We recently connected with Kimberly Gutierrez and have shared our conversation below.
Kimberly, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I think my work ethic comes from my parents. Since I was a kid I’ve seen how hard they work to provide for me and my brothers. They both worked to send us to good schools, make sure we always had food on the table, and were able to pursue our interests. Even when my mother could not continue working, she worked tirelessly every day to make our house a home and get us where we needed to be. While my father has always worked long shifts, often times coming home late at night so family dinners were rare and him taking a day off was even rarer; but I always understood that he worked hard to provide for us. My mother was always ready to take me and my brothers across the border, run errands, pick us up, and still made time to cook us dinner. We were never rich but we never went without necessities like food thanks to both of them. They always pushed me and my brothers to work hard even though we could often get by on minimal effort. They knew all of us were more than capable and should try harder to come out on top in anything we did. They knew we had to put in the effort to understand the value of hard work. It’s because of them that I try to do my best in all my endeavors and try to learn new skills to build upon my old ones to get better at what I want to do. I think through watching them put in so much effort to take care of us, it made me want to be more like them and really put in as much effort as I can in all things I do so that others can see that I care about them and the things I do.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a designer and illustrator from the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez borderland. I’ve been working professionally as a graphic designer for about three years now helping local businesses build their brands and establish their identities. I’ve had the pleasure of establishing brand identities, creating guidelines for businesses on how to use their brands, manage printed and digital collateral, and learn how to manage website and social media pages. In my spare time I like to sketch things and turn those sketches into digital drawings, paint, and occasionally dabble in printmaking. I try to sell my art through sites like Redbubble, at local art markets such as First Friday, or through Museo de las Americas’ gift shop. I also joined a co-op, Chant Cooperative, and am very excited to become more involved with them this year!
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?
It’s difficult for me to say…I could say something basic like hard work and persistence but I think there is more to that. I like to consider myself someone who does work hard and puts in an effort to do a good job at what they do. Working can be difficult at times but I am grateful to have a place to go to everyday so that I can build my skills and that makes me feel like I am making a difference or impacting other people. That keeps me motivated to go back every day. There are days that are harder though, which is where I try to be persistent and not give up, even when the going gets tough. I try to remind myself that “it can’t rain all the time” and times that seem difficult don’t last forever. It’s not so much about what happens to you, but how you react to it I suppose. So I try to be resilient and keep moving forward. I don’t like the idea of not trying because as the saying goes, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Even when certain endeavors don’t work out I can at least say that I tried and maybe that particular path wasn’t for me. All that is okay, you can’t do everything! Trying to maintain that attitude and stay eager to learn is pretty key to success I think. I think people should want to keep developing and improving on themselves, they should want to invest in themselves so that they can continue to grow and have an effect on other people. Find ways to stay motivated, set goals for yourself and see how you can make them a reality. It’s hard but I think it’s worth it in the long run.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
I think some of the biggest obstacles in my life lately have been related to things like mental health, imposter syndrome, and working on my self-esteem. I’ve dealt with depression and anxiety since before high school and it’s taken a lot of work to try and overcome it, especially since I haven’t ever been able to go to therapy. I still work on it every day, like I’ve said there are good and bad days so I try to work as hard as I can to get through the bad ones and focus on the good in my life. I try to remind myself of all the wonderful things that make life worth living and take more breaks for myself. I’ve learned to reach out to people and be more vocal about my feelings. Talking about things that bother me is much more helpful than bottling it up and often helps me realize that the issues I’m facing aren’t as bad as I think they are. Making art and using that as an outlet is great too, creating series that really allow me to explore some of these issues does wonders. I also take time to sketch things that make me happy, read good books, and spend time with people I care about. Imposter syndrome is probably the hardest because there are a lot of people who simply don’t understand it because they don’t experience it. This often bleeds into my issues with self-esteem because even though I have people in my life that remind me I am capable, a good friend, and am talented I can’t ever seem to get my brain to accept it and agree with it. It feels like I’ve played a big trick on everyone and I’m not as good as I think I am. I’m really quick to show others what makes them great but I often fall short on myself. I’m learning to accept compliments, ask for reassurance if I need it, and think of things that I like about myself. It’s a process but I do what I can.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bloodgulchblue.wixsite.com/dambrosiart
- Instagram: @d_ambrosia_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dambrosiart/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-gutierrez-76396a98/
- Other: https://www.redbubble.com/people/d-ambrosia/shop
Image Credits
Kimberly Gutierrez
