Finding Creative Opportunity Close to Home
When I was getting ready to graduate from the University of Northern Iowa with a degree in graphic design, I assumed starting my career would mean moving to a big city. I didn’t realize how much opportunity could exist right here in rural Iowa.
My first connection to Emerge actually came through my dad. He attended an event Shelly hosted for small business owners at the Audubon Rec Center and told me about Emerge. As it happened, Shelly was getting ready to hire a graphic designer just as I was preparing to graduate. The timing couldn’t have been better! (It always seems to work out this way!)
Nearly five years later, I’m still here, and my role has grown alongside Emerge.
I started as a Graphic Designer, working on everything from logos and brands to digital ads, and print materials. Today, I serve as Creative Director. Because we’re a small team, my work can still look different every day. I might be developing a brand concept, providing creative direction, communicating with a client, helping manage a project, posting to social media, or working through ways we can improve Emerge internally.
That variety is one of the things I’ve loved about working at Emerge. I’m never designing for just one brand or doing the same thing every day. I get to learn about different businesses, industries, communities, and organizations and find creative ways to help tell their stories and promote them through marketing.
My favorite projects are the ones where I get to be part of a brand from the very beginning. I love those initial client conversations, concepting and sketching ideas, then seeing everything come together through a website, catalog, or other finished piece. And in the digital age we live in, there’s nothing like holding a finished print piece in your hands! (Some examples include Heuss Distributing catalog, Northwestern Mutual financial guide, and the Hostetler Precision Ag catalog rebrand.)
One project that will always stand out is the Audubon Rec Center website, which was the first website I designed at Emerge. The Rec Center means a lot to me and is an important part of my hometown, so getting to work on that project felt very full circle.
That connection to home has become an important part of what Emerge means to me.
To me “emerge” means to step outside your comfort zone and go the extra mile, but I also think it means learning to be where your feet are. It’s recognizing the opportunities to make an impact right where you are, whether that’s within your family, your community, your region, or your state.
That’s something I’ve experienced personally. Working remotely allowed my husband and me to live in several different places before eventually returning home to Audubon. I’ve also been able to pursue my own business and other ventures outside of work with encouragement and support from Shelly and the Emerge team – something I know may not have been possible at a large corporation or firm and something I am grateful for.
What sets Emerge apart is our willingness to do what is truly best for the client. If you talk to Shelly for even a few minutes, you’ll see the passion behind everything she does. That passion carries through our team and sets the tone for how we approach our work. Whether it’s a strategy session, a website, a video shoot, or an initial client meeting, we look at the business and project from a holistic perspective rather than focusing only on a one-off tactic. We genuinely care about the final product, how it represents the client, and how it will serve their business long-term.
As we celebrate 10 years, I’m excited about the team we’ve built, the processes we continue to strengthen, having fun together, and what all of that will allow us to do next.
Shelly often says that everything happens for a reason. The right people cross our paths, the right clients find us, and new opportunities seem to appear when we’re ready for them, and I’m excited to see how we all “emerge” from this decade of Emerge into the next!
– Claire
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