Stay Creating

Known in her circles as The Jewish Lady Gaga, Artist and Muralist Sara Nardea got her start in the art world by studying the greats that came before her. Producing daily work and putting in her 10,000 hours, Sara is making her living creating commissioned paintings and murals for clients stretching from New York to Miami.

Business school graduate Ethan Parry found himself wanting more from his career than the traditional business track. He soon discovered a new world through the lens of User Experience. An expat currently living in Barcelona, Ethan is offering UX research and service design through his full-time consulting business.

Amber kicked off her creative career when she was 6 years old, winning the top prize of $500 in a poster design contest. But it wasn’t until she switched majors in college that the idea of an actual career began to take shape. Amber found herself designing for the User Experience before UX really got its name and footing in the industry. Now with over 10 years of experience under her belt, she’s just getting started.

Denise Blanco started her career as an intern at McGraw-Hill, feeling fortunate to have landed a gig straight out of school. What she learned during the first three years into her career was, in terms of network and portfolio work, she was bound to the niche she started in. Looking to break out and broaden her capabilities, she's spent her career continuously learning, and up-leveling her skillset, which now involves people management.

Philippines-born Abigail Butalid had dreams of directing feature films and found her calling behind the camera, but not in the traditional sense. She’s spent the last 7 years writing, producing, and giving creative direction for clients at GroupX, one of Singapore's leading media and event production companies. While she loves the production side of her job, it’s the storytelling that drives her to produce truly great work.

Starting his career as a child actor on TV and commercials, Kevin Osgood’s journey to the other side of the camera was his real turning point. Jumping on the opportunities that presented themselves, Kevin built up his experience to grow his career as an in-house agency director, and then eventually, as a self-employed, world-traveling director. He has created content for brands including General Motors, Gillette, HP, Intel, Goldman Sachs, BMW, Windstream and American Express.

A self-proclaimed “adorable idiot", Brittni Bowering jumped around in the early-stages of her career to finally find herself branding a problem-solving tribe in the tech world. Originally hailing from Calgary, Brittni is currently the Head of Brand for AJ&Smart in Berlin, but it didn’t come without a few bumps along the way. We talk about personal branding, setting priorities, and the importance of honing your soft skills. Brittni is the co-host of "Happy Hour: Career Talk with Brittni & Penny”, and is also writing and performing stand-up comedy every Sunday.

With a few years of writing for the news under his belt, Dan Gluckman had had enough. Walking away from a passionless profession and not knowing which path he wanted to take, an unsuspecting staple presented itself. Radio was always something he listened to (a lot) and loved, but never materialized as a career possibility, until reframing the idea of what ELSE it could be for him. Armed with a passion for the medium, and a few years of professional workplace experience, none of which were in radio, he started fresh and became an intern at 28.

Coming to the realization that business school was not for him, Kendall Henderson had a strong look at who he was and the professional he wanted to become. Though he might not have been ready, he was thrown into the fire and found his footing. Now in the tech world as a Digital Designer, Kendall is using his experience to teach design as an adjunct professor for Seton Hall.

With a fixated interest in digital, front-end, and product design while grinding it out as a graphic designer, Lauren started teaching herself how to code. With the help of some early support and a few courses at General Assembly, she was able to turn her imposter syndrome on its head. Lauren is currently crushing it as Senior Product Designer at Buffer, and this is her story of how she got there.