Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Victoria Carlson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Victoria, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

In the midst of being diagnosed with ALS, we had to readjust our expectations, our home, and my life as a creative.

Victoria, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Having started in DC as a designer at an association for the forest and paper industry, I fell in love with print. I moved to the corporate world in New York, then off to Chicago, working with studios and agencies, freelancing, full-time positions, and consulting, exploring packaging, advertising, and eventually returning to editorial work and my love of paper. My various roles have spanned account management, strategy, design thinking, and even creative recruiting, creative development, management, and instructional design. Life in the big cities – LA, SF, NY, Dallas, Atlanta, DC, Chicago, Baltimore, and now Chattanooga – honed my superpowers, giving me an adaptable, curious, and wickedly tenacious spirit and faith to believe.

The great mentors and managers along the way guided and encouraged me, along with my stellar intuition. I dreamed of being a creative director, so with a Master’s in Curriculum and Instructional Design, I focused on creative development. This decision proved to be the right one. My gut told me that artists are not managed from the top down but encouraged from the bottom up. Instead of feeling scattered, I believe my career resembles a connect-the-dots constellation, telling a bigger picture and rounding me out, softening the edges and honing the light within. Life and plenty of practice have made me stronger and more confident as a designer, with a special place in my heart for interns, junior designers, and students. These are my greatest accomplishments, too numerous to name and too few to be completed.

As for solving problems and being a director of talent, it’s about knowing the right questions to ask and having empathy to understand what is both said and left unsaid.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I was diagnosed with ALS, we had to reimagine life, prepare for the future, focus on my health, and next steps. First up, I wrote a book titled “Clumsy & Inconvenient” to describe this disease, aiming to help offset the cost of renovations for accessible living. This was a milestone and a blessing, and it’s now been reprinted as “Vibrant & Victorious” because, well, I am beating the odds, and God is in control.

Four years later, in 2021, I stepped down from my position as a creative director to create more room for caring for my body and reprioritizing the years I have left. I chose to continue teaching as an adjunct design professor and to give away flowers from my healing garden – a reconstructed raised bed garden, fully accessible and fully out front to socialize with my neighbors and friends.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

One of my favorite memories is going skiing. Not like my teenage years in the Northeast, but adaptable skiing. Yes, adaptable skiing. So, here I am, five years in, still getting around and walking with a rollator to steady me, mostly to prevent me from falling.

My cousins, Will and Brian, fly into Charlotte, and that’s where our journey to Beech Mountain, NC with SparcTN begins. We rent skis and boots and head out with an instructor who specializes in adaptable equipment. First up, learning to slide again. This is like mental gymnastics because I’ve spent most of these years trying not to fall down and sliding on snow and ice feels like falling down. They use ropes and a contraption that clasps to the skis, and the instructor can steer and stop me as I head down the bunny slope. Remember that tenacious spirit? That’s resilience at its best. Before long, I’m unleashed and let loose, skiing all over again, bringing back the freedom I thought I had lost. Yes, on my own, with a ton of encouragement, prayer, and a little contraption called a bra hooked to the front of my skis.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://victoria-carlson.squarespace.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/victoria.r.carlson
• Other: Now, my husband, Steve, and our two new kitties, Wisk & Willow, live in Chattanooga, TN.

Image Credits
Steve Carlson, Sarah Jordan, Victoria Carlson, Debbie Hightower/SPARC-TN/Keith Arimura