How I Accidentally Ended Up Working in Marketing

Photo by Kayla Nicole Studio

From the second I could hold scissors and wield a bottle of glue, I was making things. A collage of magazine clippings, necklaces for all my stuffed animals, painted rocks from the yard. We had this big wooden credenza that was filled to the brim with any craft supplies a girl could want, and I was in it every day, dreaming up my next project.

Photo by Homanathome.com

When I was in third grade or so, these lizards made out of paracord and pony beads started circulating around school. I had a friend who would make them for $1 in any colors you wanted (she was obviously very popular) and she got so busy that you had to wait 2 weeks to get your hands on one. I adored my little black and white buddy with an extra long tail (special order) and I remember thinking “Hmmm…I bet I could make this.” And I did, and I sold them at my family yard sale for a quarter each.

I stayed crafty throughout school and beyond, but when I was 13 I discovered html and Photoshop. I was completely fascinated by the idea that you could plug a bunch of words and numbers into a box on the screen and out popped the words you wrote, in the colors you chose. And being able to invert the color of my family photos or give my dog a mustache…why weren’t more 13 year olds talking about Photoshop?? It felt like a super power to be able to do those things, and I practiced every chance I got.

In high school, I was placed in an internship at a local web design company, and after that I was officially hooked. Static web design felt like magic to me. Taking something I had designed in Photoshop and actually making it a functional page that people could click on and navigate was thrilling. I had found my calling.

I set off to art school in Seattle on a scholarship, the world my oyster. But 18-year-old me wasn’t ready for big city life, and I ended up moving home after six months of being absolutely miserable. I enrolled in community college, put my dreams in my back pocket and tried to figure out what was next.

The next few years were a mix of odd jobs: A fruit stand, a cupcake bakery, a hardware store. No matter where I worked, I ended up being the “creative one” The one in charge of making signs, flyers, or random creative extras. At one job I even managed their Instagram. I enjoyed doing the more creative tasks, but it wasn’t lost on me that no one was handing out raises to the sign girl.

Whatever the thing was that had been itching my brain my entire life never went away.

I just knew I was destined to make money using my creative skills. Eventually I opened an Etsy shop and started selling handmade wares at the farmers market. The old spark came back, the thrill of making something and seeing people want it. My dream of making a living creatively would happen, come hell or high water. Around the same time, I started volunteering to build stage props for a local church, and that small decision ended up being a big turning point in my career. Through that connection, I landed a job as the in-house designer for a local winery.

And that’s where everything changed. At 24 I was thrown into the deep end creating flyers, designing wine labels, managing social media, updating their websites, and building event branding. I learned everything on the job, and I’m forever grateful for the trust and space they gave me to grow and figure out what I was good at.

At some point the brain itched returned and I realized the next step in my journey was to try building something of my own, to help other businesses elevate their brand. I met my future business partner over a beer, and before I knew it, LC Creative Marketing was born.

One day I was the girl who makes signs and flyers, and the next I was running a marketing agency.

And the rest is history. For a long time, I struggled with imposter syndrome. Heck, I still do some days! I don’t have a degree in marketing, I didn’t mean to become a marketer. (What does that even mean, anyways??) But the truth is undeniable: All along, I had been building the skills I needed to not only do this career, but to excel in it. My creative skills, my ability to connect with people and my insatiable desire to create beautiful-yet-functional things have all contributed to my success in this industry. So even though I may have “accidentally” stumbled into marketing on my way towards something else, now that I’m here it undeniably feels like home.