We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Heather Crank. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Heather below.

Heather, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Many years ago I began my journey into motion and design… I had no idea where it would lead, I just wanted a creative career that would support me financially.

I started off in startups and the corporate world aiming for stability full of innocence and hope. The startup bro culture beat me up and spit me out. I spent a long time reevaluating my purpose in the tech field. As a humanitarian, my impact small and large matters to me. I wasn’t being given the promotions I had earned, working 7 days a week 10–12 hours a day, my future was bleak. And I was questioning the impact my work was having on the world.

So, I jumped, I packed up everything, took my dreams back, and risked everything to create what my husband and I call “an integrated life”. We’ve spent the past 6 years building our vision, our community, living from our garden. Discovering amazing people and using our influence to reconnect with and put the spotlight on people doing amazing things. Championing the beautiful, the amazing and the heartfelt creative visionaries we have been fortunate to enough to encounter in our life.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Before design my background was in Fine Art/Dance/Choreography,,,which I loved, but I needed more security…so I enrolled myself in the Graphic Design program at C.CA in S.F. During my second year of studying graphic design I discovered motion graphics, which married my design education with storytelling and motion, something that pulled from my dance history. I fell in love with motion design,

For the past 5ish years I’ve been running a Design Collective called Crahmanti in Bend, OR as well as have been on the Programming Committee for the BND DSGN Conference.

My work has been showcased at the Guggenheim, SUPERNOVA Animation Festival, Night Lights Denver and RESFest, I have also been featured in PRINTMag.com. Currently, my work is on display at Meow Wolf’s Convergence Station until Sept 2022. I am a recipient of the Adobe Achievement Award as well as a silver IDA.

How Crahmanti was born:

There is so much to be grateful for. Every moment of generosity, every door opened, every moment of wisdom offered, each expression of love, the miracle of growth, the mystery of creativity, the wonder of our natural world. To us, obstacles are the place where growth is waiting to happen, the place where heroes are born. Each of us has the opportunity to be the hero in our own journey.

After a decade in the trenches, Motion/Graphic Designer and Artist/Artisan/Master Mold Maker Greg Amanti decided to join forces to create an “integrated life”. Championing the beautiful, the amazing and the heartfelt creative visionaries they have been fortunate enough to encounter in their life.

In 2015, Heather and Greg left Denver, Co where they had lived for 9 years to return to where Heather grew up in Bend, Or, in an attempt to create their long standing dream. Creative community, living and breathing the artist life while making a living, simplicity, eating from the garden, nature and deep into the night inspiration and stars.

Since then, Heather and Greg have put the “CRA” in Crank and the “MANTI” in Amanti to the grindstone utilizing their combined attributes in Design and Art, to help you bring out the hero in your story.

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

After a decade in motion and graphic design no mentor surfaced for me, I didn’t fit into cliques and battled sexism, and misogyny.

My first intern attempt right out of design school was a referral (one of my professors from CCA knew the Creative Director) and helped set up the interview. I was so nervous, broke and excited. I was called back for a second interview, the internship was for roto work, work I could have done with my eyes closed…after 4 men completed a intensive round of questioning/interviewing, they offered me the position of the secretary, with a possibility of moving up into an internship…

To give this some context, I graduated with honors, and my thesis won the Adobe Achievement Award. I had my work shown in the Guggenheim, and my thesis was picked up by ResFest and shown world wide…I was crestfallen.
This was the beginning of a long and winding road of obstacles…every time I was knocked down, I got up, and went after my goals harder. I did this until I was a burnt cinder of exhaustion…no mentor showed up, no magical stroke of luck, no door opened. I read every book I could get my hands on…listened to every podcast I could find, went to meet ups, talked to people successful in my field…

And then James Victore released one of his “Dangerous Ideas” podcast “The Right Way is the Hard Way” and reminded me of Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero’s Journey”. When I looked at the chart that defines all of the points a hero goes through in his journey, I realized that I have been looping between points 6–8…what part of me is identifying with this part of the journey that I can’t cross over to 9?

And then it hit me, I have to be my own hero…and stop waiting for the mentor, the opened door, the opportunity…I have to create all of these things myself as someone in charge of their own life.

With so much information available I find it’s easy to get lost in a sea of how to’s and ways to make it happen. But first, I think…you have to be your own hero.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Six years ago I decided to play the long game….instead of chalking my life up to a series of benchmarks and short term successes. I’ve returned to my original goal…to be true to myself, to find a place in the world, to find the people that are positive, kind, driven, open, creative, loving, honest and true to who they are….in whatever form, in whatever genre.

The sacrifice has been more intense than I could have imagined, but my dream is manifestation and gaining momentum. It’s so exciting!

I was asked once, do you find clients on social media? My answer was I do…but most of my work comes from referrals. I tend to use social media as a way to connect with other people, without wanting anything other than to find out more about that particular individual. I am generously curious about what people are doing and what motivates them.

I’ve begun speaking to groups, and have created a large social network. As an introvert, public speaking terrifies me, but if I don’t share, if I don’t speak up who will? If I can’t find the courage inside of myself, how can I expect that from others or look for that in the world? Being visible, allowing people to challenge me is difficult…but at the same time, the part of me that thinks it needs to prove itself to be valuable…is falling away. It’s impossible to recieve with a clenched fist, and I am beginning to see the value in all of the experiences that come with being visible…because it causes me to redefine myself, my place in the world and my identity and to grow.

My advice to those just starting to build their social media presence is to be genuine, reach out to people that intrigue you. Plants seeds, and give without expectation. Put the “social” back into social media.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://crahmanti.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crahmanti
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heather.crank/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-crank-crahmanti
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/crankh

Image Credits
Photo of Greg Amanti by Christian Bravo Photo of Heather Crank By Greg Amanti