Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Vicky Shea. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Vicky, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
It was not easy. Being the youngest of 7 kids with parents with low self-esteem, it only trickled down.
I was never told in high school, by anyone, that I could go to college or that I had much of a future.
My art teacher in high school, however, helped my self esteem and made me believe art was my calling.
My dad told me I could be anything I wanted as long as I worked hard and stayed focused.
I had a boss who was the father of graphic design in San Diego who hired me to design beautiful coffee table history books. He was in a place in his career that he no longer wanted the glory and empowered me to grow, giving me responsibilities, challenges, encouragement, kindness, vision, building my self-esteem more than anyone I have ever encountered, then or now, ever had.
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 had a saying taped to the inside of my locker in high school that said “I have often been broke, but I have never been poor, poverty is a state of mind.” I have no idea who wrote this or where it came from but I know why it was taped there. When I was 5 my family moved from Michigan to Reno. We lived in a tent for an entire summer because we could not afford housing while my parents waited for the house they hoped to buy to be finished being built. All 7 kids shared the tent, my parents slept in the station wagon. Tents blew over, siblings got stung by scorpions. But we had family. I was young so it was a blast. Not so much for my older siblings. My dad would drive the hour to and from town daily for work while my mom took care of us with lumpy oatmeal and powdered milk.
When I moved to Palm Springs right out of high school I took my little portfolio, my art teacher gave me, and applied for a job with an artist, Richard Casey. To my sister Cessie’s surprise, he hired me. She was amazed I had that much confidence to apply. I figured I had nothing to lose.
I worked for Richard for a while when his son wanted to open a studio in San Diego, where I would go with him and paint the paper casting art, Richard had created and had templates for, to match clients furniture and other aspects of their homes. I became good at mixing colors and painting the art.
After a while I realized artist really didn’t make much money, I was 21 and while working I heard an ad on the radio for La Jolla Academy of Adverting Art, and they said they had financial aid. I was shocked. What I could go to school, they would help me pay? This was all new to me.
I went to the school, applied, got students loans and grants and began my 2 year, full time, graphic design program. During which I worked 3 jobs. I got an internship at an ad agency through school, I valet parked and I lived with a family for free rent and helped out with the kids.
Once I graduated, with honors, I got a hired full time from the ad agency I was working at.
After being there a while they were growing and kept hiring people above me. One of the owners told me I did not have much talent and I should be an account executive, “I was cute and could make more money.”
I was angry and hurt. I ended up going to work in-house for a biotech company that was one of our clients. I worked with doctors on their slide presentations and other marketing stuff for the company.
I then moved on to another agency, then in-house at American Council on Exercise, then back to the original agency Mentus. Where I ended up being a production artist, again, no design work.
At that time I was going through a divorce. I was heartbroken and felt like I was a failure.
I moved to Mission Hills in San Diego, signed up for a photography class at the community college where I could photograph and print my own black and white photos. I was so happy to be able to create again. I began photographing hands of friends and the things they loved to do. I created “Coffee Table Hand Book” with the photos and some poetry, then sent out 10 copies a week to different publishers throughout the US. I got rejection letter after rejection letter. I did not give up.
I had always freelanced while I worked at the ad agency, it was a way to make a little extra money. I was doing a logo for a guy and I was telling him about my book idea. He said “Oh, I have a friend who owns a small publishing company here in Del Mar, I can set up a meeting for you.”
He did. I met with Tom Lewis, my mentor and the man who would change my life. He looked at my project and told me it was vanity publishing (self-publishing now) and they did not do that kind of work… but he was hiring. He told me to send him my resume. I did, and he hired me.
I believe you know when you are on your life path. The ad on the radio for graphic design school. The photography class that brought so much joy to my life again. The chance meeting with Tom Lewis.
Life has a way of giving us obstacles and opening up paths. I knew the moment I met Tom I was on my life path.
He believed in me, he challenged me, he was confident in my ability and guiding me to be a much better designer and a thinker, an explorer, a researcher.
Tehabi Books was not a typical publisher, they were a packager, they came up with book ideas and presented them to other publishing houses who would buy them and we would do the work. The books we worked on were beautiful coffee table history books. I did not pay attention to history in school but I had the opportunity now to learn it. I worked on books about the Apollo missions, Pearl Harbor, Lindbergh, which all won Benjamin Franklin design awards. Chicago Blackhawks 75th anniversary, Classic Country music and more. I would get to go on sight and dig through photo archives, set up photoshoots at places like the US Space and Rocket Center and the Arizona Memorial.
I was doing things that most designers at traditional publishers would never have a chance to do. I found most of the images that would go in the book, I worked with one editor who worked with the authors and we would collaborate to create beautiful, meaningful, history books telling incredible stories.
When Tom left Tehabi for retirement things began to change. Then 911 happened and everything in the industry changed. Books usually take about 2 years to come to fruition. The effect of 911 stopped publishing in its tracks. Most publishers were back east, most in NYC.
During this time, my dad was dying from lung cancer. It was a challenging 11 months. I drove back and forth to Palm Springs to be at all of his chemotherapy, it was challenging and heart wrenching. My dad who always wanted to be cremated was telling me he wanted to be buried. I had set up a lawyer for them to draw up a will and all their wishes. When they finished my dad told me I was in charge of almost everything. I was shocked! “Why me, I am the youngest of the 7.” He said “you are the most level-headed.”
I began to apply for other jobs and ended up at a publisher in Irvine. I went from the best job of my life to the worst job. The head of our department was not a nice person and one day in a meeting began yelling at me saying I was stupid. I got up and walked out.
I went home, met with HR the next day and they did absolutely nothing.
After my dad died I started looking for a new job. I applied at Storey Publishing in North Adams, MA. They offered to fly me out for the interview. While waiting at the airport I picked up a book on how to interview. I had had some anxiety in my career and would begin to sweat profusely when in situations where I was the center of attention. This book was perfect timing, I read the whole thing on the plane and into the night at my hotel. I interviewed well, even when they brought in all the editorial staff and designers to ask me questions. I talked about my experience and the work I had done. They were surprised by how much of the projects I carried, that I did so much photo research, photoshoots, press checks in Korea, Japan, Hong Kong.
I was hired.
Four weeks after my dad died I was driving cross country with my mom as my navigator. I was moving from Southern California to Massachusetts. I knew absolutely no one back east. On the drive with my mom I got a call from the publisher that my boss had been fired, but the publisher would be working with me. She said everything would be great. It took 5 days to get there, I had dropped my mom off at one of my brothers in Tupelo Mississippi and picked up the other who drove with me to Albany NY. Once he was out of the car it all hit me. I was a 5 day drive away from my family and friends.
I loved North Adams, the people at Storey, it felt like home to me. I could finally buy a house, which was impossible in San Diego, and got completely out of debt for the first time in my life. From then on I have only had a credit card that I pay off every month. I never carry a balance. Paying that debt off changed my relationship with money. And having a job in a tiny town where my home mortgage was less than a 400 square foot house I rented in San Diego brought so much confidence for me from where I came to where I now was.
In my second year at Storey I went to Reno for my 20 year high school reunion. I reconnected with the first boy I kissed in middle school going into 8th grade. We talked every single night. He flew out one month after the reunion and asked me to marry him. He flew out one month later, and we were married in Vermont. He flew out one month later and drove me and my dog across the country back to my home town, the place I had left 20 years before and said I would never return.
We arrived in Reno on December 14, and on December 15 I started Ponderosa Pine Design. Storey Publishing sent me away with several projects when I left. I had been freelancing for Consumer Reports and a few other clients while there, so those clients came with me to my new business. Since then I have designed hundreds of books for many different publishers across the country.
It feels like there are not too many people I meet that can say they love what they do. I love what I do. Every day. I take pride in the work I have created and the business I have built with the help of some amazing clients who trust me with their projects. Without them I would not be doing what I love.
There have been challenging times where I thought I should work at UPS or take a job for the insurance, 401k, time paid off, but I have managed to continue to do what I love and I am so grateful for that. I have found my identity in what I do.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1. Work hard, stay focused on what you love and continually learn and grow
2. Find what brings you joy and do it
3. Surround yourself with people who encourage you and bring out the best in you and you in them
Keep your heart open to your true life path. Don’t be afraid to journey down a different road when things get challenging. Embrace that moment when you know you are on your life path and just keep going.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
Tom Lewis at Tehabi Books. He believed in me, challenged me, encouraged me and was like a second father to me. He taught me to trust myself, go in confidence, grow with joy, dig deeper when you know there is more if you just continue to look.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ponderosapinedesign.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ponderosapinedesign/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ponderosapinedesign/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vickyshea960/videos
Image Credits
book shelf with some of the books I have designed: photo by me
7 kids family photo as kids: Cesarina Vecchi Vaughn
me at my first graphic design job, circa 1989: Marina Woods
US space and Rocket Center: William Vaughn
black and white image: Peter Horjus
in front of books: Betsy Holt (and some AI to look more professionally dressed)
running photo, Broken Arrow Skyrace (after 2 total knee replacements in 2021 thinking I would never run again): Anastasia Wilde
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
