Confessions of a laid-off Designer

Hello! I typically just do my blog about life with my little one and how she's completely changed me, but this morning as I was working on a project for the house I was cracking up about the life changes I've encountered as a Designer. Then I decided...I had to get this stuff out there. Mostly as just a cathartic release for myself, but in the off chance that someone else out there is in the same boat...well...we could write a book! So here's my story in short...once we get through the nitty gritty of who I am and why I'm writing this blog, then we'll start with the fun stuff.

I'm a 27 year old female with my Bachelors of Fine Arts in Interior Design from the University of Kansas (ROCK CHALK!!!!). I graduated four years ago, well...I walked with my class and then had to complete an 18 week internship in order to receive my diploma, but since I had one set up six months before graduation I wasn't worried about that. Why did I chose interiors? I have NO IDEA!!!! I'm a creative person by nature and realized the need for an outlet. I was currently enrolled in pre-elementary education classes and bored out of my mind. Don't get me wrong, I still think I would love teaching little ones, but the curriculum itself was too dry for me and I wasn't doing well. I knew I needed a change and took a big one. What I thought I was getting into with Interiors was...well...nothing like what I actually got into. But the allure of working for a big firm and creating spaces that would change people's lives was enough to stick with. Now I have to laugh that that's really what I thought I would be doing. Up to know...I can confidently say no lives have been changed by anything I've worked on. My Mother is a nurse so I grew up with a fine respect of the medical profession (in fact, I wanted to go into nursing school but was warned against it) so I found myself enrolling in an independent research study with one of our interiors professors to research the effects of interior design on hospital ICU's. I spent my entire senior year on the study and know that the professor used my research in several speaking engagements since. Because of my time with this professor he put me in touch with a major healthcare design firm based in Dallas (my home town). I was lucky enough to land an internship in their Healthcare Interiors department and work for and with some incredibly people. Unfortunately at the end of my internship the firm was under a hiring freeze (the beginning of a downturn in the economy) and in a big (500 people in just the Dallas office) corporate company they don't bend rules so I was out looking for a new firm to call home. (I don't even call this lay-off one...but it could be!) I ended up going to work with a much smaller firm (30 people--which isn't exactly small in the realm of design firms)and working on restuarant/retail projects. It was a completely different type of work, but the people were nice and I soon found myself comfortable and at home learning this new type of design work. I spent 51 weeks with this company and expected to be with them for several more years. I was two weeks away from my wedding date when we (15 of us) were called into the large conference room and told through tears on the behalf of the principles that we were being laid-off. This was 2009...a LOT of people were laid off in our industry that year. Despite that we were young and broken hearted. Several of us gathered at a friends apartment for wine and tears as we tried to figure out what had just happened. No one tells you about these things in college!!! You graduate with a false sense of security that once you find a job your good to go...and that is SO WRONG!! For the next nine months I sent out anywhere from 10-50 resumes a week. I blanketed every firm in town, several times, with my resumes. I reached out to everyone I could think of including decorators. Now don't get me wrong...I have nothing against decorators. But I'm formally trained as a commercial designer. We picked finishes as a last part of our projects. Space planning and architecturals are where we concentrated. Some would say that we have an "eye" for decorating and maybe we do...because ultimately we are creative and artistic, but all I can offer you is my opinion. I honestly have no idea about the rules and what you "should" put together...I just know what I like, lol! I know the very basic rules...so I can tell you what's an absolute no-no...but other than that...once I have an idea...I Google with the best of them! ANYWAY...back to the nitty gritty. Finally once I'd decided to forget design and start looking for work and training myself in other areas I got the call that I'd waited nine long months for. A consultant I worked with on a restuarant project had someone quit and needed help. He felt because my background was Interiors I had something to offer his company and although I had a lot to learn (since this job would be concentrating on back of house work...foodservice) that we could work well together. I was extremely hesitant to re-join the industry knowing what could happen but took the interview and was a tough gal about it. Regardless...they talked the good talk and I was persuaded to join forces. I mean heck...he was offering me a work from home position!!! How do you deny that? I did indeed have a lot to learn, as I'd never done commercial kitchen designs before, nor had I done MEP's before. But it didn't take long (I'm a fast learner) and I was holding my own. I even had the opportunity to manage several of my own projects, and toward the end I managed all of my own projects. I loved my job and that it provided for my family while also being flexible enough to allow for me to work from home. A wonderful benefit for a new Mommy. But sadly it happened again. Twenty months into my career with that company I got the call...we'd been incredibly slow for many months and my heart knew it was a possibility...I was being laid-off. AGAIN!!! I can't even begin to tell you how much this has SUCKED. Because we're at the beginning of yet another economical downturn and people aren't hiring. So...I'm back on the unemployment line, sending out resumes, contacting old contacts/clients, doing random contract work, and praying that in the end it will work out for the best, because somehow it always does! I mean let's look back for a minute...Without my endless research I'd never gotten the job with the healthcare firm, and without their hiring freeze I wouldn't have worked on restaurants,which is where I met the consultant I worked for most recently...not to mention some great friends. Every door that's opened has opened for a reason and we've always been provided for. Would I go back and choose design again? Probably not...nor would over half of the girls I graduated with. Sorry...if your reading this and are a design student, its the truth. And if your thinking...should I switch to Architecture while I still can, you CAN...but its not any better. I have several architecture friends that are in the exact same boat. And if I'm being completely honest, I have several friends who are still working as designers and would say that its not what they expected and they wished they'd chosen differently...but I also have several who love it. There are always two sides, but I'd say the majority...would choose differently if they could. Would I still work as a designer? Of course!! I've put a lot into it at this point. Would I do something else if a great opportunity came up? IN A HEARTBEAT!!!!!

Ok...so that's the boring, long, and sad story of where my future posts stem from. What does the future hold for this laid-off designer? I have no idea. If I've learned anything in the past four years its this. If you want to make God laugh...make a plan. Every one of my plans has fallen through. I sure didn't plan to be laid-off two weeks before my wedding, or to work as a foodservice consultant, or to become such good friends with my manager there who scared me to death the first six months (had to give you a shout out...you're probably my only reader), OR to have my daughter early, OR to be laid-off yet again!!! What I can say is that I have a new plan and its as simple as this. Make no concrete plans and be more flexible in the ones I have. To walk through the open doors and keep walking until they close. When they close, don't cry, kick, scream, fight...just turn and walk through the next one. I know we will be provided for, I know things will work out...of that I am confident, in that I have Faith. But I suppose having faith there means I have to take life one day at a time. Do the things I love. Use my creativity and show the world. Maybe something will come out of it, maybe by venting to the world wide web on this blog will do something, who the heck knows. All I know for now, is that life is a twisty turny path and the only way to make it through is to close your eyes, take a deep breath, and keep walking.