My Story

My career goal was to become an animator or illustrator, but in the early days of college I didn’t have the talent or drive to pull it off. I was accepted into art college at the age of seventeen but failed to get into any other artistic courses after my initial one. It was a competitive major and classes were limited in students, who had to offer amazing portfolios and be accepted. The only course I was later accepted into was called Visual Merchandising, which pertains to the physical layout of products in stores. It sounded interesting and seemed to have real-world application.

Critically, the course had one small section on graphic design, introducing us students to the world of digital design. I took to this medium as I had never taken to anything else. Something just clicked. I poured myself into learning every aspect of digital technology that I could outside of school.

The main programs at the time, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, granted new registrants thirty days to try out the software. On a cheap old laptop I had purchased from a classified ad, I installed these trial versions and wrung out every minute I could from them. If a trial ran out, I would create new emails and sign up fresh again to extend my exposure. In the graphic design class at school, my intense self-training on my own time enabled me to finish the year’s worth of required work in the initial three weeks. This served to free me up during class hours to extend my personal study and ability with the tools.

I had become so focused and proficient in this area that when it came time to apply for an internship, I was able to secure a position at a firm as a graphic design intern where I continued to learn the art of visual communication and digital design by leaps and bounds. Through the rest of the program at school, I achieved the marks I needed for the entire course, but I continued to grow my true passion for the digital visual world.

When I graduated, I had enough real-world design experience to get hired directly as a graphic designer for a company in Toronto. This would prove to be a very humbling experience, as the chasm between a young, self-taught designer from a visual merchandising course and a true college-educated and trained designer was vast. I was rightly fired after two years. And believe it or not, I could not have been more excited to have been let go.

During those two years with that first company, I had come in contact with a friend’s father who had built a start-up company. And let me emphasize that it was a start-up in the truest sense of the word. They had no money, no sales revenue, and little interest from investors. They were just a couple of smart people working on a cool idea. Before I got fired, I had been helping the team at night after work with various web and design tasks.

When I was fired from the job in Toronto, I took stock of my current situation: I was broke. I didn’t have any current prospects. But I was young without any commitments. So I made a proposal to the start-up company: if they provided me with a place to sleep and a food allowance, I’d work for free. They took me up on my offer, and I was on a Greyhound Bus to the founder’s house the next day.

Over the next year I worked tirelessly with the team, upwards of eighty hours a week, absorbing every lesson I could and striving to become better in this field. It was an amazing and exciting time. Eventually, the company was successfully sold to a much larger company, and I was left in search of my next opportunity. Thankfully, I was taught many of the lessons I share in this book during those exhaustive but career-shaping hours with the company and the amazing people with whom I worked side-by-side. Because of the value I demonstrated and my proven dedication, I was asked to join one of the guys in his new business ventures right away.

This has been the pattern that has played out for the entirety of my career. I’ve worked with countless freelance clients, four start-ups, and five companies over sixteen years (including three that were successfully sold). A key component of my success was the recognition, development, and application of many of the insights I gained while working that initial year. I graciously and humbly accepted work opportunities and implemented the approaches found in this book.

At every opportunity I would return to the same strategies. Care as deeply as I could, be hard working and tenacious, be kind and helpful to others, share credit to all involved, and see design as something in service to the business.

Over time, I became trusted and served in places of authority in the companies I worked with. My reputation grew with the people who mattered and who I cared about. To me, the people mattered more than a portfolio ever could, and it was the people who fueled my career. My experience has been that when the right energy is put out there (honest, dependable), the quality of clients becomes refined and the opportunities grow. I think this is an often-overlooked value of “like attracts like.” Though more often used for personal relationships, it’s equally true for business relationships.

Currently, when I am free from one opportunity, I have offers awaiting to start a new adventure. I truly do not believe that this is because I am a unique talent or someone remarkable. It is because I approach people with genuine kindness, care deeply, and see my career as a way to serve and help others.

I am incredibly lucky for the people and situations who have helped me understand how to better navigate effective communication, humility, and service in the world of design. My hope is that you can adopt a similar approach through my methods and transform how you build your career.