We were lucky to catch up with Kaci Smith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kaci, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear your thoughts about making remote work effective.

I actually started working from home a few years before the pandemic hit. When my daughter was born, it became very difficult to return to a full-time office job. I tried part-time for a while, but it wasn’t long before that wasn’t working either. Trying to juggle pump sessions (which entails a lot more than just sitting down and hooking up to the machine), finding childcare that didn’t break the bank, and just my longing to be home with the baby was all a lot more difficult than I ever had considered it would be.

When an opportunity presented itself to move closer to family, I decided to take the plunge. I quit my full-time job and dove head first into freelance work. I felt so free being able to work from home. I was a better employee, and a better mother. I had a flexible work schedule that worked for me and my family, and I was still able to earn a decent income.

Communication is the key. Keeping an open channel with clients and contractors made all the difference. My clients always knew where I was in a project, and I always hit my deadlines.

As a mom, I didn’t run into too many pit-falls working from home. I could fit in feedings, chores, and still get all my work done. The only thing that was a real adjustment for me was that it got pretty lonely.

Motherhood is already a very isolating experience. It is so easy to get swallowed up whole and lose yourself. Working from home can also be a very isolating experience. I had to find new ways to fill the “no-coworker” void. I joined an accountability group that met weekly, and started some chat groups with colleagues to bounce questions off of. Finding your community is so important.

Kaci, 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 got into the Motion Industry a little over a decade ago. It started with a love for film and video games. I worked at Blockbuster Video for most of my young-adult life. It was a dream job. I could see that movies brought people together. I loved the connections I was able to make talking about the stories. After having to close one of the locations I worked at, I knew it was time to “figure something out.” I needed a new path – it was evident that movie stores were going extinct.

I packed up and went to art school. I landed in the VFX and Motion Graphics program at the Art Institute. I had a love/hate relationship with school. It was a school that was fueled on unethical predatory practices. But in my time there, I also did learn a good amount. I met some of the most amazing people. I am currently still friends with some of my instructors and many of my classmates. It was there where I really started to find my passion for the motion world. Towards the end of my time there, I managed to land myself an internship.

My internship was incredible. I got to work on videos for big names like Intel and Tempurpedic. They allowed me to really build up my first portfolio and reel there. It wasn’t long before I got a full-time job making animated explainer videos.

From there, I actually ended up sliding over into the VFX space. I got hired on at Laika, working in the roto/paint department. With them, I worked on my first movie, and got my name in the credits. I had done it! Young, Blockbuster, me would have been so proud. I also made some big life changes while I was working at Laika. I had gotten married just a couple years before, and in 2016 – my daughter was born. I thought my career was over.

I had put so much time into school and my early career to get to where I was. Not many people from school actually managed to land jobs in their field. Even fewer of the women had. So now, I felt like I was up against this either/or life decision. I can advance my career… OR I can be a mother and start my family. It was so RARE to see a mom in this industry. In fact, it took almost 5 more years before I met another one.

I wanted it all. And I worked hard to have it. I quit my full-time job and started my own freelance business. Freelance has a steep learning curve. And I was taking the dive at a time in my life where I was already in another huge transition into motherhood. I knew I could do it.

It took about 3 years, but I managed to really build up my business and was making a pretty decent wage. The most important thing was I didn’t have to sacrifice the time with my family to do it. Working from home provides moms an incredible amount of flexibility. The 9-5 system was not built for us.

In 2020, we made the decision that my husband would quit his job to stay home with our daughter during the pandemic and I became the “bread winner.” It was one of the best decisions we ever made as a family.

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

Being creative is a life-force for me. I can’t imagine not having a creative outlet in my life. I keep several hobbies such as painting, pottery, sketching, etc. There is nothing more healing than sitting down with a sketchbook and drawing your feelings out. Sometimes, I don’t even know I’m feeling certain way until I let my pen and brain connect.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

It took me longer than it should have to realize how important community is in the creative field. It was so hard wading through the industry without seeing anyone else like me in it. In 2022 I went to Camp Mograph, and saw Amanda Russell speak on the stage. I couldn’t believe it when she mentioned she was a mom. There IS another one!

Last year, I decided to see if there were any more. I put out a pretty informal post on social media asking if there were any other mothers out there in the industry, and lo-and-behold… there were lots. That was when I had the pleasure of meeting Jennie Davis and we decided it was time to make some waves. We started a community called Mothers of Mograph. We had 3 main objectives. First and foremost, to provide a space where moms could come together in a safe space to meet, commiserate, and get advice. We wanted to reduce that feeling of isolation.

Second, it was important for us to educate the industry on not just the challenges women with children face, but the amazing successes we have too. Third, we wanted to put a spotlight on our moms and their incredible talents for everyone to see. Moms have SO MUCH TO OFFER!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thekacismith.com
• Instagram: @thekacismith, @mothersofmograph
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thekacismith