I am a graphic designer at Empire State. I do mainly digital design work, but I also help clients with social media content strategies – and anything else I enjoy doing, like writing video scripts.
My career journey started in the winter of ’07 while I was completing my Bachelor of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University. I chose graphic design as my specialisation and promptly fell in love with it.
A student in the year above me was working part-time at a local printing company. They were looking for some extra help, and she kindly recommended me (thanks Magriet!). I was hired and continued to study and work part-time until I graduated a year and a half later. I then became a full time member of the workforce.
I learnt so much at my first job! There is nothing quite like seeing your work in print.
Thereafter the travel bug bit and, while I only got as far as the next town over, I did get some different experience in the form of working as a reporter for a community newspaper. When I had learned all there was to learn there (including, but not limited to, covering tea parties at old age homes), I focused exclusively on freelance for a while – or, as I call it, The Lean Years.
In 2016 I joined the marketing team at a SaaS company where I learned so much – from the inbound marketing methodology to website design. While the size of our team changed over the years, we remained small – and somehow managed to produce a ton of amazing content in-house.
As I love learning, I started teaching myself video editing and user interface (UI) design skills which I still enjoy. It was during these years that my obsession with social media content began. (Some people call it doom scrolling, I call it “research”.)
In 2020 when the world was falling apart, I was lucky enough to be approached by Empire State to help with some projects on a contract basis. Less than six months later, I was asked if I wanted to join the ES family on a full-time basis – and the rest, as they say, is history.
The two aspects I appreciate most about Empire State are the people and how valued we are made to feel. Everyone who works here has similar values and we all treat each other with kindness and respect.
We all also share a deep appreciation for memes!
However, we are not only connected by humour – we are also made to feel we matter. To steal from an old high school’s motto (and to quote the only bit of Latin I know) facta, non verba or “actions speak louder than words”. I think this is the difference between an authentic company culture and a company that practises “profits over people”.
I enjoy sitting at my desk in the morning because I love making “pretty things”. I also enjoy solving problems, and I feel like a good design project offers both in spades. As a bonus I get to talk to people I like about work and a host of other random things during the day.
When I’m not working (on ES or freelance projects), I enjoy a range of diverse interests including yoga, interior design, DIY, reading and side-hustle opportunities. Something most people probably don’t know about me is that I’m in the process of learning how to do a tarot readings – and yes, I am still working on my fortune teller name!
