Tag: Remote Work

  • Madison Wu

    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.  

  • Lex Stress

    Lex Stress

    “Once you’re in tech, there’s room to grow.” 

    Lex Stress is the Principal Graphic Designer at Ellucian, a tech company specializing in software for higher education. From Charleston, SC, Stress brings creativity and strategy to every project whether for clients, internal teams, or freelance ventures. 

    Interview

    Transcript

    Lex Stress   

    My name is Lex Stress. I’m originally from outside of Philadelphia. But I’ve been in the Charleston area for almost 10 years now. 

    Emma Plutnicki   

    Nice. And so what do you do for work? And what’s your official job title? 

    Lex Stress   

    My official title is a senior graphic designer, I work at a company called Ellucian, and they are a higher education software company. 

    Emma Plutnicki   

    Cool, and how long have you been working there? 

    Lex Stress   

    It’s been probably about two and a half years now. 

    Emma Plutnicki   

    Nice. And that’s in Charleston. 

    Lex Stress   

    So it, so I work remotely, so like 100% remote. So I am in Charleston. The actual company is headquartered out of D.C., but they have it’s like a global company. So they have offices all over the world. And I work with people all over the world too. 

    Emma Plutnicki   

    Cool. How did you end up in this field? How did you hear about it? How did you know that this was an actual path that you could take? 

    Lex Stress   

    Um, that’s a great question. So, when I first graduated from Coastal, I actually started at a candle packaging company, and was like a designer for candles, their whole world marketing everything. And I actually only worked there for about six months. And, every day on my commute, I always passed Blackbaud, which is, like, a pretty big tech company here in Charleston. And they actually had a graphic design position open up. Somehow, they like, really believed in me. And I got that position. And that really opened my world to the tech industry, working in software and being like a more in-house designer for those kinds of companies. 

    Emma Plutnicki   

     So cool. So what, what did you study at Coastal? What was your background that kind of led you into this role? 

    Lex Stress   

     Yeah, so. I was a transfer student at Coastal. So, I studied graphic design, I came in as a junior. And so, I did two years at Coastal, and prior to that, I was also I got my Associate’s in design as well. So, I just, I, wanted to get my Bachelor’s, and so I kind of finished everything out at Coastal. So, yeah, graphic design. 

    Emma Plutnicki   

    Cool. And so, now of day’s, what does a typical workday look like for you? What are your responsibilities? What are you expected to make in a day? And what does that look like? 

    Lex Stress   

    It can be kind of crazy. But basically, like I will spend my day, there, there’s a lot of variety in my role. So it really just depends on the day and the project. Like, it could be making social media graphics. It could be email banners. Right now, the biggest project we’re working on is event identities for our annual conference. So, that includes so many things like on-site graphics. I just created the registration website, just like kind of anything that goes into that conference we’ve been working on. We also have a lot of Zoom meetings since we are remote. So that’s kind of where the collaboration comes in, is through having those meetings. But really, it just. It can be anything. Which I do like. I like having the variety. And, I think it’s it’s good to cue; it helps keep me creative too, like, being able to do something a little bit different every day. 

    Emma Plutnicki   

    Yeah. So do you have any challenges with staying creative? Or is it like, what are your main challenges that you face on a day-to-day basis? 

    Lex Stress   

    I would definitely say it is hard, especially because, like, working as an in-house designer, that, has its own specific challenge because you are like 100% working on that brand. And so, it’s kind of unique, where it’s not like you’re jumping from different projects. I think that can be, like, the biggest creative challenge because you’re taking the same thing every day and seeing where you can push it and how it can evolve. And, that’s kind of where the creativity comes in. Versus, like, one day,  you’re working on, like, a coffee shop logo. And the next day, you’re working for, like, a shoe brand or something like that. So, I found that that’s probably the biggest creative challenge, is just kind of working with that one brand. And probably the biggest thing that helps me is I actually freelance outside of my roles. So, I’ll take on those like full branding projects. And that’s kind of like where I feel like I can keep my, like, creative muscles going, basically.  

    Emma Plutnicki   

    Yeah, that makes sense. So, was it challenging to get into this career? You mentioned that you kind of got lucky someone had faith in you. Do you think it’s hard to, do you need a little bit of luck to get into careers like this? Or how, like, what challenges are there to get into the field? 

    Lex Stress   

    Yeah, so I feel like with tech, it is kind of a difficult field in general, because it changes so fast. It’s also notorious for, like, layoffs and things like that, like you always hear like all these tech companies that’s happening with them. And I think, it is really difficult in the beginning. I think it worked out for me because, like, this was pre-COVID when I joined Blackbaud, and so I think it helped because I was living in Charleston. Their headquarters was in Charleston. I was able to interview in person like all of those things. And now, with so many tech jobs being fully remote, like, your competition is anywhere in the world versus like just in your one city. And I think that’s, like, one of the biggest challenges. But definitely, like just having, knowing certain people, like the networking skill, is so important too, because, the reason why I got my job at Ellucian is also because one of my co-workers from Blackbaud started here, and like, put in a referral for me. So, definitely, I think like, the networking piece is huge for just trying to overcome how hard it is to get your foot in the door. But, once you are there, I feel like if you have that experience, there’s so many companies that value that. 

    Emma Plutnicki   

    Yeah, and for networking to establish the connections. Are there, like, events or organizations, clubs, or anything within South Carolina that you can think of to go to to make those connections? 

    Lex Stress   

    I don’t know, even like, even my old professors from coastal have really looked out for me as well. Like, I’ve been able to hear about certain opportunities just through them. Because I’ve, I felt like I built a strong relationship with them when I was at school, and then they kind of keep me in mind going forward. So, definitely, I would say like, they’re a great resource. I think there are also, like, a couple of Facebook groups like an alumni network, and also specific, specific for design as well that sometimes, like, there will be postings about jobs, or just certain opportunities in there. And then, I guess the last one would just be the AIGA [American Institute of Graphic Arts] organization. And that’s national, but there is like a South Carolina chapter. And that’s just for, design. 

    Emma Plutnicki   

    And what does, what does that stand for? 

    Lex Stress   

    It is the American Institute of Graphic Arts. So, it’s like a huge professional network for design in general. 

    Emma Plutnicki   

    Perfect. And so, throughout your journey, it could be at the job that you are at now or in the past, have you had one project that stands out in your mind as just having like a significant impact on you, or it’s kind of like the capstone of your career, so far? 

    Lex Stress   

    Honestly, I feel like the conference that I mentioned prior is probably that for me, right now, that event is happening in about three and a half weeks. So, we’re like in the final push right now. But, we started with the creative development back in the summer for it and really just built it up from scratch. It’s an annual conference that happens every year, but we do specific branding for it. And this year, it’s pretty cool because it’s hosted in San Antonio, Texas, but during the event, the, like, full total solar eclipse is happening. So, we use the Eclipse as the inspiration for the branding. That has just been really cool for us. Because it’s like I said, like, working on it in-house brand is a little bit different. But, with this specific conference, we get to be super creative. And it’s just been me and one other designer pulling off, like, the entire thing. So, it’s definitely going to be, probably, like the main piece of my portfolio after, after it happens, like I can’t wait to get the photography on site, just have all of our signage and have even the mainstage like we’re working on the presentations and everything. So, that has so many different elements that it’s been really cool to work on. And I know that that’s going to be like a huge portfolio piece for me. 

    Emma Plutnicki   

    Yeah, that’ll be so cool. And so you said networking is really important for, like, increasing your chances within the job pool. But, are there any specific skills that applicants should have or showcase to kind of increase their chances of landing a job in a field like yours? 

    Lex Stress   

    Yeah, I would say probably one of the biggest ones is just problem-solving. Because as, as you get into your career, like, I remember being in school, being surrounded by so many creative people that it never really like clicked for me that once I got into the real world, like, I would be one of the only creative type people. And so, so many other people that are not, that, don’t consider themselves creative. Really come to you, to help them, like, think through different problems. And especially like really complex things, like, that’s been a huge skill for me is just, being, really like problem solving, oriented, and really trying to help other people see it in a different way. Because they always think like, oh, you’re the creative person, like you have a brain that can like do all this. That’s like something that they really lean on us for, so showing that you can be, like, a really good problem solver and, like, very solution-oriented is definitely helpful. And then, honestly, I think like even just being, like, having a good attitude, like being somebody that somebody wants to work with, can really take you far and then just having like a good work ethic. I think, like, between those three, that’s probably been, like, the most important aspects just that I’ve seen, like throughout my career, like no matter where I am. 

    Emma Plutnicki   

     Yeah, that’s great. And so, just like as we wrap up. Is there any advice that you would give somebody who is trying to get into this field above, like skills that they should have, or any other just generic advice? 

    Lex Stress   

    Um. Definitely, one thing is always like be on the lookout for ways that you can add skills, like as, as you kind of go throughout your career journey, it can be really easy to get into like a very specific niche. But, if you can always be adding on skills, like, I’m trying right now; I’m more like a just traditional, like graphic design. But, knowing how to do UI [User Interface] and UX [User Experiece], or knowing how to do motion graphics, like, if you can add on those kinds of skills, it just makes you so much more marketable, honestly, like, being able to do different things. Even, like, video is a really big one, just like trying to always expand your skills so that way, like no matter where you go, or what you’re doing, you can say, like, I have experience doing that, that’s something I can jump in on like right away. So, definitely just just that, like the continuous learning aspect is really important. And even just because, like,, technology changes so fast, like Figma is a really big skill for us. And that’s that was like not even really a thing when I was in school. So, I’ve had to, like, kind of teach myself just being, like, adaptable like that is really helpful. Like as you go throughout your career, for sure. Yeah, just like always, find ways to stay creative because sometimes it can be hard, but it’s definitely important to prioritize. 

    Emma Plutnicki   

    Perfect. Is there anything else you’d like to add about your profession or anything? 

    Lex Stress   

    I would say it’s definitely, a, like, it’s a, it’s a cool career to have. I love being a designer. I don’t really, it’s hard to imagine doing anything else. And I think since it is such a, like, specific field, I’ve always found that other designers are so willing to help anybody, like, if there’s ever someone who needs mentorship, or even if you’re asking for mentorship, like, people are always there and available to help you. And, same for this, like, I’m definitely a resource if anybody ever has, like, questions or needs advice, like, can definitely ask me.  

    Lex Stress   

    Yeah, perfect. Well, thank you so much.