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

Jennifer, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My parents are the reason I love Themed Entertainment – after all, they are the ones who made sacrifices and saved up money so that we could make trips to Orlando to visit Disney and Universal when I was growing up. They own their own web design business, with no other employees (except occasionally my sister and I) and have served as amazing role models for being self-starters. Being able to see the benefits of owning your own business as well as seeing them both overcome the challenges of it was something that heavily impacted my choices in my career path so far, and I strongly believe it is one of the reasons I was able to earn a scholarship to my dream school, SCAD. I can distinctly remember my parents encouraging me to take a risk with my career aspirations because they came from positions where they couldn’t afford to do that when they were my age. They explained that now, they have built a foundation for me so that I am able to take those risks – and for that I should be grateful! I certainly am. But even more than just supporting what I do, they’ve been interested in it. That’s what means the most to me. When I showed an interest in art at an early age, they would ask me questions about what I was doing and try to have engaging conversations about the things I loved to do, whether they were familiar with the topics or not. My mom was always trying to get me to explain the techniques I was using to draw or paint things, and my dad helped me build my first costume, Iron Man, at 12 years old, and would proudly go to Comic-Cons with me. Even today, when I am working on a project for school they are always the first to ask me about it and show their enthusiasm for any work that I do.

Jennifer, 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?

I am currently a student at Savannah College of Art and Design, studying Production Design with a concentration in Themed Entertainment. I love to bring stories to life. Whatever medium I can use to do so, I will! I have drafted and rendered sets, created concept art for stage shows and themed experiences, designed graphics and logos for advertising and branding, and more. My career goal is to tell the story of any brand or business in an exciting way that engages consumers. Every single business has a story, and a good story is the backbone of not only a good environment or experience, but also good advertising and branding. Many modern businesses neglect the importance of story because they don’t feel it applies to them the way it would apply to a theme park or similar experience. The truth is, it’s what makes good advertising stand out. What I’m most proud of in my own personal brand is the variety of work that I do. I have been told to choose one medium to work with, but I see it as a strength and I continue to work in digital graphics as well as physical drawings and fabrication.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect is seeing audience/client reactions to my work. It’s the same concept of the joy you feel when giving a gift to someone at Christmas that you are very excited about. You worked hard on the gift, and you know the recipient really wants it. Seeing a happy client or viewer of your work means so much, not just because it makes me feel good, but hopefully because it makes them feel good! If I am in the position of solving a problem for a client, such as a new logo, being able to give them something that they are proud of is such an amazing feeling.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think one of the things people question the most about my journey is the practicality of it. I was worried about how realistic having a creative career would be as well, but that is exactly why I wanted to go to SCAD. They put so much energy into fostering connections between professionals and they have an extremely high employment rate within one year of graduation. There are so many creative professions in the world, and someone has to do them. SCAD really is the best place to go if you are worried about practicality, and I was extremely fortunate to be given a full tuition scholarship to go there for the work that I had done in high school. That honor was what solidified my faith in the career path I had chosen.

Contact Info:

• Website: jennifertisdale.com