The Time I Wore A Robe to A Black Tie Event

When I worked in advertising I lived for the ADDYS gala. It always felt like the one night a year for art directors and designers to really shine after a year of late nights and revisions and tight deadlines. And I liked to shine big time. One year I received 19 golds in one evening – Jeremy counted them up for me, late into the night, while I suffered from the consequences of overdoing it on cheap red wine.  (Never again. Except for that one time.) And last year I won Best in Print. I was super proud of the years and years of work I had put in to honing my skills as a designer – I felt like winning Best in Print was the acknowledgment and proof I needed. But just as I accepted the award (in a "hey look at me!" gold sequined dress) I was ready to let go.

Tara and I had started Braid and it was becoming about so much more than brand identity and design. It was about a helping creative entrepreneurs live what they love by giving them tools to feel more confident in their own creative process, or hell, even helping them pinpoint and define their creative process in the first place. We became passionate about coaching our clients through the work/life overlap and personal branding. We lit up when helping these indie entrepreneurs have the confidence and tools to say no to bad fits so they can focus on their core genius to help their own dream customer. Now, I still love some good design and my heart goes all pitter-patter over some good typography.

But I was finding a higher purpose and it had very little to do with graphic design. 

I thought after last year I would be done with the ADDYS (and advertising) forever. But when our friends at Ghost invited us to go to the ADDYS with them, I was excited to tag along. It was their night to shine and Tara and I would be there to cheer them on (and shine they did, they swept up ADDYS left and right). But, along with retiring my own chase for golds, I had donated the sequined dress too. I had nothing to wear.

So my sister and I spent an afternoon at the mall trying on dresses at BCBG in Dillard's, but nothing felt like "me" anymore. Just as I was starting to give up we walked past the the lingerie section on our way out. Tara picked up a kimono style silk robe and said "you should wear this."

And so ... I did. And I truly felt like me.