What do you want to be when you grow up?
It was the question I always struggled to answer because there was an expectation to answer with a career. Defy that expectation and the answer is simple:
I WANT TO BE CREATIVE AND HELP OTHERS.
THE EARLY 2000s
Let’s take it waaaaaaaay back to a time when Beyoncé was ‘Crazy in Love’ and everyone was reading Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’. I bucked the expectation that you choose a career early on and stick to it forever. As a fresh-faced law and business graduate I strayed from my peers, finding myself teaching literacy and supporting kids with special educational needs. Let me tell you something: kids can make you laugh, cry and teach you a lot about the world.
A CREATIVE CALLING…
Outside of work, I fed my creative cravings by doodling and making cards. I set up a blog to write about the latter (trust me, blogging was a thing in those days!). This led to me working with a papercraft companies; creating projects with their fab products and being lucky enough to design some products for them. This creative endeavour was growing at quite a rapid rate and was my stepping stone to becoming an editor of various craft magazines.
AMY GRAY – EDITOR
Being an editor taught me SO much. It was very much a sink or swim scenario and I’d left my armbands at home. It was here I got my first taste of seeing graphic design in action through talented art editors, product designers and marketing creatives. I also discovered, and please don’t judge me here, there’s nothing quite like the feel and smell of a magazine fresh off the press!
A NEW OPPORTUNITY…
Knock, knock. New opportunity calling. This one was to develop new art, papercraft and sewing products as a product development manager for a global craft company. I had the pleasure of managing the process of turning my ideas and other concepts into lovely products for crafty customers. This crafty gal was like a kid in a candy store! I led a wonderful team of product managers and worked closely with awesomely talented product and packaging designers.
HITTING A MILESTONE BIRTHDAY
Working with those talented designers and hitting a certain milestone birthday made me realise that I was ready for a new chapter. I enrolled with The Creative Design School to study graphic design, worked hard, and now I’m here being the answer to that question: What do you want to be when you grow up? When I’m not being creative and helping others, you’ll find me volunteering at my local animal sanctuary or trying to do a pull-up in the gym (I’ve got a long way to go!).
LESSONS FROM THIS STORY SO FAR..
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
You’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the things you do.
You only live this life once. Do it your way.
