For this month’s team journal, we are talking with 3 of our team members about where it all began for them – where did they first find their passion for marketing & creative branding? We hope you enjoy their answers!

I discovered my passion for marketing & communications  in sixth grade. Our class participated in a advertising contest with a local non profit – Moms Against Drunk Driving. The challenge was to design a poster to communicate and raise awareness about the dangers of drunk driving.  
What I loved about it was the process of thinking through who will see the message, what the message should include and how the image ties it all together. I’m not an artist so I spent time coming up with a concise message:  Drunk Driving Shatters Your World (yes, I still remember this detail…lol!) and then drew a globe with a shattered wine glass on top of it. Clearly a career in graphic design was not in my future. But marketing strategy and communications was my sweet spot. 

Limited design talent aside, the judges picked me to the top 5 – and my mom and I attended a banquet where they celebrated us and eventually picked the grand prize winner. While I didn’t win the grand prize, I discovered my life’s passion and have been pursuing it ever since. 
-Heather, Chief Operating Officer 

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I’ve always had a love for creativity and beauty but also have a personality that’s geared toward organization and practicality. As I left high school and thought about what was next, I decided to pair a graphic design major with a business minor.  I think the reason I love what I do is because I view marketing and branding as a sort of orderly creative expression. It takes strategy and understanding and pairs it with visuals and a creative process to create a really satisfying result. 
-Lindsay, Project Manager

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Rooted deep inside me from a young age I can remember I would walk into a business with friendly faces, and a great product and think to myself – “if only they had the correct tools to succeed”, “If only they knew how to make their store front welcoming/appealing”, “If they could just add this, or do this I could see their (fill in the blank) booming” I think deep down I am naturally wired to see the world from an angle of …how can I make it more beautiful, how can I see wonderful people flourish? I would often spend time daydreaming of how their business could or should be. (Wish I could go back and see what my teenage self was envisioning ;) Choosing a career where I can work and live this out everyday was the most thrilling idea to me and I love the opportunity to work alongside the Char Co team to bring clients goals, hopes and desires into a very tangible reality. 
-Cherish, Social Strategist

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We hope you enjoyed hearing from our team and getting to know us a little better! Comment below to let us know what you’d love to hear from us for future journals!