The Square Life

When I was 15 years old, my family visited Vermont with a stop at the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory in Waterbury. I was already a fan of the ice cream, but after a factory tour, I had found my dream job – quality assurance. I wanted to be an ice cream taste tester, checking the product’s consistency and taste.

Years later, my dream job is still a dream. And I’ve been thinking about how dream jobs become reality. Over the past month, I spoke with six professionals – all in different industries, all with different passions. Each of their stories is individual, but one common thread unites them – they are working at a job they love.

NATALIE HILL

ACTRESS - Broadway New York City, NY

When Natalie Hill was 11 years old, she traveled to New York City with her dad. “I want to be on Broadway some day,” she told him. Now almost 15 years later, she is. The Utah native made her Broadway debut in August 2007 as Cha Cha DiGregorio in the musical Grease.

How’d she do it? Years of hard work and persistence, she says. Natalie’s career began locally with the Provo Theatre Company, along with a few film and TV roles. At age 18, she began studying music at New York University.

From there, Natalie continued to get as much training and experience as she could. She auditioned all over the country landing parts in musicals in Las Vegas, Chicago, and Miami.

She also joined the touring casts of Hairspray and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

“In this business there’s more rejection than getting the part,” Natalie says. “You can’t take it personal. I had to be persistent if I wanted to succeed.”

After six weeks of rehearsals, each lasting 8-12 hours, Natalie stood on a Broadway stage in front of a full house. “It’s a pretty wild feeling,” she recalls. “I love that I’m doing something I’ve always dreamed about.”

photo by Nicole Hill

PARKER JACOBS

ANIMATION ARTS DIRECTOR - Yo Gabba Gabba! Los Angeles, CA

Parker Jacobs has always been interested in design and cartoons. He didn’t have the patience to pursue animation, but he did take an Adobe Illustrator class at Dixie College in St. George, Utah.

With that one design class, Parker began designing fliers, T-shirts, and album covers. He joined the band, The Aquabats, and then worked for friend Paul Frank as a designer. But Parker had something else up his sleeve.

“It was a huge leap of faith to leave Paul Frank for my own project,” Parker shares. “But I wanted to see the idea through.

After years of plotting and creating, Parker, his brother Christian and a few of their friends had developed a children’s TV show. Borrowing some investment money from friends and family, the group filmed their own pilot series and sent the tapes to production companies and networks.

Initially, the group’s efforts went no where. But after posting the episodes on their web site and then on YouTube, their show became an Internet sensation.
Nickelodeon picked up the idea and Yo Gabba Gabba! was unveiled. Now Parker is the show’s animation arts director and one of the character designers.

“I love making something and seeing it come to life,” he says. “I love knowing our show is affecting people for the better.”

JOSH FRITZ

CREATIVE ASSOCIATE - Kunoichi Chicago, IL

As a student at BYU, Josh Fritz didn’t know what he wanted to do when he grew up. He had several declared majors before graduating with a degree in Spanish Translation and Latin American Studies.

After graduation, Josh stayed in Provo and became a schoolteacher. Teaching wasn’t exactly the career that Josh envisioned; he pictured himself in the world of comic books.

“I love comic books. But I didn’t know how to get into that industry,” he says. “Then one day I decided--why not give it a try?”

After this epiphany, Josh and his pregnant wife Mo packed their bags and moved to Chicago. “It was a risky decision,” he says. “But I wanted the chance to pursue my first love.”

After starting an editorial job and interning for a local comic book publisher for nine months, Josh landed his dream job with Kunoichi, a creative services company. Now he’s a senior creative associate, creating fictional worlds for a variety of Hasbro toys and comic book characters.

For those who want to find their dream job, Josh shares, “Figure out what you’re interested in and pursue it, even if it seems silly. You never know where you’ll land.”

photo by Mo Fritz

JUSTIN CLAYTON

ARTIST - justinspaintings.com Austin, TX

Justin Clayton was living in Los Angeles working on video game animation when he took his first traditional oil painting class. “I’ve always been interested in art and wanted to learn a new technique,” he says.

Justin graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in animation. But creating art with computers wasn’t as fulfilling as he had hoped. “I discovered through my art class that I love working with my hands, mixing paint, creating something unique and original,” he says. What started out as a new hobby became Justin’s full-time profession.

Leaving the video game industry to be an artist was a huge decision for Justin. “Art doesn’t pay as well as video games,” he says. “But I really enjoy what I’m doing. Even hard days aren’t as bad as an office job.”

Despite the hard days, the artist says his job has many perks. Justin works for himself, sets his own hours, and determines what projects he’ll do.

Justin displays his artwork on his web site and by uses the Internet as an art gallery. “I’m ready to create a gallery exhibit with larger works,” he says.

photo by Natalie Clayton

AMBER FURST

ASSOCIATE EDITOR - Modern Bride New York City, NY

Amber Furst was looking for her first job. She graduated from BYU with a degree in journalism and wanted to work in publishing. After a lead from a family friend, Amber flew to Los Angeles for an interview with the magazine publishing company, Condé Nast. Her interview went well; however, the LA office didn’t have any openings but suggested she try the New York office.

“I didn’t think anything would happen in New York,” Amber recalls. “But what did I have to lose?”

Amber interviewed in New York and was offered a position in Condé Nast’s rover program. The program hires 8-9 people to rotate through different departments at each of the company’s magazines.

After six months in the program, Amber was hired to work for Modern Bride. Now she is an associate editor of the Lifestyles and Receptions sections for Modern Bride. “I have always wanted to be a magazine editor,” she says. “I love that I’m actually working at my dream job.”

Amber’s responsible for bringing new ideas to her sections. She looks for creative do-it-yourself ideas or non-traditional items to use at weddings, which includes time at her desk and outside the office.

“I love having the freedom to be creative and not to be tied to my desk all day,” she says.

photo by Diane Cannon

DAVE COOK

MARKETING DIRECTOR - thefind.com Mountain View, CA

With just five years of work experience under his belt, Dave Cook found himself with a job offer as director of marketing at a new internet start-up, thefind.com, an online search engine that scours online stores to find products, branding, and styles in a user’s search.

“I like working for a young startup,” he says. “The company is small, but it’s a chance for me to build something that I hope is only going to get bigger and more successful.”

Dave graduated from BYU with a degree in Communications and then moved to Los Angeles looking for work.

“I had several internships while I was in college, which gave me relevant job experience when looking for a job,” says Dave. “I’d recommend to all students getting as much work experience as you can while in school.”

After two years as an online marketing specialist, Dave landed a job with buy.com, working on search engine optimization with a $1-million budget.

His boss left buy.com for thefind.com and asked Dave to come with her. He was excited for a new opportunity and role.

“Don’t be afraid to grow into a job,” he says. “Believe in yourself and have the confidence to put yourself out on a limb for something you want.”