We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rob Jelinski. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rob below.

Rob, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process?

In Art School, I sharpened traditional illustration and art skills but fell deeply in love with design. Print to be specific, but digital design has grown on me since then. Along my journey, I built my skills of consulting and mentoring over my career of 20 years within creative industries.

I have been hired as a business coach and mentor throughout the last decade and specifically enjoy delivering these services to creatives, from early-career to mid-journey and senior level. I recognize that the safe space of mentorship is an essential need for me to have and so I proudly do my part in providing it to others.

As creatives, we need to feel camaraderie from an industry peer to cheer us on, be a sounding board for our new ideas, and have access to future experiences (wins and mistakes) beyond the current state of our journey. Mentorship and coaching offers all of these and the sooner we hire a trusted coach, mentor, or agent for ourselves, the better!

Rob, 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’m Rob Jelinski a Mentor of Creatives, Art Director, Brand Strategist, & the Founder of the award-winning, Family Of Brands under the moniker of Rob Jelinski Studios which includes my mentorship brand, Think Art Director™.

Why did you start Think Art Director™? Creative industries are so fast-paced with the waterfall of deadlines, that many seasoned professionals are simply unable to connect and mentor the next generation of creatives unless it falls within their role at work. The growing gap in mentorship settings that feel safe and approachable is a need that I want to help fill. That’s where this brand was born.

As a creative mentor, I aim to unlock new paths to your goals- leveraging my unique skillset as a business coach for the last decade and sharing experiences from my journeys over the last 20 years.

Since the brand launched in the Spring of 2023, Think Art Director™ has been seen in ABC, Associated Press, Fox, Advertising Today, CBS, & Small Business World magazine. Beyond that, our talented clients have said, “Rob is one of the best, if not the best creative coach I have worked with in my career” – Paula, senior level, corporate designer and “Think Art Director’s mentorship services were very helpful and provided a great opportunity.” – Zoe early career, illustrator and publishing designer.

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

This is a question I am often asked in Q&As & Firesides from both the creative and entrepreneurial communities actually. Finding great organizations and communities that inspire you is key as they provide valuable resources at all career stages. I learned this lesson the hard way after 4 years of entrepreneurship and I still regret not having as much community impact in each of those years of my career.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

After reaching my last milestone birthday, I started asking myself new questions about the legacy of my work and career. I realized more than ever before how missional my work mentoring and coaching other business/ creative leaders is to my purpose. I have worked with hundreds of them over the years, and treasure being a small part of their story, but now I want to increase this impact within my brands with services through our consultancy, RJS – Strategy Studio™ (https://www.robjelinskistudios.com/business-mentorship-coaching) and now specifically through Think Art Director’s white-glove service, Legacy Mapping (https://www.thinkartdirector.com/legacy-mapping).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thinkartdirector.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkartdirector
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/think-art-director/

Image Credits

Image 1: Audrey Tappan

Image 2: Infinite® Design Agency

Image 3: Darlene Alderson

Image 4: Cottonbro Studio