Design Domination Podcast Episode #194: 10 Surprising Facts About Me

Music: https://www.bensound.com

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I am doing something a bit different. I thought I would share 10 facts about myself.

Now, I’m not one that loves to talk about themselves.

But my audience has grown over the past seven years. I started the podcast in 2018.

So I just thought it would be fun to share some interesting facts about myself. Well, I hope that they’re interesting!

1. Personality

This first one might be the most surprising.

I am an introvert. Even networking events are terribly awkward for me if I don’t know somebody who’s there already.

I know, I know. “But you have a podcast,” people say to me all the time, “so how could you be an introvert?”

Look. When I podcast, I am not talking to anyone in front of me, other than when I am a guest or have a guest on. That’s fine.

I don’t have any issues with that. But the podcast also does not involve talking live on a stage in front of people.

I have done that though. I got up on a stage and talked at two CreativePro events.

I did training at the Department of the Interior. That wasn’t on a stage there, but I was in front of a group of people with 400-some employees watching online.

As a kid, I was even forced to quit dance class, because I couldn’t get up and do the dance shows on stage.

I was even nervous at my wedding, because all eyes would be on me. Would I slip on my dress? Would I trip at the altar? That would be par for the course.

I was even terrified of putting out a podcast. I only did it because a coach suggested I do it.

That was the last thing I would ever have done. That was on my list of three things to never do—public speaking. podcasting and get on a plane again.. The three Ps.

But my coach said he thought I’d be good at it.

I just feared that I would be criticized. Thankfully that has not been the case. But that’s what I grew up with,
so why the heck would I want a public flogging?

2. My Degree

Number 2 has to do with my college degree.

My college degree is not in graphic design, which might surprise you. It’s actually in foreign languages.

As a kid, I was very artistic, and at the age of 10, we got our first computer. I really liked working on that. I could program in DOS and stuff.

So I decided that it would be a good idea to study graphic design in college. However, in my sophomore year of high school, a “misguidance” counselor advised me to take French instead of Spanish, because that all the artists  are French.

I was taking Spanish for the language requirement at the time, and I loved it.

She said all the artists were French, so that would help me with my art career. Funny, because my favorite artists at that time were Dalí and Miró.

I didn’t want to give up Spanish, though, so I just added French.

Then I decided to double major—get a BFA in graphic design and a B.A. in foreign languages.

So I studied graphic design and Spanish and French for all four years in college.

I went home to do interviews for graphic design jobs my senior year. I ended up getting a job that I started the first work day after graduating.

I graduated on Memorial Day weekend, and I went to work on Tuesday. I didn’t have any kind of a break. I went straight from college to work—well, straight from college to my party and then to work.

I never finished my design degree. I still had two advanced graphic design classes that I had to take, that I would have had to stay another year for, since they had to be taken consecutively.

For those, I would have had to stay another year, because they had to be taken consecutively—so one
advanced graphic design course and then another advanced graphic design course again.

But since I decided to take that job, because I wanted to do graphic design for a living, I left college with 172 credits or something and then my one degree in foreign languages.

Ironically, my degree never mattered, even when graphic design job posts said they required a graphic design degree.

3. My Favorite Subject in School

Speaking of school, this leads me to the third fact…

My favorite subject in grade school was phonics. Well, phonics and diagraming sentences.

I’m sure you’re like “Oh, gag. What is that and who does that? Who would like that?” But hear me out.

You remember 90s supermodel Linda Evangelista? She allegedly made a comment that she wouldn’t get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day. Well, I wouldn’t raise my hand in class unless it was about diagramming sentences.

I was so intimidated to get up and go up to the chalkboard or to get called on to answer questions. I was bullied in school.

I did not want to engage. I did well in school. I just didn’t want to engage in class or anything.

The only time I enjoyed getting up to go to the blackboard was in eighth grade English class for diagramming sentences.

Super geeky, right?!

I never thought I’d ever see anything to do with diagramming sentences ever again. Imagine my surprise, when in college I go to take a linguistics class for my foreign language degree, and we’re diagramming sentences!

I was one of the only students in the class who had even heard of such a thing. This time, though, diagramming sentences was done differently. It wasn’t horizontal anymore, with the vertical line and the slanted line. It was vertical, like a tree, with a circle at the top.

I still loved it. I also think that knowing how to diagram sentences, because you have to understand parts of speech, helped me to learn other languages.

4. Other Jobs

The fourth interesting fact has to do with other jobs that I’ve had.

I had a lot of other jobs before getting into my career. When I was a kid (I think I started at the age of 10), I had a babysitting business. I was busy all the time.

When I was a teenager, I worked in retail for a bit.

I worked at KFC. I worked in an immigration law firm for seven years—after high school and then when I came home for breaks in college.

5. A Famous Relative

This next one has to do with a famous relative.

If you’re a fan of REO Speedwagon, you may or may not have noticed that one member shares the same last name as mine.

I am related to Alan Gratzer, founding member and drummer of REO Speedwagon.

He and my father are cousins. When I was in grade school, he sent us autographed records, and I would take them into school for show and tell.

So that’s pretty cool.

6. Travel

The sixth fact has to do with travel.

I love to travel, but I have a paralyzing fear of flying. I have flown before, a few times. But that last time was more than 20 years ago.

In fact, my fear of flying is so bad that every time I interviewed for a job after college, I would ask about the travel requirements.

I would kind of get a funny look, like why would that be an issue. Most people want to travel, and they don’t have a problem with flying.

If a job required flying, I just wouldn’t take it.

At my first job out of college, every year, we put on a conference in a different city.

When I started the job, most of the staff was already away at the conference. So, thankfully, I had just missed that conference!

The next year it was in Minneapolis. I was forced to go. I didn’t have to fly. They would have paid for me to take a train. But that just seemed like, how is that going to all work?

I remember every moment of that flight.

I’m sure my co-workers still do to this day. We’re still friends, and I’m sure they still remember it.

Several of my coworkers and I booked the same flight. No one else was scared of flying, other than my one friend who would get nervous if someone else did—meaning me!

I had brought this huge 20-pound box of magazines. (I don’t know what it weighed! It was way too heavy to be carrying around the airport.

I brought these magazines to help distract me during the flight. Not a chance!

At one point, the nervous friend offered me something because I was freaking out—just to them, not the rest of the people on the plane. This was before 9/11, by the way.

Nowadays, you’d probably get taken off the plane, I guess if you freaked out.

I normally would not take medication from someone, but I was so scared that I did.

I remember another coworker asking if I wanted breakfast, because the flight attendants were getting ready to bring out food.

I remember talking funny, like I couldn’t totally move my tongue or my mouth. I could get words out. They understood what I was saying, but, and I did feel more relaxed. I wasn’t totally intelligible when I was speaking. It was harder to understand.

I was kind of relaxed. But I was still freaked out enough that my nervous friend decided to get away from me and go to the back of the plane, so she would not get more freaked out.

When we landed, I told everyone, “Wow, I think I could do this again. I think I’ve gotten over my fear.” They just laughed and rolled their eyes.

I really liked that job, but I had to quit before the next conference, which was being held in San Diego. No way was I going to be able to make that flight all the way across the country!

It wasn’t until six years later, when my husband and I were flying to Mexico for our honeymoon that he got to experience the fun of flying with me firsthand. I had told him the story of the work trip to Minnesota.

Luckily, a doctor, had prescribed some Xanax for me. He said to take the night before, take it again the morning of and take it when the plane takes off.

I got on that plane. I did all this stuff to the tee.

I started on my laptop to watch a DVD… This was in the early 2000s, OK, give me a break, LOL.

I just went to sleep. I woke up to us getting ready to land.

Now, on the flight home, it was a totally different story. The prescription plan did not work out for me so well, and we had rain. Then there was turbulence that, to me, was terrifying, like, oh, my God, the plane’s going to fall right out of the sky.

My husband reassured me it was nothing. He had dealt with much worse. This was nothing.

I’m like, why is nobody else freaking out and panicking? It’s just me.

Suffice to say, I have never made it across the country, so I most certainly have never flown across the pond either.

I have traveled up and down the east coast, other than to Maine, by car, and, as I mentioned, to Minneapolis and to Mexico. I have taken a cruise to Mexico too.

7. Logo Design

The next fact has to do with logo design.

You may have heard me rant about this before on the podcast, but I hate logo design.

I know most designers are cringing right now. Shock, horror. How could you be a designer and hate logo design?

Listen… I’ve designed plenty of logos, but everyone (meaning clients) thinks they are a designer. They want everyone around them to have input regardless of your process and trying to enforce it, trying to keep them reigned in.

I am not interested in entertaining design by committee. But I also don’t love designing logos.

I even paid another designer to design a logo for an animal rescue podcast I want to start someday. I had no interest in designing it myself.

A couple of times years and years and years ago, I even gave a client some of their money back, because it got too painful to even continue the process.

I would rather do magazine design and page layout all day long free of charge than work on another logo design ever again!

8. Pets

The next one has to do with pets.

My husband and I have two senior dogs. We have rescued eight dogs over the years. We adopt older dogs, dogs with issues or black dogs, which are less likely to be adopted.

I don’t know if you knew that. But that’s a shelter animal fact—that black
pets are less likely to be adopted. Apparently, they don’t photograph as well, so they don’t show as well.

Two years ago, we got 11 chicks from Tractor Supply. Our chickens have their own YouTube channel, Chickenanigans.

That’s when they were really young, cute and everything, and the rooster wasn’t attacking. I haven’t updated it in a while.

I have some great videos I need to add of the first egg being born, which was completely crazy. I mean, talk about chicken drama—to the highest!

Unfortunately, we just lost our first chicken a few weeks ago, which was really, really upsetting. She died on the way to the emergency vet, which was an hour and a half drive. So that really sucked. It was really sad.

9. TV Shows and Movies

When it comes to TV shows and movies, I almost hate to admit it, but I’m a huge Real Housewives fan.

I also watch Days of Our Lives. I usually binge watch these shows while cleaning or baking cookies or something.

When it comes to movies, I am a huge fan of the Fast & Furious series. I was in the theater opening night for the first one. I also had a ’98 Eclipse at the time.

For what it’s worth, I had the car before the movie came out. I didn’t buy it because of the movie.

But I did think it was really cool that Paul Walker was driving an Eclipse RS, and that’s the same model that I had, and it was the same year. I think so…

That was the entry model. But mine was a fully loaded RS.

So I was really excited about that, because that was my first car, and I didn’t even buy it until like I was six months out of college.

10. Accessibility

The last fact about me, which may or may not be surprising, is that when I first got into accessibility, which was back in 2016, it was totally by accident.

I had never even heard of it. I didn’t understand what it was. I didn’t know anything. I was recruited into it.

I also wanted to share this fact, though, because some designers get into accessibility and they say, “Well, I don’t know everything, so how can I possibly charge for it, or how can I offer this as a service?”

To which I say… I didn’t know everything either. I still don’t! No one does. You just keep learning. And I bet you didn’t know everything about business or web design or graphic design either! Am I right?

So do you connect with any of these facts that I shared? Or were any of them surprising? Let me know in a comment.