We caught up with the brilliant and insightful ALEX MATTHEWS-TOBIN a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, ALEX thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

After college, it became challenging getting a job. It was the very beginning of COVID when I graduated college so jobs were becoming scarce fast. I knew I was skilled but I couldn’t land anything for a long time. It took me two years to find a job in my field but during those two years, I was working on my portfolio and it only kept getting better. Eventually, when I did find a job, it was no guarantee I would get to keep because it was seasonal. If I performed well though, I would be able to be converted to salary and thankfully, I did. I was able to show consistency through my creativity and artistic skills and knowledge of the software I was utilizing. Currently, I have done many freelance projects and have worked as a creative in 3 different roles with one of my projects/ designs being showcased at NCAA volleyball.

ALEX, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a Custom Graphics and Production Designer. I had initially went to school for videogame design. I eventually ended up not in that field because I think it’s too unstable when it comes to employment especially with all the layoffs happening still years later. I would end up working at a company called RUDIS designing and creating the production files for wrestling gear- specifically for apparel. I then would leave that position for a company called DealerOn as a contractor and would eventually end up where I currently am after my contract would end at DealerOn, at Sports Imports creating volleyball gear. While I mainly focus on graphics and production as my day job, I still keep up to speed with everything 3D as a hobby.

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

When I left my Production Designer position at RUDIS, I was very uncertain with the future. At that point, I knew I still wanted to do art but the job market was kind of crazy and still is. It only took me a month before I found another job in my field but the entire month was me consistently working on my portfolio and trying to sell my worth to future potential employers.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

As far as managing a team, I think it is important for your team manager to actually be involved with the team. One of the reasons for me leaving RUDIS was due to the leadership there. My team lead at one point was very involved with use and then over the course of 2-3 years became uninvolved with us at all. Whenever we would have questions, it would feel like we were disturbing whatever that manager was doing. It was not a good feeling. It was a silent way of lowering the morale of the team to a point where everyone on the team didn’t consider our manager, the manager of our team.

I would say just stay involved with your team. It’s your job to manage your team and if you aren’t doing your job, then the people on your team can’t do theirs, especially if they don’t feel comfortable asking you questions. It’s an accident waiting to happen. Building and fostering your team’s relationship is important.