Episode 168
This week, we're chatting with Kate Zeitler, founder of Zeitler Design — the creative agency behind A Day in Her Life's own rebrand — who runs her studio on an "intensive model," taking on just one client at a time. Kate shares what it's like to build an entire brand and website in a single week, raise three kids in Natick, Massachusetts, and still make it to oil painting class twice a week.
In this week’s conversation, Kate opens up about leaving a stalled retail career for night classes in design, growing Zeitler Design one referral at a time since 2014, and the framework behind building an entire brand and website in a single intensive week. We talk about the chore system that finally stuck after many failed attempts, using Claude and Figma to build award-winning-caliber websites in days instead of months, and why she'd rather have a blocked-off week than the extra income.
What We Cover:
Why she describes her days as intentional, creative, and connected — and how those words really do play out in her days
From seven years in retail merchandising to night classes at MassArt to freelance schedule cards for a yoga studio in 2014, and how referrals alone grew Zeitler Design into a studio with hundreds of past clients.
The Skylight chore system that finally stuck after six failed attempts, with star rewards the family cashes in together (150 stars: a trip to see Toy Story 5).
Her morning rhythm: Orange Theory or deep creative work before 6:30am, a dog walk with a cappuccino and a podcast, and not sitting down at her desk until 9:00.
Why she is intentional about scaling Zeitler Design, how it’s happened naturally as she’s had more capacity, and why she blocks her weeks when she know’s she’ll need it.
The twice-weekly oil painting classes she's kept on her calendar since 2020, and what she's learned painting alongside women decades older and younger than her.
What surprised her most about being a working mom, and the newest hobby she's taken up: rebinding her husband's paperback library into gold-debossed hardcovers.
Connect with Kate:
Instagram: @zeitlerdesign
Website: zeitlerdesign.com
References:
Be Present — the app she uses to shut down Instagram after 10 minutes and cut off email and social entirely by 9pm each night
Skylight — the family calendar-and-chores console that finally made a star-reward system stick after six failed attempts
Tuesday Nights (Milk Street) — the Boston chef's cookbook she turns to for fast, kid-approved dinners
One and Done — her go-to sheet-pan cookbook for one-dish family meals
Jura — the cappuccino maker she uses every morning as part of her walk-the-dog ritual
Listen and Review
More A Day In Her Life
