#0001 But first… the second act
In October of 2023 I decided to go out on my own as a full-time designer. Freelancer? Micro-agency? Solo-preneur? I still don’t know what we call ourselves. Sufficed to say, it’s just me and I do design.
It wasn’t a direct route to this place. It’s a windy road full of self doubt and detours.
Like many of the graduates of the class of 1999 (that’s right, Prince wrote that song about us), I went to college with no idea what I wanted to do. I was artsy (my high school art teacher basically invented an art class for me to take my senior year because I had already exhausted the course catalog—and the guidance counselor’s idea of trying a non-art elective sounded dumb, though in hindsight…), so naturally I applied to an art and design school. I was rejected. Ouch. Now most people would just apply to a different school, but not me. I was crushed. Dream over.
Luckily I got into a regular college. My dad was United Methodist pastor, so that was the only other occupation of which I had first hand knowledge. So I graduated with a degree in theology and a wife who was also called into the ministry.
I applied to seminary and didn't get in. Ouch. Now, most people would just apply to a different school, but not me. I was crushed. Dream over.
Luckily, I married up. She got a job as a youth pastor so instead of sulking, I could set off on adventure with her.
If you know anything about churches, they are usually a pretty scary place when it comes to design. This is in 2004, well before the days of Canva. So I started “designing” things for the church. Mostly shirt designs, but I was still having to draw them by hand and letting the t-shirt company do whatever magic happens to art when it goes from paper to a shirt. The pastor at the time gave me a copy of Macromedia Fireworks that the church had bought but then realized that no one knew what they were doing (neither did I, but that’s beside the point). So armed with my first design software and my wife’s old college laptop, I started designing things for the church: new logo for the youth group, event t-shirts, bulletin graphics, slide backgrounds, eventually a logo for the church, etc. Before long I was designing websites and logos for local businesses.
But all this was one the side. I worked as custom framer, substitute teacher, and raft guide. After a move, was hired in advertising sales for a local newspaper. I learned a ton about print design and layout. Sales taught me about persistence. You get told “NO” a lot. Sales also taught me that I’m not cut out for sales. I left that job for a position as a marketing manager at a tourism promotion agency. What does a marketing manager do? I don’t know, but neither did the company. So we figured it out together.
A few weeks in, a last minute ad placement become available, but the boss said there wasn’t budget or time to get a design agency to make one. “I can do that,” I said without knowing that it would lead to me being made into an in-house designer for the next 8 years. I learned so much from that job. When you’re in-house you handle everything. Digital ads? Yes! Print layout? Absolutely! Branding? Oh-yeah-sure-you-betcha! UIUX? I mean I guess so… We got really good and saying, yes and figuring out how to assemble the plane on the runway.
While doing all this work at my full time job, I was still working on the side at Dan Cash Design, until 2023 when I set out on my own. So now I’m a few years into this second act and I finally feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be, doing what I’m supposed to do.
