I spent way too much of my life not designing. In my youth, I dabbled in fashion design, retail, social media management, even visual arts, but never once considered graphic design as a career. It’s funny, because when I was a kid, my dad even suggested that I might make a great graphic designer. But come on, what kid actually listens to their parents’ advice? ;)

Fast-forward five years and a college degree later, I realized Fashion Merchandising was not at all what I wanted to do. I was going through the motions at L’Oreal in New York City as a Digital Marketing intern, while my heart was wandering elsewhere. Specifically, down the hall to the Graphic Design team that was having all the fun.

I secretly spied on them until my intrigue became unbearable and I began taking night classes at the School of Visual Arts to learn the craft. After a semester of juggling my full-time internship with my newfound passion for design, I decided to take a leap of faith: I said farewell to NYC and returned home to study graphic design full-time.

With a degree in hand, I hit the ground running. I worked day in and day out, earning pennies and even offering free work, just to build a portfolio of my own. I interned for a local magazine by day, then churned out freelance work at night. My diligence paid off, though, because a year later, I was offered a dream job as the Lead Designer at a real estate corporation in Charlotte, NC.

Six years ago, I took another leap of faith and launched my own freelance business full-time. This has been the most challenging, yet rewarding decision I have made in my life and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to work for myself. It has allowed me to collaborate with so many brilliant minds, in such a wide variety of industries, and I believe that it’s what has developed me as a designer the most.