The Work Behind the Work 

• Sales Associate - Forever Young
  I come from a family of six, and I’m the third oldest. To help lighten my parents’ load, I started my first job at age 16 as a sales associate at Forever Young, a clothing store in the local mall. I helped customers with styling, worked as a cashier, and learned the basics of good customer service. I stayed there for 2.5 years until I graduated from high school.

• Health & Beauty Sales Associate - Rainbow Co-Op
  Next was Rainbow Co-Op. I was a sales associate in the Health and Beauty department — this job changed my life. At the time, Mississippi didn’t have a Whole Foods, so Rainbow was the go-to for natural products. I worked as a floor consultant, not just behind the register. I had to actually know my stuff. I started learning about skin conditions and natural ingredients. I stayed for 5 years, and by the end, I had a five-inch binder of notes — which they later used to train new hires.

• Cabinet Design Specialist - Lowe’s
  When I outgrew that role, I applied to Lowe’s and started working weekends. I graduated from Jackson State University during this time and got promoted to full-time in Appliances as a Cabinet Design Specialist. I worked there for a year. It was decent design experience and pushed me physically, but it didn’t feel aligned with what I wanted for my career.

• Graphic Designer - Tiger Prints (Jackson State University)
  I picked up a part-time role at my alma mater as a graphic designer at Tiger Prints, a new print service on campus that served both departments and locals. I lacked confidence. Nothing like your first job in your major to make you question if you’re cut out for it.

• Guest Services Representative - Fairview Inn
  At the same time, I worked guest services at Fairview Inn, a luxury bed and breakfast. I checked guests in, helped with Sunday brunch, wedding bookings, and dinner reservations. I did both jobs for over six months before applying to grad school.

• Graduate Student / Print Lab Assistant - Pratt Institute
  Next stop: Pratt Institute in New York. While in grad school, I worked part-time in the printing lab of the Architecture building, assisting students with large-format prints. I was also out in the field - connecting with local artist Jasmin Chang and shadowing her around Brooklyn. I got involved in community initiatives, which sparked my obsession with placemaking. I saw myself as a modern-day Jane Jacobs. I loved research. I still struggled with design at times, but my research projects around design stood out. I impressed other people - and eventually, myself.

• Graphic Designer - Wells & Co. / The TELL Agency
  After graduating, I moved back to Mississippi and took a part-time role as a graphic designer at Wells & Co., a small startup agency. It was just me and a social media manager. To be honest, I didn’t have a desire to be a traditional designer at the time, but I connected with the owner and needed work.

• Administrative Assistant - Jill Jackson (Psychic Medium)
  At the same time, I worked for Jill Jackson, a psychic medium. I did administrative work: booking appointments, setting up Zoom calls, managing payments, emails, assisting with events, and some light design.

  • • Eventually, I moved to full-time at Wells & Co. I stayed on as the only designer for 2 years and learned a lot. I started using CSS to customize templated websites for clients through WordPress, GoDaddy, and Squarespace. I designed logos, brand guidelines, and print materials. I worked with local printers on large and small projects. As the business grew and rebranded as The TELL Agency, we brought on interns, and I managed them. I helped guide the design direction for photoshoots and consulted 1:1 with clients on brand strategy. Looking back, a lot of the early work wasn’t great. I wasn’t as strong with software or principles as I thought I was - even after all that schooling. But I got better. 

• Creative Performance Manager - Neil Patel Digital
  After 3 years total at the last agency, I had a baby. COVID hit. I shifted to digital marketing, working remotely at Neil Patel Digital. Again, I had no clue what I was doing or how I even got hired. I started as a graphic designer, solo again, until two designers in India were hired. I eventually oversaw them, built training materials, and grew more confident. My mom always says I know more than most - I just don’t always believe it.

  • • We started building creative offerings for the department. They weren’t perfect. I led consults with clients. Two of them - from NPD Canada - were impressed and signed on. I studied best practices for social platforms and trained my eye to understand what makes a digital ad work. I joke that I thrive in chaos - maybe that’s why I keep taking jobs outside of my comfort zone. (Backstory: I was offered a role similar to my last one at The TELL Agency but turned it down to challenge myself in digital marketing.)

    • I got promoted. I learned more about operations from my new manager, who had written Paul Mitchell training books - so, I was in good hands. I started building SOPs and training decks. I kept track of common client revisions and internal questions so we could smooth out the process. I got promoted again. My new manager eventually became VP of Paid Media.

    • Then AI came along. I was skeptical at first, but ChatGPT and I became friends. I used it to speed up internal revisions, created a custom GPT to help review client work, and used it for formulas in spreadsheets. I explored other AI platforms to understand how we could use them without disrupting our flow. Even though I’ve stepped away from placemaking in the literal sense, the method still applies - how to build on what exists to improve experience for both clients and internal teams.

    • For the first couple of years at Neil Patel, we outsourced overflow work to vendors - I managed those relationships. We eventually hired an onshore designer and expanded our ad ops team. I support operations for the department. The list of what I do is long. I meet with sales weekly. I meet with client services weekly. I help develop product initiatives. I still review client work. I conduct client creative interviews, creative consults, and creative strategy calls. I oversee external operations, build training materials, and develop external guides for clients. And when the workload gets heavy, I’ll jump back in and design alongside my team.

What’s Next
I want to challenge myself in a role that lets me continue supporting operations but also develop design initiatives for bigger clients. I’ve worked with SMBs for the last two agencies. I enjoy cross-team collaboration for both client and internal initiatives.

If you read this, I am impressed. I excluded at least 4 jobs to keep the content short :)

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