We recently had the chance to connect with Addison Jarecki and have shared our conversation below.
Addison, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What do you think others are secretly struggling with—but never say?
I think a lot of people are struggling with burnout, but they’re afraid to talk about it. “Burnout” is a dirty word in this industry. If you burn out and admit it, you might feel like you’ll be seen as weak, unemployable, or a failure. That’s just so not true, though! I believe burnout is just a sign you’re not where you need to be. It’s a call for redirection, not retreat. It’s so important to remember why you like creating to begin with. Finding the joy in it again can fix the burnout almost immediately. Burnout isn’t a death sentence to your career, it’s a call from inside the house to turn the temperature down and refocus.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hey, I’m Addison. I’m a sports creative that specializes in social media and photography, and I currently focus on college athletics. I love telling the stories that may not be front and center all the time, and catching emotion in its purest form – joy through the community of sport. I believe there’s a story in every game, match, challenge, and series.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who taught you the most about work?
My dad, easy. He taught me from as early as I can remember that you walk into a room with your head held high, with wild confidence, and shake hands firmly, with eye contact. He taught me that while connections matter, your impact and impression matters more. He also instilled priorities in me and my brothers from a young age by making sure we knew that we came first. At least as far as I can remember, he never missed a theater performance, marching band show, camp recital, or softball game. He works 60+ hours a week most of the time and still makes time to be there for his family, and I’ve never known any different. Because of my dad, I know work is important, but it’s not everything.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering taught me about pushing through until you reach success. No amount of success that I’ve had has ever felt as rewarding as a breakthrough after a rough patch, or a battle with any of the usual demons – depression, imposter syndrome, anxiety, bullying. You can succeed and succeed over and over and feel the joy and motivation that comes from that, but nothing feels as truly gratifying as knowing you pushed through a time meant to break you and came out the other side to see a new opportunity. There’s also the comfort in knowing that suffering or some kind of struggle shows you who really matters in life. As soon as you fall, the people who help you up are the ones who you keep around.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
Calling back to my previous note on burnout – that exhaustion = success. People want you to believe that our industry is meant to thrive on people draining the life out of themselves. That’s just not normal, not sustainable. I’ve had coworkers, supervisors that are just so proud of never taking a day off in their career. They never turn their phones on “do not disturb”, they never, ever put the social media feeds down. Working in sports media, that lifestyle is exhausting. Creative people need time to do nothing, to disconnect. I think one of our biggest lies is that everything is immediately important; at the end of the day, we’re saving .JPEGs, not lives – if an article goes out five minutes past the originally planned time because of whatever slip-up or the internet went out, life will go on. If everything is high-level important, nothing is. As an industry, we need to learn to prioritize, rest sometimes, and teach those coming in to the space that it’s okay to mess up, need a break, or ask for help.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
Definitely born to do. I spent a long time chasing a career I thought I was “supposed” to do. I thought I needed to do something “meaningful” with my life, as if making a career of the thing that sets me on fire wasn’t enough. I pushed down the desire to chase sports media and creative projects, brushed it aside as a hobby, and drug myself kicking and screaming through classes for a career I would have maybe been good at, but struggled immensely in personally. The day I finally decided to pursue creative avenues opened up so many opportunities for me. My only regret was waiting so long to give in to it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://addisonjarecki.myportfolio.com/about-me
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ariley.media/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/addisonjarecki/
- Twitter: https://x.com/jareckiar
Image Credits
Personal Photo: (Eddie Justice/UK Athletics)
Other photos: (Addison Jarecki)
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