head, and Jane put my idea on paper.” I love to get creative and design business cards that are different, out of the box. Enhancing products with print to make them stand out is something I’m passionate about. I have had so much fun taking projects like business cards to the next level with finishes like suede, raised foil, and raised spot UV.
What defines you/your business?
What sets us apart is that we are designers. My husband, Rob, and I work together full time, and he has a powerful technical background that helps us accomplish “impossible” things. We’re in the physical print world, and we have a deep understanding of how to adjust logos so that they print well. So often, logos have degraded over time, the original vector files have been lost and all that’s left is a low-resolution JPEG or PNG. We help people increase the quality of their logo to reflect their business’ professionalism.
What is the most important thing you want people to know about your business?
We strive to do a quality job, and we stand behind that. We work with thousands of suppliers and take care of all the details, so they don’t have to. We help our clients produce really outstanding logos and promotional items to represent their brand. It’s important to me to establish relationships with our clients built on caring and kindness. We always look out for their best interest.