after being “temporarily” layed off from the sun herald, i regrouped and got a job with a small printer in ocean springs, mississippi just down the road from gulfport. there i was the graphic designer and the owner sold his services based on that he had a graphic designer on staff which was unheard of at the time. no printer had graphic designers on staff. that was a dead end job with no future, so i gave notice and moved back home to my parents to regroup again.
regrouping was a time to stop and think about who i am, who do i want to be and where am i going next. a time to stand tall and show the world who i am with a determined mentality of there are no rules. what i mean by that is in looking for a job and showing the world who you are there are no rules. do anything possible to make it happen. show your portfolio even to people that don’t have an opening. practise on them and then ask how was i? learn from them. you never know what’s going to happen next. they may know someone or suddenly have a need.
i remember one time in downtown richmond i was wondering around in my suit with my portfolio in hand and i walked into a government building. i was looking at a bulletin board and there was an open door just behind me. i overheard a person talking to someone on the phone about a printing job. so when the person hung up the phone, i peered in and introduced myself, yes definiately it was odd, but i made a contact that day and gave them my card. i would ask for people to refer me and i didn’t even know them…funny, only one perosn out of the many said “how can i refer you when i don’t even know you?” i was taken off guard by that response. i remember that person and company to this day. there are no rules…you make the rules.
oops, i guess from here you are wondering how i got from mississippi to richmond virginia, well that’s not in the beginning any more that’s “in the middle – part one”