I was born at a very young age.

Yeah, I hear you. Groan. I’ve loved that line since I first heard it. Some of my classmates called me The Pun-isher… because I love really bad wordplay and will force it upon anyone in earshot.

But seriously…

Graphic designer by trade, obviously. Spent some years as a graphic artist at one of the top marketing agencies back in my hometown. When circumstances arose that put a relocation to the greater opportunities of Toronto, I took the trip and found myself in a new role as in-house designer. Still at that “new role in Toronto”, but as someone recently described it, I’m a lot more than just a designer. I’ve learned so much about the glove business that I will often offer up some services to the staff closer to product management, and as upper management brought in a new marketing team, I’ve had the chance to do some flexing with these folks too.

But, as I like to say to people at Midas… “Safety gloves is your industry… mine is design… and I just happen to be servicing the safety glove industry at the moment”. I’m sure the distinction is clear.

Certainly there are not always opportunities to flex creative muscles where I’m at now. There’s a lot of rote work that needs to be done – leaflet launch for the quarter, another set of gloves to photograph, another set of collaterals for a new Ninja market, so on and so forth. That’s why I’m glad that I’ve not only got some outside interests, but I’ve also maintained a relationship with the Big Brothers Big Sisters agency back in Sudbury.

They’ve actually given me some opportunities to have some design fun. The bowling balls. The “survivor” fundraisers. It’s been a great outlet for me to play with some more design ideas. From time to time I get freelance requests. Never know what those ones will have you doing.

And then there’s “the merch”. That one’s really turning into an opportunity to play. Cause really, the sky’s the limit. Sure, it’s all spec work… I’m doing all this stuff with no guarantee that anyone’s ever going to buy any of it. But, you know, it’s on me to get it out there and in front of people to try and kickstart those sales. Really, done right, it’s the summation of everything I should have learned in the industry over the years… and that’s pretty cool. The opportunity’s mine for the making.

Of course, I’ve got got other interests on the go too. I’ve got a screenplay started, and some guitars that need playing. Will those guitars remember me after all this time?

Of course they will.

Cause rock and roll never forgets.