12ozProphet Professions - Education, Experience, Skillzzzzzz.

[Mercer]

14 hours ago, Fist 666 said:

join the army under a student loan repayment program. If I'd gone to real school straight out of high school I would have never joined the military, hindsight is a motherfucker.

This seems to be a reoccurring theme with people I know that had to join because of crippling student loan debt. Most people who enlist for other reasons, or straight out of high school seem to walk away with fewer regrets. People there because of student loan debt seem to have a greater chance of regretting enlistment. 

 

Not sure if this is just anecdotal, or a bigger pattern at play here. I have one friend who joined because of student loan debt that is now glad he enlisted, and 3 others who regret the entire thing, all because of art school debt. Seems like a lot of it stems from them realizing they did have a choice in retrospect, where at the time it they enlisted it looked/felt like they didn't.

[misteraven]

50 minutes ago, Mercer said:

This seems to be a reoccurring theme with people I know that had to join because of crippling student loan debt. Most people who enlist for other reasons, or straight out of high school seem to walk away with fewer regrets. People there because of student loan debt seem to have a greater chance of regretting enlistment. 

 

Not sure if this is just anecdotal, or a bigger pattern at play here. I have one friend who joined because of student loan debt that is now glad he enlisted, and 3 others who regret the entire thing, all because of art school debt. Seems like a lot of it stems from them realizing they did have a choice in retrospect, where at the time it they enlisted it looked/felt like they didn't.

An interesting topic for sure. Looking back, I understand why I didn't end up in the military, but sometimes I wish I had. It took me a long time to truly understand discipline and how to compartmentalize things to work towards a larger goal by completing manageable portions of it at a time. I'd like to think I'm smart enough that I'd have somehow specialized and perhaps left with a more structured ability for problem solving and leadership, but couldn't say since it never happened.

 

That being said, with @Fist 666having made that comment, I think it would be interesting of you were to elaborate on your experiences to whatever extent you're willing. If you feel it was a mistake, perhaps you can save someone else from making the same mistake.

 

I think you as well, @Mercerare due to share your story. Other's I'd be curious to hear from are @Joker, @6Penniesand @glorydayssimply because I know what each does now and think it would be interesting to hear details on what got them to this point.

 

Might have to convert this concept into a regular member spotlight series where we interview members that have distinguished themselves.

[Mercer]

Never understood the hate, Local 3 IBEW is the move here in NYC at least.

[misteraven]

Seeing a number of screen names (old and new) that seem to be pretty regular on here these days... @spiro , @cruzxctrl (need to update your avatar and profile so you aren't running that default graphic), @MrSirius2nd(Let me know if you want me to merge your first account with this new one), @Joker(who's doing an awesome job helping some of the youngins with style) and @ndvjust to name a couple. Glad you guys are on here and please help keep spreading the word... That said be awesome to hear some more back stories if you guys are down to share.

 

Thread started out pretty awesome, lets see if we can keep it going.

[Joker]

Sorry, this is a long one. I apologize for any typos or weirdly structured sentences. 

 

I'll start my backstory in 1989. No, not the year I was born, but the year I left art/design school. I didn't graduate, I left. Long story. 

 

I ended up back in the DC area and got a job at Tower Records/Video. I had no idea Tower had an art department until I worked there, and once I knew, I knew that's where I wanted to be. Within a few weeks of working there one of the artists left, the other artists knew I was an artist, and I got hired to the art department. A few years later I'm working at the art department at a Tower in Dublin, California and my girlfriend at the time was working at Nordstrom. She got chatty with the folks who did the window displays and mention of me and what I do came up, so they hired me to recreate some vintage post cards for them on 4'x6' board, for their windows. I got on really well with the Nordstrom folks, and a month later they hired me to their team. 

 

I worked for Nordstrom doing window displays for twenty years. Twenty... years. It was an awesome job. I learned skills I wouldn't have otherwise learned, I made lifelong friends, I got to travel often, and travel well. It also made moving with job security very easy, so I tried San Diego then back to the Bay before I eventually ended up in Portland, Oregon. Met a girl, got married, stayed put. In the late 90s the Apple iMac was introduced and I bought one. My first computer experience. I taught myself the basics of how to use Adobe Illustrator (and learned a lot from guys like Kema) during that time and started bringing it into the Graffiti I was creating, and I was doing some small time freelance design stuff. Nordstrom window displays - the way it used to work was every store had a budget and the in-store display team designed, created, and installed the window display. Somewhere in the late 90s, early oughts, Nordstrom shifted design to home base (Seattle) and set up a team to design the window displays for all stores. The idea was continuity in the consumer experience. Obviously, I wanted in on this new design department. It wasn't until about six years later that I got my chance. The director just called me out of the blue and offered me a job. It meant moving to Seattle, though. The wife and I chatted about it for a few days and she decided that if I want to do what I was meant to do, what I've wanted to do since grade school, I had to take this opportunity and see if I can make it work. So I took it. I moved to Seattle but my wife stayed in Portland. Tough, but it's only a few hours so we made it work. I learned a ton at my first design job. I knew very little about Illustrator when I think back on it. I knew nothing about Photoshop other than the auto features. I had never opened InDesign. Honestly, it's a miracle they gave me a chance considering how little I knew. That said, within a year I had learned a ton, and my aesthetic was completely different form what had been done or was being done, so it worked. After about a year we hired a guy who had recently graduated from school for architecture. I saw him working in a 3D program building out an environment for a fashion show event. I had just spent the last week designing in "3D" in Illustrator so when I saw how effortlessly he was working in this program I was blown away. The program was Sketchup, and at the time there was a free version. So I downloaded it and spent an entire week teaching myself how to use it, and the new hire helped with some tricks and tips. By the end of that week I was up and running, and the game had changed for me. Eventually I got a job as the designer for Nordstrom's Pop-In shops that Olivia Kim (of Opening Ceremony fame) was leading. After close to 2 years of living in Seattle away from wife, and visiting each other when we could, and all the travel I was doing, I felt it was time to find a job in Portland. So I created a Portfolio and set out. 

 

I applied for almost 22 jobs at Nike and never got one, I applied for six jobs at Adidas and never got one, I applied for a job at Columbia and got passed up, I applied for a job at Icebreaker which I almost got but the day I was supposed to go in and get my offer letter the company had decided to shift operations back to New Zealand, so I was out. I sent my portfolio to six local design agencies and heard back from two, met one for an interview, but turns out they weren't hiring they just wanted to meet me and learn more about Nordstrom, met the other but he ultimately passed on me because my InDesign skills were minimal and he really needed someone to handle deck building. Then Design Week Portland happened and I went to an open house at an agency called SET Creative because a friend worked there. While there he talked me up and got me an interview the following week, and they hired me. Different world, different pace, working at a design agency as opposed to working in the corporate world. Eventually bigger and bigger projects rolled in and I ended up designing the Jordan brand store in Toronto. Funny side note: we partnered with the agency who passed on me due to little InDesign experience. While in Toronto he and I were in a van with a bunch of other folks and everyone was talking about their career experience. When I mentioned I worked at Nordstrom that guy spoke up and said "I interviewed a guy a Nordstrom but he didn't have enough experience". I told him that was me and he was sooooo apologetic. It was kind of funny. He's an awesome guy so I took no offense, it's business, I get it. Anyway, SET Creative brought in a ton of great work, and offered me a lot of incredible opportunities, but their business practices and lack of work/life balance left me wanting to get the hell out. I got poached by another smaller agency about two years ago and I've a lot happier. We do some fun stuff and it feels more like family. Love it. 

 

And during all that time I was painting Graffiti, painting canvases, racing bikes, traveling the world, and moonlighting as a freelance designer for the cycling industry. There's definitely been some low points, a few high points, but overall it's been awesome. To think I was a snot-nosed kid who barely graduated high school (after dropping out in 11th grade and then going back) and dropped out of design school and I somehow made it out okay... is a good feeling. I'm fucking tired and really want to just retire (seventeen more years) but I love what I'm doing and wouldn't change a thing. 

 

The biggest thing along the way that kept me going was the support I received from friends and family. Family always passing along positive affirmations and friends/peers telling me I can do what I felt I couldn't, and giving me the opportunities to prove it to myself. This includes guys like @misteraven, Cody Hudson, and Caleb Neelon, and I'll always be thankful for that. 

[ndv]

1 hour ago, misteraven said:

Seeing a number of screen names (old and new) that seem to be pretty regular on here these days... @spiro , @cruzxctrl (need to update your avatar and profile so you aren't running that default graphic), @MrSirius2nd(Let me know if you want me to merge your first account with this new one), @Joker(who's doing an awesome job helping some of the youngins with style) and @ndvjust to name a couple. Glad you guys are on here and please help keep spreading the word... That said be awesome to hear some more back stories if you guys are down to share.

 

Thread started out pretty awesome, lets see if we can keep it going.

I don not mind spreading the word but for some reason I get the impression with 12oz is,  Rule #1:  Do not talk about Fight Club.  

 

But then again that's why I purchased the ART of WAR Tee which I haven't received a Ship notification.  But I am pretty good at patience :)

Edited October 10, 2019 by ndv

[MrSirius]

@misteravenpm sent

 

[MrSirius]

I’m about 8 credit hours shy of an AA. I’ve been doing general construction for about 5 years now and my focus has turned to me going forward perusing a certification as an electrician. I enjoy it but I don’t feel too challenged or that I’m using my mind enough. I tried helping a Friend run a gallery/event space but he got too jaded on it and our ideas about where we wanted to take it weren’t compatible. He owns and lives in the space still, but has given up on doing anything outside the occasional graffiti jam. Until my late 20s I had been making $ via various hustles (legit and otherwise) and writing graffiti. I may have met some of you over the past 15 years or so. Would like to do something that is more creative in nature or at the least offers me a little more intellectual reward. Part of the reason I signed back on the oontz is that most of the people I know into graffiti have moved or gotten out of it. Trying to stay connected with the culture other than what I do irl. 

[Mercer]

@Jokerthere seems to be a reoccurring theme with people that left art school in the 90's eventually becoming self taught later specifically with that first generation iMac.

 

 

I went to an art school for a semester in 96 before deciding it wasn't for me. No classes on computers, photoshop, etc. when digital was rapidly becoming the industry standard. Learning to measure in picas, instead of pixels. I thought about the money I'd owe and it didn't add up so I bounced. I never had an iMac myself, and didn't get into design/programming until later on a macbook.

 

 

Your story reminded me of a good friend I met at that school, who ended up in Denver when I was out there. He worked in unrelated fields up until he got that first iMac. Actually graduated but had to teach himself digital video editing 2002-3ish since our art school was behind the curve, only teaching reel to reel video editing. He eventually landed an internship gig while driving cabs on the weekends until landing his first full time editing gig.

 

I remember I had a hand me down PC running Napster & Limewire non-stop back then, but wanted to buy a mac again after he got it that first iMac when it came out. I remember going back to check it out a while after he had it, and noticed he never bothered opening the keyboard up to clean it. Since it's case was clear you could see the inside and it got looked like a cross between the funk covering a theater's, and a barbers floor. That system's only noticeable flaw was that clear keyboard, I still have nightmares.

[Brink]

Im still pretty young, but I have a BFA in Graphic Design and now work as a professional designer with a focus in type design.

 

Before that I worked about 6 years as a cook in a restaurant, as well as a few years as a waiter.

 

Pretty boring stuff compared to the other people around here, but yea

[misteraven]

2 hours ago, Joker said:

and learned a lot from guys like Kema

Great story, appreciate you sharing it.

 

Speaking of kema / @beardo, where the hell is he? You still in touch? How is he not back on here?

[misteraven]

2 hours ago, Joker said:

Eventually I got a job as the designer for Nordstrom's Pop-In shops that Olivia Kim (of Opening Ceremony fame) was leading.

Had no idea you knew her. I'm friends with her husband, but met / hung out with her a bunch of times before they were married since she's best friends with another girl I knew. Also did a lot of work with bringing her Cole Haan collab stuff to market through our agency in NYC. Small freakin world.

[misteraven]

2 hours ago, Joker said:

I applied for almost 22 jobs at Nike and never got one, I applied for six jobs at Adidas and never got one, I applied for a job at Columbia and got passed up, I applied for a job at Icebreaker which I almost got but the day I was supposed to go in and get my offer letter the company had decided to shift operations back to New Zealand, so I was out. I sent my portfolio to six local design agencies and heard back from two, met one for an interview, but turns out they weren't hiring they just wanted to meet me and learn more about Nordstrom

Willing to bet its because you were local. Same way talented in-house guys get passed up for not so talented long shots that play the game right at other companies and then leave inside of 6 months.

[morton]

at Joker

 

I wanna see some windows.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

 Kind of hard to say it without sounding like a tool, but Nordstorm really set the standard for quality customer service in Seattle and I think that is part of why you get better service there than in some other parts of the country. 

[Joker]

2 hours ago, misteraven said:

Great story, appreciate you sharing it.

 

Speaking of kema / @beardo, where the hell is he? You still in touch? How is he not back on here?

Occasionally we like each other's images on Instagram, but that's the most I've had contact with him in the last two years or so. He's still doing amazing outlines, I'm sure. 

[Joker]

2 hours ago, misteraven said:

Had no idea you knew her. I'm friends with her husband, but met / hung out with her a bunch of times before they were married since she's best friends with another girl I knew. Also did a lot of work with bringing her Cole Haan collab stuff to market through our agency in NYC. Small freakin world.

Actually, I think we've talked about this before, but maybe not. I travelled with her and her husband to Italy, for work. He's a really cool/nice guy. He's been part of a lot of cool stuff that the "kids" like. Ha!

[Limeliciouz]

 

So I’m still at the begining of the line but I’ll tell y’all that imma get my drivers n then build n paint maself the raddest hippy van ever (crashable but not too livable) n kinda just ride around from forest to city to beach to mountain just kinda living. I’ll prob do some kind of online job to support myself. I have lots of family all over the world to crash by. Then after a year and a half when I’m broke I’ll crash my parents as a crying starbucks certified aesthetically pleasing artist/yoga weirdo with no skill set no job and a crying waste of space. Maybe I’ll at least be pretty. 

 

Or I could.....I actually have no idea tbh. I can’t stand the skl environment. The ppl, the classrooms, the stuck/small mindedness. So no college. I can’t see myself sitting around in a office either. I dunno.

I’m thinking about animation tho. There’s some cool shit going on over there and a Disney job is a pipe fucking dream. 

 

For now I have a job with kids. I babysit n trying to work out another job soon with kids lmao. Funny how things worked out that the new guy that drags tables and boxes around at work actually is a super up writer. I never knew any local writers before meeting him but that’s how I got linked up with them which is cool.

 

Just thought I’d add to a thread that has absolutely no relevance to me thanks lmao I’m glad for y’all that everything worked out kudos

[misteraven]

@Limeliciouznot that it matters or if you don’t even want to answer, but... You’re a girl right? Also, you mention kids, but believe you mean that you have a job that involves kids? I’m getting the feeling you’re too young to likely have your own kids, but maybe I’m misreading your comment. 

Anyhow, if you’re as young as I think you are, then yeah... Wish I had the balls to build a custom traveling van or sprinter and just float around the country. Sounds pretty awesome actually. That or work a year or so to pull off a sailboat big enough to be able to wrap the costs and maybe even island hop the Caribbean a bit. 

[Limeliciouz]

Yah I’m a girl and hahaa yeh it involves kids loolll I don’t have any of my kids lmaoooo not yetttttt n after watching that movie adrift with that girl from the fault in our stars I’m literally never getting in a boat again I’m sorry I’ll be very happily driving along the highway thank you 

 

STORY TIME i went to camp in wales n was going on abt it n one of the instructors actually had built one but it just looks like a grey van so I never knew and he was like ‘oh I have one’ and I had a freak attack and he literally slept in it on the beach the night before and I died and he showed it to me and I died again

 

****** not that I’m a screaming weird fan girl or anything of course I’m really not like that but yknow i just really want a hippy van u guys just don’t even know

 

*****also if ur intrested u can look up the YouTube ppl that convert they’re various modes of mobile devices that they have to a homde rv AND THEYRE SO FREAKING COOL

Edited October 11, 2019 by Limeliciouz

[misteraven]

6 hours ago, morton said:

at Joker

 

I wanna see some windows.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

 Kind of hard to say it without sounding like a tool, but Nordstorm really set the standard for quality customer service in Seattle and I think that is part of why you get better service there than in some other parts of the country. 

Just a heads up that you actually have to use the @ symbol. Once you type it, immediately followed by the name, it’ll auto type suggestions in a pop up. Select the person you’re referring to it and it’ll imbed the code, which triggers an alert to that person that someone called them out. Also automatically alerts them if you quote them as I just did with you. 
 

but for reference... @morton  

[Dirty_habiT]

That has got a lot of accuracy to it. I know from being a habitual job hopper for the purpose of personal gain. 

[misteraven]

@Limeliciouztheres a ski resort close by so there’s a ton of seasonal workers. Was surprised by how many rather sleep in vehicles than sublet or rent something. Saw one girl that converted the back seat and trunk to basically a big bed. She lived in it along with her dog for almost the entire season, so about 5 months. Just did laundry at a laundromat and had a month to month gym membership to shower. Still no idea how she pulled it off so long, but she was from Alaska and said she loved the freedom of it and has been doing it a while. When she gets bored, she just takes off and does other seasonal jobs in other places but since she only spends on food and a bit of gas, she can actually just take weeks off as she wants. 

[Joker]

9 hours ago, misteraven said:

Willing to bet its because you were local. Same way talented in-house guys get passed up for not so talented long shots that play the game right at other companies and then leave inside of 6 months.

Some of them I found out I was passed up because I wasn’t considered a good fit with the rest of the team. Knowing those teams, that meant I was too old or too plain... I mean, I haven’t tucked and rolled my jeans since 1984 and I refuse to wear a beanie precariously perched on top of my head so it looks like a neon knitted condom reservoir tip. I’ll stick to Levi’s and hoodies, thanks. A few of them I was passed up before I even arrived for the interview. Nike posts jobs sometimes even though they already have someone internally to fill it. It doesn’t really matter, though. I’m glad I got passed up because working at an agency and doing a lot of work for Nike has shown me how crazed it is at Nike HQ, how much money is wasted, and how connected everyone has to be. It’s a fashion show where everyone is wearing the same shit, and no one is cooler than themselves. Obviously there’s good people there doing great things, and I’ve enjoyed being part of their projects, but I personally feel better about ending up in the agency side knowing what I now know. 

[Joker]

8 hours ago, morton said:

at Joker

 

I wanna see some windows.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

 Kind of hard to say it without sounding like a tool, but Nordstorm really set the standard for quality customer service in Seattle and I think that is part of why you get better service there than in some other parts of the country. 

Looking back... nah, those windows are embarrassing when I compare it to what I’ve done in he last five years. 

 

Nordstrom prides itself on that customer experience. It’s something each store manager talks about every day with the store employees as a group before the doors open. Obviously, not everyone has a great experience but Nordstrom has a pretty good reputation regardless. 

[Fist 666]

6 hours ago, misteraven said:

@Limeliciouztheres a ski resort close by so there’s a ton of seasonal workers. Was surprised by how many rather sleep in vehicles than sublet or rent something. Saw one girl that converted the back seat and trunk to basically a big bed. She lived in it along with her dog for almost the entire season, so about 5 months. Just did laundry at a laundromat and had a month to month gym membership to shower. Still no idea how she pulled it off so long, but she was from Alaska and said she loved the freedom of it and has been doing it a while. When she gets bored, she just takes off and does other seasonal jobs in other places but since she only spends on food and a bit of gas, she can actually just take weeks off as she wants. 

I knew a guy who lived like this,  ate humble pie every day and saved every cent he could. He worked 3-4 months a year and backpacked the rest of it . He had seen more of the world on foot than probably most people see by car. Dude had done hundreds of thousands of miles, after food and airfare his biggest expense was boots, of which I think he went through like 8 pairs a year if I remember correctly. 

[Limeliciouz]

That’s beatiful. I want that freedom. Just living and exploring nature yknow. Even in the city actually. I like my city. There’s just alotta crackheads about so yeah. I don’t want to go out alone lol. Thats also a point with going to a natural enviroment tho by the way. Whateva I’ll figure it out then

[Brink]

6 hours ago, Fist 666 said:

I knew a guy who lived like this,  ate humble pie every day and saved every cent he could. He worked 3-4 months a year and backpacked the rest of it . He had seen more of the world on foot than probably most people see by car. Dude had done hundreds of thousands of miles, after food and airfare his biggest expense was boots, of which I think he went through like 8 pairs a year if I remember correctly. 

A good friend of mine graduated a few years ago with a masters in aerospace engineering, he was an extremely talented mechanic as well. Basically he knew that all he really wanted in life was to ride around the US on his KLR with friends, camping and working small jobs as he went. Turned out to be one of the most genuine and honest person I know... I wish I had the balls to just ride off on an adventure whenever I felt like it

[ndv]

OK so while I wait for an answer from a customer, I'll go ahead and add to this.

So basically I do not have a degree unless you count The School of Hard Knocks then I would have an associates degree plus some...

Anyhow, with that being said, I started working for a machine shop (got the job because my father is a machinist) and slaved there for 7+ years, then moved to NC for 8 months during the end of 2007 and left the beginning of 2008.  So at this point I came back home and got a job machining for the O&G industry and as I slaved yet again for another 5 years.

 

I came to the realization that I am going to make 'X' amount of money, never really go any where and always be working for someone.  So I then started to think if I wanna make more money and be a little more free, then what are my options?  No Degree limits me very quickly.  So since "systematic oppression" with the benefits of school debt didn't make any sense, my only option I had was to start a business.  And that's were I had to really look at myself and think what are my strengths and weaknesses (what am I good at?), which ultimately helped narrow down what my options will be. 

Three months in thinking of a good exit strategy.  Remind you, I never owned a business so this was going to be the first for me.  Just gotta take that step.  I was at work doing my job as I am pondering the exit...  I came across Laser Engraving (not sure how that entered my mind) on the internet, and as soon as I seen it I fell in love with it and said to myself, 'THAT'S IT!!"  That's what I am going to do, that's the business I will start.  
I had no prior experience with lasers and never seen one other than youtube.  So I had to force myself to learn everything there is as quickly as possible and I am still learning.

I took two years to save up for my first machine all while still employed as a payed slave, then it took 1.5 years extra (2014-2015 Oil and Gas Fall) when I told myself, "Well, I will never know if I am going to make it or not, so I better take the next step and quit my job."  I DID!!  

It took two years to learn how light works so I could become confident or at least make the targeted customer to feel confident in giving me work, but of course I have a machining background so that has helped with the sales pitch.

Ever since, I have been in business and still building for the fifth year and a few months shy of year 6 as I write this.

So yeah, basically I own a One-Man-Band Laser Marking company that offers marking services for Commercial & Industrial applications (indoor signage and part marking).
 

[misteraven]

1 hour ago, ndv said:

So yeah, basically I own a One-Man-Band Laser Marking company that offers marking services for Commercial & Industrial applications (indoor signage and part marking).

Assume you're making a living since you're about 6 years in? How's it compare to the stability and income of having a paid job working for someone else?

[ndv]

2 hours ago, misteraven said:

Assume you're making a living since you're about 6 years in? How's it compare to the stability and income of having a paid job working for someone else?

I would say it is about the same however, it's a little tough at times due to industry cycles / stability.  Don't get me wrong sometimes I feel like the hell and go back working for someone.