Humor helps local entrepreneur find balance between work, home

By Catherine Amos

Published: November 29, 2008

Even if you have never met Kelly Rozwadowski, chances are you know her. Perhaps not by face or name, but by design.

Rozwadowski and her husband, Antony, own a graphic design business, K Art & Design, and are the people behind many local logos — from Pepperberries to Epiphany Catholic School.

Rozwadowski, a New Jersey native, is a three-year Culpeper resident. She and her husband work from home while raising two young children.

Much to her peers’ curiosity, Rozwadowski, who turns 34 on Monday, has learned to somehow find that balance between work and family under the same roof.

Those peers and fellow members of the Culpeper County Chamber of Commerce recently honored Rozwadowski, owner of K Art & Design, as the chamber’s first Young Professional of the Year.

“Not only is she unbelievably talented with graphic design,” said board member Chris Williams, who leads the chamber’s young professionals group, “but she can also balance work, home life and give quite a bit to the community. Apparently she has more hours in the day than I do. I don’t know how she does it all.”

According to Rozwadowski, a sense of humor is the secret. And working late nights.

“You can’t let the small things get to you,” she said. “Otherwise. you’ll just get hung up. I just don’t let it get under my skin, because it doesn’t help me any. I don’t know where that comes from. This crazy kind of lifestyle actually seems to suit me.

“I am looking forward to someday sleeping again,” she added, laughing. “But if that’s all I have to give up to have all the other things that I have in my life right now, I’m very lucky.”

The Rozwadowskis don’t just have local accounts — their clients range from George Mason University to the American Association for Justice. They have also donated countless hours to designing logos and promotional materials pro-bono for Windmore Foundation for the Arts, the Soap Box Derby and Epiphany, where their 5-year-old son attends.

Beth Burns, director of Culpeper’s Department of Tourism, worked with Rozwadowski in designing a 43-page visitors guide for the county. K Art & Design also created the Web site design for TheVirginiaPiedmont.org, the Rappahannock Rapidan Regional Commission’s site for the five-county area.

“She really did a beautiful job,” Burns said. “Very easy to work with. It was a complex project because we wanted to keep the same look to go along with our (current) Web site and in keeping with some of the other brochures done by another designer. She really worked well with everybody. … It’s nice to be able to do everything locally. It’s as high a quality as anything you’d get anywhere else.”

Rozwadowski was always interested in art — pastels, mainly — but was not sure how to make a living out if it until a friend in high school told her about graphic design. After studying in upstate New York, Rozwadowski moved to northern Virginia and worked for two design firms on a variety of print materials.

By 2002, she was burning out and opted to go into business for herself. Four years later, Antony, who specializes in Web design, joined her; now, the two now work from home full-time.

“I decided I’d try to go on my own and see what happened,” she said. “If I fell on my face, OK, I’d go get a job again. It’s not the end of the world. That was seven years ago, and I haven’t fallen on my face yet.”

Future plans for K Art & Design include an actual office — outside of their basement — and more incorporation of Rozwadowski’s art. But until then, it makes sense to work from home — sometimes in her pajamas — between diaper changes and play dates.

“We don’t have to pretend to be something that we’re not,” she said. “We’re a small ‘mom and pop shop’ working out of the house with two kids usually in the background, and most people think that’s great.”

Catherine Amos can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 138 or .

Award profiles
FRIDAY: Mary Jane
Glass, L.B. Henretty Outstanding Citizen
of the Year

SATURDAY: Analytical
Services, Most Improved Business Location

SUNDAY: Kelly Rozwadowski, Young Professional of the Year

MONDAY: Karen Carroll, President’s Award

TUESDAY: Bobby Leftwich, Small Business Person of the Year