We had the good fortune of connecting with Cassie Daley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cassie, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
My work / life balance is constantly changing, and constantly evolving! It can be really difficult to find a way to juggle the two, and I’ve been guilty in the past of ignoring my basic human needs in order to finish a project when focused. Doing so usually leads to burnout, which is a tough thing every creative person has to deal with.

I tend to have a difficult time relaxing when I have work hanging over my head, so I like to set a specific time frame for working and making a task list to go with the day’s hours. This helps keep me on track, and also allows me to really feel “off” when I’m done working — something that can be really hard to do when you work for yourself!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve always loved drawing and making art – when I was a kid, my mom worked as a waitress for long hours and would sometimes bring me with her for a shift. I’d sit at a booth and draw these funny little “muscle men” and then walk around the store, asking dining patrons if they wanted to buy the drawing for a quarter. In retrospect, it’s probably not the approach I’d take today, but I was a very audacious child!

As an adult, I worked a lot of various jobs over the years – everything from in a gym daycare to lead generation for various sales companies to project management. I’ve worked part-time, full time, earned minimum wage, earned a decent salary – none of it really made me happy or felt like the thing I wanted to do forever. I worked so much that I didn’t have time for much else, juggling literally 5 jobs at one point – it was rough, but not fulfilling at all.

When the pandemic started, a bunch of my jobs closed because of the quarantine. I got back into making art, and when I started sharing it online, I realized people liked it and wanted to have it in their homes. Because of the lack of income elsewhere, I was kind of forced into starting my little online shop, which was pretty serendipitous since I probably wouldn’t have had the time or energy to if my jobs had continued the way they were.

I’m still shocked by how supportive people have been! I opened my commissions, started working with authors and publisher on book covers & merch, and have even written & illustrated my own children’s book and 5 full coloring books! I’m a huge fan of things that are both very bright and also a little creepy, so I tend to draw a lot of super colorful things within the horror genre! Cute ghosts inside houses decorated with pop culture references and quirky furniture, horror movie final girls in a vintage comic book style, demon girls with rainbow backgrounds – I just draw the stuff I like to see, and hope that other people might enjoy looking at it, too!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Thanks to all the people that support me & share my love of the intersection between “spooky” and “cute”!

Website: ctrlaltcassie.com

Instagram: instagram.com/ctrlaltcassie

Twitter: twitter.com/ctrlaltcassie

Youtube: youtube.com/@ctrlaltcassie

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutMiami is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.