In an earlier post (October 2006), I mentioned an agency that I used to work for and hadn't portrayed it in a very positive light. I recently found out that a potential client of theirs had read that post. While I will not be taking down that post anytime soon, I have realized that I have portrayed myself as nothing more than a disgruntled ex-employee. While there is some truth to that, I feel it's equally important to write about what I learned from my experience at Lyons & Sucher.
I interviewed at L&S while I was a senior in college. I was very eager to get out in the real world, sit at a desk, and make spreadsheets everyday. I eventually started working for them in March 2005. I loved it. It's a small shop, but the work that comes out of there is amazing! Their talented staff is complemented very well by their eagle-eyed creative director, Jane Lyons. Anyone whose ever worked for JL knows that she's a tough person to work for. Not because she's mean, or hateful, but because she demands the very best from her staff, and then maybe a little more beyond that. In order to succeed and survive at L&S, you need to be able to reach within yourself and find the very best you have. And you have to do this every day. I wasn't able to do that during that time of my life. I settled for mediocrity, and didn't try to go beyond that. JL eventually saw this in me and pushed me to do better. I, foolishly, misinterpreted this effort, and did the exact opposite. In other words, I cut off my nose despite my face. That quickly landed me in the unemployment line by the time I was 25. That was probably the lowest point of my life. For about a year after that I carried around a great deal of resentment towards JL and towards that company. Hindsight is always 20/20 and I know that the resentment I felt was really for myself. I had no one to blame for what happened there but me. It was my reaction that dictated the outcome.
Working at L&S also helped me realize that I loved the idea of being a methodical person who likes numbers and spreadsheets, and statistics. But in reality, that stuff puts me to sleep. I am much more content with my life now that I am working in design and creating cool things. Working with the talented staff at L&S helped me find that part of myself. Since I've been at The Portfolio Center, I have turned a complete 180 degrees from where I was in 2005. I'm starting to see a little Jane Lyons in myself and in the work that I'm doing. When I sit down to look at piece I've created, or even when I'm critiquing someone else's work, I try to achieve the level of attention to detail that JL puts into every piece of work that walks out the door of that agency. I'll sometimes daydream about what it would be like if I accidentally ran into her on the street and what I would say. In reality, we would probably pretend not to see each other, so as to avoid an awkward hello. But in my day dream, we would grab an ice cream cone and I would tell her that she really made an influence in my life, and that I was sorry that we parted ways in the worst way possible. I also wonder what it would be like if I worked as a designer for her. If we would be able to get along? If she would finally see that I have found a way to do my very best, and then a little more with every project I work on.
I've recently heard a speaker at Portfolio Center who said you haven't truly lived until you've been fired from a job. I am living proof of that. I will never forget my experience at L&S, and in a strange way I am so thankful for having gone through it. Sure there were days when I couldn't even look at my boss because I was so mad. And there were a few quarks about the job that made it difficult to work well in. But EVERY job you ever have will present these idiosyncrasies, and working at L&S helped me understand how to navigate through them (or how NOT to navigate through them). I met some truly wonderful people through that job and they have all touched my life in ways they may never know.
