As a self-taught designer, I've always felt like an outsider in the world of graphic design and stationery. There are so many incredibly talented people out there that I seriously admire - I read their blogs, follow them on twitter, and cyber-stalk the crap out of their business adventures. One thing I don't do is actually tell them how much I admire them. I feel like they are untouchable; too busy to read emails (that aren't from other design celebrities), too involved in their own amazingness to read my blog, too elite to be want to have coffee with a stranger.
But it's dawned on me that these people aren't really as untouchable as I've made them up to be in my head. I think it's more my own intimidation, fear of rejection, and genetic link to hermits. I mean, who doesn't love a little note that says "hey, I think you're awesome"? I personally LOVE those notes (hint hint), they make my
A few weeks ago I made myself a new goal; to proactively network more and send heartfelt notes to the people I admire. If one of those people happen to live locally, I'll see if they'd be interested in meeting up over dinner or coffee or tea or whatever. If it's somebody I could see myself collaborating with creatively/professionally, I'll say that too, and maybe they'll be interested. I won't beat myself up if somebody doesn't write back, and I'll allow myself to be totally giddy (think me circa 1990's with N'Sync) if one of my icons really does write back.
So far I've sent out a few little notes, and I'm really excited by the responses I've been getting back. I'll be meeting up with some people in the future, and maybe doing more collaborative work. I am so, so, so proud of myself for taking the first step and I can't wait to continue moving forward with this goal.
I also want to make sure that I am as available as possible to anybody else out there. I don't ever want people to be too intimidated to shoot me a quick email, I might not get back to you within 24 hours, but I will get back to you, I promise. You can find me at believenotes@yahoo.com, and I seriously do welcome any kind of notes!
A few months ago I posted some of my tips for setting goals, both personally and professionally. One of my goals was to obtain a Tax ID, which I am happy to announce I did finish on time. Which is also why I was able to share my fun recap of the National Stationery Show and the Matchbook Notebook Hunt.
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