I used to want to be a teacher. I loved children, and I had never done well in school, so my naive freshman in college self thought learning elementary level material would be easy right? Wrong. Teaching is actually one of the hardest jobs there is, not to mention the responsibility of our future generation. Aside from that, I just came to realize it wasn’t my calling in life. I had this realization when I was 6 months pregnant with my first child, had gotten married nine months previous, had just moved to a new city where a knew very few people, and also happened to be very sick. Those were dark days. I had always been very busy with dance, music, work, my social life, and everything just seemed to freeze. Not to mention the fact that I hadn’t planned on getting married and having babies until later in life. I was very depressed and spent my days watching Netflix and crocheting. When the baby was born, he absolutely changed my life. I LOVED being his mom. But, I still needed a plan. I felt strongly that I needed to stay home with him, but I also felt strongly about finishing my degree. My husband came to the rescue (as he always does) when he suggested I study web design online. My first thought was “But, I hate computers!“ But the more I looked into it, something sparked within me. The next 3 years looked like late night study sessions, cramming as much as possible into nap time, way too much Little Einsteins, taking a quiz immediately after returning home from the hospital with my second baby, oh ya and we moved 7 times, my husband got his MBA and we bought our first house! It was nuts, and I loved every minute of it. I LOVED learning and it was so empowering to have found something I was truly passionate about, and was actually really good at!

When it came to my classes, I loved learning about web design, but it was graphic design that I really fell for. I learned as much as I could in and outside of class and took on any and all graphic design and website jobs I could get my hands on. After a couple of years I decided to specialize in branding. I loved it, but I found myself a little lost and wondering if I should explore other areas of design. You know, like when you get the same thing every time you go to your favorite restaurant, but you always wonder if you should try something else just in case? I scheduled a call with my mentor, Melinda Livsey (of Marks and Maker) and she gave me the life changing advice (like she always does!) to specialize in brand strategy. This is what I was hungry for, and I didn’t even realize it. Strategy driven design. Solving problems rather than just making things that look “good”. I started scouring the internet for resources about brand strategy, refined my processes, and my business has never been the same! Not only do I get to work with amazing brands in a more collaborative way, I also get to design brand identities that encompass all that amazingness and help their businesses thrive. I feel so blessed to have found a job that doubles as my creative outlet, allows me the flexibility to raise my children, and that gives me the opportunity to connect with amazing business owners!