Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharon Dawkins.
Hi Sharon, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I didn’t set out to become a website designer. I’ve always loved art, and back in 1997, my dream was to attend the Art Institute of Philadelphia and become an animator. I couldn’t afford to go, though, so for a few years I wasn’t sure how I would turn something I loved into a career.
In 2001, I heard about web design and decided to give it a try. It seemed like a way to be creative while learning a skill I could build a future with. I enrolled in a one-year program, worked harder at school than I ever had before, and graduated at the top of my class. That surprised me as much as anyone. My instructor hired me to work on the website for his family’s business, and I started picking up a few other projects from there.
In 2004, I went on to work on the website for the Courier-Post, a Gannett-owned newspaper in Cherry Hill. I was there for about four years before becoming part of a mass layoff in 2008, during the recession. Suddenly, a lot of us were trying to figure out what came next. I knew I wanted to keep designing websites, so I began finding clients of my own. I continued doing that alongside other work, including a position working on the website for AAA South Jersey.
After my second son was born, I made the decision to work from home. He’s on the autism spectrum, and having more flexibility for our family was important to me. That was when Pixel Studio became my full-time work. I built it project by project while raising my sons, learning new platforms as they came along and finding my way through the ups and downs of running a business.
When I look back, I’m glad the first path I imagined wasn’t the only one available to me. Web design gave me a creative career, but it also gave me the freedom to shape my work around my family. I couldn’t have pictured all of that when I signed up for that one-year course.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road. One of my biggest challenges has been putting myself out there. I love designing websites, solving problems, and getting to know clients one on one. I’m comfortable talking with someone about their business and figuring out how I can help. Walking into a room full of people and introducing myself as a business owner is another story.
For a long time, most of my work came through word of mouth. I’m grateful for that, but it also meant I could focus on doing the work without thinking too much about marketing myself. As I’ve worked to grow Pixel Studio Designs, I’ve realized that being good at what I do and making sure people know I’m here are two different skills. I’m still working on the second one. Joining my local Chamber of Commerce is one step I’m taking, even though it’s outside my comfort zone.
Web design itself never stands still, either. The tools, coding practices, platforms, and expectations have changed enormously since I started. Keeping up takes time. But I’ve kept learning throughout my career, and that’s one of the things I enjoy about it. There’s always something new to figure out. I’ve also learned when a project would benefit from another specialist. If a client needs extensive custom programming or help writing their content, I can bring in someone with that expertise. To me, that’s part of doing right by the client: knowing what I can handle and knowing who to call when a project needs more.
Balancing work and family has taken some figuring out, too. Working from home gave me the flexibility I wanted while raising my sons, but running a business meant learning when to be available to clients and when to step away. That balance has become easier as my kids have gotten older.
We’ve been impressed with Pixel Studio Designs, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Pixel Studio Designs is the business I’ve built around two things I love: making things look good and figuring out how they work. I design and build websites for small businesses and organizations, whether someone is starting from scratch, has a site that no longer feels like them, or needs help making an existing site work better. I also help with graphic design, on-page SEO, and ongoing website maintenance. Sometimes a client needs a logo, a booklet, social media graphics, or an email campaign. I enjoy having a business where the creative work can take a lot of different forms.
On my website, I describe myself as “creative by nature, technical by choice.” That’s probably the simplest way to explain what sets me apart. I’ve always had an artist’s eye, but I also enjoy building the site and working through the technical side. Just as important to me is what happens when someone actually uses the website. Can they find what they’re looking for? Does the information make sense in the order it’s presented? Is it clear what they should do next? Organizing content and thinking through the user experience are parts of the work I genuinely love.
You can have a gorgeous website that doesn’t help a business get inquiries or sales. You can also have a site that checks every technical box but looks like a Word document and an Excel spreadsheet had a baby. I want both sides working together. The site should look and feel right for the business, be easy for people to use, and give visitors a reason to take the next step. “Style meets code” is a phrase I use on my website, and I love it because it captures that balance.
Over the years, I’ve built websites with WordPress, Squarespace, Shopify, Wix, Webflow, and other platforms, and I can hand-code a site when that makes sense for the project. I’m not attached to using one platform for everyone. I’d rather understand what someone needs, what they’ll be comfortable maintaining, and what will serve them well as their business grows. I do the design and build work myself, and when a project calls for a specialist, such as a content writer or someone doing extensive custom programming, I can bring in that expertise.
What’s most important to me, though, is the relationships I’ve built. I’ve had clients for years who feel more like working friends than people on the other side of a contract. We’ll talk about a website update, and then somehow we’re talking about our latest vacations, our children, our pets or whatever else is going on in our lives. That might sound like a small thing, but it means a lot to me. I like that we can be real people with each other, and that the relationship doesn’t end the day a website launches.
I also want people to know they don’t have to arrive with everything figured out. Some clients come to me with a complete picture of what they want, and I can help them bring it to life. Others know they need a website but have no idea where to begin. And some already have a website; they just know it isn’t working for them and aren’t sure why. I’m comfortable starting in any of those places. We can work through it step by step: what their business needs to say, how to organize the information, what the site should feel like, and what they want visitors to do when they get there. By the end, I want them to have a website they’re excited to show people, one that makes it easier for the right customers to find them and take the next step.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
One project people might not expect from a website designer was working with Chris Núñez on his tattoo aftercare product. I designed the website, but I also designed the front and back of the spray bottle and its packaging. I loved getting to work on something people would actually hold in their hands, not just see on a screen. It’s a good example of how my work sometimes wanders beyond websites, and honestly, it was just a really cool project to be part of.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://pixelstudiodesigns.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pixelstudiodesign
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sassafrascal/
