Tag: Passion-Driven Work

Philip Mullen

“It’s a very fortunate blessing to find something in life that you like enough that you do it before you’re paid for it.”

Philip Mullen is a painter and professor emeritus. Philip Mullen reflects on decades of artmaking and mentoring and why South Carolina and a bathtub shaped his creative life.

Interview

Transcript

Nora Smith 00:00

Alright, to start. What do you do for work, and where are you currently working from?

Philip Mullen 00:07

Well, I’m a painter of large acrylic paintings, and I have a studio in Columbia. My studio is designed for large paintings. It’s 1300 square feet made as a studio for that. Actually, when I first built the studio in 1989 and when, right after I built it, a national magazine was running this…It was called, The Artist Magazine, and I think it may have had the biggest circulation of any art magazine at the time, because it was, it was aimed at a really clever group, and that was amateur artists who think they’re pros, a very large audience. But it’s, you know, it’s a great audience. It’s a wonderful thing for people to go into. But they used mine as an example of how to set up big paintings.

And the two, the two items that kind of got them interested was, I needed a big sink. Big sinks are really expensive, but mobile home Bathtubs are really pretty cheap, and you can mount them up high, like a sink. Of course, the guys who installed it kept saying, what are you going to have a ladder to get into this thing? No, no, guys, it’s a sink. It’s a sink.

And then during the time I did, it was, I was represented for 35 years by David Finley galleries in New York. And those shows, you know, I had, like I said, 14 solo shows with them over the 35 years. And those shows often would have 40 to 45 pieces, half of which have six-foot dimensions, or half of which just had a four-foot dimension, and maybe a few larger ones included. And because the way I do my edges, I can’t set them down, but I’d have a lot of paintings collected up at any one given time. And I designed a very simple rack that I could hang 46-foot paintings on without the edges touching anything.

More of an answer than you probably needed. I warn you, I was once interviewed on the radio, and after 10 minutes, the interviewer said, Mr. Mullin, I was kind of hoping to ask a second question.

Nora Smith 02:45

Okay, well, this one kind of wraps in with the first one. How long have you been working there, and what is your official job title?

Philip Mullen 02:53

Well, my only official job title now is artist. And I guess I have a sort of official job title as distinguished professor emeritus from USC. I had a very good arrangement with USC. I taught there from 69 to 2000 and, but I took nine, I did not teach in summers, and I took nine years of leave during that time. So, I taught 22 because those New York shows took an enormous amount of time to put together. You really put it this way, my art gallery friends were very suspicious of my teaching, because they said, if you teach, you can’t paint enough. And my teaching friends were very suspicious of my art gallery’s success because they said, “You can’t sell without selling out.” And each of those things probably has some basis in possibility, but there’s certainly things you have to watch out for.

Nora Smith 04:06

Yeah, well, you just do, you do it all.

Philip Mullen 04:10

Well, I was a bit of an obsessive worker for decades and decades. It didn’t make me socially very interested, but I got a lot of artwork done. And the teaching, you know, the teaching like that, was wonderful, because I didn’t end up doing it quite, it wasn’t like I was doing it all the time. You know that one period where I literally was taking half, where I had 12 years and only taught during fall semesters, yeah, and so it made my teaching much more exciting for me, and it was like a chance to talk to bright young people about the only thing I knew anything about. And it, you know, while I’m sure there were other teachers that were more talented, as teachers, than I was.

The one thing I could bring to it was especially like the graduate students might see me working on a particular painting and then end up seeing that painting reproduced in Arts Magazine, for example. And so, it brought the sense, I think, to students, that it could be something bigger. That was especially true before I built the studio in 89 because I had a studio at the university furnished and, you know, graduate students and undergraduates were in and out of that while I was down there.

Nora Smith 05:40

That’s so cool.

Philip Mullen 05:42

Well, I tell you, it’s, you know, its a very fortunate blessing to find something in life that you like enough that you do it before you’re paid for it. You do it if you’re paid for you do it if you’re not paid for it, you know people, they said, “Oh, man, you’re so disciplined, you’re always in the studio.” I wasn’t disciplined. I was self-indulgent. I was doing what I, you know, that’s what I wanted to be doing.

Nora Smith 06:11

Yeah. Super cool! Okay, so this is more of a question specific to your area, okay, in the creative field in South Carolina. What is one thing you love about working in the creative field in South Carolina?

Philip Mullen 06:29

Well, one thing that was that I found really great at first, when I was young and needed to get grants for something, was that while there may not be as many grants here as there are in a bigger city, when you stop to think about how many artists are per grants available, it’s pretty rich here. When I got with my gallery in New York, I’d had the good fortune of being included in a show called the Whitney Biennial. It’s a show at the Whitney Museum in New York, and in 1975, and I knew I wanted to have a gallery in New York, so I wanted to take advantage of that.

I took a year off of teaching, moved to New York, and did that, I did have sabbatical money that time. Most of my leaves were unpaid, but I went on sabbatical money. I spent all of my own money, but got what was at the time, a quite large grant from the Arts Commission to go there. Rented three fifths of Andy Warhol’s old factory, lived and worked in that. Of course, lived illegally.

Nora Smith 07:42

The commitment, a lot of commitment there.

Philip Mullen 07:45

Yeah, I learned a couple of very important skills there because of living illegally, you know, because if you’re in a place that is selling commercial in New York, they only have to give you heat six days a week. Oh yes. And so first we crank the heat up, you know, very high on Saturday night and hope to survive till Monday. Later I learned two of the skills I developed was how to hotwire a locked elevator and how to start up a furnace in a big building. And none of the other tenants complained, and the building manager didn’t like the building owner. So, I’m sure he figured it out when he came in every Monday and the furnace was on.

Nora Smith 08:29

That’s so funny.

Philip Mullen 08:32

The art world, the painting world, has changed a good bit since then. Now I loved, absolutely loved the notion of earning money, selling paintings in New York and spending money in South Carolina. You can see where that might function. Of course, one of the things I did learn is, if you’re going to do that, you’re not just making paintings and somebody else is doing stuff for you. You are pretty constantly working on business things as well.

Nora Smith 09:06

For sure, for sure. Yeah. How would you describe your local professional community around you?

Philip Mullen 9:16

It’s a lot like most places. There’s a few people who are, who are, you know, real top-notch pros to deal with. There’s a lot of people who it’s a hobby for, and it’s a wonderful hobby to take up, you know, I mean, I was reading one time about in different professions, what age you peak at. Or you don’t want to be a female gymnast, you know, you peak very early in life, but being an artist was actually the thing that you the people peaked at the latest in life. Yeah, you know, it’s sort of something that you can do for a long time.

So, I would describe most of the community as a sort of normal hobbyist community. But one of the funny things, you know, in certain areas, there’s sort of funny things that occur in terms of how people develop, like, if you want to learn yoga real well, pretty quickly, you end up going into yoga teacher training. I mean, even if you don’t want to teach, you go through yoga teacher training, and all of a sudden, then you’re a trained yoga teacher.

Nora Smith 10:33

Yeah.

Philip Mullen 10:34

So, you’re out teaching yoga. If people go and take a painting, go into it. I mean, very quickly, way too quickly. Generally, they feel like they need to get out and start selling their stuff. And I’m a little suspect that was certainly not me. Now, when I did it, I got, I was obviously really serious about it, because, you know, I’ll tell you that year in New York, while it was professionally very important, it was very lonely, I’m going around to galleries, trying to get into galleries. They’re being approached every day by artists. Many of them are not very polite to you. You know, it pretty gruesome thing. You know, to be an artist, you’ve got to have it in one seat. You’ve got to have a big ego. I mean, the idea that, the idea that you can make something and somebody else should actually take time looking at it, is pretty amazing.

That they should actually pay you for it is incredible. But myself, like most artists I know, have very fragile egos. You know, it’s so getting out there and trying to do that part about promoting it is something.

Now, I did, you know, I lived in New York. I did not want to raise a family in New York, like South Carolina, that way. You know, in 69 when I was looking for a university teaching position, I very specifically looked at the south, it’s one of those, you know, I didn’t know where I was raised. I went to nine schools before I was out of high school. You know, when I went to college, I thought I’d settle down, and most of us in states in the north, but for three years, it was in Texas, and that was the only place that the weather made any sense to me. So, I focused on South Carolina, and the position I got here worked out so so well for me. Fortunately, I never really had any reason to not want to just stay.

Nora Smith 12:55

That’s great. That’s great. How would you define success personally?

Philip Mullen 13:06

Well, I think one of the wonderful things about being a serious artist in an art is that we define other artists’ success in terms of the work they make. We don’t define it in terms of how well they do business. Mm, hmm. We all know people who have who are just out of the out of this world, sensational painters, lot of depth to their work, and all who never get any recognition. We also know people who are just hacks who make tons of money because they’re great business people.

Nora Smith 13:45

Yeah.

Philip Mullen 13:47

In a way to me, success has to do with putting together a life in which I could do, spend a lot of time, making paintings. Now, there were parts to that that were, you end up doing some other things in order to make that happen. You know, in my case, one of the things I did was I did an academic PhD, which was, boy, not my forte. I was, I mean, that was three years of struggling, but it gave me a wonderful way to get into a really good academic position, which gave me a basis of support and encouraged me to do a lot of painting early on. In those early years, I used to send a lot of shows around the state, including one to Coastal Carolina, probably back in the early 70s.

Nora Smith 14:50

How lovely!

Philip Mullen 14:51

It might have been later than that, because actually, one of my students ended up as a theater professor at Coastal.

Nora Smith 14:58

Really! Are they still here?

Philip Mullen 15:00

I would Imagine not, and they must be retired by now. I cannot remember her name.

Nora Smith 15:09

That’s alright.

Philip Mullen 15:10

She did have it. Have you ever seen the movie sleeping with the enemy?

Nora Smith 15:13

No, but I’ve heard of it.

Philip Mullen 15:16

Yeah. Well, it’s almost just a two-person thing, but she’s a big part in that.

Nora Smith 15:21

Oh, okay, that’s super cool.

Philip Mullen 15:23

If you ever watch it, she’s a nurse and she was a professor at Coastal.

Nora Smith 15:27

Oh, that’s super cool. Okay, great to know. I find out so much doing these interviews with people, yeah, so kind of going back to the beginning of starting your career. What was your biggest fear when you decided that you wanted to do something in the arts?

Philip Mullen 15:41

My biggest fear, well, I certainly had no encouragement. I’m not going to say the words online that my dad said to me when he realized I was actually going into being an artist. It’s not something you want to publish. So that was, that was a big challenge.

Nora Smith 15:58

Yeah, I’m sure, I’m sure.

Philip Mullen 16:00

Fortunately, I ran across people who gave me enough encouragement. One thing that helped me a lot was that I graduated in the lower half of my high school class. I did not want to go to college. I didn’t know what else to do. I got to, you know, I went to the University of Minnesota. I had been such a poor student, I realized I’d never get through college, so I figured, and I was not an art major, so I figured I’d go hang out with my buddy Mike, who was an art major. And I got over there, and I realized that the beginning art classes were not much fun, and the art majors had to take them, but I didn’t. So, I sort of had to talk this professor into letting me start in that upper level, middle level, I should say mid-level painting course. He did not want to do it, and I was kind of persistent. And he finally said, okay, okay, I’ll let you in and under his breath, he said, “In the other guy’s section.

And it turned out the other guy was Ed Corbett, who back when abstract expressionism was getting going, and the Museum of Modern Art did a show of 16 of the young abstract expressionists. Ed Corbett was in it. So, my first teacher was an absolute top run guy, and I thought, and I had had really very little success in life. So, failure was like, was getting pretty, if not comfortable with it, at least used to it. I just think this is wonderful. These guys get to spend tons of time just making paintings. What could be better? You know? Yeah, I still feel that way. That didn’t go away. And that’s amazing. That’s amazing to have it last that long. You know, I mean, and I was, what was 18 years old, then I’m 82 years old. Now, it’s great to have something stick with you that long.

Nora Smith 17:55

Yeah, that’s amazing.

Philip Mullen 17:57

It is, it’s, I don’t feel like taking credit for that so much is just being very thankful that I stumbled upon the stuff that made me want to do that, you know.

Nora Smith 18:10

Right. So, what would you say is the best and worst advice you’ve ever received about going into the field or being in the field, just some things you’ve heard?

Philip Mullen 18:22

I can’t think of anything, anything that I really think was best or worst advice. I think a person needs to be realistic about what they’re willing to put into it and what they want out of it.

Nora Smith 18:35

Yeah.

Philip Mullen 18:36

I had some wonderful art students over the years, some that I’ve you know remained long term friends with. I don’t know you might, you might even see above my head one of my ex-students works if…

Nora Smith 18:46

Oh, no, I can’t.

Philip Mullen 18:49

I pride myself in the fact that my student’s work does not look like mine. It, you know, there’s something important to all that.

These two guys are guys that are like me. They’re driven to make this stuff. They can’t help themselves. They’re quite different in terms of how they handle their business around it. Now, that’s one way you can go into it. Now, there’s a lot of other art students who really got a lot out of it, but I’d see him afterwards, and it’s, I always hated this one as subjective. “Well, I hate to tell you, I’m really not painting anymore. I’ve gone into I’m doing something else.” Well, the point wasn’t that everybody becomes a painter. It’s, you know, you took a sociology class, you took a history class, you took a math class. You can become a mathematician. You know.

It’s a lot of that’s about rounding it all out for yourself. Actually, in a way, when I get done with it, a class that I invented that I taught, not for the art department, but for the Honors College, is probably the class that I am most proud of having come up with when I was teaching at the university. It was called the artist experience, and only 15 people could be in it, but you’ll see why as I tell you. It was, it’s basically an art history class, I don’t know, an art appreciation class. However, you never saw a slide in it. If we learned about ceramics, we went to a ceramic studio. Graduate students there taught each person how to how to make, how to throw a pot. Two weeks later, we go back and do a Raku firing. Say, learn it from the inside out.

We visited artists studios and went to art shows. Now, what the purpose of this course was, is not to develop artists, but the purpose was to develop people’s appreciation for the Arts. I think art departments should be doing way, way, way more of that. It’s not so great for the egos of the professors who want to teach graduate students and the people who are really going into it, you know, sure, and I value, you know, these guys work, obviously, who were former students, and I value the kind of careers they put together, but I think as a general service.

And then what we would do is we would end the course with a three-day trip to New York. And that was when I had, when I had a lot of good New York connections. My former Los Angeles dealer had moved to New York, and she would lead the trip some. She would lead a day of the trip. Sometimes my own gallery would always do a wonderful thing. Oh, we go to, went up to Peter Finley gallery and his son, Josh, who worked there. And he was young, and the students kind of related to him, you know. And he, I remember, one year he’s passing a sculpture around. It’s about two and a half feet high, heavy pieces going around, gets a halfway around the circle, and he announces that it’s a Dega, with a kid holding it. I mean, he’s probably still clenched in this position, you know? And Josh says,”No, no, no, no. We’re not a museum. We’re trying to sell this piece.” People touch it. I mean that opportunity to, like, hold something like that.

I remember going to the Museum of Modern Art, and one of the girls in the class who probably hadn’t gotten too far out of South Carolina Previously, she calls me over to Van Gogh’s Starry Night was up, which calls me, and she says, Dr. Mullen, is this the real Starry Night? Yes, this is a real Starry Night, you know. And my gallery would always take them in the back room and pull out all the paintings for them and stuff. So it was, that’s why I called it the artist experience? We didn’t do it by teaching about art. We did it by experiencing. I didn’t have to worry. I didn’t have to worry about grading. I mean, this is honors college class. They’re all “A” students all the time anyhow. And so, what I did, I did the grades were simply based on attendance and a certain amount of projects they did, they would have to do. I mean, I’d have them do. I don’t know, are you a visual artist at all?

Nora Smith 23:53

No.

Philip Mullen 23:55

Okay, well, I had them do an exercise called negative shape drawing.

Nora Smith 23:58

I think I know what you’re talking about.

Philip Mullen 24:00

Okay, it’s sort of a, it’s a beginning, it’s a beginning drawing thing. But they would not, and we, you know, we’d spend not the time that an art major would spend on it but would spend a period on that. But they would never grade it on the quality of the work because that’s not the point. The point was to get to the head of it. And, I mean, that is where I would really like to see training in, not just in visual arts, but in the arts in general. Because being an artist does what we imagine, you just make this art and people buy it. That’s like, it’s like being an athlete who plays for; it’s a pretty small percentage of folks that that works out for. And the commitment is just, it’s more than most people really want to make to it and more than we. It makes sense for most people to make,

Nora Smith 25:03

Yeah.

Philip Mullen 25:03

And interestingly enough, of any classes I ever took taught, I still, I mean, here I am, 25 years away from having retired to university, and within the last year, I’ve still gotten some correspondence from some of the people who took that course. I mean, it was, you know, it was something that, it’s something that offers a kind of art, art can enrich, enrich everybody’s life.

Nora Smith 25:34

I agree. I would take that class. I would take that class.

Philip Mullen 25:38

Oh, whenever they opened it up. It started with seniors, you know, I mean it, it was filled the first day it was opened up.

Nora Smith 25:47

That sounds awesome, yeah.

Philip Mullen 25:51

And it was a very simple idea of art appreciation. But whoever got interested in art by looking at slides, I don’t know, you know, whoever got interested in music by memorizing composers?

Nora Smith 26:06

That’s such a great idea for a class. And I can imagine how amazing that was, teaching that, and the students experiencing that, such a great take on it, because now it seems so distant when you’re looking at slides of how to do things, instead of experiencing it like it completely distances it from you. And it’s, it feels impossible, almost in a way. Yes, yeah, that’s so cool. I love that.

Philip Mullen 26:34

What is the area that you’re studying in?

Nora Smith 26:37

I’m in English, in English. So, everything you’re saying, I’m like, it’s going to be my writing, because I would like to be a writer, and so I totally understand the artist. The whole it’s, yeah.

Philip Mullen 26:52

Every Wednesday, including today, almost every Wednesday, I have lunch with a writing friend of mine. And one of the things that I like about talking with him is it’s so nice to talk across disciplines, because you tend to talk about the bigger picture, as opposed if you talk to people in your own discipline, it can kind of get into, you know, how do you compose this sentence? How do you make this color transition and things like that? And we find that there are so many things about how we work that crossover.

Nora Smith 27:44

Yes, exactly. That’s so cool. Yeah, everything you were saying, I’m like, yeah, makes complete sense, even to me. So, yeah. So, I’ll keep you updated. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me. If you have any questions, just send me an email, send me a text, but I will keep you updated.

Philip Mullen 28:06

Good. Well, it’s nice to talk to you, Nora.

May 27, 2025
Madison Wu

“The best outcome is when I’m not worried about how it’s going to be professionally, we need rawness, weirdness, and vulnerability.”

Madison Wu is a self-employed author based in North Carolina, crafting poetry, fantasy, and contemporary stories centered around inclusivity, vulnerability, and self-discovery.

Interview

Transcript

Nora Smith

Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me. I’m super excited. So just to get right into it, what do you do for work and where are you currently working from?

Madison Wu

So where am I currently working from? I work from home. I work from my room most of the time. And what do I have to work? I write. I write literally anything that I can think of, usually stories of some of some sort.

Nora Smith

So cool. Do you work for yourself, or do you work for a Smart Company at all?

Madison Wu

Yep, I work for myself. I am hoping to, um, become traditionally published in the future, but I am currently self employed.

Nora Smith

Awesome, awesome. Um, how long have you been doing that for?

Madison Wu

Since 2022 so I started my first full book manuscript in 2022 and and then I just didn’t stop.

Nora Smith

Awesome. What kind of, what kind of like, what kind of the genre do you write?

Madison Wu

So poetry, right now, my only publish published work is poetry. I have a poetry book that I started writing because I saw something that said, if you’re afraid to get published, write 100 Poems and publish it on Amazon for free, and then you’ve been published, and you can’t tell anyone that you’re afraid to put your work out there anymore. And what was supposed to be 100 Poems turned into a lot more than that. I can’t remember the exact number, and what was supposed to be an ebook with a cover made on whatever free version of Photoshop ended up being an actual book that I self published through Kindle Direct. And so there’s that my one of my manuscripts that I have finished is fantasy, and I am currently working on a contemporary piece. I really like to explore genres. I really like to not fit myself in a box. I’m also working on a Spotify as a plot for a James Bond esque type thing that I want to do. But more than genre, I like to focus on themes. So themes like diversity and inclusivity, and the one I’m working on right now is is really about is really about being a woman in a man’s world and growing up and getting your first job and all that kind of stuff?

Nora Smith

So cool, so cool. I’d love to read some tone time. What is one? Do you have one specific thing that you love about working in a creative field, specifically in South Carolina. Like out of all the places you could be, is there something that you love about being in your specific area?

Madison Wu

I think the thing that I love about my specific area is that I actually am located in North Carolina, but like most of my community is in South Carolina, so the I think the people that are around me, even though I don’t even if they aren’t in The creative community, or they don’t work in creativity themselves. They are so supportive. I don’t know if that answers the question. I can’t. No, that’s great. That’s great. I think that when you’re a writer, you’re constantly exploring the world and constantly meeting different people, and learning about different things, and being able to take all those experiences and put them into stories is such a fun thing.

Nora Smith

Yeah, great, great. I love that. Do you think the area has contributed in any way to your work, like has it had a unique influence of any kind on the work that you do.

Madison Wu

Um, I think that I live in, I live in a an area where if you go 30 minutes north, you hit the city, and if you go 30 minutes south, you hit rural area, and I think that, I think that you know, for me being I’m Asian, American, I’m disabled, I’m I’m part of the LGBTQ community, all those things. Things, and the lack of representation that I generally see just around really contributes to me wanting to put more representation out there. But it also when you find those people in the area, makes it and they’re excited about that kind of stuff. It makes it really cool and really fun and really special.

Nora Smith

Yeah, I Yeah, that’s a great way to go about that, to look at that, to have it turn it in or inward, or do something great. So this is kind of a similar question to sort of what we were just talking about. But do you have, like, a specific way that you would describe the local community around you?

Madison Wu

Um, the local community around me, or the local community that I live in? I feel like those are two different things.

Nora Smith

Oh, I would just say, like, the local professional, like, who you work with, the people who you kind of, if you have any, like, networking you know, other writers, that sort of ordeal, just like the general census of, like, your relationships with, like your other professionals, if you know any people, maybe,

Madison Wu

yeah, so, um, Actually, my, my cousin is about she designed my, my book cover, and she’s just been, like, super, super helpful and in that, and just being a creative presence. And she, she’s about to graduate from Clemson, wow. And she, she’s a she does graphic design, and being able to work with her, because our our families, our families, are not from around this area, so being able to work with her is really cool in the fact that it was, it’s say, away from home connection that makes any sense.

Nora Smith

I totally get that. I totally understand exactly what you’re talking about. Great. How would you yourself define success? Like, what points have you reached? Or what points do you think you will reach in which you feel you’ll be like, Oh, this is it. I’m successful. Do you have any examples of that? Or how would you define that?

Madison Wu

I think that, for me, I think success is finding joy in what you do. And I definitely, you know, I think there’s, like, there’s, there’s little things of success everywhere. When you reach a word count in a book, when you reach a stage where you’re, you know, ready to start working with other creatives so that you can take your work a step further into the world. I also think that there’s something really successful about connecting with people through through anything pretty, through art. So I remember my, uh, someone had, uh, gotten my poetry book and actually told me that they got extra copies because they liked it so much they wanted to be able to keep extra copies in their car so when they go to different places. If they meet a cool person, they can give them my book.

Nora Smith

That was, yeah, I was like, Oh my God, that’s the cool like, that is the coolest thing ever. I think that’s I would love that. I’d be like, oh my goodness, really. Okay, great. Um, so did you have any really big fears when you decided to pursue a career in the creative field? Or what if you had fears? What was your biggest fear?

Madison Wu

I think my, my biggest fear that I’m still getting used to is criticism, and not from a not from a like, oh, I don’t want to learn more. I don’t want to explore more. But I think that anytime anyone does anything creative, it puts you in a vulnerable position. It’s like, if you really put your your heart and your soul into your art, and then someone says something bad about it, from a a perspective of not understanding the artwork for what it is. Um. You know that that’s hard, and I think that that will I think that’s just something that is constantly present in life, and I am slowly but surely always working on on closing that gap until one day I can just be like, I’m writing whatever I want, and I don’t care what anyone says,

Nora Smith

right, right? Yeah, criticism is hard, especially with art. It’s so it’s so vulnerable. And you you know, it’s so scary doing stuff like that, it’s actually terrifying. So have you had a defining moment in your creative journey, like a particular project or something that had a specific impact on you, that really showcased your creativity.

Madison Wu

Oh, god. Oh gosh. That’s how do I pick one?

Nora Smith

You didn’t give any of them all.

Madison Wu

I think so I had to, I I had to stop going to school because of my disability, and that was really hard. And the moment that I decided, like, okay, you know what? That’s fine. I’m gonna give up science, and I’m gonna do art, I’m gonna do that. I think that that in itself, was a defining moment. I think it’s, it’s the moment that, the moments that I decided things, um, when I decided that I was gonna publish a book, when I decided that I was gonna start writing a contemporary novel, because I never pictured myself writing a contemporary novel. I think all those moments of stepping into something that was uncomfortable. Great, anything.

Nora Smith

Oh, sorry, were you gonna say something else?

Madison Wu

Oh, no. Just like any, anything that involves stepping out of the comfort zone is definitely great, great.

Nora Smith

So going into the kind of artistic, creative career field, what was the the best and the worst advice you’ve ever received from someone?

Madison Wu

The best advice that I’d ever received was to make bad art and make it often, um, I think that we focus on perfection so much. And when you’re sitting there staring at a blank computer screen or a blank piece of paper and you’re trying to put the words together in the perfect way, it just slows you down. And as soon as you as soon as I was like, You know what? Throw everything out the window. Throw all the grammar rules ever like, you know, plotting all that, throw it out the window, and I just wrote, and I allowed myself to be myself. Best advice ever received, right? The worst advice I’ve ever received, gosh, feel like, I feel like that’s that’s hard. Because I feel like even if a piece of advice doesn’t work, it’s valuable for me to learn that that doesn’t work. Yeah, I get that. That’s really hard. Maybe, oh, I think the worst piece of piece of advice is you’ll only feel good if you go viral. I think, like you know, you can, you can make as many as many social media posts as you want, but it’s more important to focus on, on the actual art. A lot of times

Nora Smith

I agree, I agree. So if you could please just walk me through your typical work day. What does your process look like and like? What kind of schedule do you have for yourself with your work like on a daily basis? So

Madison Wu

I usually, I get up, I take care of my dog, and then I come upstairs, and I sit down, and I typically try to get myself into the writing mood beforehand. So usually, when I’m, you know, when I’m taking care of my dog or eating breakfast, I will, you know, either look at Pinterest or listen to a playlist that I made that reminds me of a character, something like that, to just kind of get everything brought up, um and then, uh. I sit down, and I usually have a timer. I don’t like to let let myself write for more than 10 minutes, because if I do get stuck just staring at a screen and time just passes. So if I can’t, if I sit down and I can’t seem to get something down, I stop and I go do something else. I go do a chore, or just literally anything else, and then I come back to and then after that, I come back to it, and I usually right until about 11 o’clock, and then I train my dog and take a lunch break. And then my afternoons are usually depending on how I feel. Sometimes I sometimes I will write in the afternoon, sometimes I won’t, but I do really enjoy after dinner, getting in bed and sitting in bed and writing. I’m the most productive writing at the end of the day, I feel like the pressure of the day is off. Yeah, I just get to, like, put everything into what I want to do.

Nora Smith

I totally understand that. So with kind of your creativity and artistic skills being a part of your professional career. How do you separate creativity from like professionalism, like art and like enjoyment from like, what you like your career?

Madison Wu

I think the beautiful thing about art is that you you don’t have to, I try to help out my friends with little things like, admit, like administrative work or little things like that. Because I, I have friends who own their own businesses and, you know, I just, I help them out with that kind of stuff. So I feel like I’m doing a job and that kind of, you know, sidetracks to me being able to be like, Okay, that’s my job. Now I get to work on my calling and going in to going into anything creative, kind of reminding myself that the best outcome is when I’m not worried about how it’s going to be professionally, because we already see too much of that we need. We need rawness and weirdness and vulnerability, and that’s what the world needs. Kind of a cliche answer,

Nora Smith

but no, that’s good. That’s good. That’s good. Do you have any advice that you would give someone going into your field, wanting to become a writer or an author.

Madison Wu

Don’t let whatever one says scare you. I think that there’s a lot of pressure nowadays about writing to the market, or, you know, needing to feel like writing has become more about how much money things can bring in than the actual art of writing, and I think that takes away so much of the humanity of of writing and story storytelling in any capacity, and so not worrying about that, because when you focus on, oh, this is what I want to do, because this is what feels right, that’s when you reach Another level.

Nora Smith

Great, great. That’s some great advice. Do you have any questions that you wish I had asked at all?

Madison Wu

No, those were all amazing questions. Great.

Nora Smith

Do you have any creative that you would like to nominate to be interviewed at all, anyone that you know in the field?

Madison Wu

I think I’m going to say my cousin Natalie Bell. I was thinking of her, yeah, she, she’s amazing, she’s she’s amazing, she’s so talented. She’s so wonderful to work with.

Nora Smith

Okay, great, great. This has been great. I’ve had such a great time talking to you.

Madison Wu

Yeah, thank you so much. This was awesome.

Nora Smith

Yeah, thank you.

Madison Wu

You did a great job. I can’t believe this was your first interview.

Nora Smith

Thank you. Well, so did you.

May 27, 2025
Brandon Goff

“I put in 30 minutes of practice every day, whether it’s guitar or composing. It’s like exercise 30 minutes a day goes a lot further than five hours once a week. It keeps your brain engaged.”

Brandon Goff is a composer, producer, engineer, performer, and professor of Music Industry at Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina. As a Memphis, Tennessee, local, he attended Rhodes College where Goff’s creative path began. This path has taken him through academic and professional music spaces across the U.S. and abroad. With a PhD and a background in music composition, he believes in celebrating every step of creative growth, whether that’s writing an album or landing a gig. His career is a witness to persistence, curiosity, and the value of creative support systems.

Interview

Transcript

Emma Plutnicki 00:00

So, to start, what do you do for work, and where are you currently working from?

Brandon Goff 00:06

I mean, I do a lot of things to be fair, but I’m a professor of Music Industry in Florence, South Carolina, at Francis Marion University, which is obviously going to be the biggest chunk of what I do. But my, you know, my background’s as a composer, a producer, and an engineer and a performer does a lot of different aspects to being a professional musician, and you don’t always do just one. And I’m one of those people who do all those all the time.

Emma Plutnicki 00:27

Amazing. So how long have you been working as a professor, and then how long have you been doing all the other things?

Brandon Goff 00:35

I’m from Memphis, Tennessee, and I’ve been teaching on a university level since, oh my, it goes way back. I first started a Rhodes College, which is a really nice liberal arts school in Memphis, and then I moved from there to probably started teaching, you know, around 2003 2004 so it’s been a minute. Yeah, it’s been a while. Then I went to, like, around Nashville, at a place called Lambuth University, and then I came here from there, and I’ve been here since 2011 so I’ve been in South Carolina for like, you know, proper, 14 years now.

Emma Plutnicki 01:11

Okay, so what is one thing that you love about working as a creative in South Carolina, specifically, as opposed to in Memphis or Nashville?

Brandon Goff 01:22

Well, you know, I do. I—anybody who works in the creative, especially the music industry, is going to love Memphis and Nashville. These are two, like, major hubs of music industry. But along with that, from an academic standpoint, meaning from in the in regards to the education portion of what I do, it’s fun working with students who don’t have that grandiose expectation of someone who’s growing up in Nashville. I mean, these in the talent pool, it’s a misconception. People always think, well, everyone’s so talented in New York, London, Nashville, they’re always just like, let alone actually, mathematically, no, they’re not. They’re just surrounded by an industry which really kind of draws that talent out. So, one of the beautiful things about South Carolina, that I love is the talent pool is thick. It’s just as the talent pool is just as big as it is anywhere else. But there’s just less exposure to it, less exposure to your opportunities, your potential, to chances you can take that you don’t realize you can because you’re not in one of those big music hubs. And I do, I really do love that. Actually, I do. I do enjoy that a lot.

Emma Plutnicki 02:26

Yeah, that’s amazing. So, has South Carolina had any unique influence on your work specifically?

Brandon Goff 02:34

I mean, of course, yes. I mean, it would do, wouldn’t it? I mean, it’s the, I don’t feel, musically? How would I—there’s a, it’s a different—you know, I’m from Tennessee, in Memphis and Nashville. Everyone’s a musician. That is the thing that everyone does. You probably have an uncle who’s a songwriter. You might have another uncle who works for a record label, who’s like a, you know, a talent scout. And I kind of, I didn’t, honestly, I didn’t realize the rest of the world wasn’t like that until I moved here. When I moved to South Carolina, I was like, Oh, this isn’t like the major industry. This isn’t what everybody does. And so, in being steeped in a non-music focused culture is going to obviously be influential. There’s a complete different music culture here. There’s a different kind of nightlife culture, a different culinary culture. And so, I’m constantly stealing, like, little, you know, snippets of sounds and lifestyles and putting them in songs and putting them in, you know, pieces and stuff like that, which I think is as well you should.

Emma Plutnicki 03:37

Yeah, I love that. So how would you describe the local professional community within South Carolina?

Brandon Goff 03:45

In regards to music professionals? You know, again, you’re not in—there’s not, there aren’t a ton of recording studios. There aren’t just a ton of, you know, production houses and things like that. There aren’t a ton of publishing houses. There aren’t a ton of things like that. There are a few here and there and around. It’s more competitive getting into those spaces because there are less spaces for people to access. But one of the biggest, we’re still a big production state, in large part because we do, we still have a lot of arts funding, and we have a lot of massive churches that run big productions. So, I’ve had a lot of students who go work for big, big churches here in South Carolina who have productions that are equal to that, of, you know, equal to that, of like, a large performance venue. And we do have large performance venues, you know, Myrtle Beach, the coast has a lot of that stuff. Even Columbia has a few things like that, Green Velocity, nice stuff or something. A lot of students who have internships up there and stuff like that. And it’s just, it’s going to be, your churches are massive, and they have a massive production budget, so a lot of students will go work for the big churches, and a lot of students that’s like, that’s kind of what they want to do, because that’s like, that’s how they got into music this lot of in the we’re in the Bible Belt, so a lot of the students are picking up musical skills, and the gold concepts in church, and then end up wanting to go back there and kind of work in that church as a worship leader or as a production leader or something like that.

Emma Plutnicki 05:10

Yeah, makes sense. Very cool. So, within a creative career, it can be difficult to define success sometimes, because there aren’t always clear expectations. So how do you define professional and personal success within your career?

Brandon Goff 05:26

Oh, how you, know what I think—I tell this to my students all the time. Yeah and I suspect that depends on your personality type as well. But when I was quite poor, grew up very, very poor and actually I was not, I was not a high school graduate. I was a high school dropout. I dropped out of high school and got a job at a factory. And so, you gauge your dreams and your expectations of success on the reality around you. So, as you accomplish something, you then gauge, well, my next level of success will be that. And so, like, at that point in my life, I was like, you know, my dream is to work inside a place that has air conditioning, because I was working at a factory that had no air conditioning in the South, so it was hot. So, but then as I, as you move forward, like, Oh, I just, I just wrote a song. So I want to write 10 songs. And you, so each one of those little accomplishments is a success of its own, but ideally, and you find contentment and what you’ve accomplished, but you also, it’s fun to see how far you can push what you can do. So, you’re always looking for a new kind of success, but then recognizing the success that you had as you move through it. So, I mean, if you’re a full-time musician anywhere, you are mathematically successful because you’ve done something that’s difficult to do. You’re making a living off of a craft, art, a passion that’s very few people get to do that, and so that’s already successful. But even if you don’t do that, even if you’re just someone who’s actually sat down and written an entire album worth of material, and that’s not what you do for a living that’s still incredibly successful, because very few people have the patience and the skill set and the focus to accomplish that. So, there’s success can be found in so many different avenues. And I think it’s important for—I always tell this to my students, to recognize that and to reward yourself emotionally and psychologically for those successes, regardless of the monetary outcome that you might receive.

Emma Plutnicki 07:28

Yeah, that’s a great way of framing it. So, did you have any fears going into this career, or were you…?

Brandon Goff 07:35

I mean, I was too stupid to be scared like I didn’t know. I didn’t I mean, I didn’t know I had then that’s, that’s a benefit of youth, isn’t it? Like, no, I’m gonna, I mean, I’m gonna do this because I don’t know that I can’t do this. And it’s amazing how when you don’t know you can’t do something, that you kind of put your all into it, and all of a sudden, you’ve done it when everyone else knew you couldn’t do it. And it turns out you could do it all along. So, you’ve kind of got to the ignorance has its role there some level. Or, you know, unabashed arrogance helps as well. Because I’m going to do this no matter what, I’m just going to push through it. Just stick to it, even if you know you can’t do it, just convince you commit yourself you can.

Emma Plutnicki 08:18

Yeah, and was that something that you just found within yourself, or were there people along the way giving you advice?

Brandon Goff 08:25

I mean my undergraduate, you know, actually, my undergraduate degree is in music composition, so it’s not even music industry. Music industry is a lot of what I do, but that was just the nature of being a musician in Tennessee, where there’s a massive music industry. And I got into the music industry because I was one of the first people who was using computers to produce music, and so studios would call me to come do that kind of work, and that just opened the door for me. But again, I wasn’t, it wasn’t part of a grand plan. I was just, again, I was poor. I was, it was day by day. I was like, Okay, I need, I’ve got to eat tomorrow. So, I’m going to do this gig tonight. I’ve got to figure out how to make this happen. So, it was a constant. There was a constant, just a, you know, piece by piece by piece by piece by piece, and you kind of work it, work it out and make it happen.

Emma Plutnicki 09:10

Yeah, makes sense. Can you recall any times when maybe a mentor or professor within your degree maybe gave you some good advice, or even the worst advice you’ve ever heard?

Brandon Goff 09:27

I mean, I say advice, perhaps not advice so much as just support and belief. And that was very meaningful for me when I was, when I was an undergrad, you know, I had a professor who thought that I was very, very bright, and therefore gave me a scholarship to learn a new piece of software that the university had acquired. And that software turned out to be a thing called Pro Tools eventually. So, I was one of the first people who knew how to use this particular software thing called Pro Tools. And so that particular belief and my ability to do that changed my life dramatically. And then, when I was doing that PhD, my PhD professor just really loved my music, loved what I did professionally, and as such, would often, he was a very, very famous composer, would bring me along, would program my works on big concerts across like Europe and from Turkey across, you know, through France and such. So that gave my work massive exposure that I would not have gotten, if not for a particular professor who saw something in me and really, really took it upon themselves to push me forward, if you call that advice. But it was yeah, no, but it was both those, both those episodes were very, very life changing for me.

Emma Plutnicki 10:46

For sure, and with Pro Tools being really life changing in your life, would you say, or, I guess, could you describe a time or a project that you’ve worked on that has been very meaningful to your life? It can be a significant, I don’t know, project or piece that you’ve performed or written, or just anything that you feel has had a significant impact on your life and has really showcased your creativity.

Brandon Goff 11:13

You know, it’s funny, the most popular piece that I have, and it was not. It was never intended to be this way. I was, I was relatively new to South Carolina, and I’m a guitar player. I play lots of instruments, but my guitar is kind of one of my main instruments. I would do session work in Nashville as a guitar player, but I’m a composer. I’m a writer. And so, the concert band director said, Hey, Dr, Goff, we would love you to come in and play perhaps an electric guitar concerto, which is where you have, like, a large concert band or orchestra and with electric guitar as a lead instrument. And so, I thought, okay, great, I’ll let me find a piece that will be good. And so, I searched and I searched and I searched and I discovered that there were almost no electric guitar concertos that are in existence. I was like, Okay, this doesn’t really exist. So, I said, Hey, how about I just write a piece for you guys that you did this for me and for you. And so, I did this. It’s a piece called Full On Rumble. So, it was like, and I actually made it. I wanted to make it kind of tongue in cheek, if you know that phrase, I wanted to make it kind of like, I used all of the over the top guitar techniques from like, the 80s and 90s. They’re all like, all the, you know, the big hair guitar players would play, from Led Zeppelin to AC DC to Van Halen, all the, I threw it all in there. It’s kind of a kitchen sink piece. It has like every little nuance in it, kind of poking fun at, like, the absurdity of guitar solos and stuff, yeah. But everyone loved it, and it’s become, by far, probably 80 to 90% of my professional work is traveling the world, playing that particular piece with other orchestras and concert bands all over the place. I’ve done it in the past two or three years, from London to Portugal to Germany to Istanbul, all the way. It gets performed all the time. So that one piece, that one little weird thing where I was like, Well, I can’t find that piece much better. I better just write one, that was that, changed everything, that opened so many weird doors that’s still a lot of what I do is just manage the distribution, publication and performances of that piece.

Emma Plutnicki 13:13

Very cool. You said it’s called Full On Rumble. Full On Rumble

Brandon Goff 13:16

Yeah, F, U, L, L, on Rumble.

Emma Plutnicki 13:22

All right, I’ll have to check it out. And so nowadays, what does a typical work day look like for you?

Brandon Goff 13:29

It’s, I’m, unlike most musicians, I guess I don’t know. I’m regimented, because I have to be. And it’s taken, yeah, I mean, everyone deals with this. I guess you discover over time what times of day you’re better at certain things. Because when I first get up in the morning, that’s not the only time of the day that I have the mental acuity to like, to do all my invoicing and to send, like, do all my communiques emails, like, I’ve got about an hour and a half where I have the I have the emotional wherewithal to sit down and, like, okay, because I don’t, I don’t relish that. I love creating, I love producing, I love teaching, I love performing. But all of that is tethered to, like, if I’m doing the music for TV commercial, I have to then invoice that, and then have to go through and like, you know, I might have to do all kinds of clerical work behind that, and then send off demos to other places for public publishers. Yeah, it’s like, tons of legwork. So, I have an hour and a half of morning legwork. You have to do that every morning. Just get all that stuff done. And then I’ll always, always put in about 30 minutes of just practice. And we can practice guitar, or could be practicing composing. It is just like, just like exercise, which I do as well. But I do that because it just keeps your brain engaged. You know, 30 minutes a day goes a lot further than five hours one day a week. So, I always do that. Then all my classes are always in that little mid-day chunk, and then I do a lot of production work late in the afternoon, a lot of like mathematical studio stuff I go through and take pieces I’ve worked on and start working on new mixes for them, for release and things like that. Yeah, I know those, the times a day, like times a day when I am most effective for those arenas. If that makes sense.

Emma Plutnicki 15:11

Yeah. You have to know yourself.

Brandon Goff 15:15

Yeah, you did. It takes a long time too.

Emma Plutnicki 15:25

Yeah. So how are you able to, you know, balance work and life, and just keep your creativity at you know, just keeping it alive, because it can be hard, you get bogged down and other things. So how do you keep that work life balance?

Brandon Goff 15:31

Oh, wow, that’s man, that’s enough. You know, work life balance. And these are generational concepts. When I was young, I don’t know that anyone ever really discussed work life balance. So that was the kind of, I’m sure we had issues with it. We just hadn’t figured out how to name it and, you know, manage it. So, if you do something that you really, really enjoy, if it’s the kind of thing you would do, whether you’re getting paid for it or not. That is a beautiful, beautiful thing, but it’s also rife with its own challenges, as you can imagine, because you’re never really off work, and that’s one of the biggest challenge for me, is to disengage with what I’m doing and find a way to tune it out, you know, after, say, 8pm so that I have a shot in hell of sleeping, which is my dream scenario where my brain isn’t frantic at 10pm and like I’m asleep before to 2am I’ll be great, difficult to do, because it is you do what you—it’s what I’m thinking about, whether I’m working on it or not. Like I often, like, in the summers, when I have the rare weekend where I can, like, not do music and go mow my lawn, I’m like, wow, that was amazing. I went and mowed a lawn, and I’m done, and I’m not thinking about my lawn now, like, I like that. I like that. You can put something to bed. And as a musician, you rarely get to do that. You’re just, it’s always doing and you have to. I—so I’ve called it work life balance, so much as just because you love music. And music’s everywhere. So, every time I turn on a Netflix show, there’s a piece of music in there that I’m like, Oh, I could steal that idea. I could do—and so everything’s research, so it’s difficult to pull away from that. So, I’ll often listen. I’ll often dive into, like, some sort of talk radio, because it has no affiliation to my career whatsoever. And it just kind of helps bring me, pull me away from that, that whirlpool of creativity.

Emma Plutnicki 17:38

Yeah, that must be hard, because music is everywhere, and it’s just part of life. Which is good and can also be challenging. But you’re right. As we just wrap up, are there any, is there anything else you’d like to add, or any questions you wish that maybe I asked that I didn’t?

Brandon Goff 17:58

I don’t think so. Thank you. That was a really nice selection of questions. I mean, it’s, my colleagues often call me—they say he’s kind of workaholic, he’s kind of hyper, and I am kind of hyper, and I can’t appear to be a workaholic, because I do love to perform and I love to write and I love to write and I love to produce. These aren’t all the same thing, but there’s absolutely no reason you can’t pick one of those things and be that. Be that thing. One of my best friends is one of our piano faculty here, and he’s just a concert pianist, and that’s all he does. But, and that’s a beautiful thing. If I just performed, I think I would lose my mind because I want to write as well, but I also love being in the studio and like, you know, stacking guitars and laying things in and making a nice product, that’s my particular passion. Is that diversified approach to a career, but it is by no means I don’t know what I would even suggest that to every student, because that said that it’s a challenge, and that’s it. That suits my personality, that suits the way that I work, pretty well, but I suspect it’s not the best fit for most people. I suspect I’m a minority in this that that arena. It’s hard to say.

Emma Plutnicki 19:17

Yeah, hard to find a balance, but amazing. Well, I’ve loved hearing your story, and thank you again for taking the time to speak with me. Last thing is, do you have anybody that you think would be great for us to interview another professional in the creative space? I could give you some time to think also and shoot you over a nominations link.

Brandon Goff 19:43

Yeah, please do. I know a lot. I know a lot of great creatives.

April 29, 2025
Sam Sokolow

“Make something. Follow your gut. And remember, everything, success or failure, is a learning experience.”

Sam Sokolow is a two-time Emmy-nominated film and television producer who recently relocated to Greenville, South Carolina after 23 years in Los Angeles and a childhood in New York City. Now focused on building a slate of independent films from the South, Sokolow is also helping develop the Clemson Film School and working on global workforce training for emerging film markets. His mission is to empower storytellers and creatives through mentorship, opportunity, and industry experience.

Interview

Transcript

Lexi Raines 00:00

Sam, okay, so first, I just want you to give like a little introduction of yourself. What do you do for work, and where are you currently working from?

Sam Sokolow 00:09

Sure. My name is Sam Sokolow. I am a producer of Film and Television. I’m a two time Emmy nominated producer who, after 23 years in Los Angeles and growing up in New York City, has now moved to Greenville, South Carolina, where I am building a slate of independent films. I am working to help build the Clemson film school, and I’m still running my production company from here, as well as working on a global workforce development program that I helped build to help train crew to work in emerging markets, which are skills I certainly want to bring to South Carolina.

Lexi Raines 00:46

Yeah that- and that’s awesome. So you said you’ve lived in LA. So what does working in- what does working in Greenville like, or in South Carolina in general, what’s one thing that you have loved about working here?

Sam Sokolow 01:01

There are many things I love about working in Greenville. One, most of the time I feel like I’m in the middle of a Hallmark movie. Absolutely beautiful, and it is, and I and I say quaint in the best way, coming out of big cities like New York and Los Angeles. This is a perfect place for me right now. My wife is from the upstate of South Carolina. She’s from Gaffney, South Carolina, and we moved here for the best reasons in the world, which was love. To be near her family, and when you do those things, I think miracles happen around you, and so all of the things that I’m working on right now to help bring production to South Carolina and develop production in South Carolina are really motivated by love and by being in the right place that I’m supposed to be in life right now, but bringing my unique skill set from a from a career, you know, in Hollywood, in New York, making movies and TV shows.

Lexi Raines 01:54

Yeah that’s- that’s awesome. So would you say that that’s one aspect that South Carolina like brings to your work, or what would you say its unique influences on you compared to like anywhere else?

Sam Sokolow 02:07

Well, at the end of the day, we’re storytellers. How we execute those stories is modified project to project. I’ve told stories for very, very little money, and I’ve told stories for astronomical sums of money in studio deals with companies like Disney, but at the end of the day, it’s about great storytelling and one thing that I have found in my, you know, 25 plus years of coming to the upstate of South Carolina is that this place is, you know, teaming with great storytellers and whether those storytellers tell their stories in journalistic fashions, whether they write books, poems, essays, short stories, make YouTube videos, as my wife does on her YouTube channel, the Southern Women channel. It’s about authentic storytelling that can also connect with universal themes, so that people locally can appreciate them, and people you know globally can appreciate them. Because we live in a remarkable time right now where there’s only one territory left and it’s the whole world at once. Yeah. So the opportunity to be a part of an emerging market like South Carolina, and hope to help facilitate the remarkable storytellers here tell their stories on screen, is extremely exciting and gets me up every morning with a tremendous amount of ambition and enthusiasm and there are a lot of talented people in the state of South Carolina, I think it’s a hidden gem. So, you know, again, if I can help facilitate some of those storytellers and- and some of those stories then, then it’ll be a true blessing.

Lexi Raines 03:54

Yeah that’s- that’s an amazing to hear, and that’s such- you’re bringing such wonderful opportunities to South Carolina. So, I’ve actually heard that there’s like, a really, like, big and close knitted filmmaking hub in Greenville that I didn’t know about before. How would you describe that local community?

Sam Sokolow 04:15

It’s a, it’s a, I would describe the Greenville production community, to paraphrase Shakespeare, you know, “she may be small, but she is mighty”. There are very talented people here, cinematographers, grips, you know, directors, assistant directors, certainly writers and I think that tapping into that talent is something that I’m in a constant state of trying to do because, you know, being a producer and- and having had the fortune of producing some pretty big things in my career, it’s a very unique skill set, and I think that producers, while not everyone understands what they do. Are, are organizing? Can we? Can we? Can be a part of organizing the- the talent that’s already there. So, you know, I’m not here to put my own thoughts or process into play or attempt to do that. I’m here to try to learn and discover and harness the energy that’s here, and again, see if my experience as a producer can- can help some great stories be made here, and hopefully made by local artists, filmmakers, writers, directors, and exported to the world. So, the South Carolina stories and attitude and wonder can be felt by everyone the way I feel it, you know, by getting to live here now.

Lexi Raines 05:43

Yeah, that is- that’s awesome. That’s so amazing. So how would you define your professional or personal successes and like your creative endeavors, since you have shifted to kind of helping people along in their paths?

Sam Sokolow 06:02

You know, when you have a career in the arts, I think that you’re always looking ahead to the next project, as we say, swimming to the next buoy in the ocean. And, you know, I’ve been very fortunate to work on amazing projects my whole career, and at different levels. So, when I was in New York, it was more independent films and commercials. When I moved to Los Angeles, I got involved in larger television series, and eventually global, you know, shows that really had a massive impact. And now that I’m in South Carolina again, I’m not bringing my own preconceived ideas of what it should be. I’m trying to harness the energy here and see if I can be a supportive force. Again, there are a lot of different ways to think of a producer, and I certainly have many definitions and many facets that I go through when doing a project, from development through production, through delivery, then distribution and marketing. I mean, you’re sort of there for the whole life cycle of a project. But ultimately, I distill the job of being a producer down to putting creative people in a position to do their best work. Yeah, and I can come here and put creative people in a position to do their best work, then I’m doing my job that I’ve been fortunate to learn over many, many years of trial and effort, and, you know, failure and success. And, you know, learn by doing this. This, this job, I think, for everyone that works in filmed entertainment, to a large degree, is you learn by doing. You can get trained, certainly, and you can get the education, but once you step on set, that’s where you take your training and you’re in your education, put it to work and begin to learn by doing and by- by the real world experiences that you have and- and so I’m just hoping to bring that experience and good energy and support to the to the creatives here that I am fortunate to meet and hopefully work with.

Lexi Raines 08:09

Yeah, it’s- it’s amazing that you can give that to people, because I know there are so many people that in like smaller states that don’t have that type of guidance to look to. When you first started your journey in film, what was, what was your biggest fear to first starting out with that?

Sam Sokolow 08:31

I’ve wanted to do this as long as I can remember. I was what’s called the latch key kid growing up in New York. My parents both worked. My brother and sister were older than me, so I came home most days from school, and sort of was on my own, and movies were my imaginary friend. Movies were my escape. Movies were my babysitter, and so I’ve loved movies and dust as well television and storytelling on screen my entire life. So, I try to keep things very positive, but honest to goodness. My biggest fear was not getting to do it. My biggest fear was failing in my attempts to actually work in the industry and be a part of projects. That was what drove me to never quitting, to being, you know, really stick to it, to having something that I think everyone needs in this industry, which is perseverance. And I have a deep well of perseverance, because not doing this was the worst thing I can imagine. You know, you know, could I have been a lawyer, a doctor, or the politician or whatever, perhaps. But I think that, you know, going back to the original, original, original, sort of caveman days, you know, there are people who go out or cave people who go out and kill dinosaurs, and they’re those who guard the cave. And then there are people in the back drawing on the wall and creating a sense of entertainment. Storytelling, continuity and storytelling, to me, is the bedrock of society and the bedrock of continual society. And so not being a storyteller was the scariest thing. And so again, I’m very blessed to have had a supportive family, to have had a supportive people around me, but, but really, my only fear was not doing it.

Lexi Raines 10:24

Yes, and obviously, you’ve become so successful being nominated for the Emmys, that’s like mind blowing. That’s absolutely awesome. Was- was this like a defining moment in your creative journey, or do you have one, like, was there a particular project you worked on that had a significant impact on you.

Sam Sokolow 10:45

I think there are many projects that have impacts on you as you go through time. Yes, and with each achievement, you have earned the right and what I would say, the internal credibility to reach for the next rung on the ladder. You know, I’ve done projects; when I- I made an independent feature when I was in my 20s in New York, that was like the- the very definition of the labor of love, the fall on the sword, the kind of, you know, throw all caution to the wind. And when we got that film made, I thought that was the most definitional moment of my career. Yeah, when the film didn’t get the distribution deal that we had hoped, and we sort of somehow ended up with it, literally like sitting in boxes in an apartment, I thought that was the other kind of definitional moment of my career. Then we created a paradigm and became the first filmmakers to ever self-distribute a movie using the internet? Yeah, that’s got a tremendous amount of national and in some cases, international attention. And I thought that was a defining moment, you know, so that that the goal is to keep working, and the goal is to keep trying, and the goal is to keep stretching yourself, to try to, you know, do bigger projects or more significant projects as you see them. And that definition is different for everyone. But certainly, when I got nominated for the first Emmy, it was, without question, a feeling to kind of use the allegory of the hero’s journey of slaying a dragon. I went out to Hollywood, I- I broke into an industry I’d never been in before. I only knew at the time my brother and my best friend, even- even Julia, my wife, who was my fiance at the time, was still in New York. It was a very kind of caution, again, caution to the wind. I hope it works out experience and to have built a career there and built the relationships and built the company that I built and achieved those things, I would say that getting nominated for the Emmy was certainly a significant moment that allows me to kind of step back and be like, wow, look, look what, look what happened. It was pretty remarkable. But even that is a collaborative experience, you know, I didn’t get nominated for an Emmy. I mean, technically, I did, but we got nominated for an Emmy, the creative team on that show, and that year, you know, Jeffrey rush got nominated for Best Actor, and there were, you know, there were 10 nominations from the technical side. So it was, it was being able to work with people of that caliber that I think, for me, was more exciting and more meaningful than the accolade. But the accolade certainly is, is pretty astounding. And, you know, frankly, pretty cool.

Lexi Raines 13:41

Yeah for sure. So you seem like you obviously, you have so much experience in this. I’m sure people have tried to put in their two cents into your career. What is the best and worst advice you’ve received?

Sam Sokolow 13:59

The best advice that I received was that you don’t aim for money in the creative arts. You aim for relative moments and to be a part of moments that that capture people’s imaginations or get a certain amount of attention and become a certain level of success that, again, allow you to go up to the next rung in the ladder. Because, you know, as a- as a producer, I want to work with the best talent in the world. You know, that’s the goal, world class talent. And so if I was aiming just for money, I may not have achieved or taken some of the risks that I took that allowed me to achieve things that allowed me to go up that ladder. So, working for moments, being a part of something relative, always thinking, how can we do something that cuts through? How can we do something that really connects with an audience that taught me to focus? On the work and the creative idea and process and quality of something, and give the things you’re a part of an opportunity to become relevant, and then the opportunities and things like money follow. So that was the best advice I would say to anybody that wants to be a filmmaker or be in this industry, make things,? you know. Don’t just wait to get chosen. Don’t just wait to get picked, take agency of your career, of your experience, and make a short film, write a script, do something that gets noticed, because we’re in the visual arts, and if you have visibility and getting to do the art, kind of follows. So that was the best advice I was given. The worst advice that I was given, honestly, it, I don’t think I can nail one particular thing down. It’s sort of in, you know, I would say that there were moments where my gut told me to do something, and I allowed a representative, an agent, a manager, a lawyer, to tell me that’s probably not going to work. Yeah, and when I, when I took the advice of others that something wouldn’t work and didn’t execute something that my gut was telling me to do more than not, I would see some version of it become a success. You know, not in every case. This is not a business, a patent, 1000 for sure, but I would see that and say I should have just followed my gut. So it was less about, I think, sweeping advice that was like bad advice, yeah, which is, I think it was in the moment, listening to whoever was in my ear at any given moment that talked me out of following my heart and my gut, and so I learned over time, to follow my heart and my gut, and as one of my other producing mentors said to me, do the things that you believe in, and I promise that you know, 10 years from now, there’ll be plenty of people lined up to tell you if you were right or wrong.

Lexi Raines 16:57

Yeah, I think those are good words to live by, because you truly never know until you’ve gone out and you’ve tried it, so-

Sam Sokolow 17:06

Exactly, I don’t look at anything like a failure. Everything is a learning experience. Everything is a learning experience. So, you know, I try not to think about things in the terms of successes and failures. I try to think in the terms of, what did I learn, what did we experience? And, you know, again, you have a lot more failure, quote, unquote, than you do success in the industry. I’ve put 20 TV shows on the air. I’ve been a part of making half a dozen films. You know, these are all incredible experiences and achievements, of course but to get there, I’ve probably tried 300 things, so there’s 275 things that never quite made it, yeah, but, but I’ve learned from every single thing that that we tried.

Lexi Raines 17:59

Yeah, I think that’s extremely valuable. So, can you walk me through a typical work day for you, like, what does your process look like, and what do you, what’s kind of expected from you on a daily basis?

Sam Sokolow 18:15

It’s a great question. On a daily basis, I- I wear several hats. And- excuse me-

Lexi Raines

You’re good.

Sam Sokolow

On a daily basis, I wear several hats. And the number one thing that I’ve learned is to be present, so that whatever I’m doing, I’m completely present for and right now I am only here talking to you. This is, this is what I’m doing. When we’re done, I will move on to something else and be present for that. So any given day, I even just- taking today as an example: I woke up early. I had a 90 minute meeting with a writer in the UK, in England, with a producing partner in Iceland on a global television series that we’re developing. We hope it becomes a global series, but it has the potential to be. I did some of that while driving to Clemson. I then taught film production courses at Clemson, which I’m extremely passionate about, to help build the Clemson film program. Help- help South Carolina again, go up and weight class itself, which isn’t going to happen because I wanted to it’s going to happen because great young talent is emerging here. And put in that effort and energy, and I love teaching. Then on my way back to Greenville, I had a few other business calls. And then once I got to Greenville, I put all my energy into this, you know, global workforce training program that I do with a company called Stage 32 and in that, I’ve been going back and forth, literally, with film commissions and some studios in Austria, in Uganda. Bucha. I had an exchange with the film commissioner in Croatia. So, you know, I think it’s seeing the- the world as open right now, but again, trying very hard to focus locally on developing things. But in any given day, I will develop. I will work on the projects that I’m producing. I will work on educating people here in the state of South Carolina, I will work on building the Clemson film school, and I’ll work on this, you know, incredible global training project to help people all over the world get the skills they need to work in the industry as- as it’s emerging all over the place. Yeah, it sounds like, but they’re, they’re busy days, but they’re exciting days. And what I will say on a very personal note is that working from Greenville is an absolute joy, and in New York and Los Angeles, there’s more external pressure and external noise, and I find that I’m more effective here in focusing on each thing that I’m trying to do. Zoom has changed the world. So nobody cares where I am as much as what I can bring to any given opportunity, or- or- or aproject or initiative. So, you know, it’s wonderful to be in Greenville and kind of have this calm around me, but, but be doing, you know, probably the most exciting work I’ve, I’ve ever done, including, you know, two seasons of genius that have, that have happened since I’ve been here.

Lexi Raines 21:33

Yeah, and that’s that’s so good to hear. So it sounds like you obviously have so much going on at all times. How do you create, like, a healthy work life balance where you’re able to maintain kind of like your professional life and also just your personal life?

Sam Sokolow 21:53

You know, maintaining a healthy work life balance is not the easiest thing in the world, and sometimes you certainly put more emphasis on work at times, and then you have to make a point of, you know, either having set date nights with, you know, my wife, or making sure that we get in the car and go spend a day with her family, or I hop on a plane and go up and spend a weekend in New York with my mom and my brother and taking vacations when we can. And when those things happen, get out of the house and do things, hiking a little bit, getting into nature here has been really wonderful. I try to have a little bit of balance in every day, you know. And- and by having a little bit of balance in every day, then, then- then you end up in balance in life. But I, you know, I meditate, I- I have my own, you know, spiritual, you know, experience that I am deeply into and- but I love the work and so from the outside looking in. You know, others might think that I maybe work too much, but to me, this is such a reward to get to do this work. I-I’m not a hobbyist. I don’t, I don’t really- I’m not going to bake sourdough bread or make a ship in a bottle. I’d rather spend that time helping somebody make a short film or reading a script or- or again, helping Clemson with new opportunity, helping the Film Commission in South Carolina try to achieve whatever goals they have, helping, you know, people around the world get the skills they need to work in this industry. So it’s not always easy. You do have to really be disciplined to take time off and to and to make sure that you do smell the roses and- and cultivate a really healthy personal life. And I’m lucky. I’ve got some really wonderful friends. I’ve got a great family and- and I have a wife who I love so dearly that I’m in South Carolina now.

Lexi Raines 23:56

Yeah. So what are some, like, habits that you have developed throughout your career that you think would be beneficial for others wanting to join your field?

Sam Sokolow 24:10

It depends on what they want to do, but immersing yourself in what you want to do while sounding so obvious, I think that there’s a there’s a sense that the arts and filmed entertainment is some type of magic and- and is some artistic experience, which it is, but on some level, that is like, can feel a little unattainable. But when I graduated from film school myself, I did not get a bachelor of the arts. I got a Bachelor of Science, and that always reminds me that this is a science, this is a craft, and you have to apply yourself to the craft. So if you want to be a producer, you know, go online, Google “What does a producer do?” Google things about the things that- that- that make a producer. I know how to manage a budget. I know how to do cost reporting. I know how to manage a crew of people on the creative side and the business side. If you want to be a cinematographer. Study cinematography, shoot things, get a camera, take the camera apart, put the camera back together. You know, don’t, don’t, kind of sit around dreaming about things. Be active. Yes, meet, meet your dreams halfway. Don’t, don’t expect somebody to just knock on the door and hand them to you. Study work. If you want to be a screenwriter, awesome. Read screenplays. You can download screenplays right now off the internet for almost any movie, -there’s- there- you can go on sites and download all the Oscar nominated movies right now, the scripts, read the scripts, then watch the movie, see what choices were made by the by the director and by the creative team and the production designer and the costume designer and the hair designer to all be a part of telling that story. So, I really think it’s about immersing yourself in the things that you want to do and just trying to learn as much as you can about them. And those are things that every individual can control. If you want to be an actor, study acting, get into acting class, put in the time, get- get better at your craft, get, you know, build your reservoir of- of- of tools so that you can be a strong actor. And then, by being an acting class, you may meet other actors that invite you to be in a film, be in a short, be in a play. You know, I think, I think you have to get into the community that you want to be in, and you have to kind of commit yourself to learning and- and- and experiencing the things that you want to do and learn from them. So, yeah, I’m just a real believer in self-studying and self-motivation, and- and, and, and we live in a moment now with the internet where everything’s at your fingertips, so you can learn about anything, and you can learn about and then apply those things yourself. So, you know, I think that the best advice I can give people is think about the things that you want to do, and you don’t have to do one thing. I have a friend in Los Angeles who, you know, we refer to as the Swiss Army knife. He’s a professional grade editor. He’s a professional grade line producer, which is someone who makes budgets and handles the money. He’s an accomplished producer. He’s in the Writers Guild of America. He’s a writer, and he’s given himself the opportunity to always work by mastering multiple crafts. And so I think ultimately, we’re crafts people, and when you’re a crafts person, you know, study the craft, do the craft, and everything else will happen.

Lexi Raines 27:46

I completely agree. I feel like so many people, they think that the most successful people are only these creative geniuses that have had this, this burst of creativity. But there’s so much more to that, to it than that. There’s, like, every aspect of it outside of that, marketing yourself, networking, learning how to budget, like you were saying, basically. So I think people, I think people will find a lot of good advice from that.

Sam Sokolow 28:17

Well, yeah. I mean, look, ultimately, and I don’t want to sound like brash or anything, but the difference between amateurs and professionals in the arts is really the difference between people who start stuff and people who finish stuff. And if you can become a finisher, get your film done, get your script done, you know, put it out there in the world, even if you just put it on YouTube and share it with people to see and get see, get feedback, finish things. You know, being a professional producer for all the years I was in Hollywood, especially working in television, you know, these weren’t independent projects that I could get back to later. I mean, this was like, deliver on time and on budget and- and, and you have to deliver a finished thing. And so all of the things I’ve been talking about always come back down to me as- as learning how to finish finishing the great divider of people that that want to do things and people that are doing it. And so, it’s, it’s not to me again, it’s not very complicated. It’s just finish the script you’re writing. Don’t get to page 40 and write another one. Don’t get to page 40 and start rewriting it from page one again. Get to the end, finish of something, and then go back and look at the edit and keep working on it. But finishing is the ultimate goal, I think, for anybody that wants to work professionally in this world. And if you finish something, the great news is you can then start the next thing and apply everything you learn from the thing that you finished. But if you don’t finish things, you can easily get bogged down and lose a lot of time and momentum and then feel like I can never get anything done. And you know, there’s no perfection. There’s no perfection. I mean, Francis Ford Coppola just recut God Father Three again. You watch the movie, Empire Strikes Back and there are continuity issues. There’s no such thing as perfection, but finishing and exposing your work to an audience is, is, is the is, to me, the coolest thing in the world. And you know, not everybody’s going to like everything you do. Some people might really not like something that you do. That’s okay, but finishing is really the key. So I- I hope that people in South Carolina continue to create, continue to start, and really continue to finish, and get the work out there.

Lexi Raines 30:36

Yeah. So do you have any questions that you wish you were asked today?

Sam Sokolow 30:47

Hmm, it’s a good question. I don’t believe I do. I mean, if you feel that I’ve answered the questions that that this, this opportunity to talk to you, you know was about then, then I feel pretty good about it. You know? Again, there I’m I can talk about this all day long. I love teaching and I love the I love talking about the process, but at the end of the day, it’s the doing. And so instead of answering more questions, you know, hopefully we’ll do a lot of things that people will hear about and see and enjoy and- and you know, continue to look at South Carolina as this great place that great stories come from.

Lexi Raines 31:32

Thank you so much. I think that people are definitely going to get so much from this interview. I think you had so much amazing advice, so much so many good stories that people can take and just digest on their own. So my last question for you is, do you have a creative in South Carolina that you’d like to nominate to be interviewed?

Sam Sokolow 31:58

Ah, can I get back to you on that?

Lexi Raines

Yes, you can, yes

Sam Sokolow

Because I don’t. I mean, I will, but I don’t, I don’t for something like this. I don’t like to nominate people that I have not asked if they want to do it.

Lexi Raines

Yeah, you’re completely good. Yeah.

Sam Sokolow

I want to make sure that who I nominate says yes and- and isn’t too busy or into some other things, or maybe this isn’t their jam. So give me, you know, pop me a note, maybe again on Monday or Tuesday. I’ll talk to a few folks and there, I mean again, I’ve met some extraordinary creative energies down here. I have two at the very top of my head, one in the film industry and one of the music industry but let me, let me put a feeler out to them and see if they’re if they’re game.

Lexi Raines 32:44

Okay. Thank you so much again. This interview has been so amazing, like, even just on a personal level, like, your advice means a lot. So yeah, I hope you have an amazing rest of your day.

Sam Sokolow 32:59

You too, appreciate you making the time work. And, you know, reach out if there’s anything else I can do. And awesome. Alright, well, I’ll let you know about nominating somebody. And if you wouldn’t mind, whenever my interview does drop, if you can just pop me a note and a link, I’ll share it with a bunch of people.

Lexi Raines 33:14

Yeah I definitely, will definitely do that. Love it.

Sam Sokolow 33:17

Alright Lexi, awesome yourself. And great Friday night and we’ll be talking. We’re in touch. Thank you.

Lexi Raines 33:22

Thank you too.

Sam Sokolow

All right. Take care. Bye.

April 29, 2025
Eugene Rocco Utley

“I would rather fail at pursuing a passion that I love rather than playing it safe, and never truly pursuing it.”

Eugene Rocco Utley is a freelance creative professional based in Myrtle Beach. By day, he manages marketing and advertising for Coastal Carolina National Bank (CCNB), blending strategic communication with local insight. Outside his 9-to-5, Utley pursues freelance work in film production, with experience in both commercial and narrative projects.

Interview

Transcript

Lexi Raines 00:00

First, just give a little introduction of yourself. What do you do and where are you currently working from?

Eugene Rocco Utley 00:06

Yeah, so my name is Eugene Rocco. I was born and raised in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I went to Clemson University for undergrad, but I also did a couple years at Coastal Carolina University. Right now, I’m still stationed in Myrtle Beach, working locally, as I currently work for CCNB, Coastal Carolina National Bank for my nine to five job. So, I do all their marketing and advertising there and then on the side, in freelance, I work with film production and commercial work and narrative work.

Lexi Raines 00:39

Okay, that’s awesome. So how long have you been doing freelance videography and filmmaking?

Eugene Rocco Utley 00:50

So, I’ve worked with freelance videography and filmmaking ever since just getting right out of college. I was just doing, I did my first couple of film projects while at college, and then was able to, just as soon as I graduate, was just doing as many jobs as I can while working a serving job. Then, I started just doing my own little producing, seeing just whatever projects I could create for little to no budget, and just kind of growing my network from there as much as I could, while also working with jobs more nine to five pertaining to the film world.

Lexi Raines 01:22

Yeah, that’s awesome. So, you said that you have lived in South Carolina your entire life. What’s one thing that you love about working as a creative in South Carolina?

Eugene Rocco Utley   01:36

One thing that I really love about the South Carolina creative community is the fact that we have such, I think, a very versatile market around here for any kind of creatives. You’re able to find a lot of very passionate people who are really able to have a range of talents or credits to their name. It’s something where it’s still a very growing area, especially relative to any other gigantic states like New York or California, but here, it’s something where everyone kind of is still having a voice to prove and there’s still so much that whenever you get to create your network with people, they’re willing to really go the extra mile and work with you. And you just can find so many different kinds of communities just through that kind of shared passion?

Lexi Raines 02:22

Yeah, I’ve actually interviewed a few other filmmakers, and they said the around the same thing, they just said that the community is just so willing to collaborate, and y’all are all just excited, excited to be here. Yeah? So what does South Carolina bring to your work? Does it have like, any unique influences on you compared to being anywhere else.

Eugene Rocco Utley   02:52

Yeah, well, I think that there’s a lot of diversity of work here that you are able to find. So like, you’re able to find like different markets that offer different ranges of work. I’m not sure if that answers your question, but like, for example, I’ve worked in Greenville areas while I was close to Clemson. I still travel up that way, and there’s a very potent market for creatives there, especially with filmmaking and a very growing area, especially since it’s so close to areas like Atlanta, Asheville, Charlotte etc, you’re able to find a lot of business work there as well. Around the coastal regions, you’re able to find a lot more local work and very strong, tightly knit communities of work. Here in Columbia, you’re able to be very commercial business focused. Well, if you even go to like the low country or like Aiken area closer towards, like the Georgia borderline, you’re able to find a lot of really small, like, I said, kind of like around here, like very tightly knit groups, but it’s very home oriented. So there’s just a lot of different ways that you’re able to find different markets that you can thrive in as a creative that are just completely just pertain to different parts of the region of the state. So you do definitely have a lot of versatility of options and just which directions you want to go within the state itself, which is very nice.

Lexi Raines 04:08

Yeah, that’s awesome. I didn’t know that there are so many different types of filmmaking that relies so much like on your area. So, you said you’re located in Myrtle Beach now, yes, correct. So how would you describe the local creative community here?

Eugene Rocco Utley   04:29

Yeah, in particular to here, I would say there’s, there’s a lot of people. It’s very closely knit, I think, where there was someone that I just happened to work with on a film project where I was paying and doing grip work for them, just like on the side, and then less than a year later, I reached out to them, and they’re working on a DP for a project that I was creating, and I still work with that person pretty regularly. So, it’s something where it’s not a gigantic area for filmmaking, for particular but once you find people, it helps, because you’re kept in mind, whenever they do have a project turn up, and we’ve worked with multiple projects together, and there are plenty of other people I could say the same for of just how many times you’ll find yourself kind of crossing paths with them again around here.

Lexi Raines 05:17

Yeah, that’s awesome that y’all can all stay in contact like that. So how would you define professional or personal successes in, like, your creative endeavors?

Eugene Rocco Utley   05:31

So,I think when you’re saying creative successes, are you referring mainly to, like, just in personal work, or how it relates to personal successes if that makes sense?

Lexi Raines 05:45

Yeah, like just in your life, in films, you’ve worked on stuff like that.

Eugene Rocco Utley   05:53

Okay, yeah, so, yeah, I can give two answers to that, where there’s, there’s a lot of in my work professionally in terms of defining just the work I do as a business. I think any kind of successes I find is whenever someone wants to just work together twice, whether it’s a client that I’ve served and they’ve just been happy with what I’ve been able to deliver, if it’s been a creative that I’ve been able to work with, just any time where you know you, you go out above and beyond the first time, so much that it creates it where they want to work with you again, and there’s someone that you’re happy to be in collaboration with, whether client to professional or professional to professional. It’s always just really great to have that kind of goal of just having made a good enough impression the first time that you’re, you’re kept top of mind, and you’re worth something to them.

Lexi Raines 06:44

Yeah, I feel like so much as, like, working as a creative has, it has so much to do with networking and what you’re able to do with that.

Eugene Rocco Utley   06:53

Yeah, absolutely, there’s so much that I think is important to the just any sort of creative process where you have to be worried about, not worry, but like you have to be constantly in mind of the network around you and just the people that you’re working with, and always making sure that you’re keeping them in mind with the field and then artistically. I think one thing I would also say is, even though you have to keep other people in mind, whatever you’re doing through your artistry and your passion, and it has to be something that you have to be gratified with at the end of the day. And I think that’s an important part where there’s a constant balance between making sure you’re having a strong network of people, but also still making sure that it’s all for you at the end of the day, especially just because, you know, creative work is very hard. It’s hard to find a lot of external validation through it a lot of times. So there’s a lot that you have to find internally of the pride of your works, I think.

Lexi Raines 07:47

Yeah. So, you said that you have been doing this kind of stuff since college. What was your biggest fear when you first decided to pursue filmmaking?

Eugene Rocco Utley   08:02

Yeah, I think just there’s a taken risk of instability whenever you, whenever you take it on, because whenever you do any kind of freelance work, there’s a liberty and a curse to it, of you’re always going to be reaping what you sell, how much you’re taking in is all accounting of how much you’re able to find work, how much you’re able to get that work in. And it’s something where it’s like you can always find the work no matter how much you put into it. But there’s a lot that you’re not going to be finding people just immediately coming to you out of college, or seeing that you have, oh, you have a website set up, or you have this set up. There’s a lot of grass rooting your business or your freelance work or anything like that. And I’ve been fortunate enough to where I’ve been working with a nine to five for about two years now I’ve been able to work with a creative adjacent field of working in marketing that’s given me the ability to work with passion projects or external freelance work on edge, so that fear of instability is definitely not there right now. So, I’m very grateful for that aspect is a privilege, for sure, but um, having just that known as a, a taken risk was a big thing in terms of pursuing this field for sure.

Lexi Raines 09:20

Can you describe a defining moment that you had in your creative journey so far?

Eugene Rocco Utley   09:26

Yeah, absolutely. Um, I think one of a huge defining moment for me was, um, there was a project that I made about, I wouldn’t, I want to say two years back, it was a little short film called A B, and that was a huge pivoting point of my artistic career, of just being able to it was my, I think, second professional project that I did a film festival circuit with, and it was the one that I felt the most internal and external change with externally. It was the one that I think I had my premiere with back in like. October of 2023 so just over a year ago, and it was something where I didn’t really feel like I was known, really within the community. And that was a project that went from my first showing a place outside of Myrtle Beach in South Carolina or in the Carolinas, but my first big showing elsewhere to it ended up winning the festival there and got into a bunch. It kind of just had this, like big chain reaction of getting into other festivals and ended up having a pretty big tour around the Carolinas, which I was extremely grateful for. And it was something that just kind of gave a lot of momentum into kind of the network that I was wanting to establish and being able to make a lot of great connections with people. But it was also something where it kind of correlated with an internal journey of success, and it was something where the whole project is about kind of the mental health of artists and learning to kind of find yourself through art, rather than defining yourself as a person or as an artist, learning that you’re both and having to take care of yourself as a person, because that’s the artist that you want to be anyway. So just kind of making a project that was about that struggle of mental health for artists of that put either too much pressure on them or don’t see that they should treat themselves as a person, because I think sometimes that’s a toxic mindset that exists within creative worlds making a project that kind of focus on that balance that you have to find in life as an artist, between your art and life was a big aspect for me, and I think it was around that time where I decided, like, I would rather be, I would rather fail at pursuing a passion that I love, rather than playing it safe and never truly pursuing it. And just around that time was whenever it had its premiere and had just the great success that did follow it so it that, I think is a big just aspect of where I am right now, that I’m very grateful for that project and just the path that’s paved so far.

Lexi Raines 12:09

Yeah, congratulations. That seems like, also like such a full circle moment. And I feel like that’s definitely very true. And like, you’re saying, a lot of creatives struggle with that and like, burn out, but I think that’s an amazing piece of advice. So also on that note, what is the best and worst advice that you’ve ever received?

Eugene Rocco Utley   12:37

Best and Worst? Best, I would say it’s a super nice minute one for just writing, but I think it carries a kind of applicable weight to anywhere when writing, use note cards, not entire sheet of paper. It’s something that I love because it gives you so much flexibility with your writing. And there’s so many times where I know a lot of creatives within even their respective field, have some sort of creative block. Like everyone knows writer’s block for a writer is just the worst. So it was something where doing that kind of gave a lot more freedom to just kind of write out notes, kind of plan and feel like what I was writing didn’t have much pressure to it, as if I was writing it on entirely blank sheet of paper, and I use it constantly for outlining and planning, and it’s something that I think is something to apply to any aspect of a creative field where don’t put so much pressure on yourself to get it right the first time, make sure you’re creating liberties in the creative process, that anything can be written down and thrown away at any time, anything can stick or not stick, anything can be ignored then returned to later. I think that there’s just so much abilities of being able to understand the fluidity of the creative process, and I think that that kind of piece of note card advice was a huge aspect of helping me understand to not put as much pressure on myself as an artist. Worst piece of advice, this is, this is a tougher one, I’ll admit, because I try to not let these stick to me, I guess. But I would say, not necessarily, like a single piece of advice but just a mindset that I’ve like seen throughout is a lot of people kind of think that art needs to be something that like you make your entire life like it has to be your obsession to make it, and it’s something where you have to be passionate about it, because it is very tough, and there’s absolutely aspects that you have to have sacrifices in your life with it, and sacrificing time or efforts, anything like that. But I think that there are so many people who almost focus way too much on just the artistic process and being like, too much of like the obsessed artists kind of feel. And I think that there’s so much where, not only for your sake, but also the sake of your art, that so many people are so focused on like, Okay, but how can we create this? This that you almost forget that with any sort of artistic field, you need to be saying something. And in order to say something and have views on your life, you have to be going out and experiencing life. And there are so many people that I know who kind of get paged in, held into just making, just generic projects over and over that have either been seen constantly or are just little like skittish projects because they’re not wanting to do something important with their projects, or they don’t go out to life and experience life, so they have something to reflect in themselves. And I just think making your entire life about art is something that is far too dangerous for people, and not only for the respect of yourself, but also the respect of your art.

Lexi Raines 15:48

Yeah, I feel like that is a very profound piece of advice as well, because I just feel like there’s so many elements to being a professional creative, besides just having that creativity, there’s, like, all the logistical sides, the business side, so much from it. So, do you have like, a typical work day? Like, could you walk us through? What is a typical work day?

Eugene Rocco Utley   16:19

Yeah, absolutely, it definitely varies between what my nine to five marketing work looks like versus my creative writing or onset work. In terms of what my nine to five marketing advertising work, it could be something where I could be going in, taking photographs for new employees, handling just any sort of merchandise, orders, business card orders, working on graphics, doing any sort of social media management, either updating social media calendars or designing posts, etc. 90% of my life there is between Adobe and Excel, and it’s a great job, but it definitely has a lot more to be, I guess, it has a much more of a predictable work day for sure, as for whenever it’s like writing or filmmaking, my writing process usually is existing on the weekends, where I’ll usually wake up, go to a coffee shop in the morning, try to write for about four or five hours, Six if I can get a good day in, then I’ll just kind of go on a walk, step away for a bit, either grab lunch somewhere, or just kind of clear my head. And then once I get back in the evening, just try to do some outlining for what I’m going to write the next day. And then if there’s anything producing wise, I need to be taken care of, or focusing on just responding to emails, doing any sort of planning there. So just kind of getting the creative juices flowing in the morning, and then using evenings for the kind of management aspects of either producing any freelance work, etc, and then just always kind of leaving a little bit to be excited to be writing about the next day. If that makes sense.

Lexi Raines 17:57

Yes, that makes a lot of sense. So, you definitely have to kind of juggle your nine to five and then your writing and filmmaking. What are some habits that you’ve developed that you would think would be beneficial to others wanting to do what you do?

Eugene Rocco Utley   18:20

Definitely, I think just prioritizing time management, I think there are so many times where, I mean, it’s something that I’ve had to really nail down ever since, uh, graduating and getting into the workforce, of just kind of having to learn that balance. Because I know that jumping between nine to five and freelance work and creative projects, it is very time consuming, still leaving time for myself. And I think a good way that I did that is I love being able to journal, and I love being able to just kind of, at the end of the day, just write down what my day looked like. What did I do? How much time did I put into this, and not even necessarily setting crazy goals for yourself, but just being able to look at, you know, what your day look like on paper, is always a big thing. Like, are you happy with the amount of time that you focus on these projects, as opposed to this? Are you focusing? Are you relaxing too much, or on your phone too much? Or are you not giving enough time for yourself and it’s just all work, and you’re not giving any time to step away, and just being able to have that ability to look back on your day in writing, I think was just something that helped a ton with time management, because if you make it too much of like trying to set it as like a goal for yourself ahead of time, it feels like a task, and it feels like you’re holding yourself back from doing other things, but just allowing yourself to intuitively look at what your day looks like. And like, are you satisfied with what that day was? Helps kind of cut out a lot of the fluff of the day. Of like, if a weekend I just spent too much time bed rotting, or if it was like, I spent way too much time focusing on just this one project and not the projects I need to be doing. And just like that kind of stuff, I think is always a very important thing to do when you’re learning to balance time management and you’re just balancing time between work, life, art, etc,

Lexi Raines 20:09

I would agree. I feel like I’ve recently started journaling myself, and I feel like just having that however long you’re doing it 30 minutes of just self reflection of the day, your week, your weekend. I think it’s super healthy. I think it’s super, super beneficial.

Eugene Rocco Utley 20:30

Absolutely. Yeah.

Lexi Raines 20:33

So, do you have any questions that you wish you were asked today?

Eugene Rocco Utley   20:41

Cool. I mean, they’re all great questions. I I always love just hearing kind of about people’s like, if there’s ever a failure that someone has learned from because I think everyone has it, whether you’re creative or not, something where something just didn’t go right, and it’s just like, how do I kind of get back from this? How did I solve this? I think it’s just always a great way, especially for other people, to kind of, like, figure out what they would have done in this scenario, or, know, kind of like the pitfalls that people can sometimes run into, and how can I avoid this ahead of time? And then I just think it’s also a great way to know that. You know, failures are something to learn from. They’re not just failures.

Lexi Raines 21:25

So, what’s a failure? A failure that you’ve learned from?

Eugene Rocco Utley   21:30

Throwing it back at me? Shoot, let me think. I mean, I’ve definitely had just too much of, like, generic things, like, just, like, too much focusing on, like, one project, or too much where I’ve, like, put too much effort into a project that I’m not going to get the biggest skill from, if that makes sense, or, yeah, those are all very generic things I’m trying to think of, like a good specific time of, like, oh, I messed this up. I think one of the biggest things was just a lot of my time, especially in college, was a lot of kind of waiting for the things to come to me. Like, there was a lot of times where my college studies were really great in all the fields, but I always was just kind of waiting for a time where it’s like, okay, it’s going to get to this class, and I’m going to finally learn how to make film or make films, or, like, learn how to properly run with a marketing company, or do this or that, or and there was just, like, a lot of setbacks that I think happened, whether it was just like, oh, I wasn’t going to get as much from that class as I thought I would, or there was COVID that kind of kept a lot of the hands on practices of the filmmaking world that I wanted to have. And by my senior year was the time where I was like, okay, if I’m going to be learning it, it’s going to be because I’m going out and doing it myself. And I just found some like-minded creatives and just like, hey, let’s just make some projects together and just see what happens. And we started making projects, and we’re very like-minded in that, and it really was a great just way to kind of shake off the rust of what should have been more sharpened before. So, I would say just not having that sort of self-initiative was a big problem at the beginning of my career that I finally learned to shake off and kind of, you know, no better time to finally start than now.

Lexi Raines 23:37

I would completely agree with that. I’ve faced that myself, like sometimes you just have to, you have to go out and get what you want. So absolutely, it’s really important. And so finally, my last question for you today is, do you have a creative based in South Carolina that you’d like to nominate to be interviewed?

Eugene Rocco Utley   23:57

Ooh, based in South Carolina. Okay, do we want one more towards the coast or just in South Carolina?

Lexi Raines 24:04

Anywhere, really, it can be anywhere in South Carolina.

Eugene Rocco Utley   24:11

Okay, I’m trying to think. I have a couple of people I can just rattle off. And if any stick, there was a precious person who I think actually went to CCU, yeah, Brooks Leibee, or I hope I’m saying his last name, right? But he is a composer. He’s actually the person that, whenever I was talking about like someone I paid for and then he ended up doing cam work for me. It’s something where his main focus is actually composing. He, like I said, he is super versatile, and he’s a great testament to someone who’s just knowledgeable all around and how that embodies a lot of South Carolina creatives. So, he could absolutely attest to that of just being someone who is very knowledgeable around the board and just what it’s like to be a South Carolina artist. And a couple other people I can just think to rattle off. There’s a writer director in Greenville, South Carolina, Robert Isaac, super great guy, super nice. And he’s just like, done some of like the funniest projects I’ve seen in a while on but has also done some really, like strong productions of just like, the smallest things that, like any other artist would think, wouldn’t like, would think, is like a three out of four project. He makes that like a 10 out of 10 project. So those would be the two that I would definitely call out he’s so, yeah, awesome.

Lexi Raines 25:37

And then how do you spell Brook’s last name?

Eugene Rocco Utley 25:41

L, e, i, b, e, e,

Lexi Raines 25:46

Okay, awesome. Okay, um, thank you so much for your time. I’ve really enjoyed this interview. I think you, you’ve got given a lot of good advice. I think your experiences will definitely really help.

Eugene Rocco Utley 25:59

Lexi, thanks so much.

Lexi Raines 26:05

Yeah, of course, have a good day. Thank you.

Eugene Rocco Utley 26:11

You as well. Thank you. Bye.

April 29, 2025
Daniel Kline

“Just jump in and just do it and learn along the way. Don’t wait until you’re don’t. Don’t wait until you feel ready.”

Daniel Kline is a fitness coach and writer/producer for Starling media in Conway, South Carolina. Daniel has been professionally making films for two years now and offers great advice for those entering a career in the arts.

Interview

Transcript

Lexi Raines | 00:01

First, just give a little introduction of yourself. What do you? Who are you? What do you do for work, and where are you currently working from? 

Daniel Kline | 00:09

Yeah. So my name is Daniel Kline. I am from Conway, South Carolina, and I, as far as work goes, I’m kind of doing two things as most artists are doing. I, my main job is, I’m a fitness coach, but my creative job is, I’m a writer and producer for Starling Media. 

Lexi Raines | 00:31

Yeah, that’s awesome. And, so how long have you been working for, you said Starlight Media? 

Daniel Kline | 00:40

Starling media, like the bird. Yeah, yes. So that’s Starling media is actually it’s my thing. I, I’ve been making films like professionally, both creatively and I’ve done a couple of commercial things, but I’ve been doing film for about two years now, although Starling media was started back in November, so it’s still pretty fresh. But yeah, I’ve been doing film professionally for about two years, but total about four years. First two years was mostly learning. 

Lexi Raines | 01:14

Yeah, that’s awesome. So you said you’re from Conway. So what is one thing that you like working as a creative in South Carolina? Because I know some people, they tend to think that if you want to be a creative professional, you’re going to have to move out of South Carolina. You’re going to have to move somewhere bigger. What does South Carolina give to you that somewhere else wouldn’t? 

Daniel Kline | 01:40

I think South Carolina is actually a really great place to be a filmmaker, because one of the largest hubs in the world for filmmaking is Atlanta, which is practically our back door. I mean, it’s a little bit further for us because, you know, or at least makes them in Conway, but, I mean, it’s, yeah, we got Atlanta right in our back door, which means a lot of, a lot of film companies are, you know, they do kind of like sub out in a bunch of different areas that are nearby. So like, Charleston is close to us, Wilmington is close to us. And actually, most of the work that I do is up in Greenville, which is about an hour and a half from Atlanta, and so we get a lot of, like, Atlanta productions that film in Greenville as well. So I think we’re, like, we’re at a really great position to, you know, have, like, a really affordable living and, you know, also be very close to where the action’s at. 

Lexi Raines | 02:37

Yeah, that’s amazing. So I’ve actually heard a lot of filmmakers and producers, there is a big hub for that in Greenville right now. So how would you describe the professional community up there? 

Daniel Kline | 02:56

Oh, gosh. I absolutely love my filmmaking friends. I mean, I’ve met producers, I’ve met filmmakers that are kind of on both sides, so it’s not 100% but the community that I’ve, I’ve met, and I’ve worked with, and I’ve really, you know, dug roots with, there are some of the kindest, most giving people. Like, they freely give their time. We, we pretty much exchange time, like, I’ll work on your project if you work on mine. And everyone really gives 100%, sometimes 110%, and it’s just a really fantastic community, and I’m just, I love being part of it, and they welcome me as a local, even though I’m three hours away. 

Lexi Raines | 03:38

Yeah, South Carolina really is just like one big community. I feel like, no matter where you’re from, we’re all very close with each other, which is awesome. So kind of moving a little bit, how do you define your professional or personal successes in your creative endeavors? 

Daniel Kline | 03:58

So as far as filmmakers go, there’s a lot of talented filmmakers out there. And, I mean, there’s a lot of talented filmmakers that are way more talented than I could ever hope to be. So I learned pretty early on that my why, my why is, what’s going to make me different. And so like professional success would, would, on the surface, be, you know, like having a successful film, you know, film that wins awards and everything but personal success. I, I’m really passionate about people, and I think if I’ve got an award winning film, but my film was a miserable experience to work on, then I failed. And so that’s, that’s kind of how I am choosing to define my success; is just being a team player, being a, creating a positive work environment, and also just creating a product that shows love. You know, when I say shows love, like you can tell that people loved it when they worked on it. And I think that, and I think that really shows in the final product as well. 

Lexi Raines | 04:58

I completely agree. I- I’ve seen movies in the past that you can just tell the actors, the people on set, they weren’t super passionate or happy about it, but I feel like it always makes the biggest difference.  

Daniel Kline | 05:12

Yeah, absolutely. 

Lexi Raines | 05:13

Yeah, so you said that you’ve been making movies for a while now, seriously, and just outside of that, what was your biggest fear when you first decided to pursue this career? 

Daniel Kline | 05:30

I think the easy answer would be fear of failure. But I’m going to dig a little deeper, and I’m going to say my biggest fear is creating a product that I think is great, and people not liking it. Like, if I look at the final product, I’m like, “alright, this is awesome. This is my best work”, and it just absolutely flops. I think that’s the biggest fear. 

Lexi Raines | 05:53

Yeah, I feel like that is a- that’s a big fear for a lot of people. But, so on a more positive note, like, what’s a defining moment you’ve had in your creative journey? Like, was there a particular project that made a significant impact on you, or was it something you produced that really showcased your creativity? 

Daniel Kline | 06:17

Yeah, so my- I would have to say that the most defining moment was probably my first project, my first short film. It was, it was that big step where I went from wanting to become a filmmaker to actually being a filmmaker. I took I’d been, I had spent like, two years learning. At that point, two years learning and not doing anything. And everyone was just saying, “Just do it. Just do it. Just, you know, just push through. You’ve got stuff, if you’ve got a phone, you can make a film,” and so we just did it. I wrote something that was accessible, that had like a little creative spin on it, and something that we could film like, pretty easily in a weekend, and we just put a lot of effort into it, and it was, it was pretty good. Like, it’s, it wasn’t like the best thing, and you can tell it was like our first thing ever. But I got to show it to our, my filmmaking community up in Greenville, and these are people who, like, work full time in it, and like, they, like, some of them were actually wowed by it. They were like, “wow! Like, who, who did this? Who, you know, who edited them?” Like, it’s, my brother edited it. He’s never edited anything in his life and it was just like, it, it ended up being such a really cool thing, because we just, we just did it, and it’s been entered into film festivals. We just won Best Short and Best Director for it couple months ago. And so it’s like it was a really defining moment, because it was just that moment where I realized, you know, we can do this. 

Lexi Raines | 07:47

Yeah, that is amazing. That’s so special. Congratulations on that. 

Daniel Kline | 07:52

Thank you.  

Lexi Raines | 07:53

So, what is, while you were on this path, was there any like advice you received, like good advice, bad advice? 

Daniel Kline | 08:05

That- the advice, the best advice that I received was, was just do it. There’s a lot of, there’s a lot of creative people, not just filmmakers, but there’s a lot of creative people who are afraid to take that first step, but I mean, really, there’s no reason- there’s no time like the present, and there’s no reason why you can’t, and especially if you’ve got a phone in your pocket, you can do most of your creative work to some capacity. And, so the best advice and the thing I always just tell people who ask me what to do, just do it. Just jump in and just do it and learn along the way. Don’t wait until you’re ready. Don’t wait until you feel ready. 

Lexi Raines | 08:43

Yeah because- I feel that. Like you’ll never feel ready. 

Daniel Kline | 08:48

Yeah, I had about a dozen people tell me that in a day, and I was like, “Okay, I get it. I get it.” 

Lexi Raines | 08:55

Yeah, so along with “just do it” you obviously, you said you were a fitness instructor, so you have another job. How would you- How do you balance your day? Like walk us through a typical work day for you. That is an awesome, an awesome balance. So when you’re shifting into more of like, your creative mindset later in the day, what does your process look like for when like, you’re writing these movies, producing them, what does what does that process look like? 

Daniel Kline | 09:11

Oh my gosh. So my day usually starts at 4am, which is rough. I’m not a morning person, but you know, I have to be, but no, my day usually starts at 4am and I just basically work between four and seven sessions. So my day, usually, my professional day usually ends around 11 or 12- 11am, or 12pm, so I mean, I’ve got the the last half of my day to do anything creative, you know, anything creative that I want and so it does allow for a lot of time, and, but- and the gym that I work at, they know, they know what I do. They know what I love to do, what I want to do and so, like, anytime there’s a project, I can freely take off and, you know, go pursue that. And I- So I, it’s a really awesome job to have, yeah.  

Lexi Raines | 10:05

That is an awesome, an awesome balance. So when you’re shifting into more of life, your creative mindset later in the day, what does your process look like for when like, you’re writing these movies, producing them, what does that process look like? 

Daniel Kline | 10:22

Yeah, you asked about writing and producing. I could, I could talk for hours about either so I’m going to choose one. I’m going to shorten it. I mean, writing, writing is, is just a bunch of planning. That’s all it is. It’s just a bunch of planning. You plan on conversations and everything, and then you write it out. So I’m actually going to shift to producing what my day looks like as a producer. It’s a lot of- it’s a lot of boring office work. It’s phone calls. It’s making sure that people’s schedules align. It’s making sure that money is where it needs to be. It’s filling out spreadsheets, creating spreadsheets. I like to use this website called Milanotes. I know a lot of people use it to, like, take notes and everything it’s, it’s where I like to have, like, a different- it’s basically like a giant virtual cork board that you can, like, put different files and draw different lines between things. It looks like a crazy conspiracy theorist board, but- that’s, but yeah, it’s basically just filling in information and just making sure that everyone’s caught up on everything. 

Lexi Raines | 11:27

Yeah, so, that seems like a lot to juggle. What are some habits that you have, that you’ve developed that you think would be beneficial for others wanting to join this field? 

Daniel Kline | 11:47

I think the- the best habit for people who are wanting to join the field, if they’re starting from scratch, the- probably the best thing that I did for myself, and I, like, I would absolutely recommend, is I keep this, this rolodex spreadsheet. I created- I created this spreadsheet that anytime I, I basically just got on set, anytime I could, like, I volunteered, I like, met people, shadowed people, and I spent, like, two years working on sets, different sets, without getting paid, just to, like, meet people. And so what I did was, every time I worked with somebody that I enjoyed with- enjoyed working with, and that I would want to work with again, someday, I would put their name, put their information in spreadsheet, put how I met them, and then, I also had a line that was like, this is the last date that I talked to them on, and I kept all of those dates within a month. And so, like, if it’s been about a month since I talked to somebody, I would text them say, like, “Hey, what are you working on? How are you doing?” and that spreadsheet quickly grew into, like, 100 lines. And that was 100 different connections that I you know, people that I kept in in contact with, and that, after about a year and a half of investment, that- that became work, like those people started calling me for- for work, and those became paid projects. And so, like, so, I mean, bottom line is, however you want to do it, like, find your community. Write down, write down a list of people that you want to work with and stick with those people. 

Lexi Raines | 13:26

Yeah, that’s actually a really, a really clever idea. I haven’t- I wouldn’t have even thought to do that. That’s so smart. So do you have any questions that you wish we would have been asked- we would have asked you? 

Daniel Kline | 13:47

Oh, no, not really. I think that covers everything. 

Lexi Raines | 13:50

Okay, awesome. And my last question for you today is, do you have a creative that you’d like to nominate to be interviewed? 

Daniel Kline | 13:57

Hmm, well, I’ve got a whole Rolodex full of them. Yeah, I’ve got, I’ve got one. I think she’d be really cool person talk to. But Yasmine Lee. 

Lexi Raines | 14:11

Yasmin Lee? 

14:12 | Daniel Kline 

Yeah.  

Lexi Raines | 14:14

Awesome.  

Daniel Kline | 14:15

She’s a filmmaker up in Greenville. She’s an Emmy Award winning person, really, yeah, she’s and she’s really cool. Worked with her several times. 

Lexi Raines | 14:24

Okay, awesome. Yeah, send us, send us her information, and then, yeah, I will hear this if you can. Thank you so much for your time. It was really great interviewing you. I’m going to look into your work. You seem so passionate about everything, I’ll be looking for your name out there.  

Daniel Kline | 14:46

Thanks. Appreciate it. 

Lexi Raines | 14:48

Thank you so much for your time. I hope you have a good. rest of your day, stay safe in the snow. Supposed snow. 

Daniel Kline | 14:59

Alrighty, bye. 

April 29, 2025
Shaquasia Coleman and Labria Strong

“Get used to being uncomfortable. You have to feel uncomfortable to get to new levels, because it’s something you haven’t done before. It’s ok to feel uncomfortable. That means you’re doing something right.”

–Labria Strong

Sisters Shaquasia Coleman and Labria Strong are co-owners of Juice Crush juice bar in Conway. They are both from Myrtle Beach and attended the University of South Carolina (USC). Shaquasia earned a degree in public relations, and later, two Masters of Business Administration degrees, and Labria earned a degree in public health. Labria is also a real estate agent on the Grand Strand.

Interview

Transcript

Shaquasia Coleman 0:00

My name is Shaquasia Coleman, and I am from Myrtle Beach.

Labria Strong 0:04

My name is Labria Strong, and I am from Myrtle Beach.

Sara Sobota 0:07

Okay, what do you do for work? And where are you currently working?

Shaquasia Coleman 0:12
We are entrepreneurs, and we are currently working from our storefront location in Conway. Our business is named Juice Crushed

Sara Sobota 0:12

Okay. How long have you had it?

Shaquasia Coleman 0:14

Well, we started the business in May 2020. And we have been inside our storefront since September 2021. Almost 3 years in the storefront. Four years in business in total.

Sara Sobota 0:33

Okay, and your official job title is Co-owners?

Labria Strong 0:36

Yes.

Sara Sobota 0:37

Okay. Great. How did you end up in this field? And how did you hear about it?

Labria Strong 0:42

So, we started creating juices, cold-pressed juices, and smoothies for our mother, who was diagnosed with colon cancer stage four. She did not have an appetite after Chemo treatments. We wanted to make sure she was able to get her nutrients somehow.

So, I have a public health background from the University of South Carolina. So, I looked into juicing and making smoothies, adding a little bit more protein, because she would drink but not eat.

And so, after she unfortunately transitioned in 2018. Shaquasia and I decided that we needed to continue to juice and make smoothies just because of all of the health benefits that we read up on. And during COVID, all of our family and friends decided that they wanted to juice and have our smoothies, and we kind of went from there.

Sara Sobota 1:38

So, where are you blending? And you have told me the story before, and I have written about it before. You had public health and Shaquasia; you had business, was that the blend? Tell me about your college degrees. Did you both go to, you both went to USC.

Shaquasia Coleman 1:50

Yes. But our career paths totally took a different turn. In college, I went to school to get my degree in Public Relations. And then, I received a job opportunity to work in student housing. So, I worked my way up through undergraduate from maintenance girl outside to at least a manager, to Assistant Property Manager to working in a corporate level. While in college at the University of South Carolina. Labria, it was a bit of nepotism; she used to work for me as one of my community assistants at a student housing property in Columbia, which started her career in real estate. She’s a realtor here in Myrtle Beach.

So, we started property management, which helped us a lot with business because we’re managing million-dollar assets for someone, you know, and making sure that everything’s running smoothly and orderly, on the property side. So, it’s helped us tremendously with business. I also have an MBA as well; two MBAs. So, it helped a lot. You know, our backgrounds helped us a lot with becoming entrepreneurs. It was not easy, but it’s been a smooth run so far.

Sara Sobota 2:58

That’s great. And that was the next question: What background did you have that helped you land that role? You kind of talk through the stages that you went on. This is going to be a little tricky, but can you walk us through a typical workday?

Shaquasia Coleman 3:10

Yeah, that is gonna be tricky. And then to go back to how we blend it, the recipes, I don’t know if you’re going to access that before. But we came up with we were looking at the elements in the community, that people we know that their high blood pressure or diabetes, you know, we were looking for the fruits and vegetables to help out with these certain elements.

Shaquasia Coleman 3:28

And then, we got with one of our sorority sisters, who was a doctor in Internal Medicine. And she went through all of our recipes and told us to add this or add that to, you know, make sure they get more benefits out of that one particular juice.

So, that’s how we came up. We had juices, ABC, D, and G. And then, we went through, got with her and then we started making names for everything. So, it all flowed together while we were getting Juice Crushed together.

Sara Sobota 3:54

So, you created it for your mother, but then it sorts of evolved with input from experts.

Shaquasia Coleman 4:03

Because of our mom, it was simple. You know, we just wanted her to get basic nutrients, but we didn’t know what we were doing. So, it will be some carrots here and there. Make her a smoothie. But as time went on, and we saw that there are people who are actually needing this and that and this, then that’s when we were getting more creative.

Sara Sobota 4:22

Yeah, right.

Shaquasia Coleman 4:23

Yeah, for sure.

Sara Sobota 4:24

So, your audience for your business or your demographic is nearby but also broader.

Shaquasia Coleman 4:31

Right?

Sara Sobota 4:31

Okay.

Labria Strong 4:32

Because we all know someone who has some type of health issue, you know. If you go into a room like and you say, hey, who knows someone who is battling high blood pressure, everyone kind of raised their hand or someone wwho isbattling or, you know, has fought cancer and overcame, you know.

So, someone knows someone that is going through some type of health issue. So, we can relate to everyone in that aspect, right? Um, so it’s kind of just made it seem like, “Hey, I know what my maternal mother and grandmother and you know, were facing and what they went through.” And then I talked to a neighbor, and they had similar issues. So, we were all kind of, you know, fighting this together and trying to make sure everyone is healthy.

Sara Sobota 5:16

Yeah, that makes sense. Okay. The next question is, can you describe a defining moment in your creative journey? A project that made a significant impact on you— on you, or something you produced that really showcased your creativity? Yeah, it’s probably hard to pin down one thing.

Shaquasia Coleman 5:35

I mean, so our creative journey has been going on lately. I’ll give you an example. And then I’ll go back to that last question. Because I don’t want to keep jumping over your questions, we are. This is something that we just had done while, for the storefront, well, we had it done for our Myrtle Beach location, but we’re no longer going there.

Sara Sobota 5:54

Okay.

Shaquasia Coleman 5:54

So, we had to come together to put this whole together with our artists who did all the painting. We made sure we had certain elements or elements from Juice Crushed, like the orange or the actual, just the names we have on T-shirts, like Juicy. Juicy Baby is something we have on the shirt, of course, juice crush, and then crushing it down at the bottom. But it is a social media wall, and people are attracted to colors.

So, we got what are and of course, we got the cancer statement that everyone says, “Detoxin’,” but we got what our artists who did our first wall, and she did a couple of other items for us to create this wall, just so we can get people in for our marketing, our marketing aspect. Because again, like I said, people are attracted to colors, social media, and pictures.

Sara Sobota 6:43

Yeah.

Shaquasia Coleman 6:44

So, it’s been a huge hit. That’s the latest thing we’ve done a lot of, you know, I am just trying to pinpoint some other things that we’ve done. But that’s the latest thing that we have. But as far as creativity, our day-to-day, it’s kind of hard, the two of us, I feel like I don’t get enough sleep. So, we tried to touch one thing we always do. Which is touch base with each other in the morning. Because listening, you need to make sure we’re both alive and well ready.

So that’s number one. But we always make sure to give each other grace until at least eight o’clock, you know, because maybe I’m at the gym early, or she is out doing something, or she is working on real estate work in the morning. But we typically get here around 9:30, we set up, and we have orders that meet us at the door online, or they are here at 10.

But throughout the day, all day, if we do not get our work done, there are many outside things that we need to get done before we step into the store. It just won’t happen. So typically, we are on our feet for almost 12 hours just juicing and making orders and meeting with customers, and there are people who come in who want us to do, you know, coping and opportunities or want to partner and things. So, we are busy and on our feet for the entire time the store is open, and then afterward.

Sara Sobota 7:59

So, what are the hours of your store? 10 am too?

Shaquasia Coleman 8:00

6 p.m.

Sara Sobota 8:02

Six, so yes, wow.

Shaquasia Coleman 8:05

We tried to open earlier because you wanted to meet that crowd, but it just wasn’t a hit for us. We know we know that we started at eight o’clock when we first opened up, and we probably could have given it some more time, but it just wasn’t working for us and our schedules.

Shaquasia Coleman 8:18

So it’s like, you know, you have to do what works for you as an entrepreneur, and we’re passionate about something, you’re going to make it work. But 10 o’clock was like when we started noticing that our customers were coming in and the lunch crowd. And a lot of people love the Grab and Go method here. So, you know, we love that as well. They put their orders in, they got this ready, and they got it. And that is that.

Sara Sobota 8:40

Yeah, that sounds great. Okay.

Shaquasia Coleman 8:41

And then we go home, go to the gym and start all over again, and do it again. I am normally, personally, in bed until midnight. I do not know about her.

Labria Strong 8:51

Depends on the day.

Shaquasia Coleman 8:51

Yeah, nowadays. Just because that’s all we know. You know, when people come in with us ask them what they have gone out for the weekend. And we tell them we’re living through them. Because, you know, we understand the first five years you’re gonna be in tune and focused on the business, and then after that you can feel comfortable hiring people. But I love that we’ve made our names known ourselves, and we didn’t have anybody in here, you know, either tearing down a reputation or it’s solely on our back. So, we appreciate that.

Sara Sobota 9:20

Yeah, that’s a lot. Okay, so let us say that someone is watching this video and they want you to be. Can you recommend any specific skills that an aspiring applicant should have to increase their chances of landing a role like yours?

Labria Strong 9:36

How can I serve it? You know, I feel like the generation now is solely like always on the phone and you know, they’re not having that person-to-person interaction as much as you know, we had to where you had to like five minutes before you can get like an unlimited plan, but people by people, and you know, Shaquasia was always telling me this one when I was working for her, you know, people will come back to you if you make them feel good. Or if you make them feel like I’m being attentive to your needs, right?

Labria Strong 10:09

And it also ties with me being dual career in real estate when you are paying attention to what your clients or customers are asking for. And you can say, “Hey, how about this,” or “Let’s try this.” We’re making sure we speak to everyone who comes in here we are, you know, we make sure that they feel if they spend their money here, that is worth it. And they did not feel because you know buyer’s remorse, as you can say. So, customer service is definitely huge. Number one, number one, for sure.

Shaquasia Coleman 10:40

And Time-Management. Time Management is super important. Because, you know, we have a background in dealing with people on a daily basis, in property management and real estate. So we are, we know that time is valuable not only for them, but for us as well. And we hate to have anyone waiting longer than 20 to 30 minutes because it’s, I mean, it is juice, so they understand it’s gonna be a little wait, especially if they didn’t put their order in. But if it’s longer than that, then I feel totally bad. You know, we’re always apologetic. We make sure we make up for it in other ways.

Shaquasia Coleman 11:12

But time management is key; I don’t want anyone to be waiting on me longer than they need to. So, make sure you’re getting things done in an orderly fashion and on time. And that. So those are two important, important things. And then being very detail oriented, that is awesome as well, like social media is so important when we are putting up posts and content that we are being specific.

And letting them know those two are those couple of key words because people their attention, their attention span is. So, we have been, I like to say like me personally, how much longer am I going to read that whole caption? No, I’m not. I see the words on the video, or I see the words on the picture, then I understand what to do.

Sara Sobota 11:52

That makes sense. Yeah. Okay. Are there any local organizations, programs, or events that you recommend for aspiring creatives around the state? Are there any things that you belong to or go to that someone could get involved in if they were interested in following your path?

Shaquasia Coleman 12:11

So, the two of us are also members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. So, you know, if you’re into being in a sorority and fraternity or fraternity, we have local chapters here, in Horry County, and throughout the Grand Strand, so that’d be one. And that’s a lifetime thing that we are involved in.

And then I just completed the leadership branch and program for the chamber. I would recommend that to anybody who has a chamber in your city to get involved, because it taught me a lot about how to become a better leader, I was always a leader, but to know ways in which I can become a better leader, and then get involved in the community at the same time, because we had a community service, along with having enriching relationships with people I probably never would have had relationships with.

So, if that’s in your city, I definitely say to make sure you get involved with your chamber, we’re in the chamber. And we’re both trying to get to Conway; we are already in Myrtle Beach.

Labria Strong 13:13

So, and then also, we just joined the Horry County Community Collaborative, so they call it HC Three. And there’s different nonprofits and businesses that pretty much come together for a common cause just to make sure that the community has their resources. Everyone is kind of brain picking about different resources that the community actually needs.

And so, you are working with different agencies and organizations for the same calls. And you know, you just never know who you will meet there that can help you with your business or say, hey, here’s an idea that I’ve seen, or some type of grant or anything that might be out there. So, it helps you definitely network for the same.

Sara Sobota 13:57

Yeah. Okay, great. And then, last question: do you have any advice for current college students or pre-professional young adults who are pursuing a career in the creative world?

Shaquasia Coleman 14:09

Being creative, you can’t worry about anyone judging you; you have to push the envelope and continue to do it until it sticks, you know. Because if you’re going here blindly, and you’re thinking they’re going to accept every single thing that you put out, it’s not going to work, and it’s going to lower your confidence as well. So, make sure you’re focused on what you’re trying to create and put it out there, and also to extend your grace, like a lot of grace.

Yeah, no timeline, either. Yeah. Someone who’s getting out of college like we put so much pressure on ourselves to think at 25 I need to be married with a kid or by 30. I should have three children. It’s just so many pressures, societal pressures that are placed on us, especially through social media, where we’re having this; what’s it called that imposter, imposter syndrome? Yeah, Imposture syndrome is tearing us up.

So, give yourself grace. Sometimes we don’t know, and I’m talking to myself saying this, but you know, get used to being uncomfortable because you know, you have to feel uncomfortable to reach those different levels because it’s something that you haven’t done before. So, it’s okay to feel uncomfortable. That means you’re doing something right.

March 30, 2025
Ranny Starnes

“If you ever start to feel inadequate at what you’re doing, don’t let that stop you.

Ranny Starnes is the co-owner and head chocolatier at Choco Bella in Florence, SC. She develops and designs new chocolate bonbon flavors and makes them by hand with her team.

Interview

Transcript

Randy Starnes

Date: Aug 30, 2024

Haley Hansen 0:00
What is your name, where are you from, and what do you do?

Randy Starnes 0:00
Randy Starnes. I’m originally from eastern North Carolina, a small town called Ahoskie, North Carolina. I currently live in Florence, South Carolina. I have been here for about 17 years and I’m the co-owner of Choco Bella, a small Belgian-chocolate shop that also sells gelato in downtown Florence.

Haley Hansen 0:00
Can you tell me your official job title?

Randy Starnes 0:22
I’m a chocolatier.

Haley Hansen 0:24
Can you walk me through your typical workday, maybe what you did yesterday or last week?

Randy Starnes 0:31
For our bonbons, hand-painted, colorful pieces made in molds. It is usually a five-day process, and our production is broken up by day, very structured: every Monday we do the same thing, every Tuesday the same thing.

Randy Starnes 0:52
Monday is our big day and the longest and most artistic part, our painting day. We use colored cocoa butters that behave like paint, except they’re solid at room temperature. So, we heat them in small increments to liquefy and keep them warm. We use airbrushes, paintbrushes, gloves, and lots of techniques to get different designs for each flavor.

Randy Starnes 1:23
Tuesday is shelling day. Once the paint sets overnight, we coat the molds with a thin layer of chocolate to pipe fillings into. Sometimes we also make caramels that day. Wednesday is filling or “ganache” day, when we create all the different ganache’s. Thursday is free-for-all: we put the bottom layer of chocolate on the bonbons to seal them and crack-and-dump. Either Thursday or Friday, depending on the volume. That is our schedule for every week.

Haley Hansen 2:08
How did you wind up working in that field?

Randy Starnes 2:11
I grew up in food, my family owned a restaurant, so I’ve been in food and beverage since childhood. I always worked in front of the house, majored in Hospitality Management in East Carolina, and managed fine-dining restaurants through college. After relocating to Pennsylvania, I co-ran a deli, needed benefits, and took a part-time job at Starbucks, which led me into coffee management. Eventually, corporate life burned me out, and with two small kids I needed better quality of life.

A friend told me about Dolce Vita- a wine-and-chocolate bar in Florence, adding coffee. I launched a coffee shop. Their chocolatier (now my partner, Marvin) intrigued me, so I asked to learn chocolate. After a one-day crash course, I dove in following chocolatiers on Instagram, reading forums, experimenting with colors. That led us to open Choco Bella in November 2020, right in the pandemic, with investment from Dr. Keith and downtown-renovation grants.

Haley Hansen 7:58
Oh, wow. The timing is crazy.

Randy Starnes 8:01
Yes, the pandemic delayed equipment and plans. Once we opened, I taught myself airbrushing cocoa butter and took the three-month École Chocolate online program: videos, tutorials, tasks, lots of tempering practice. It filled the gaps proper chocolate and cocoa-butter tempering, troubleshooting, the works.

Haley Hansen 9:17
What was the biggest adjustment or challenge when you started Choco Bella?

Randy Starnes 9:23
Timing really COVID-19. Opening cafés is familiar to me, but the pandemic added unknowns: social distancing in our 750-sq-ft shop (only three customers at a time), supply-chain delays, and wondering if Florence would support $20 boxes of chocolates or $5–$7 gelato. It was scary, but the community rallied around local businesses, which was a blessing.

Haley Hansen 11:12
If someone wants a role like yours, what skills should they acquire?

Randy Starnes 11:19
First, curiosity about food. Experimenting with flavors and having a good palate are essential. Also, creativity if I were not making chocolate, I’d be painting at home. Pastry-school training can help with recipe science, because chocolate work is precise and math-heavy. Above all, keep learning; after six years I still learn every week.

Haley Hansen 13:32
Any organizations or programs in South Carolina you would recommend?

Randy Starnes 13:43
I can’t speak to pastry schools; I didn’t go that route but there are many online chocolatier programs with live classes and minimal startup costs. Everyone begins by hand-tempering chocolate; you can upgrade to a tempering machine later.

Randy Starnes 14:30
Pastry school might have sped me up, but I tend to explore and find my own path.

Haley Hansen 14:53
Advice for students pursuing creative or culinary careers?

Randy Starnes 15:02
Stay creative and curious. Failure, especially in recipe development, teaches you to succeed. Learn the rules so you can break them. Work in food service to see back-of-house reality; it’s repetitive and physically demanding, so be sure you love it. Programs that place students in kitchens for short stints are great for trying it out.

Haley Hansen 18:07
Anything else you would like to add?

Randy Starnes 18:10
You know, like I said, we love what we do. It is a labor of love. But if, if you truly love it, which we do, it makes it worth coming back here every Monday painting and shelling. When it gets to the point where it is in your customers’ hands, and they light up, that is what it is all about for us.

I’m mostly back of the house now, but I get that reassurance from the customers when they are like, oh my God, my daughter loved this gift and was such a great gift. Or these chocolates at the wedding, everybody was oohing and aching so that is what it’s all about. Sharing our passion through food.

March 20, 2025
Lauren Rose

“Let your ego go and be willing to learn.”

Lauren Rose is a publication designer and the Design Editor at North State Media in Raleigh, NC. With roots in student journalism, she now brings clarity and creativity to print layouts in a fast-paced newsroom environment.

Interview

Transcript

Lauren Rose

My name is Lauren Rose. Currently I am a publication designer, and I’m from Longs, South Carolina. I’m right outside Loris, a small unincorporated area. So I usually say Loris so people know.

Emma Plutnicki

And you’re, you’re from there? Or are you currently working there?

Lauren Rose

Oh, yeah, yeah. So yep, I was born and raised in that area and lived there until I was 22. And then I got, I graduated college and got my job. Pretty much three months out of college, I was very lucky and just moved to Raleigh, North Carolina. So I’m just up the state a little bit ahead, or above. But yeah.

Emma Plutnicki

Okay, so what exactly do you do for work? What’s your official title? And how long have you been working there?

Lauren Rose

So my official title today is Design Editor. I am basically in charge of all the design at a publishing company in North Carolina, North State Media, I’ve worked with them for, oof, 2016. So going on eight years, actually, March 1 will be eight years, I joined. So when I started, it was just one newspaper, I joined from the second issue. And I’ve been on every single issue since. Now, we have grown from one newspaper to seven newspapers. We do a statewide paper, and then we do local county papers. So when I was hired, I was just hired as a graphic designer, one of a few people, just putting words on the page. And since then, it has evolved into being in charge of the design and the direction of that for the paper. So it’s been, it’s been a lot, a lot of growth, but I’m very grateful for where I’m at right now.

Emma Plutnicki

Yeah. So you started as a graphic designer. How did you end up in that field? And how did you end up with your job now and kind of transition from graphic designer to now?

Lauren Rose

Yeah, so the field, it really started in high school, funny enough. I’ve always been into art. And even before high school, like as a kid, like, I love the art sets and just being creative. And going into high school, I was introduced to graphic design, digital photography, and for me that, like, it really combined my artistic side with, I also am a more analytical person. I like numbers, you know, very logic based. So graphic design to me was like a perfect mix. It was important to me if I was going to pursue this as a career that I do have some element of passion in it, I want to enjoy it. So through high school, I would do little, like, side gigs for people, flyers and all that. And then going into school, I didn’t really know what type of design I wanted to do. You know, there’s publication, there’s logo, branding, all of that. I think it was just kind of a series of events, I ended up applying to be the art director of the Chanticleer [the school newspaper]. And I was the art director for a year and a half. I was very proud. It really solidified my love of design, but then, newspaper, which is very interesting, because we think of paper newspapers, very dated and dying, like print instead. But it’s just, it’s been very interesting working in the industry, and just kind of, just kind of a series of events happened. And I happened to enjoy the journey along the way.

Emma Plutnicki

Yeah, I love that. So right now, what does your typical workday look like? What’s expected of you? What do you work on on a daily basis? What’s kind of your process?

Lauren Rose

So this is, this is gonna be fun to talk about, because my work week is not a typical nine to five at all. A lot of creative careers will probably, some won’t be like that, you know, I’m sure there are plenty of design firms with a nine to five, but a lot of my like, co workers and my peers, they’re up at all hours of the night. They work, they don’t work during the week, and then they work on the weekend, you know. So right now we’re weekly, we publish weekly. So the majority of my work happens Sunday through Tuesday on any given week. So I’ve really learned to be like flexible and it’s difficult to describe because it is so like fast pace, kind of like so during the week it, like, slows down and then I’ll do like your basic housekeeping, make new templates, maybe explore new design ideas. And then once Sunday hits, and I do work on the weekend, which is fine, but just on Sunday, but around Sunday is when I start getting all the content and the writers get their stuff in, the photographers get their stuff in. So I need to start formulating how I’m gonna lay this paper out. I, along with being the designer, I also work very closely with editors. They appreciate my input not only artistically, but with an editorial work, the design is as important as the content a lot of times so. So yeah, it is, it’s kind of like, it’s hard to describe, because it’s just so up and down. But we get it done every week somehow. And I think a lot of people can relate in this industry.

Emma Plutnicki

Yeah. On a specific project that you worked on, that you were like extremely passionate about, or like a defining moment in your creative journey, it could be a specific project that had a significant impact on you, or just something that really showcased your creativity?

Lauren Rose

So, probably when I was at Coastal [Carolina University], my favorite part about Coastal’s design department was the freedom you had. Like, of course, they had projects and guidelines, but they really encouraged you to do what you want, like, take this theory and make it work for you. So I did a few projects there that I was super proud of with the Athenaeum Press. I worked on Gullah: The Voice of an Island. I was very, very excited to work on that. We went to St. Helena, I did photography, I did some web design, even though it’s not necessarily my forte now, but very, very proud of that one. And I’m still good friends with Jen and Alli, and I see all the updates. And it just makes me happy to kind of see that as just kind of still existing. But that’s the one I tell everyone about I think kind of both in my professional career and just my colleagues, I always bring that up because it was like my first big project, but also one I had a lot of passion for. So.

Emma Plutnicki

I love that. Just in general, do you find your career challenging? How do you kind of bridge the challenges that you face, especially in a creative career?

Lauren Rose

Yes. I think in any career where you are engaged and growing, it’s going to be challenging at points. And I think that’s how I get through those challenging points. I really try to frame it as, you know, this isn’t a problem. This isn’t a struggle. It’s a way to test myself and adapt myself. I’m going to use last year as an example. We probably doubled company size last year alone, and we went from a small company to a midsize one. And that doesn’t sound like a lot. But you know, when you’re in a small startup, it’s changes. And there were some times last year I was like, “I’m quitting, I’m living in the woods. I’m not doing this, like it’s done, I’m done.” And, you know, what really just pushed me through was, let’s be realistic, we have bills, we have bills to pay, but again, like coming out with more knowledge. And I told myself today, like, if I had to redo it, I would be able to do it 10 times better, I would, I would have a better system. So the challenges aren’t there to keep you down. I kind of look at it as a way to grow. And I know that might sound a little cliche, but it is so applicable. And I find myself like thinking about these cliches that I’ve heard and I’m like, “You know what, they’re cliches, they’re for a reason, you know, like, they’re applicable. So.

Emma Plutnicki

Yeah. And in your work, are there any specific skills that you have that you find particularly important to have? Or can you recommend any special skills that someone applying for a job should have in their kind of toolbox to increase their chances of landing a field, er, landing a role in a creative field?

Lauren Rose

I think one of the biggest things that you can showcase to make yourself solidify your part at a company or within your coworkers, is going to be adaptability. Definitely being adaptable, and being open to different perceptions of things, especially in a creative field because you’re going to meet with clients who you’re like, “This is, my design, professors would kill me if they saw, like, what these people want,” you know, but you’re, it’s kind of like, that adaptability, that overcoming those challenges and letting them help you grow. And just being kind of, letting the ego go, like go into a job, willing to learn, willing to mess up and know that like you’re not being judged. I think more employers and co-workers appreciate someone who can say, “Yeah, you know what, I’m wrong. You’re right. Let’s go this direction.” And then, you know, you learn something along the way.

Lauren Rose

A few weeks ago, I had, I was designing an ad for an advertiser, and they were being very, very specific with their instructions. And it almost felt overbearing, and you know, I let myself, I was getting frustrated. I was like, oh, like, “design it yourself, blah, blah” in my head. And at the end of it, all their suggestions looked great and I was like, “You know what? They were right,” you know. I, learned something today, and I can implement it now. So, a lot of just being humble, kind of.

Emma Plutnicki

Yeah, that makes sense.

Lauren Rose

And I guess that’s more of a soft skill. I mean, obviously, you want to have technical skills, but I think that’s maybe not so much a skill, but a mindset also.

Emma Plutnicki

Yeah. And so you grew up in South Carolina, but you are now in North Carolina. Do you have any, like local organizations, programs or events that are either in South Carolina or North Carolina that have kind of helped you grow, either network or just helped inform you about creative fields?

Lauren Rose

This one was very specific to me. My high school art teacher, of course, you know. She was kind of my first line, to finding out about these things, being aware of these things, even knowing to look for these things. And just the fact that, you know, as my teacher, she was so accessible. And, you know, when she found out how passionate I was about things, and how serious I was about art, and pursuing it, like, you know, that gave her a directive to help me and, you know, really utilizing people and counselors at my high school. So that was probably my first way in. I definitely also entered a few small like little county fairs just to kind of get experience getting work out there, and just networking. And honestly, also in high school, I won the congressional art award for my district. And so my art like was in Washington DC for a while. And I just think little things like that helped, obviously, kind of get my name, get some stuff behind my name, but also, like, helped me realize, like, “Yeah, I’m an artist,” like people are looking at my work.

Lauren Rose

So there’s really not like one organization I can suggest. I think I would honestly suggest, especially in today’s age, it’s so different, because like, you can go on Facebook and Google or search like anything, and there’s groups for anything. So some of my advice might be a little outdated, but I just think like, the importance of kind of starting small, and not like shooting for the biggest, like the country wide competition, do your county, you know, do little things and, and then expose yourself. And then yeah, I think it’s all about growth.

Emma Plutnicki

Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. And so, just as we wrap up, do you have any advice for someone who is looking to break into a field, whether it’s a current college student or high school student who’s looking to get into a creative field, any advice?

Lauren Rose

It’s so hard, because there’s so many different types of creative fields. So I think if I had to just, like, generally approach it, I would just say, you know, you know, it is a job, it’s a means to an end, but you need to have some passionate about it, and you need to be interested in it. And you also need to think about, do I want to do this every day for 50 years? Like, is this something like, you know, there’s a lot of factors to that and it’s very individualized.

March 7, 2025
Robert Taylor

“Growth happens outside of your comfort zone.”

Robert Taylor is a graphic designer for RallyUp, a tech platform supporting nonprofit fundraising. With over a decade of experience, he blends technical skill with emotional storytelling to design brands and campaigns that inspire.

Interview

Transcript

Robert Taylor

I actually am lucky enough to work from home. So I’m a remote worker, I am a graphic designer for a company that provides fundraising software for nonprofits, 501 C organizations, and things of that matter. So it’s a really cool job to design for a company that actually works towards helping a community.

Sara Sobota

Absolutely. Great. How long have you been working there? And what is your official job title?

Robert Taylor

So my official job title is Graphic Designer. I’m one of two designers on the team. I handle more of the marketing side designs and the other designer does the app side of the designs. And in two months, I will officially be working there for three years.

Sara Sobota

Wow, that’s great, congratulations.

Robert Taylor

Thank you.

Sara Sobota

And it’s been remote the whole time?

Robert Taylor

It has been remote the whole time, actually, yes. They used to be based out of Arizon, and then, it actually happened just before COVID hit, they decided to go remote. And I actually have co-workers that are not just all over the country, but actually all over the world. The other designer is in China. I have co-workers in Canada, my actual boss, he was previously in the UK traveling around. So it’s really cool to actually be working with people that are just all over. Different perspectives, different insights. It’s really cool.

Sara Sobota

That sounds amazing. How did you end up in this field? And how did you hear about it?

Robert Taylor

So I always liked art as a kid. But I knew that when I was in high school, I wanted to go for art, but I also wanted to be smart, and go for something that I knew was a little more secure. And I was kind of a techie kid, I actually grew up when MySpace was a thing. And I would actually use HTML code and edit my MySpace, not knowing that that was actually a job in of itself. I thought it was just something fun that I was editing my profile. And through doing that, I ended up picking graphic design as my career. CCU [Coastal Carolina University] had actually just created that as a design program, one year before I started, so I was the second graduating class for graphic design, which was pretty cool. But I basically kind of picked that, because I knew that it would be a little more secure. And again, it was more techie. I really, at the time, thought the website design was kind of cool and different, so that piqued my interest.

Sara Sobota

Yeah, that’s awesome. I don’t think I asked where you are from originally.

Robert Taylor

Um, so actually, I’m from Conway, South Carolina. So CCU has been a big part of my life, not just for me, going there, but actually my mom went to school there, I actually got to see her graduate and walk across the stage. And then she actually, eventually started to work there. She’s been working there for 18 years now. And so she’s an alumni, and then I decided to go to school there. I actually, soon after graduating, worked there as well. I worked at CCU as a student worker in the Student Accounts Office all four years, graduated and continued to work there for a few more years. So I actually ended up working at Coastal for eight years. It was really great, as well, to kind of be so involved. And then I eventually did leave to start working in the field that I got my degree in.

Sara Sobota

Do you live in Conway now?

Robert Taylor

No, actually, I live in Wilmington, North Carolina. So just about an hour and a half north, and not too far.

Sara Sobota

Yeah, that’s awesome. Okay, great. What does a typical workday look like for you? Can you walk us through one, if there is a typical day?

Robert Taylor

Yeah, it’s fairly typical. So I actually, I’m working in our guest bedroom right now, is where I have my desk so that I’ve got a bit of privacy. So you know, normally I wake up, I pour my iced coffee, I take a minute to sit on our balcony and just kind of relax and have some separation before jumping into my workday. Working from home is really convenient, but you do have to kind of make sure that you have a little bit of separation. There was a point where I was just waking up and coming straight to my desk and sitting down, not the healthiest of habits. So I’m making sure that I have that break in the morning. Then after I get my iced coffee, I sit down and then I firstly just go through my daily work emails. I actually do freelance on the side as well as my full time job with RallyUp. So I just take about 30 minutes in the morning to go through my emails and plan my day. Depending on the day I will have calls with my direct supervisor. I’m technically part of the marketing and communications department, how we’re structured, so we’ll have a few meetings throughout the day where we’re talking about what emails are going to be going out, what new web pages I need to create, any other large marketing campaigns. And then also depending on which clients are using our platform, I will sometimes also create graphics for them, to make sure that their fundraisers are successful, and just kind of stand out and really any other promotional materials they may need.

Robert Taylor

So really, my morning is just setting up for whatever I need to kind of do that day. And it can just be an array of those different things, which is really nice, because as a designer, myself, I like to dabble in a bit of it all. So sometimes I might design a one pager print material. So I’m designing that specifically in Photoshop or Illustrator or InDesign, because I know it needs to be in a print format, CMYK for printers, and then other times, I’ll be designing a web page. And I use a program called Figma for that, which is just specifically digital only, and it works in pixels, and I can relay that to our developers really easily. So yes, I get to work through a whole range of projects, which is nice.

Sara Sobota

Yeah, yeah. And then this goes back a minute, but was RallyUp a startup? Did it begin when you were hired?

Robert Taylor

It didn’t begin, but it was a startup. So they had been in action for six years? Previously, whenever I came on, so it’s still, in a way considered a startup, I would say.

Sara Sobota

Yeah, yeah. Okay. Was it challenging for you to find this career path or figure out how to apply your background to this task?

Robert Taylor

I wouldn’t say my specific job, because luckily, I’ve had other design jobs previously. So to be honest, I feel like where I’m at in my career, I’ve stair stepped each time I’ve moved from job to job, which is good. I mean, that’s everyone’s goal in life, I believe. But also, as a designer, I’m always looking to learn and have things to take away with each job that I’m at. Whenever I left my career at Coastal, you know, that was not doing something in the design realm, I was collecting tuition payments, which was far from it. And the first job I took after that was actually for a marketing agency in Surfside, and they had a big range of different clients as well. So I was doing similar things where, you know, social media ads, or Google ads, or print materials and stuff, but whenever I left that job, I think the one thereafter was actually my most pivotal career change.

Robert Taylor

I ended up taking a job at a branding agency, which is slightly different than a marketing agency in how they approach their clients and what their services are, they’re a little more, I’m gonna say picky, but specific in the clients they take on because I have found out that a lot of marketing agencies, it’s fast paced, which means you’re just turning around designs a lot. Whereas the brand agency, you are focusing a lot more on what you’re providing, which I think any designer actually would almost prefer because no matter how you work, I think that you put a lot of yourself into your designs that you’re creating. So it’s more personal. And so you want to make sure that when you’re giving that to a client, they’re appreciating that enough and understand the work that’s put into it.

Robert Taylor

So I ended up moving to the mountains, just below Asheville, I was in a small town called Hendersonville working for a branding agency there. And I learned a lot in that job role. And I can give them credit. Now that company was called WE•DO, WE•DO Worldwide, a brand agency. And that is actually where I learned how to fully build websites. When I was a student at Coastal, I learned a little bit about the HTML process, but a lot has changed in tech over the years. And while hand coding is still, you should still know HTML, most websites aren’t built from pure scratch anymore like they used to be. And so that is where I learned how to build websites through different builder platforms. And that completely changed my knowledge and my abilities. And to this day, I’m still using that knowledge because most of my freelance on the side is building websites and had I not switched careers, or well, switched jobs, I should say, I wouldn’t have learned that. So again, not saying switching jobs always makes you learn more things. But it was kind of a stair step to getting to where I’m at now.

Sara Sobota

So, what prompted you to move from WE•DO to RallyUp?

Robert Taylor

So, that was very interesting. I would have stayed with WE•DO as long as I could have, because I really loved the community. I was one of five other designers. So the job that I had right out of Coastal, for Banton Media, I was the only designer, which wasn’t bad, but I didn’t realize how much I missed working with other designers. So even when I was in classes, having the critiques was stressful as a student, but looking back was really needed. You get to see feedback and other people’s perspectives and stuff and I learned that it’s not just about being worried that someone’s going to tear your art apart, it needs to be constructive. And that’s usually what it always was, I think students do tend to worry a little bit too much about it. But again, that’s a learning and growing process.

Robert Taylor

But when I went over to WE•DO, I was, again, one of five other designers. So we would sit all the time and talk, like, if one person was working on a website for a client, and they felt stuck, they’d be like, hey, I need input. And we would all gather around, look at it and give insights. And again, it was such a learning process, which was really, really amazing. It’s, it’s kind of hard to get that out of, like, out of college, to be honest. If you’re getting a job where you’re the only designer, you feel like that’s all on you. And you have to kind of like self learn. So, but the interesting thing about WE•DO is that they merged with one of the clients that they had, actually one of their larger clients, and, which wasn’t a bad thing, it was the first ever time I’ve experienced a merger. And it was good, actually, it was a growing process. But the merged company was actually one that was a business, it was a startup that was trying to provide resources, local resources, for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Robert Taylor

So that was my first experience, a, like, direct experience with a company that was trying to help individuals, help businesses. So, they were grant funded. And all of that happened during COVID. And so unfortunately, some of the grant funding was eventually running out. So they de-merged. And I went with the other company, so I was no longer with the branding agency, which was totally okay. And then, and then they, they eventually were running out of the grant funding. They were grant funded through, actually, all of the universities in western North Carolina, because apparently, a lot of universities have Small Business Resource Centers, which I had never heard of. I didn’t know that. Which was part of their, the reason they were starting their business was so many people didn’t know that the resources were out there. So they were trying to spread and share that knowledge.

Robert Taylor

And so my role, then, I became a single designer again, and that company was called Supportedly. And so, I became the Director of Design, there, fancy title, but I was the main designer, but I still had a lot a lot to do, I ran their CRM manager where I basically managed all of the 40,000 plus contacts that we would be emailing and making sure that our email campaigns would go out properly and not say the wrong names to the wrong group of people. So because it was the entirety of western North Carolina, so we had all the different groups that we would be emailing like Cleveland County, Catawba, just all the different ranges that were out there. And so it was really nice, actually, transitioning, while I still would have loved to work at WE•DO, because again, I would be on various projects versus just one company, it helped knowing that the purpose that that was driving that company was to help people. So anytime I was designing something, it wasn’t just to market a sale, they weren’t trying to sell and make money that way. Again, they were they were grant funded, they were just there trying to help. And so I really, really enjoyed that. And they luckily gave us a big enough heads up a few months out saying, “Hey, we are trying to get more grant funds, but we will, if we don’t, we’ll run out at a certain time.” And so I started, of course, unfortunately, hunting for jobs.

Robert Taylor

But since they gave us enough of a heads up, I was able, in this scenario, not many people can but in this scenario to be a bit more specific and picky where I was trying to apply. I know how the job market is right now, most people are just trying to get a job as they can. That is just a reality. But luckily, I was just trying to be a little more specific, especially in my, at my point in my career, I knew that I wanted to stair step up again. And then be more specific in finding a company that had a culture that I really enjoyed It’s really important, again, I know it’s not easy to find a company that’s like that. But the place that I work at now, they really, really strived hard and it shows to make a company culture where everyone is happy, everyone is appreciated. There’s no negativity and so, which not saying that’s the reason why I’ve been here as long as I have, but I wanted to find a company where I could stay for a while and just grow myself as well. I would have done that with WE•DO but again with the partnership and split, it just was a reality. And it was a big learning experience for me. And so, but, I was able to luckily find a company that really cared about that and I can tell in the interview process. They wanted to find someone first that fit, versus someone that could just do the job. And I’ve learned through different companies in the past that I’ve worked at, knowing in interviews that they ask certain things, what they actually mean and what they’re looking for. And vice versa, you know, me asking them to make sure that I’m going to work somewhere that I’m going to enjoy. And it’s not just a job. Sorry. Yeah.

Sara Sobota

Right. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. That’s amazing. Wow. Okay, great. It sounds like your career’s really had an arc that is in a good direction. Yeah. That’s great. Can you recommend any specific skills that an aspiring applicant should have to increase their chances of landing a role in your field?

Robert Taylor

I think, to be honest, what’s helped me the most, that I’ve noticed in my journey, is actually knowing a bit about coding and websites. But that was for my current job that I have, that actually was not even a requirement. It helped, but they use a developer to actually build them. There’s pages that I’ve worked on, when he’s been busy, that has helped. But knowing that understanding, I think, even if it doesn’t need to be applied, can help, because I can relay information to the developer or when I’m designing the pages, I have an understanding of what’s more doable. I mean, most things can still be created, but it might be really difficult, or it might take too long. And so understanding more of the reality of that.

Sara Sobota

Yes.

Robert Taylor

But I feel like most design can be learned in general. And so from my own experience, if I don’t know it, I can tend to YouTube it or find a Skillshare, or an online class that can kind of teach me. Most of the principles that are learned in school, I’ve been able to still just apply, you know, there’s basic principles of design. But at the same time, even those principles, I’m not saying they can be broken, but design is so subjective, that things change, I could want a design to be one way, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be that way to succeed or work in its role. And that’s, that would be one other thing that I guess would be a good mindset to understand is that internally, as a designer, working for a company, you know your company, and you know what you want the end user or customer to do. But when, I guess this, this technically would be a skill, it’s a learned skill to understand, really just putting yourself in their shoes, the customer or the users’ shoes to make sure it’s working. To make sure they understand it, because you might know how your application works. But someone that’s never used, it might not have a clue, they might not know that they can do all these different things. And so your role as a designer is not just to make something look pretty, sometimes it is, but most of the time, it’s actually serving a purpose.

Robert Taylor

And so understanding what the purpose is first, before you started design, I think is a good skill. Really, it’s an eternal, it’s a brain skill, it’s a mind skill, not necessarily a physical one. But that would be something that I think would be really good for designers to understand, jumping into a role. And this is more of a reflection point of view. But I think artists and designers, we compare ourselves to other people, a lot, other designers a lot, impostor syndrome, it happens no matter who you are.

Robert Taylor

But I, from a personal standpoint, have talked with other people that are trying to break into the design realm, and haven’t had a bunch of classes and/or gone to school for it. And they feel like they can’t be a designer because of that. And I, if anyone is watching these videos and think that I want to let them know that that’s not true. You can be a designer without having all these different courses. You don’t have to take a website design course to learn, and know, website design. I mean, you’ve got to find it from somewhere. But you don’t have to have gone to like college and specifically taken web design 101, 102, 105 to get to get all the way there. I’ll say this now. I mean, when I’m building websites, I sometimes forget how to do things. And I go right to Google. And I think a lot of people don’t realize that web designers, developers, we will do that. We’ll be like, “what is the code for that again? I completely forgot.” And Google comes in for the win, or YouTube, there’s, there’s resources out there. And so I really think that if anyone is trying to break into the design realm, they should try and use those resources because I’m going to say that back when I was in school, those resources were not necessarily there. I mean, YouTube was still brand new, where you would sit and if you had to upload a video it would take like five hours and and most of the videos on there were not help videos. They were just random things that people put out there, or music videos, and that’s how we would listen to music. But there’s so much information at our fingertips now that you can learn something, I mean, designers, you have to have not a natural eye for things, but that does help. But most of what graphic design is, is learning how to use tools to get the end goal and all of that can be learned for sure.

Sara Sobota

Yeah, that’s right. That makes sense. Okay, okay, great. Are there any local organ– first of all, I don’t know if I covered this before, what year did you graduate from Coastal?

Robert Taylor

2013

Sara Sobota

2013. Okay, I think that was something I overlooked. Are there any local organizations or programs that you recommend for aspiring creatives? Associations or professional groups or any events?

Robert Taylor

There are professional groups in Myrtle Beach. I’m not going to get the correct acronym, but I know that it’s like a youth in business, young business leaders, I think? Is one of the– now that one’s not specifically just for designers. But that is an overall one that would help, that is one that helps network people in the local area, which networking is always a good thing to do. And I have learned that over the years as well. The whole phrase, it’s not what you do, it’s who you know. I think it’s how that phrase goes, or at least that’s how I say it. And it’s very, very true. And in my career, that’s actually been something that’s helped with my freelance. I knew someone that works heavily with the Murrells Inlet marshwalk, that group of eight of the restaurants that’s right on the inlet, and I do their marketing and designs now. So I redid their website, they are about to do Fourth of July event coming up, and I do their posters and banners. And that’s been an ongoing thing. And so knowing that networked person has just helped with my career, because that’s just a steady stream of design work that I can have that I don’t have to like, go out and look for. That’s kind of just been something that’s come up in that. it’s come to me. Yeah.

Sara Sobota

That’s great.

Robert Taylor

And then on campus, I actually, I am hoping it’s still in play. But there was a club called SAS, Student Artists Society. And it had started the year before I was there. And then I became a member, its first year, or well, I guess, second year. And then I was the treasurer one year, vice president, and then president for I think two years or one year. And so that was a, just a student led organization in the art department where we would have various artists come in and speak and do like kind of smaller, like seminars and conferences, and then we would do also philanthropic things like bake sales, art, art building, and we also did a pumpkin painting or carving or designing contests, we would do that every year, and faculty and staff would actually come and buy those pumpkins. And so we would raise money for local organizations. We would also do, I believe we called it Empty Bowls.

Sara Sobota

Oh, my gosh, that’s still going on. Yeah.

Robert Taylor

Is it still going on? Good. Okay, so we, so I have to give credit to one of the professors, they came up with the idea. But we would do that every year. And then we would donate the profits to local food pantries, or there was an organization in Myrtle Beach, I’m trying to think of the name, street…

Sara Sobota

Oh, Street Reach?

Robert Taylor

Street Reach! Yeah, and we would donate money for that as well to help with the homeless. And we actually got to tour their facility one time where they showed us how they bring people in and not just have them for the night, they actually help with like the rehabilitation process and help them get jobs and things like that, and help them get on their feet or get like means of transportation and stuff like that. But that was, that was something that helped make more bonds outside of the classroom. Because you don’t, you’ll see other art majors in the hallways, but you don’t always have classes with them. And so that was a way to actually kind of get to meet other people that were in those classes. And same thing with that club. It was people that were in different levels, like different grades. So most of the time, when you’re in your art classes, you’re in with the same group that you’re going to graduate with, versus being in that club, you were in a range. So you know, when I was a senior we had freshmen that were coming in, and so it was great for them to like kind of learn, and mingle with someone that’s had more of the, more classes and things like that. It’s just great perspective. So that’s one that is very localized because it’s right there on campus, that they can join.

Sara Sobota

Yeah, good. Okay. I have like three or four empty bowls because I always go buy one.

Robert Taylor

Awesome.

Sara Sobota

Okay. Do you have any advice for current college students or pre professional young adults who are pursuing a career in the creative world?

Robert Taylor

Oh boy. I mean, I know I touched on some of that in previous questions because I know I just kind of like rattle on with with knowledge and stuff. But I think one of the biggest things, this is gonna sound so typical, but it’s just being confident. We’re our own worst critic. And starting out, it’s inevitable that starting out your your first and early designs are not going to be your best. But that does not mean that that’s where you’re going to stay. You’re going to grow. I mean, just the other day, I was redoing my online portfolio. And I went back and looked at some of my earliest designs, and I’m just like, wow, that was just horrible. But that’s okay. Because that’s where I started out. And if I hadn’t have started that I wouldn’t be where I am now. I wouldn’t have grown.

Robert Taylor

And I kind of, in a way, whenever I left Coastal, I took a leap of faith is what I’m going to call it with leaving a job that was comfortable, where I knew I could just keep doing it, doing it. But it wasn’t what I went to school for. And not just that, it was not what I enjoyed or had a passion for. And so if you’re a young designer, and you have a passion, go for it. It might not be easy, and it probably won’t be. But that’s not the point. The point is not easy. The point is to do the things that make you happy. And luckily enough, I have gotten to a point where, in my career, I am doing that. Now, yes, it is still a job. But I get to be creative in my field. And that is, I mean, that’s something that makes me happy. With, with projects that I have, even though there’s an end goal, I can still have kind of like free range of design, and how it should look.

Robert Taylor

So yeah, so like young designers starting out as well, try different things. You might think that you like one thing, and you actually find out that you don’t, or something else is a little more fun that you never knew. I mean, I still took regular art classes that weren’t design classes whenever I was there. And I ended up really loving watercolor. And that was something that was not something that I knew that I was going to pursue as a career. But it was something that helped me relax. So that’s always something good to find, too is something that you can separate from a work life kind of balance type situation, something that you can still find enjoyment in, that is not your every day to day tasks.

Robert Taylor

And this is another kind of random thing. It is still design related. That whenever I first started out, I had a teacher that loved type. And at the time as a student, I could care less about type. I was like, “Okay, it’s a word that’s nice.” And then something happened my senior year, I had him again. And we had a project where we had to create booklets, actual 3d printed booklets. And it was, I did mine on the Gestalt principles. And when type originated, I don’t know why I picked that one, I just did for some reason. And then during that project, it just, a light bulb just popped in my head. And I was like, “I get it now I understand type.” And I just started to really enjoy it. And had I not taken his class and had that project and really kind of like, tried to understand it, that wouldn’t have opened up and then that really became large for me because soon after I ended up taking a job, in the in the midst of graduating Coastal, I had some interesting back and forth where I did actually take a few jobs and then come back to Coastal a time or two. That was too difficult for me to explain, but I did ping pong a bunch. And luckily, I was able to come back each time to the exact same job in the exact same office. And it just worked out. They just had an opening and I was like, “Oh, I’m thinking about moving back.” But I did actually end up taking a job for a magazine. It was a golf magazine out of Hilton Head, South Carolina. And I had all of the knowledge now on typography and layout design and such from that course that I was able to get that job. And so yeah, if you’re a new designer, just take different classes, find out what you do and don’t like because you really might think you like one thing and then find out you like something better. So just try different things. Try new things.

March 6, 2025