Female Founder Finds Community in Hartford

Veo Veo Owner and Creative Director Constanza Segovia spoke with MetroHartford Alliance Content Manager Nan Price about her experience as a Hartford-based female business owner.NAN PRICE: Tell us about Veo Veo.CONSTANZA SEGOVIA: Veo Veo is my bilingual independent graphic design and visual notetaking practice. We use visual communication as a tool to create change and envision a better future. Our focus is individuals and organizations working toward advancing equity, social justice, and increasing access to the arts.NAN: How did you get the background and skills necessary to run this type of business?CONSTANZA: I majored in Visual Communication Design from the Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford. For eight years, I worked as a designer for a small brand and strategy studio in Hartford, mostly working with nonprofit clients.About six years ago, I started developing my skills as a graphic facilitator and started getting more involved with community organizations in my city. With Veo Veo, I like to put all my visual communication skills to work in different ways, sometimes combining drawing and design, sometimes using drawing as a facilitation tool, sometimes using design to help communicate important changes that our community is demanding.NAN: What does being a business owner mean to you?CONSTANZA: It means having the flexibility to explore the work that truly excites me and the ability to turn down work that doesn’t align with my approach to communication.NAN: To what do you most attribute your success?CONSTANZA: I attribute my success to my community and the relationships I’ve nurtured through the years by being involved in improving our collective future.NAN: What role do women play in leadership/entrepreneurship?CONSTANZA: Women are the true visionaries. Most spaces I find myself in where true visioning is happening, where people are investing in passionate work… it’s all women. Every time.NAN: Why Hartford? What’s the best thing about living/working in the Greater Hartford region?CONSTANZA: Hartford is where I live and where I’ve made my home the past 10 years. I plan to be here for a long, long time. I get a lot of energy by working with my neighbors; it makes me feel like anything is possible.NAN: Any advice for others?CONSTANZA: I don’t love giving advice, but I like to practice something the author adrienne marie brown says in one of her books about visionary organizing, “Work at the speed of trust.”Learn more about Veo Veoveoveodesign.com | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter