Open Studio #8: Katie Cadwell Found the Best Career Advice at a Festival Bar, Not a Panel Talk.
Open Studio is a brand new podcast about what the creative industry's actually like. For the people in it, the people near it and the people still working out whether to jump in.
The best insight Katie Cadwell got at a design festival didn't come from the stage.
It came from a knot of other small studio founders comparing notes at the bar. In episode seven of Open Studio, the co-founder and creative director of Lucky Dip talks us through what actually helps when you're running your own studio, and it's rarely the thing on the agenda.
About Katie
Katie Cadwell is co-founder and creative director of Lucky Dip, a branding studio built on creativity and collaboration. Her background includes stints at Studio Koto and Dixon Baxi, and she runs Lucky Dip with co-founder Hattie.
The panel talk is optional.
The corridor conversation isn't.
At Off Festival in Barcelona, Katie found the formal talks weren't where the real value was.
"I found myself with lots of other small studio founders, discussing how we scale our teams and manage our projects better. It was enlightening to hear about others' experiences and challenges," she says.
Networking at these things isn't really about landing clients. It's about finding people solving the same unglamorous problems as you, and comparing notes. Having a co-founder in Hattie means Katie's never navigating those problems entirely alone either, someone else in the room has already hit the same wall.
Stop replicating someone else's success
With so many studios and so many established formulas floating around, it's tempting to copy what's already working for someone else. Katie's pushing the opposite.
"It's important to find your own version of what success looks like," she says.
The studio name is the proof of concept. Lucky Dip isn't a safe, descriptive name. It's a deliberate signal.
"We like working with different types of people and projects, and our name symbolizes that diversity," Katie explains.
No two days look the same. That's not a bug.
Running a studio isn't predictable, and Lucky Dip isn't trying to make it look that way. The team is fully remote, so they meet regularly for what they call a "dip in". A deliberate touchpoint to stay connected without forcing rigid structure onto the work.
"Every day looks completely different, and that keeps it fresh. We have various projects in different areas, which adds excitement to our work," Katie says.
Less structure, more variety and, according to Katie, that's exactly what keeps the creative work sharp.
Steal Katie's approach
- Go to the informal stuff, not just the panels. The most useful conversations happen off the agenda, not on it.
- Find your studio's version of success. Don't measure yourself against someone else's formula.
- Let your name do some of the work. A name that signals what you actually value attracts the right clients.
- Build connection into remote work deliberately. A regular, informal check-in beats forcing everyone back into an office to stay in sync.
Open Studio, made at Shillington. Episode 08, listen here.
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