Daniele Pais is managing DP – digital print Phuket which is a small firm made by international freelancers permanently living on the sunny island of Phuket (South of Thailand). DP – Phuket Web Design, (also known as digital print) has an assortment of creative people to count on and takes care of a wide spectrum of projects that encompass the front-end design and development for websites, the design of logos and graphics, and also audio and video editing.
Pro Media Mag
First of all tell us a bit about yourself, who you are and what you do, just a brief introduction.
Daniele Pais
Sure. First, tanks for having me here today, it feels great, as for myself, I am now an entrepreneur digital designer but I have not always been. In the past I have traveled extensively and stop for as little as three months to as much as several years in countries such as US, UK, Bermuda, Cayman islands, Japan, Hong Kong, Alaska, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and maybe even more. if you think that’s a lot, wait, as those are the place I have “lived”, I can’t even recall all the other places I have been to but name one… ad I probably been there even if it wasn’t for a long time.
Pro Media Mag
How did you sustain yourself when traveling?
Daniele Pais
I did start working in the hospitality business in general and grow up until I got to a managerial level, my passion though had always been for digital design and technology in general so I was taking side jobs and developing websites or designing brochures, logos, banners etc. for my employers or for friends and family. I did this for a long time and I got to a point that I had so much work on the design plate that I started considering if it was perhaps time to start a career on that only. However in the meantime I had got married and had a daughter so, I wasn’t going to risk a possible failure as a “solopreneur” and instead accepted an opportunity for a job with a major Electronics Retailer that was looking for a Staff Trainer. From that point onwards I have not worked in Hospitality anymore.
Pro Media Mag
Wow, that’s a change. How did you manage to go from one type of work to a completely different one?
Daniele Pais
Actually, if you look at it closely, there is a major similarity. During my past experiences working in Hospitality I have learned how to deal with people, clients, staff, management, company owners and so on. So the only thing that really changed is that the new job was about electronics and other related products and services, however, as I had already a good experience on training staff in the hospitality industry, I just made a few adjustments and did the same job for this new enterprise. There I had also the chance to further my studies and I have to thank the company for giving me this amazing opportunity. During my time with this new job I was given free time to study and some of the courses were actually sponsored from them. so that is when I got my specializations in CSS / HTML / JavaScript/ Design with the Adobe Suite and so on.
Pro Media Mag
That’s great, you have been given a chance to “upgrade” your skills. Did this bring you any good new experiences?
Daniele Pais
Absolutely, first of all I met with many interesting characters and started to feel more integrated i the designers community we had then and there. But one of the best things it actually happened at that point in time is that my company was hosting the so called “Make Fair”, these are very common today but before were a novelty. In any case, I was among those selected to be part of this amazing week-ends in which we would setup a stand and star demonstrating some of the coolest gadgets such as drones or VR technology and …you better believe it in those years that was almost science fiction. anyway, in one of this fairs I was approached by a Mobile Phones Firm that was on the lookout for a trainers too…I took the job a month later. This time I was training the staff in Mobile technology and also dedicating time to teach and help the clients via an online booking system were users could schedule a one to one meeting of 30 minutes and ask anything. I believe this is now done by the “Apple Geniuses” but at the time we were probably the only one doing it…and we were not “geniuses”…but we were called….”gurus”.
Pro Media Mag
Marvelous, I guess our readers have now a great idea of your past experience, however, please allow me on the question, as this comes natural after listening to your conversation. How on earth did you manage the transition from the busy hustle of a metropolitan city such as London to the quiet and lay-back life in the island of Phuket down the very south of Thailand?
Daniele Pais
You are not the only one who’s asked me this. The people who knew me before are normally quite baffled to see or knowing how am I doing now. For me, as I was anyway used to travel a lot it wasn’t so bad…I only had to teach my Wife and Daughter how to sell everything and move to another Country 🙂
Pro Media Mag
Are they always supportive on this?
Daniele Pais
Well, maybe the first time wasn’t that easy, imagine my daughter having to say goodbye to her friends and school mates to go in a completely different country were they speak a totally different language and yeah, they have completely different culture. But all in all everyone settled down pretty good and if you ask them now to live to go back to London they would never want to do it.
Pro Media Mag
So it is my understanding that from that point on (from when you went to Thailand) you started your “solopreneur” career? Is that right?
Daniele Pais
Yes, absolutely, as I mentioned before, it was something I wanted to do for a long time but never really ad the courage or even the real possibility to do it. Once I got here, I toke a big step and finally managed to do what I had envisioned from many years before: dedicate all my time to Web and Graphics Design. Despite a few attempts at working in local design firms at the very beginning I went “solo” 100% when I realized that was then or never.
Pro Media Mag
How did you manage to find your first clients?
Daniele Pais
Good call. At the beginning I wasn’t going to have any work for clients so I started preparing the foundations of the business by designing and developing a business website, a blog, all the advertising material, an invoicing system, customer relationship management suite, email server, design my own templates, preparing the services and plans and so many other things of this kind.
Pro Media Mag
OK you got ready to work, and then?
Daniele Pais
Then I started an advertising campaign in all major classifieds in the Island, however, that did not go so well as I was entering an already crowded arena so I expanded my advertising efforts in other regions of the South East Asia such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia etc. I know you might want to ask…did that work? Well not as I had planned but yes, it did start the ball rolling. From that massive effort I got a few clients which over time in turn they got me some other business and so and so.
Pro Media Mag
Our last question is directly for our readers. If you had to give a suggestion for someone who’s starting today as you did many years ago or that is still in the “thinking of doing it” stages. What would you say to them?
Daniele Pais
I would say this: If you always wanted but never did it, and you know you feel it is where your heart is…then don’t waste precious time and do it. If you don’t do it you’ll probably regret it one way or another. If you do it and it fails, hey, at least you have tried and it is important to know that not everyone is successful at the first attempt. I have personally failed in many other things in the past but that doesn’t mean I have stop and did not try anything else. Failing is not a problem, that is only something that must be reviewed, re-done, perfected. The real problem is when we are so fearful of what the outcome could be if it goes wrong and we are not allowing ourself on trying on doing something. Believe it, for me, every failure is a an additional reason for trying again, and let me tell you this last thing for your readers. when you finally achieve whatever is that you are trying to …. than the reward in terms of personal gratification is priceless!
