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

Allison, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

My path was definitely not direct! I followed my curiosity, and it ended up working out eventually, but for a while I felt really lost. I went to school for Cultural Anthropology which actually ended up serving my career, though I just did it because I found it interesting. But I graduated during the recession and there just wasn’t much happening. My first job, in college, was as a magician’s assistant. In retrospect, that was all about storytelling. Then, I worked for Opera Philadelphia as the assistant to the Costume Director, which was an amazing experience. I learned so many lessons about creativity from the wonderfully talented folks in the costume shop. And it was fun to be in a performing arts environment, really magical in some ways. Finally, I began working as a copywriter at Anthropologie. I did that for four years. I was able to learn this very elevated voice and brand that’s all about inspiring its audience. Then I entered the fast-paced agency world and it was a totally different approach to writing. I had to learn how to get at the heart of something very quickly and build a brand around it. After that, I went freelance and developed my own process for strategy, verbal brand identity and brand messaging based on all of those experiences. It was the culmination of everything.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is not compartmentalizing. Everything I experience, read, learn, see and participate in, every conversation with friends, every art exhibit, every book, every concert is going into the strange sieve that is the creative process. I think to be truly creative is to always be seeking new information, connections and inspiration, and continuing to grow. Every time I start a project, it is reckoning with the unknown and uncertain. That keeps you humble. But it allows you to really be with what you create at the time you create it, which is a gift.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Working as a writer in branding, at some point I realized I didn’t just want an idea to just be good, I wanted it to be right. And that meant working on strategy, as well as writing. I wanted to design brands through language. I had never worked on strategy before, but I had worked with them, and could understand their effect from the perspective of the creative. I wanted the strategy to be creative too, and not to back the writer and designer into a corner, but to give them plenty of room to play. So, I spent time teaching myself, reading everything, listening to all the podcasts, and putting together a way of working. It took time and refinement to get right. But it led to the best work and how I could uniquely serve clients in the best way possible. Now I can’t imagine it any other way. I highly recommend getting involved in other aspects of creative work and seeing what resonates.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://allisondobkin.com/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/allison-dobkin
• Other: https://forner.studio/

Image Credits
Anthropologie Forner