We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sophia Brell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sophia below.
Sophia, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
Honestly, this is still something that I still struggle with everyday! I have to remind myself that I am good enough and deserving of where I am at right now. Some days are more difficult than others, but celebrating even the little things go a long way!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Hi! My name is Sophia Brell and I am a graphic designer based in Charleston, South Carolina but originally born and raised in San Antonio, Texas.
I work for a candle manufacturer, Velas Hispaniola (or VH Home Fragrance) as a Graphic Designer. We sell our labels to private brands in mass-market retail such as Kroger, Target, TJ Maxx, Big Lots pOpshelf, and others.
What I enjoy most about my job is that I have learned to understand trend forecasts in all beauty, fragrance, and trending art and design and interoperate those trends for our clients to sell our product. I also love being able to have my designs and ideas sold in big stores that mostly everyone has access to. It’s really exciting to see my friends and family in all regions of the country buy my designs in stores that they are familiar with!
A large part of my job revolves around packaging, label, and production design for mainly candles and other home fragrance products.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I would say something that has helped me really grow as a designer and as a professional would be to able take constructive criticism more efficiently and not so personally. As a creative, it is known that all art is subjective, but when creating art and products for big clients it is sometimes difficult to see past your personal taste and preference for the bigger picture. Finding a healthy balance between something I love to design while still hitting my client’s brief is always super rewarding.
Another thing I would say has really helped me grow is to have confidence in presenting my work, even if what I am presenting is not my favorite. In college, I had always found myself comparing myself to my peers and their work and always asking myself, “Wow, how did I not come up with that!?”. I have learned a lot of the time as a professional, you are designing for someone who is not necessarily a designer themselves, but someone who is trying to appeal to a large majority of their clientele.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
When I am overwhelmed, I have had history of working really fast and letting the anxiety take over my work and personal life.
I have really learned that slowing down and taking one step at a time is the best way to tackle a project. If it means that one project in particular takes a few hours longer than you originally intended it to: thats okay. I have also learned that taking breaks is super important! It gives time for your brain and body to reset and recharge to put your best foot froward. If it means taking an extra 5 or 10 minutes on my lunch break, or even a short walk in the middle of my work day. Taking one minute to breathe and reset has really helped my feelings of being overwhelmed or stressed.
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