HelloInterview: Meet Erin Freedman – Outdoor Enthusiast, Graphic Designer, and Pinterest Influencer!
Meet Erin Freedman from the Northern Virginia area, just outside of Washington, D.C. She’s an East Coast girl with a West Coast heart. Erin works as a graphic designer specializing in user experience and web design. She lives with her husband, 14-month-old daughter, and their two cats. She loves being outdoors as much as possible. When she’s not working or on Pinterest, Erin can often be found hiking, mountain biking, running, or doing fun activities with her daughter, who’s at her “Energizer Bunny” stage so each day is a new adventure!
“I’m also deeply, madly in love with skiing and spend 80% of the summer daydreaming about fresh powder and counting down the days until the next ski season.”
Erin’s passion for fashion, graphic design, cooking, travel, outdoor activities, and her love of being a mom has earned her over 643k Pinterest followers!
When did you start using Pinterest and what inspired you to make an account?
I can’t even remember it’s been so long! I was using it while it was still in beta and literally no one had even heard of it. Initially I used it as a visual bookmarking system for all of the links I had kept for my design work. It was such a nightmare to try and figure out what or why I bookmarked something because there was no visual clue. Pinterest made my own design process 100x faster.
Why do you like Pinterest?
Pinterest is a visual representation of all the things I want to remember. I love that I can pin something now that I might not immediately need. It will always be present as a photo which jogs my memory much more than text. Someday I’ll say to myself, “I wish I could remember that article I wanted to read or that army jacket I wanted to get for next fall.”
I also enjoy seeing what inspires other people. It’s genuinely fascinating to see what people respond to – like an ugly christmas sweater I pinned as a joke. I like that the Pinterest platform fosters a creative spirit. I use secret boards to collaborate on projects with other designers. I’ve also realized that I use Pinterest’s search rather than Google for certain topics where I know the visual results will be more helpful.
You have gained over 641k Pinterest followers! That is amazing. What makes your Pinterest unique?
I believe it has a lot to do with the broad range of topics that interest me and the boards I create based on those. I likely attract people from different audiences that I strive to stay engaged with. I’m pretty consistent about pinning so there’s a certain expectation that you’ll see something from me end up in your feed on a daily basis. I try and pin vertical images 99% of the time which users are more drawn to. Most importantly, I strive to maintain an approachable and authentic persona that I hope people can find relatable.
Are you from the Washington, DC area originally? What do you like about it there?
I’m originally from a small town in Northwestern Pennsylvania – the kind of town where it wasn’t uncommon to see tractors driving down the road. We’d get four feet of snow in the winter and school would still not be canceled. I couldn’t wait to get out and go to college in DC. Although now that I’m older and have a family I find myself fantasizing about the simplicity of living in a small town. And by simple I mean less traffic. I hate traffic. I mean like really, really, hate traffic.
What are your favorite places you’ve traveled to?
Hands down, my all-time favorite place is Switzerland. I did a roadtrip in the summer of 2012. It’s such an amazing visual and physical experience. We hiked and biked amongst landscapes that felt so unreal.
Costa Rica also ranks pretty high on my list. I’ve been up and down the Pacific coast and enjoyed staying in all the tiny little beach towns. It’s the kind of place where you can literally pack a bathing suit and coverup and you’ll be good to go… for weeks.
I also really love Utah. I go skiing there every winter but have also visited a lot of the National Parks in the southern part of the state. Sometimes I just can’t believe that scenery like that even exists.
What are your favorite Pinterest boards to pin onto and why?
I gain the most inspiration from my Outdoor Pursuits board. It definitely motivates me to make the most of every day and enjoy the simple things in life. My most useful board is Tried and True recipes. It’s like an updated version of the plastic recipe box my mom used to pull out every week when dinnertime rolled around. My most colorful board is Pretty Little Scenes. For some reason I just love collecting these vibrant little vignettes. I’m looking forward to trying out all of the playtime ideas on I don’t want to grow up.
Your Summer Style board is so fun! We also really enjoy your Party Ideas & Decor board. Tell us more about these boards and why you made them!
There’s a little part of Martha Stewart hiding inside of me. I like to craft a story around every party and focus on all the little details that make it feel special and unique. Summer Style grew out of my own personal wardrobe rut. I had unconsciously developed a uniform of solid shorts and tees. Dressing in the summer should be easy, breezy and without too much thought. It should be fun, vibrant, and full of color. I paired outfits with quintessential summer moments to remind myself to savor every minute before fall sets in.
What is your Pinterest style?
I pin mostly vertical images because there’s a crazy part of me that likes to see everything line up evenly. I love images that contain different hues of one color. I like to focus on close up details shots and try to avoid pinning images of products on a white background – there’s nothing inspirational about those. When appropriate, I’ll combine photos of clothing to showcase the front and back of a piece if there are special details to highlight. I try to mix up my pins with a heavy dose of inspirational photos along with products, ideas and tips.
Tell us more about your passion for graphic design! How long have you been doing design? What got you interested in that?
I’ve been a graphic designer for 15 years, which feels crazy to even say. I love that design is such an evolutionary process and spans across so many aspects of our daily lives. There’s always some new angle to be exploring. I’ve always been a visual person and remember as a child being consumed by coloring, painting, taking photos and making my own fonts… aka bubble letters. Originally I went to school for Broadcast Journalism. My parents didn’t have the heart to squash my dreams of being the next E! correspondent. An internship at a creative firm in London opened my mind to putting my interest in creative endeavors to real-world use.
Tell us more about your other passions and interests!
So many and such little time! In addition to all the fun outdoor stuff like camping, kayaking and biking, I love photography and just wandering around taking pictures. I like to create little photo challenges for myself to stay motivated and learn new skills. Last year I took a floral arrangement class which turned out to be an amazing creative outlet. I just started Crossfit this summer which I’m absolutely loving. I thrive on the intensity and camaraderie. I wish I had more time to read. I’m obsessed with biographies, memoirs and personal accounts of everything from mountain climbing disasters, celebrity rehab stories and the financial meltdown in 2009. I know… so random!
What are your plans and hopes for the future?
I’d like to work up the nerve to travel back to Europe… with a toddler! I hope to have a healthy, happy family and enjoy living more in the moment. I’m really looking forward to art projects with my daughter and new business opportunities that take me out of my comfort zone. One day I’d like to cross a few items off my bucket list like hiking to the Everest base camp and heli-skiing in British Columbia.
Connect with Erin!
