Why I Left Consulting to Start My Own Studio

My life took an unexpected turn in the summer of 2017. Back then, I was deep in the grind of New York City, working at a big consulting firm. At this point my job was strategy oriented, with emphasis on analytical certainty and no room for imagination. I worked on the Digital Acceleration team and I came up with the plans for helping people adopt new types of technologies, reimagine processes, and navigate culture shifts. The rigidity of consulting favored the safest, most proven solutions and yet my job was all about evolution. The compromises were mind numbing and I had all this passion for creativity with nowhere to put it.

In 2016, our firm had acquired two design studios and I jumped on the chance to set up workshops at their studios in Stockholm, Singapore, and San Francisco. The Stockholm design studio was beautifully situated in a renovated church by a lake outside the city. When we arrived, the team welcomed us in as if it were their home and we settled into a sunny room off the kitchen. I’d planned to hustle on some work from my laptop in a corner before the session started, but instead we sat together and happily chatted about life in the studio. They shared stories of building a public bus prototype in their basement and swimming in the lake to ease the pressure of the work. This studio’s work was world-altering and award-winning, but there was room for exploration and it was understood that innovation demanded novel, imaginative ideas. Seeing this with my own two eyes changed me at an atomic level.

As I continued to move forward in my career, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I was on the wrong path. I contemplated starting my own business for awhile but not before going deeper in design and innovation at an AI product company in 2018. My frustration grew until finally, my fear that my life’s work would be helping corporations get richer overcame my fear of failing if I went out on my own.

The world doesn't need more sterile corporate ideas or the performance of design. The world needs more beauty, fewer things begging for our attention, and more products and services that we cherish. Within seconds of making the decision to start Bold Type, a steady sense of calm washed over me. It's been a humbling process to also learn how to be a small business owner, but the work we do with every new client is ten times as satisfying as anything I did before Bold Type. I'm proud of what we’re building, how we aren’t afraid to break convention, and that our work kicks revenue ass for clients in real neighborhoods. Does anyone know of any renovated churches for sale by a lake?