Kelly Wight

How did you pick your career? Did you know all along?

I picked a great career, but changed my mind after nine years, and that's OK! I took a lot of studio art classes in high school and my family and teachers started recognizing my talent. This encouraged me to pile on more art classes and finding an "escape" through my drawing, painting and photography. When deciding what major I wanted to pursue in college, I looked at all art-based career options and felt like graphic design would use my skills but also incorporate technology. I continued to take studio art classes while concentrating in graphic design, graduated, and found my first design job creating ads for a newspaper. After changing jobs a few times in my first few years, I ended up at a financial firm doing design and marketing. I've not been there for seven years. In those first few years, I got involved in volunteering and various charitable and sustainable efforts. I found a new passion in these things and decided to do a lot of research and start networking with people who focused on these things. I continued to be more involved with sustainability at my job and ultimately, a job opened up and I took a leap of faith and interviewed for it! I've been lucky to be at a firm that supported my career transition, knowing that I still had a lot to learn. I feel like I'm on an exciting new path now, am learning something new every day, and look forward to being able to make a lasting impact on people and the planet.

Did anyone ever oppose your career plans when you were young or push you in a direction you did not want to go?

Absolutely! I had family friends tell me that the job market was tough for designers, or I wouldn't make much money. Thankfully I had supportive parents, but when I told them I wanted to go to school for "art", I certainly think there was a little disappointment. I had gotten straight A's in school, graduated at the top of my class, and still didn't go to school for business, medicine, or any of the other "high paying jobs". I didn't care, I did my research and was comfortable with my prospects. One thing I am very grateful for to this day is that my dad sat down with me and we discussed the costs of various colleges in comparison to my potential salary as a designer, and we made the choice that I would go to a local public university where I had gotten a scholarship instead of having over $200K in student loans for the private schools I was originally considering! That's one thing I advise anyone going into college to consider... speak with someone about finances. Student loans are a huge crisis in our country and you want to make the best decision you can make for yourself.