Anna Hafsteinsson
Anna is a freelance stylist and writer with a passion for food, interiors and travel. She helps to bring brands and businesses to life through images, words, styling & event production.
With a degree in literature, a background in marketing and a strong visual aesthetic, Anna can help bring vibrancy to the words and imagery that represent your business.
Whether you’re a food brand looking to create striking visual content that will help you connect with your audience across your digital channels, a lifestyle business in need of a creative eye to help style products for market and keep your written content fresh, or a growing brand or individual with an idea for an intimate event or dinner to connect with your clients (or just impress your friends and family!) Anna can help.
“I love helping clients bring their ideas to life in a way that resonates with their ideal customer."
Tell us about your path to setting up your business and what motivated you?
My path to becoming a freelance stylist and writer has been a winding one. After graduating with a literature degree from Edinburgh Uni, I worked for big name ad agencies WPP and Ogilvy & Mather in London. I enjoyed the buzz of the industry, but often felt like a cog in the wheel. I longed to do something more creative and hands on where I could help clients tell their stories more directly.
I moved from ‘Ad Land’ to the French Alps where I spent an amazing six months working as a chalet host. It was six months of hard graft - but also a lot of fun. It was a chance to hone my people skills (crucial as a freelancer!) breath in some fresh mountain air and consider my next move.
Heading back to Jersey, I landed a job with Clink Hostels, a company doing some really exciting things in the Youth Accommodation Sector. I spent a brilliant three years there, managing the brand and creating content for its young, travel savvy audience.
At this time I also set up Jersey’s first supper club ‘The Bean Pot’. It was something very new for Jersey and it initially took some persuading to get folks to turn up for a dinner with strangers. But it is now a great success. It combines lots of things I love – sourcing fantastic local produce, getting creative in my kitchen, meeting and welcoming new people, and putting together an evening that guests will long remember. For the most part, the supper club has been something I just do for fun, but I’ve also enjoyed working on some collaborations like a dinner I cooked, styled and hosted for press guests of Visit Jersey to promote locally grown Tenderstem broccoli.
It was during the early days of The Bean Pot that I started to work with my brilliant photographer friend Holly Smith to create imagery to promote upcoming dinners. I love the creativity involved in these kinds of projects. From developing the initial idea or recipe for a dish, to creating a concept for the shoot, sourcing the props and, finally, seeing it all come together - it's a great feeling. After building up a solid portfolio of personal work, I felt confident enough to start styling for clients and have been lucky to work with some great local brands on food, lifestyle and interiors shoots, along with styling for small dinners and events. This is my favourite kind of work so if there are any food / lifestyle brands looking for someone to help them to create compelling imagery, or produce and style a memorable dinner then get in touch.
Holly and I have also hosted a number of Food Styling & Photography workshops, giving aspiring food creatives the chance to have a go at styling and shooting their own images in a relaxed and informal setting. I have also been dipping my toes into photography, with recent work undertaken for a Health and Fitness retreat in Marrakech. I’m learning as I go but I’m hoping to be able to offer this as part of my offering more officially soon!
Most recently I’ve been working part time as ArtHouse Jersey’s Marketing and Communications Manager alongside my freelance styling and writing work. I also create regular city guide content for Clink Hostels and, now that I’m freelancing full time, I am looking forward to taking on more copywriting work for them and others.
How do you work and what is a typical day like for you?
Ironically, I’ve finally found the time to write this introduction thanks to the COVID-19 lockdown. Now more than ever I’m trying to cultivate a good routine and healthy habits so that my work and home life don’t completely blend into one.
With the first signs of spring appearing, I’m embracing mornings more. If the weather is good I like to get out for a cycle and a sea swim, followed by a good cuppa and some warming porridge.
If I don’t have a shoot lined up I’ll usually work from home on my big desktop computer. I jot down a few priorities for the day and try to carve out at least a few uninterrupted hours, particularly if I’m working on a more substantial writing job. Occasionally, I’ll pop into town to work in one of the coffee shops if I need a change of scenery.
If I have a shoot coming up, I’ll have a call or meeting with the client and then work to put together a mood board and figure out if there are extra props that need to be sourced. Shoots vary from client to client but I like to take a flexible approach and play around with the set-up on the day.
I like to cook in the evening to unwind and find that’s when I get a lot of my best ideas.
What are the best parts about your business?
I love helping clients bring their ideas to life in a way that resonates with their ideal customer. Whether that’s through a simple but perfectly formed sentence, a striking image or an event that makes guests go ‘wow!’ - it all brings me a lot of joy.
What has been your greatest struggle as a business owner so far?
It was hard to know when the time was right to make the leap from full time employment and set up on my own. There is always that little voice inside your head that says you’re not good enough or that you won’t get any work which is scary. It’s early days for me as a business owner so I’m pretty sure plenty of struggles lie ahead, but I think you’ve just got to believe in what you’ve got to offer and go for it. Hard work, a bit of confidence, support from other freelancers all help in the mix.
What has been your biggest a-ha moment so far?
Probably the realisation that I don’t need to be tied to a desk between 9 and 5.30pm to make a living. It was only after I started working - and formed an idea of what I was really interested in - that my eyes were opened to the kind of things I could do. Of course, there is no escape from hard work and I think you probably work harder and longer as a freelancer, but you can make every day fun if you choose to - and having the freedom to be in my PJs, jump in the sea for a lunchtime surf, or sit under a shady tree with my laptop is pretty nice!
Do you have any advice for other small business owners?
I think it’s important not to compare yourself to others too much. With easy access to the profiles of so many other creatives it’s easy to feel like someone is doing something smarter or more interesting than you. Stick to your guns, do what feels right, care about what you do and you can’t go far wrong. Also don’t take on more than you can cope with or you will let clients down.
What currently inspires you?
I’ve found it really inspiring to see so many local businesses adapting their offerings or creating new products or services in response to the current pandemic-related restrictions we are facing. Jersey fishermen are finding a new local market through social media now that produce cannot be exported to France, many food businesses are changing their model to meet a demand for no-contact takeaway and delivery and digital agencies are developing platforms (like fetch.je) to support that. These are really challenging times for us all, but I think that creativity does often thrive under such conditions and, ultimately, we’ll emerge stronger as a community.
Anything else you would like to share?
Never forget to listen and respect the client’s knowledge of their business. I recently re-did my kitchen and found the approach of kitchen planners to be way off the mark. I respected their technical knowledge - but somehow they just did not seem to listen to what I wanted or needed. When they left I felt deflated. I never want clients to feel like that. Sorry kitchen planners. I know there are exceptions out there and I was probably just unlucky!
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