Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kelsey Fausko. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kelsey, appreciate you joining us today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your professional career?
Fresh out of college I landed what was, at the time, quintessentially my dream job. I always wanted to combine sports and design, and I was hired on as the sole graphic designer for a minor league baseball team. To say I was enthusiastic is an understatement. The work was fast, hard, and completely out of my range. I felt like I was constantly chasing perfection and trying to impress my superiors, and was consistently failing to meet expectations. What I learned through this experience was what I deem to be my most important lesson involving design: detachment. As harsh as a lesson it was… my overprotection and complete naïveté surrounding the work as a whole led to my demise. I was too attached, too stuck on the details to see the bigger picture and deliver a good product. I wanted so badly for it all to be perfect and to stick the landing on every single thing I did, that ultimately I didn’t deliver anything worthy at all. After nine months I was let go. I only made it one whole baseball season. I was devastated but understood immediately that I needed to change my approach. I had taken each criticism too personally and once I finally let go and approached creativity more holistically as a product for the client, not a reflection of my personal design abilities, I flourished. All that to say, loving your work is important, but curating the work for the specific client is always the goal.
Kelsey, 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?
Growing up I was raised in a very athletic family. All of the kids played sports at high levels, myself included. While playing college volleyball I suffered a career ending injury and realized I should probably find something else to be passionate about. Design for me made sense. It clicked. I had no idea I could make a career in sports marketing but everything kept falling right into place. As a Graphic Designer, for over 10 years I have provided businesses with print materials, custom artwork, installation size graphics, video walls, varying swag and product design, online advertising and more. My industry experience has been varied and I am constantly finding new clients on the side to work with and expand my skills. One of the clients I acquired in recent years is actually a fried chicken restaurant in my city and working with them has quickly turned into one of the projects I am most proud of. I was able to take a mediocre brand and flip it, push the boundaries, and within a year of the collaboration we franchised the restaurant together and took the brand even further. I specialize in brand reworking and find a lot of joy in seeing full campaigns come to life and have an actual impact on the audience and community.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
In late 2023, I had been contemplating leaving my day job. I wasn’t feeling very valued, I was underpaid, and stagnant. There was no room for growth. And then, in December 2023, the company got acquired. I knew I had to leave because I didn’t want to wait around to become redundant. I had a few side design gigs going for me at the time, and although nothing was concrete, I took a leap of faith. This pivot was scary, stressful, and chock full of lessons. All of the work I had set up for myself slowly started falling apart, and I began second guessing my decision. Pivots aren’t always necessarily positive. For me, this one was necessary. I was pretty certain I could figure it all out, that I had learned enough over my career to brave it on my own, but I couldn’t… yet. And that’s okay! What I learned in a couple of months was invaluable and I am proud of myself for even taking on the risk. It showed that I still have gumption and grit, that I am capable of controlling my career and steering it how I choose.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
My biggest hurdle that continues to showcase itself is imposter syndrome. It has been prevalent for me since taking BFA classes in college. The constant comparison to better designers, better innovations, and cooler products is crippling. Instead, the only way to push through is to find your niche and do it well. Be a part of the community around you. Make connections and put passion behind your work and keep striving to improve and learn. We are all constantly comparing ourselves to one another, but what if we admired each other instead? Took inspiration from those doing new and exciting things? We could keep our creative wheels turning, instead of feeling writers block.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kelseyfausko.com
- Instagram: kelseylena
- Linkedin: kelsey-fausko
