Work & Co's Founder and Design Partner Joe Stewart tells us how Work & Co was born from wanting to get his design hands dirty again, and the internal trust that exists with having agency leadership learning and building alongside you. Joe also offers great advice on what it takes to work there, as well as what he looks for in prospective hires and their creative portfolios.
Read MoreOvershare Podcast: Kate Bingaman-Burt, Adam R. Garcia & Rich Tu
Overshare Podcast: Kate Bingaman-Burt, Adam R. Garcia & Rich Tu
Overshare is a new Working Not Working event series and podcast that features honest conversations with our favorite creatives about the tough stuff we don't talk about in public often enough. In the third episode, WNW co-founder Justin Gignac travels to Portland during Design Week to talk to three WNW all-stars: Kate Bingaman-Burt, Rich Tu, and Adam R. Garcia.
Housed in Outpost, a 13,000 square foot industrial building, the trio give Justin the rundown on the creative scene in Portland. "One thing about teaching here is that the community is just so generous and their doors are so open," says Kate. "It’s kind of ridiculous to not tap into the community, especially when you’re a design student and you’re teaching at a design program... Even though I’ve been here for 8 years, I’m still so in awe at how generous the community is. It’s a game-changer." Adam adds, "This place really does exemplify the idea of openness both creatively and collaboratively...there’s a cutthroatness that doesn’t need to exist here because of the creative infrastructure of this city."
Rich, the newest Portlander, shares the challenge of retooling some of his New York City tendencies. "I’m struggling with shedding a bit of the New Yorker out of me. I remember when I first got here, I was riding the train and I was like hoodie, sunglasses, don’t fuckin talk to me. Thinking 'have to be in the zone, on the way to work.' But then of course, going to work at the Swoosh, every one takes the same fuckin train. Inevitably, you’re seeing everyone at work and then you start opening up, you start becoming a human being…my next hurdle is really to become an outdoorsy guy."
Kate, Rich & Adam also open up about about their personal definitions of success and failure, and how they try to build on success and embrace and rebound from fears and failure. Rich reflects on the idea of not letting his parents down, and carrying the torch of success. "Being the child of an immigrant is a really meaningful thing. They came to the United States from the Philippines when they were twenty years old [supporting their families back in the Philippines]...and I think, 'Shit, I've got to live up to that. My mom ended up being a doctor, my dad ended up being an architect, doing amazing things off of pennies in the Philippines. I look at that, I'm like 'I can't not fail that legacy. I've got to at least do something with my life.' Having them see my success is the anti-failure for me."
As the conversation winded down, Kate was asked what advice she would give to her younger self: "It's okay to be loud. I think about the way that I was just spending a lot of worry about what people are thinking of me, trying not to have people notice me, trying not to have people listen to me. It was a lot of time that I wasted being up against the wall. It's really important to me, especially to my female students too, that it's okay to be loud. So be loud."
For those of you who couldn't join us, we have good news: you can listen to the entire conversation below on our new podcast, sponsored by FreshBooks. Subscribe to Overshare on iTunes, Soundcloud, or with any other podcasting app via our RSS feed.
A heartfelt thanks to FreshBooks for sponsoring this episode of Overshare. FreshBooks is a ridiculously easy cloud accounting software for freelancers and small business owners. It makes your accounting tasks easy, fast and secure. You can start sending invoices, tracking time and capturing expenses in minutes.
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Photo: WNW Member #3790 Jim Golden
ON PORTLAND: BERNADETTE SPEAR
ON PORTLAND: BERNADETTE SPEAR
Portlandia characters included, we've been hearing amazing things about Portland for years. Besides Wieden+Kennedy ruling the town, there are pockets of creative action - and craftsmen of all kinds - throughout the city. As a producer, WNW Member #3283 Bernadette Spear makes it her job to find all those creative hubs. With work-life balance a priority, Bernadette tells us that networking is done a bit differently in Portland, "There are no agents, reps, or go-betweens; you get to the creative people just by talking to them at a bar or floating down the river with them."
Tell us a bit about yourself, what you're currently loving...
I grew up in Juneau, Alaska and spent 15 years living in Portland. I am currently in NYC and working in Chicago/NY for Havas Worldwide. There is a terrific group of creatives in Chicago, it has been a great start to a new year.
As for what I'm currently loving, there's a podcast called Adjust Your Tracking that's my favorite! It's two film savvy guys reviewing films and interviewing notable filmmakers. Be forewarned, there is a fair amount of colorful language. And on the internet, I’m obsessed with Instagram as usual.
Why did you move to Portland?
I moved to Portland to finish college. It was 1/4 of the price tag of the school in Boston and some of my friends from high school rented a house in the woods for us. I figured I would finish school and end up back on the East Coast, but Portland turned out to be a terrific place to establish a career in filmmaking so I stayed, and stayed and 15 years went by and I bought a house….
Photo: WNW Member #3790 Jim Golden
How does the city inspire you?
Pretty much anything you can imagine can be achieved in Portland. It is a reasonably inexpensive place to live well and there are pockets of talented people all around willing and eager to collaborate.
You wouldn't know it at first glance that the guy at the end of the bar who looks like a regular guy wrote the screenplay to your favorite film.... In Portland, people who do cool things are just your buddies and neighbors, not people that are idolized and hidden away.
Describe Portland's creative scene.
I find Portland's creative scene to be unlike any other city's. There are all these hidden creative people and gems of talent: craftsmen, people with a weird, random skill that is very Portlandia-esque. Portland is a really cool place because its affordable to live in, which is necessary as a creative to have resources at your disposal. People don’t have to work 80 hours a week to get by or spend that on their car like in LA. In Portland, they’re either at work or playing. There's more time to meet and interact. If I need someone who can build a structure, a motorcycle, robot, you can find those people and you don’t have to dig that deep. There are no agents, reps, or go-betweens; you get to the creative people just by talking to them at a bar or floating down the river with them.
What are your favorite things about living there? What are some challenges?
Some of my favorite things: Having a house, a yard and being surrounded by creative people who work to live..... Oh, then there are the epic summers dedicated to backyard BBQ’s and floating the river.
The biggest challenge with living in Portland from a creative perspective is limited choices if you want to collaborate at a really high level. There are a ton of creative people but a finite number of places to work. There are times when there’s not a lot of work so you have to have your own side projects and be self-motivated and make those things like your other job.
Photo: WNW Member #3090 Neil DaCosta
What are some neighborhood spots that you love?
I love Montavilla. I moved there in 2008 and I wouldn't change that choice for anything. It's a ten minute drive to downtown and a ten minute walk to Mt Tabor where you can get lost for hours in the trees and lovely vistas. One block from my front door is The Portland Garment Factory.
Other recommendations:
Una for shopping, Heart for Coffee and the Red Flag is hands down my favorite neighborhood dive bar. Beech Street Parlor for a civilized night of delicious food/cocktails and a likely impromptu dance party.
Any WNW members whose work you admire?
I'm a big fan of Alexander Barrett. We have worked together a few times over the years and aside from being a stellar copywriter, I mostly stalk his illustrations/ PSA's on Instagram Tuff Stuf. The daily posts of 2015 from Benji Brucker's wannahump.me also put me in a good mood.
Photo: WNW Member #3790 Jim Golden
Photo: WNW Member #3090 Neil DaCosta
Photo: WNW Member #3090 Neil DaCosta
Photo: WNW Member #3090 Neil DaCosta