We recently connected with Jayme Ditto and have shared our conversation below.
Jayme, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us a bit about who your hero is and the influence they’ve had on you?
I’ve been fortunate to have parents who’ve been always been supportive and encouraging – even when they’re not exactly sure what I do for a living. My dad is an artist. He has a youthful spirit, he’s a forever student – always educating himself with books, information and research in whatever topic he’s interested in. He’s kind and helpful and one I admire so much. I’m lucky to have been raised by him and my mom. But on the topic of my career – they’re it. I wouldn’t be where I am today with out their encouragement, my dad’s weekly critiques of my work, his overall support and his influence. I think back on my memories with my dad and they’re mostly all in his garage. He was always building, painting, or planning something. He’s an extremely talented woodturner and fine artist. He went to art school for design and I think, even though he didn’t initially want me to have a career as a creative, he set the stage for it. I’ve learned so much from just observing him. He works hard. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him go a full day without sweating. He’s taught me to be curious. He’s taught me to value youth and the wonder that naturally comes with it. He’s taught me to ask questions, to not take things at face value and to play devil’s advocate every now and then. I wish I could list all of the lessons he’s taught me, all of the words of wisdom he’s shared. He thinks I don’t listen to him sometimes, but things he’s said over the years about creativity, parenting, and life play over and over in my head and I’m thankful for them all.
I think my mother’s goal in life was to raise someone who was kind to everyone. Someone who’s hardworking and values family. She’s kind to everyone. She works with the public and I had the benefit of working with her in summers and on holidays when I was home from school. I got to see her interact with people from all walks of life. She never judged them and she looked them in their eyes. I would watch her from across the store and it was like no one else was there. Her attention was on them and their conversation and you could see how much it meant to them. She’s had clients return to her for decades. Clients travel from all over the state just to buy from her. Watching her, I can only hope a bit of her work ethic and people-skills has rubbed off on me. She’s taught me the importance of honoring those who choose to do business with me. The importance of warmth in a conversation. And the importance of building lasting relationships with clients.
I’ve marveled at their work-ethic. Of course there’s always the question, when does it cross a line? When does work stay at work? And that’s something I’ve had to workout for myself. But I admire them both for their desire to stay busy, to be kind, and to give.
Jayme, 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’m Jayme Ditto, an artist and designer living in South Texas. I attended and graduated from UNT’s Communication Design program and started my career out as an art director, but since then, have worn many hats. I have experience in art direction, advertising, illustration and fine art. I’m currently taking working on a number of illustration projects and building that portfolio, working with Tronic as an NFT artist on their roster, and working on my own personal collections as an artist. My husband and I occasionally take on small branding projects together if it feels like a good fit. I spend most of my days chasing two little girls I get to call my own, and they just happen to be my main source of inspiration for my career and work.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I’ve changed my concentration a few times in my career. I started as an art director working at advertising firms in Dallas for several years. I was exhausted by it and wanting to do my own work with my best friend. We made a go at it and had an event styling and stationery business called Yeti and the Beast. It was a lot of fun! I decided to take 3 months off and work part-time retail to focus on our business and my freelance career. I was lured back into the ad-world pretty soon after leaving and worked a few years in-house for Frito-Lay. I actually loved the work I was able to do there, but was traveling a bit and became pregnant and I didn’t see myself continuing on that path. I left Frito, and went on my own as a freelance art director, designer and illustrator. I took smaller clients and was very choosey about the freelance I did for ad agencies and started to focus more on motherhood. Then my career took a huge turn for a while.
I had an idea for a co-working space for mothers, with childcare and studio spaces. I called one of the most talented designers I know and asked if she’d help me brand it in exchange for equity. And then through another friend, I met a really wonderful and intelligent woman, now a dear friend of mine, and we became business partners. We built a deck, made mood boards, crunched numbers, called on all of our connections and started seeking funding. We had a small team of women all working towards the goal of building community and realizing this dream. We were making waves and we could almost taste it, but then life hit – deaths in the family and prenatal depression and we lost our steam for a little bit. And then, the pandemic hit. Honestly, looking back, it feels a little bit like a blessing. If we’d secured funding and were on our way to opening, the pandemic would have killed us and we’d be S.O.L. There has been lots of heartache about it, and a lot of guilt. We haven’t lost hope though, we built a great little community online and we still have other ideas in the works based around motherhood and community that we hope to see through in the future.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, I have been working on a few branding projects with my husband, a talented brand-strategist/writer/
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
For me, it’s taking an idea from just that, a thought, and seeing it come to life. My favorite part about art directing was looking back at the sketches after a concept had made it all the way to final approval. Working on set, seeing my sketches come to life through styling and photography would blow my mind. It’s the same with the work I’m doing now. I love having something to hold.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.
howdyjayme.com/ - Instagram: @howdyjayme
Image Credits
Some images in the Nova Samples by Claire Gautreaux