We recently connected with Paulomi Mukherjee and have shared our conversation below.

Paulomi, appreciate you joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I believe there is no fixed path towards earning a full-time living from your creative work. It could be freelance, it could be a full-time job, content creation or a bit of everything. For me as an immigrant, I was required to be sponsored by a company as soon as I graduated from college. I only had a couple of months to find a full-time job, or I would have to leave the country. So, my summer of 2019 was full-time job applications with a hint of fun-employment. I graduated with a BFA in Animation, but I was mentally prepared to find my creative niche in any industry. All industries have a strong requirement for creatives and artists that have multifaceted skillsets, which led me to finding my groove within the advertising and marketing industry. I landed my first job with an ad agency under Publicis Media and decided to make the move to New York City overnight. Within a week and a blink of an eye I was at Newark airport, bag and baggage in hand. At the time there were many thoughts swimming in my mind and the over-thinker in me crept in. ‘Is moving out of animation into advertising a good decision?’ ‘Does it mean I am quitting animation?’ ‘How will I fit into an industry I haven’t studied about?’. I remember asking my roommates, mentors and professors for advice after interviewing and accepting the role. But in hindsight, I realize that most creatives don’t decide their entire career path on day one post-graduation. It’s a journey, there are detours, you can change your mind, pivot and change your mind again. There are a multitude of learnings that happen after you step out of the classroom, more in fact. I would tell my older self, take the risk, move to the big city with your big dreams and it may take time, but you will make it happen. Your creative career isn’t limited to your degree, take the electives, take the extra credit course or free certification. All your experiences are cumulative towards deciding you career path and there is no one track way.

Paulomi, 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?

There was a quote that went around in my school a lot, ‘A jack of all trades is a master of none’. We were all told that we needed to find a niche in our creative career because that’s what would set us apart. But further into my years of learning, the second part of that phrase, which most people miss, resonated with me a lot more. ‘A jack of all trades, is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.’ Having more skills and not classifying myself within a niche or singular creative medium is what helped me find a job, at the end of the day. I started out by pursuing a BFA in Animation at Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta. Here I went through all the stages of finding my creative voice. Imposter Syndrome, Self-Doubt, I changed my mind, changed campuses, took many electives outside of my major and finally fell in love with photography and motion graphics. While I continued to finish my course in animation, I was also creating a portfolio that was multifaceted and showcased a variety of media and skills. My work was always driven towards telling stories, but I realized animation wasn’t the only way to distill my imagination into tactile form. Today, in my role as Art Director at Publicis, I provide creative ideation and digital content across multiple platforms. We solve design challenges and build new pitches for fortune 500 brands to best represent their voice in the vast industry. Alongside this I keep my skills sharp by experimenting with new media, VR/AR, analog and digital photography and I continue to hone my skills in motion graphics and video editing. Currently, I am also pursuing a Master of Science in Advertising at Boston University to broaden my knowledge of strategy and marketing and to sharpen my business acumen. I think it is very important for creatives to be able to advocate for themselves in an industry setting outside the design and content thinking and to be able to be in client facing roles. Being amiable and multitasking fluidly in the fast pasted ever-changing environment has pushed me to continue to learn and grow as a creative.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Coming from a culture that doesn’t prioritize the arts I have always found that as a creative our work needs to speaker louder to make great waves or be heard. In India, the society prioritizes STEM and medicine but not so much the creative careers, it is only now very recently that creatives are chalking out their own path and going against societal standards to show the creative careers can be lucrative and add a lot to societal development and social change. Non-creatives might struggle to understand that as a creative the goal is almost never to create high paying work or find a role with a corporate setting but more so to add to the culture and heart of the world.

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

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is also the reason I stepped into the field in the first place. Art and creative media touches everyones lives, whether they know it or not. From the milk carton you use to drench your morning cereal to the Netflix you’re binging before you hit the hay. It is all created by people like me. And to be able to be a part of such an enriching industry that makes people feel and adds color to lives is what makes me feel grateful about doing it everyday. I also feel like I haven’t reaped all the rewards of being a creative yet. Art and more so Advertising which is the field I am in has the ability to make people think or even change the way they think, and my goal is to be able to do good through my work. Many a times the field is misunderstood for its role in capitalistic gains but using it as a platform to spread positive messages and make small changes is where my head is at. After all doing good is also good business.

Contact Info:

• Website: paulomimukherjee.com
• Instagram: @paulomi.mukherjee
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulomixmukherjee/