Do you have a portfolio of work? When you have ideas or create work, do you share it with others?
It’s probably one of the most important actions you can take if you want to become self-employed as you’ll soon learn from Andy Rash.
He’s worked on his own as a freelance illustrator since leaving school at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
He got his first big break providing an illustration for a New York Times book review (see illustration below).
Since then his work has appeared in the pages of national publications across the spectrum including The Washington Post, Fortune, Entertainment Weekly, Men’s Health and The Wall Street Journal.
He’s also the author of 4 children’s books and has illustrated several more for other authors.
Few lessons worth highlighting from our conversation include:
- How not having a Plan B shaped Andy’s career decisions.
- Why he preferred freelancing over full-time employment.
- Importance of building and sharing your portfolio of work no matter what field you are in.
Life Skills That Matter In This Episode
- Being curious.
- Create and experiment.
How Andy Works and Thinks
- Wake up time: 7 – 7:15 am
- Core work activities + habits: 1) Reads a lot before writing something 2) Goes to the library and sits in the picture books section for hours.
- Ideal work environment: Either working in complete silence or listening to music while working.
- Definition of success: Being proud of the works that he created and sharing them with people.
- Person he would like to meet: Brad Bird
- Regains focus by: Visiting a museum or flip through magazines.
- 90-day goal: Completing a new picture book.
Inspirational Quotes
“Creating stuff is what I want to do with my time and that I can make a living at it is still astonishing to me.”
“If you are presented with an opportunity that makes you feel in over your head, take it. You’ll figure it out.”
Coaching Advice
Here is some advice from Andy on how to build or improve your portfolio of work:
Gather examples of your work that is your signature. What do you want people to remember about your work?
Resources + Bonus Materials
Andy’s first illustration publish by The New York Times.
Children’s book Andy wrote as his senior project and shopped around to publishers in New York City.