We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Catherine Chooljian a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Catherine, 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.
In all honesty, I don’t think this is something that ever truly goes away. Veterans in the industry still talk about struggling with impostor syndrome, despite sometimes decade long careers and a slew of accomplishments. I wouldn’t quite say that I’ve “overcome” impostor syndrome – more like I’m living with my diagnosis.
To me, the root of impostor syndrome is this: most people, especially women and other minorities, are terrified of admitting to any lack of knowledge for fear of being deemed incompetent. But the thing is, nobody enters any position with absolute knowledge, veteran or not. In all likelihood, the question you have is a question many people have asked before you. Ask the question and you’re a fool for a minute; never ask it, and you’re a fool forever.
Existing as a human being is mortifying. Everyone knows this. Ask the stupid questions, and try to content yourself with the knowledge that everyone else is also grappling with the terrifying ordeal of being alive and in a position of responsibility. You’re in this room for a reason, and you’re not alone in your fears.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m an animator – for games, virtual reality, and most recently feature film. I got my start in fine art doing portraiture, which I still keep up with, and transitioned to 3D Animation in college. Like a lot of animators, my career path has been very nonlinear – I’ve done virtual reality music videos, medical illustration, and even spent a year or so in tech and animatronics.
Animation in general is an exciting field because of the sheer variety of work you can apply your skills to, and the high visibility of a lot of that work. I’ve been fortunate enough to work on projects that reached a lot of people, and getting a gigantic public response to something you worked on – even if only in a small capacity – is wonderful. It’s also been my experience that the people in the animation industry are some of the kindest and most helpful I’ve ever met. A lot of this is, I think, due to the collaborative nature of the industry; so many different skill sets are necessary in something like film or games, and we’re required to lean heavily on each other in order to pull out a final product. There’s competition, sure, but there’s also an overwhelming sense of camaraderie that supersedes it. It’s a fantastic industry and I feel fortunate to be part of it.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I think the most important thing for anyone in any artistic venture is flexibility. At the beginning of my career, I had one rule: say yes. I stuck to it, and I’ve had a lot of odd jobs in my career which helped me down the line in ways I could never have predicted. You never know which connections, skills, or jobs are going to be important later, so when you can, keep saying yes.
Another thing I think is incredibly important is grit. You’re going to hear no a lot more than you’ll hear yes, and you need to be able to take the criticism, improve, and keep moving. Sometimes that requires an especially strong constitution. Cultivate your emotional resilience, keep consistent, and continue to work on your skills and yourself – if you keep trying and keep reaching out to others, it’ll happen for you.
The last thing is slightly more specific to my industry: diversify your skills. Many of the jobs I’ve taken have been offered to me because of my experience as a generalist and my combination of technical and artistic backgrounds. If you really want to stand out in this extremely competitive field, you need to be able to offer more than just animation skill – pick something to complement it. Rigging, lighting, scripting, simulation – choose something secondary that also interests you and cultivate that skill as well. You will immediately be more appealing to studios, especially the smaller ones who need switch hitters.
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
If I knew I had only a decade of life left, I’d try to experience whatever I could – travel, new art forms, time with family, etc. I’d also stop thinking long term about my career and just make stuff I wanted to make, instead of seeking out larger opportunities. I think as an artist it’s important to have a life outside of your art to inform your work, and I’d try to make that life as exciting and full of love as possible and leave something behind I could be proud of.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.CatherineChooljian.com
- Instagram: cooljeansart
- Linkedin: LinkedIn.com/in/CatherineChooljian
