get started
even a single step builds momentum
No one’s degree is perfect. Especially coming out of these last few years where everything was on fire (metaphorically and sometimes physically). There will be gaps in your education. It’s OK. There’s a whole generation of young professionals right there alongside you. Gaps and all.
Don’t look at the designers who are five, ten, fifteen years ahead of you in their careers. Look at what you just survived, look at what you want to do with your career, and build the path forward one salvaged brick at a time.
You don’t need a do-over. And you don’t necessarily need another degree (sorry, higher ed). You can fill the gaps on your own – by reading, shadowing a mentor, or just trying it over and over until you figure it out.
Get out there, do the best with what you’ve got, and you can make some money while you decide exactly what you need to upskill to advance from there.
curate advice
You can follow someone on social but that doesn’t mean you have to follow in their exact footsteps. There are lots of gurus out there. Don’t expect any one person to be the perfect role model; find role models with specific dimensions you admire.
make yourself a patchwork mentor.
You’ll meet a lot of people, and you’ll get some bad advice. Some of it will be from me. Some of it may have been absolutely brilliant advice 30 years ago – or 3 years ago – but is useless now. Let go of what doesn’t work for you and piece together the 1% that does until you have a design philosophy, or a manifesto, or whatever kind of navigational metaphor you need to guide your professional life.
For an in-depth look at making a patchwork mentor, keep reading below.
most importantly...
About the things that really matter to you, be stubborn and don’t settle.
to keep reading:
» Make a Patchwork Mentor: The 3 Mentors You Really Need