When I graduated college back in 2015 with my art degree and advertising degree, my prospects were grim being a creative, specifically a designer in the new world of adulting. I sent out applications to eight different places, I had a couple of different phone interviews here and there, but nothing was really panning out. So what did I do? I started a company with Jordan, one of my best friends, and Tony someone I only knew at the cardigan kid from Jacht. Fast forward to now, it's sometimes hard to believe we're as successful as we are. We didn't know what we were doing when we started Pixel Bakery, but with trial and error we figured it out along the way. But as some, maybe most of you know, Pixel Bakery isn't the only life I'm living. I like to say I have a double life because I do. For the first few months of working at PB I was waiting to hear back on one job, one I was certain gave up on me and just didn't let me know. Turns out that wasn't the case, and so in February of 2016 I received a phone call saying I was being hired as the first full-time graphic designer for a company called Spreetail, an ecommerce company here in Lincoln.
I spend every day during the week working at Spreetail, not just as a designer, but also the videographer, photographer, and everything creative in between. I won't lie, working 50+ hour weeks at Spreetail and balancing that with being an owner of a company takes everything out of you, but I do it anyways. I don't like to live my life with being comfortable, so doing both of these things pushes me to limits I never thought I would achieve. Is it hard to balance everything, but if there's something you really want to do in life, you just have to do it even if it means waking up at 3 a.m. to do client work for PB when you work at Spreetail at 7:30. I wouldn't trade the experiences I've received from both of my careers for anything, because it's made me a better and much stronger person. I really do try my hardest to give Pixel Bakery as much attention as I do Spreetail, so I'm working behind the scenes quite a bit. Not only am I in constant contact with everyone, I also stop in at Pixel Bakery almost every weeknight, to check in on details from the day and to make sure everything is running smoothly. My weekends are filled up with doing client work, because Jordan and Robert can't do everything, they have enough on their plates. This is the everyday truth for my life, work/life balance isn't a thing for me. But regardless of how difficult my life comes off as being, it has all been worth it. I can't wait to see where my future leads me, because for once in my life I honestly feel like I can successfully make it as a creative in this field, which is all I've ever wanted.