Just Going With It...

So the past few weeks I started a new little gig. I wouldn't call it a "job" maybe something more like an "internship." I am working as an assistant for interior designer/blogger Kirsten Krason of 6th Street Design School.

Around the end of August, Kirsten posted on her blog about needing another intern/assistant. I had been following her blog for a while and seriously fallen in love with her fun and bright design style. So when she posted about needing more help, I thought maybe I would just email her about it and see what happens. I had been applying for jobs and interviewing, but a) wasn't having too much luck and b) wasn't exactly excited about all of the options on the job market for a girl with a bachelor's in political science living in Utah County (that's code for there really are none). So I emailed Kirsten back and forth a bit, went out and interviewed with her, and just kinda waited. I knew that I should probably doing some full-time retail job at GAP or Banana Republic or working the front desk of a law office. The thought of doing most of these jobs honestly just depressed me, though. I had done well in college. Was a great student and super involved in research and the student political society. So why were my only options $10/hour jobs that would only be something to fill my time while Chase finished school. I really was wanting to do something that interested me and where I could learn new skills and develop new talents.

Well, I ended up getting the position with Kirsten. I was beyond excited! Definitely a little bit scared though! I basically would be working for free. I would help Kirsten with all of her projects and hope that it could lead into something bigger and better. Well, I'm still a little bit scared. And still helping out Kirsten as an "intern." But, this last week she passed two clients along to me who weren't quite able to pay her $100/hour rate. So here I am, starting at the bottom in this fun and creative world as a design intern, but I am able to charge $40/hour for my services. I'm hoping (and praying!) that the knowledge and experience I'm getting by working with Kirsten could open more doors and lead to bigger and better things. Really, I'm just kinda going with the flow right now. I might find a part-time job to do while I continue to work with Kirsten... who knows.

What I DO know, however, is how much I am LOVING every day these past few weeks. I have gone and met with clients, picked out wallpaper samples, rug ideas, looked for bedding, and curtain fabrics. Some of it has been just running errands, but the chances I do have to channel all of the creative energy that had been building up the past few years makes it all worth it. I still love political science and wouldn't have traded my degree for any other, and hopefully down the road one day I'll be able to further my education in that field and teach at a community college, or even run for a local government postion. But as for right now, it has been fun having a bit of a flip flop in my life- instead of studying politics, watching the news, and reading the NY Times during the day and then going home at night to look at blogs, come up with design ideas for homes, parties, etc, and play on pinterest... now I spend my days channeling my creative side and spend my evenings catching up on news and politics. It really has been a breath of fresh air and I am currently loving life, even though I am sort of just going with it at the moment.

I am going to try and start blogging about some of the fun projects that we work on and the work I am doing with my own clients. There might be a little bit of a blog switch-a-roo. If I start a new separate design blog, I will for sure post on here where to follow me over to. Thanks for all of the moral support to everyone who I have already told my story to! It makes this leap of faith a little less scary :)

via Pinterest

PS, this article by the NY Times about recent college graduates doing something that they love (that might not have anything to do with their degrees) while they wait for the current job market to pick up helped give me the courage to just go with the flow of things and do what I currently am loving.