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

Matthew, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

From the beginning, I was always a dreamer. In my teenage years, I had a lot of dreams and goals that I wanted to fulfil, and in my pursuit of those goals I always had chains that dragged me down. A desire for safety, security, and comfort. Fear of stepping out of this comfort zone and into a world of unknowns and uncertainties.

But I had a drive that kept me going despite those chains. I had a sense of rebellion and never felt safe among the status quo. Whether it was raising hell about school uniforms and freedom of expression at school, or educating my own students about efficient ways to question authority when I was a teacher, I never found it comfortable to be anything other than myself. I am the same person whether in front of 3rd grade students, in front of my family, colleagues, friends, or metalheads at a mosh pit.

A few years into my career, fresh out of university, the pandemic hit and I was laid off of my job at a real estate firm assisting their design studio. It was a big blow to a fresh grad like me who finally thought he had something to build upon, but the universe had other plans for me. I wallowed in depression and self pity for a while, then picked myself back up and decided to upskill myself at a bootcamp organized by a non-profit education tech company called Prepr. My team ended up standing out and claiming first place in the final projects, and we thoroughly impressed our instructors, who recommended most of my team to take up internship positions at the company. I started off as a digital production intern, then started collecting hats and ended up producing podcasts, social media marketing, UI/UX design and brand identities. The experience I got there was invaluable to my career and I’m forever thankful for that opportunity.

Eventually, I found myself stagnant and burnt out, because I had yet to refine aspects of myself regarding professionalism, work ethic, and personal boundaries. Problems began to pile up that were amplified by the global situation at the time, and mental health was something that I had neglected to take care of for a long time coming. I battled depression and bipolar disorder, started to cut off people, and found myself in a very dark place.

I started to realize that in order for me to truly find peace in my career, in my personal relationships, and in my ambitions – I needed to figure out a healthy way to take care of myself.

And so I took a risk. At that moment in time, I was thinking less about jumping into the open sea, and more about escaping from a burning ship. I wrapped up my work at Prepr, and quit my position without anything lined up. I scrolled through Indeed and found an ad that seemed really sketchy, a job to teach English in South Korea. I decided to ignore all the warning signs and took a leap of faith.

I went through the process, did my research, and a few months later landed in a country where I did not know the language, had barely any support system, in a job that I wasn’t even sure if I was going to be a good fit. And it was certainly an adjustment at first. Like many other souls who find themselves in positions like this, I was running away from a situation that was not fruitful for me. But I came in with the hope and the goal that I would break myself down and rebuild myself anew.

This took a while. Unfortunately, mental and emotional baggage does not get confiscated by airport security. I could spare you the details of all the times I was beat down during that first year of teaching, but eventually I started to find footing. I learned the importance of professionalism and the fact that intimately knowing the rules and culture of a workplace allows you to navigate conflict much better. I got more comfortable with my public speaking and thick skin (if I can handle a class of screaming 4th graders, I can handle anything). I injected creativity into my teaching, I picked up the paintbrush again for the first time since university, I started to write poetry and love letters. I developed healthy routines and habits and forged myself bit by bit in various aspects of my life. I knew that in doing so, I would be a more formidable force for whatever it was that would face me in the future.

I came to Korea to run away from something, and I didn’t really have any strong opinions about it when I applied. But by the time I left, 795 days later, I leave it with brothers and sisters waiting for my return. I left it with memories and stories that I will forever cherish and bring to my grave. I found myself on Korean national TV because I participated in a competition where the goal was to sit still and do nothing. I found myself in communities and circles that accepted me and allowed me to realize the potential I had. I have drawings and letters from students and friends that I brought back with me to remember that I could be a positive impact on those around me.

I always tell people, “Korea changed my life.” It truly did. It marked a turning point in my young adulthood. It put me on a path of relentless but compassionate optimism, a desire to serve and educate in any way that I am capable of, and it helped me remember how integral art was to my life. It was not just a means of making a living, which was drilled into me the moment I showed interest. Art, creativity, and passion were more than that.

It is now how I live.

Matthew, 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?

My name is Matthew Almeria, and my professional life mainly consists of graphic design, art direction, and brand identity work. I help my clients figure out their identity, their look, and the methods in which they would like to deliver their message to their audience.

I’ve worked on brand identities for nonprofit companies, hip hop artists, restaurants, and so on, so I like to engage in a wide variety of projects. I founded a small boutique design studio, Avocado Toast Studio, along with my dear friends and design partners Michelle and Cindy. Together, along with some other freelance friends, we help small businesses improve how they attract and communicate their message to their audiences.

As a creative, I’m proud of the artistic spirit I possess. I’ve met highly specialized people who are really, really good at the few things they’ve chosen to excel at. I have utmost respect for them. But I realize that I can never simply express in one or even a few mediums. Whether I paint traditionally, design ads digitally, craft silly poetry or literature, relax on the pottery wheel, dance on a longboard, or design apparel, I’m always looking to find ways to bend mediums to my will. It’s something that I believe is integral to my identity, to be a jack of all trades. But though I’m a master of none, the collective experiences allow me to make connections and parallels in my various intersecting worlds that many might not have linked together previously.

I’m also a punk at heart. Someone who never finds comfort for too long in the status quo. Someone who seeks to join and build communities and safe spaces for outcasts, misfits, and those that society feels uncomfortable to engage with for too long. I try to find work that aligns with my own personal beliefs. My work should uplift instead of exploit, and build bridges instead of alienating people.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I met Michelle back in university. The first time I laid my eyes on her design work, it captivated me. It was bold, refreshing, and had a precision to it that I struggle to describe. I knew right away that she was at a league above the rest, and as soon as I could, I acquainted myself with her out of a desire to learn from her and see what made her design brain tick.

She was one of the first people I became friends with that truly lived and breathed creativity. Everything that she did was due to a desire to create in some way. She and I shared a passion for graffiti, and we would often share our designs to each other. We always tried to lift each other up, and we covered each other’s weaknesses both in class and as we started our studio. I had stronger big picture, people skills. She’s leagues above me in mechanical and technical design skills. That kind of complementary partnership was something that I recognized could potentially be amazing if we continued down that path.

When we graduated, we had lost touch for a while, and when I found some bandwidth, I decided to reach out and contact her. She told me that she struggled to find work after graduation and was mainly doing small-scale volunteer work. This devastated me, because I knew that a person of this creative caliber deserved to shine and belong in a position where she could thrive. At the time, I was working with the non-profit Prepr, and the next day I brought up her portfolio to my mentor and fought as hard as I could to get her a chance to be added on to the team. It didn’t take them long to see what I saw in her, and so she found herself on my team. While we worked together at Prepr, we started to collaborate more outside of work too, just because we both wanted to create and use our creativity outside of work. That marked the beginnings of Avocado Toast Studio.

We would go on to keep working at that company until I decided to leave Korea and take the leap of faith. She took her own leap of faith as well and landed as a designer working for MLSE, the largest sports entertainment company in Canada. Even as she did amazing work designing for the Toronto Raptors as I taught students in Korea, we still found the time to work on the clients we gathered for Avocado Toast Studio. I hope that one day we’ll be able to grow it more, but that dream still needs more time in the oven.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I use my creativity to help figure myself out. Like many people, it’s through the arts that we hone and discover our identities and values. For me, I realized that I feel most driven when I am being true to myself and authentic in my work. Therefore part of my creative journey isn’t just figuring out how to deliver the message, but to ensure that the messages I deliver are ones I want to send in the first place.

We live in times where even the pictures and videos we see can no longer be trusted. Where influencers and commenters we see online are often not engaging in good faith. Where there are people doing things not out of the goodness of their hearts but because they are addicted to engagement rates or to the maximization of shareholder value.

I understand that this kind of environment that we all engage in will not go away so easily. Even so, I’d still love to help drive the forces of change that seek to bring in more authenticity and genuine human connection in this world. If I can be a role model for future generations to never forget the value of authenticity and compassion, then I will have done my part in this life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.matthewalmeria.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xd.raiine/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-almeria/
• Other: Linktree
  https://linktr.ee/xd.raiine