Butchart of Santa Rosa’s Mikayla Butchart Illustration wins Forty Under 40 award

Notable Quote: “I run my own freelance design studio, so I am responsible for all of the content creation and creative direction (design and illustration) as well as all the tasks associated with running my own business (administration, marketing, and in recent cases leading a volunteer staff of 10).”

Other things about me...

Greatest professional challenge:

Having just moved back to my home town of Santa Rosa six months ago, after three years in New York City and a decade in San Francisco, my greatest recent challenge has been staying stimulated and connected to my industry in a quieter environment. My ability to carve out a niche for myself in Sonoma County, however, and to connect with other professionals and industries through my work has far exceeded my expectations--and perhaps even what the Bay Area and New York had to offer. Certainly my greatest specific professional challenge to date was scaling up my Rose-ilience fund-raising program in response to demand. Within the first days of the fires I designed an image inspired by the Santa Rosa community to be sold as an enamel pin to raise funds for fire relief. As the project immediately went viral and scaled 10,000% over expectation, my business plan, volunteer staff, and operation had to scale with it in a matter of days.

Quick Takes

What you wanted to be when you grew up?

An artist, writer, and teacher

#1 thing you want to accomplish by the time you turn 40:

I would like to have at least one of my illustrated books published, preferably more by then!

Typical day at the office:

8 a.m. - 8 p.m. 7 days/week. Eat the frogs first (phone calls, emails), complete deadlines second, then meetings and/or new projects/creative development until the day feels done

Show Comment