We recently connected with Sarah Etherton and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarah, thanks for joining 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? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

While I used to regret not studying design or art as an undergraduate, I think having a variety of life experiences makes me a more well-rounded designer.

I learned to work the way I do with my clients by having a variety of people-focused jobs first. Working in the service industry taught me customer service, working under pressure, and multitasking. Working as an elementary school teacher taught me patience, system building, and confidence in front of people (there is nothing scarier than presenting to a room of judgemental 2nd graders).

While I have been strengthening my design skills and knowledge for years, my relationships with clients has made the biggest difference in my success as a designer. People skills and executive skills (organization, time management, follow-through) are essential to being any kind of freelancer, and this is especially true in the creative field where a good first impression can lead to years of work.

Sarah, 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 a designer and illustrator who specializes in branding design and I primarily work with nonprofits and small businesses.

I would say the most important part of my business is my inclusion of my clients in my creative process. Each project, they are a part of my team and I treat them as the experts that they are on their own organization. Rather than receive an assignment and work on my own, I prefer to meet with them, show them my concepts and ideas, and use our discussions to drive the designs forward. I love working this way.

I am most proud of projects that allow my clients to engage more deeply in their work. With our attention being taken in a million different directions all the time, the right branding can be the difference between a new donor and being ignored, and I take that very seriously.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Halfway through college, I realized after a lifetime of thinking so, that I didn’t really want to be a teacher. However, family told me (and I told myself) that I had come too far to change my mind now and that changing my major to art (my real lifetime passion) was neither practical nor smart.

I graduated in 2016 with a Bachelor’s in Psychology and participated in a 5-year Master’s program in Special Education, finishing that degree in 2017. I still didn’t want to be a teacher, so I moved home, worked in a local cheese and wine shop/restaurant, and applied to the Peace Corps. Twice. I got my EMT basic training because maybe I wanted to be a paramedic. I taught group fitness classes because maybe I wanted to do that. While I had my ‘day job,’ I was jumping from thing to thing trying to find something that stuck.

After a year and a half at the restaurant, I realized I didn’t want to do that either, so I thought maybe I’d try giving my degree some use and got a job as an elementary school special education teacher. Maybe I was wrong when I had decided I didn’t want to be a teacher?

I leapt into the hardest two years of my life. There was a lot I loved about that job (my students) but it took everything out of me. I was miserable. And worst of all, I had been RIGHT ALL ALONG!

In the fall of my second year, I realized for years I had been carefully skirting around pursuing the thing I actually wanted to do: art. It felt selfish in the context of where I was currently working to even consider getting an art degree, but being in that setting forced me to confront a hard reality: I had to stand up for what I wanted.

So, that winter in between lesson prep and depression naps I worked on my portfolio and applied to get an MFA.

Somehow, I was accepted. I started the following fall and graduated this past May, 2022.

It was the biggest risk I’d ever taken, and I’m so glad that I did.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

A book that changed my life was “The Crossroads of Should and Must: Find and Follow Your Passion.” I found it at a time when I wasn’t happy with my career and felt that every decision I had made to get there was based on obligations and making ‘safe’ choices. I actually found “The Crossroads” at a used bookstore on a trip to decompress from work one weekend after a particularly difficult week and read the whole thing that day. The day after that I decided to apply for grad school.

It really changed the way I viewed my vocation as an artist; that I could do good in the world by doing this thing I loved, and that I shouldn’t ignore that nudging feeling that I really needed to pursue a creative career. Going back to school isn’t selfish, seeking to do what you really want as your career isn’t selfish, and changing your mind isn’t selfish. I had to do all these things and it felt like this book was the push that finally got me started on the path to where I am today.

The book is beautifully illustrated and genuine. I highly recommend it for folks who are struggling with deciding between their own ‘shoulds’ and ‘musts.’

Contact Info:

• Website: sarahetherton.com
• Instagram: @sarahgraceetherton
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-grace-etherton-8b0ba623a