Meet Kaeli Hammer | Junior Art Director & Photographer

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

Hi Kaeli, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
Thank you for the interview! I am excited to chat about my experience and journey as a creative, designer and young professional. You are always told about work/life balance being important while in school. While you are told it is important, it can also sometimes feel impossible. Today the “hustle” culture is extremely prominent with everyone being told they should always have side hustles or in order to move up in your career you must prioritize work before anything else.

I took on many internships during college – a total of 6 in 3 semesters. It was a lot of hard work, but it also rewarded me in the end with a full-time job when I graduated May of 2020. I was one of the only people I knew that graduated with a full-time job that was exactly what I wanted to do. COVID messed up a lot of people’s plans for postgrad, but I believe that my hustle during college is what set me up for postgrad and it got me to where I am today.

My balance in the last 6 months has really changed. I used to do too much. I have my full-time job, but on top of that I babysit, freelance, pet sit, photography, cat foster, Director of Marketing for a start-up (The Sorority Swap), and I was the Education Director for the Ad 2 Tampa Bay chapter. It was a lot doing everything and on top of having a social life. This year I have taken a step back from many of my extracurriculars and participate in them when I have the time and energy. I want to prioritize my friendships and traveling as that is what brings me a lot of joy, while still being involved with these other things that help me hustle or give me purpose.

It is really important to put yourself first, and if you need to take a step back from things that are bringing you more stress than joy – that is okay.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
The main thing that I love about being a graphic designer is that it’s SO fun. I truly enjoy what I do and I love that everyday I get to do something creative. I think it is really special that designers tend to overall truly love their jobs and always have a creative outlet.

As I answered previously, I worked a lot in college to set myself up for success. I studied abroad at ELISAVA Barcelona School of Design and Engineering in the fall of 2018. It was a life changing semester and I really discovered my love for design. When I got back, I went full steam ahead with finding internships that were design related. I was fortunate enough to find some great ones where I learned a lot while also exploring design in my classes.

Once I graduated during COVID I started at my first agency and was thrown into agency life. Agency life can be stressful with fast deadlines, but it is also an incredible learning experience. My journey has not been “easy” as there has been an immense amount of work that has gone into it, but it is been so rewarding. I have been very luck to have been able to surround myself with great coworkers and mentors that truly want to see me succeed and grow.

I have learned that you should always advocate for yourself. No one can read your mind, and truly sometimes people are too busy with their own work to be checking on you constantly. If you hit a road block, ask questions and clarify. If you are stuck on something for too long, ask for help. I am a big advocate of communicating with your team and figuring things out together. If you are in an environment that doesn’t want to help you or see you succeed, then you aren’t going to grow to your full potential and it will hinder your progress.

I also want people to know, especially students, that there are so many resources out there to help you. When I joined Ad 2 Tampa Bay I was blown away with how many resources I could have utilized when I was a student. There are many professional organizations out there that are all about networking and resume building that you can take advantage of. When I was the Education Director for Ad 2, I was in charge of educating students about all of the things we did as a chapter and how they can benefit. It is a really cool feeling to know that these organizations are made up by strangers, but they want to see you succeed and help you progress.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

Here are my favorite spots and things to do.

Restaurants:
– Forbici (dinner)
– On Swann (dinner)
– Armature Works (any meal)
– Salt Shack (dinner with a view)
– Bellas (dinner)
– Daily Eats (breakfast OR dinner – not enough people try their dinner)
– The Attic (breakfast with a downtown Tampa view)
– Oxford Exchange
– any Ciccio restaurant
– Bulla Gastrobar

Things to do:
– Second Sunday Market at Armature Works
– First Sunday Farmers Market at Hyde Park
– Candle making in Hyde Park
– Sunset dinner cruise with StarShip Yacht
– Dolphin sighting in Clearwater with The Little Toot
– Clear kayaking with Get Up and Go Kayaking
– Par Bar or any of the restaurants/bars on Central/downtown St. Pete

Dog friendly:
– Sparkman Wharf (Modern Paws dog store)
– Armature Works
– Hyde Park (Downtown Dogs dog store)
– Julian B. Lane dog park
– Two Shepards Tap Room
– Hyde Park Village (all stores are dog friendly)

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would really like to shoutout my first boss and mentor, Janel Ganceña. Janel was an Art Director at the first agency I worked at. She took me under her wing during a really difficult time for new grads, COVID. She always pushed me to be the best designer and person that I can be, while supporting me during times of improvement. I would not be where I am today without her.

Website: kaelihammer.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaelihammercreative/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaeli-hammer/