
from Highgroove's flickr
So, I got this email in my inbox today:
Hello San,
I have a question about your work, if you do not mind me asking. I noticed you became an office manager at Highgroove, which seems kind of different than freelance illustrator. I was curious why you made that career move. I myself moved from programming to the arts so I found it remarkable. Anyway, I hope you update your blog soon, I enjoy reading it very much and keep up the great work! :D
Kind regards,
Susanne "Sushy" van Schaik
http://modobase.nl
And I realized I still hadn't really addressed my job change on my blog. I mentioned it publicly on LinkedIn and Twitter last month, but that's about all I've really said...
So yes, I changed jobs recently! I now work as an Office Manager for Highgroove Studios, which is an amazing and super fun tech company in Atlanta. I didn't exactly apply for this job though, it just sort of happened...

The view from my desk!
To explain: at the beginning of this year I knew I wasn't really enjoying freelancing anymore, but wasn't sure what to do next. (You can't really quit your job when you work for yourself! It's tricky!) I finished up most of my contracts in April, and decided to take May off to figure out what I wanted to do next with my career. Next thing I knew, my boyfriend told me his company, Highgroove Studios, needed a part time personal assistant and did I know anyone who would be interested - and I was like, heck - I'll do it!! I was only going to be working 4 hours a week, but it turned out they needed a lot more help around the office and before I knew it the little part time personal assistant job grew into an office management position.

Some of my cute office supplies. <3
The craziest part is I LOVE IT. It's so very different from doing freelance illustration, and to be honest even I'm surprised how much I enjoy this job but I feel incredibly lucky to have fallen into it. My job is different every single day - I'm constantly running around, doing online and local shopping for the office and my coworkers, keeping the kitchen stocked with delicious food, scheduling travel and hotels, coming up with ideas to make the office flow better, building things, mailing things, etc. etc. It's very mentally stimulating in a way that drawing wasn't, but it doesn't drain me creatively and pays me much more than I did freelancing. It's also very exciting and rewarding to know that all my hard work goes towards helping build a better company that my boyfriend and friends work at. They have an amazing company culture here - everyone is awesome and so nice, the whole company wants to create amazing things and do their very best which is a great enviornment, you can bring your dogs to work, there are free bikes and razor scooters to ride, we have a personal trainer and our own gym, lunch and snacks are provided daily, schedules and dress codes are up to you - I could go on and on. It's really the best job ever.

Fun Halloween decorations I put up in the office.
It's also really wonderful that I'm finally starting to feel like being creative again. I think a lot of people think the best way to make a living is making money off of what you love - which is exactly what I did for a long time... But I don't believe that works for everyone because sometimes it can turn you to hate and be stressed by the very thing that brings you happiness. I was really beginning to hate drawing - it was a source of constant stress and fiancial worry for me - but now I think I can finally draw for fun again.

More decorations. It's hard to capture it all in photos!
I don't know where my career will go next, but I will always be open minded and try new things. I might start working here full time soon, and if so I will be putting my freelance career on indefinite hiatus and just drawing for fun and my blog. I might sell stuff with my artwork on it still, but it will be based around what *I* want to draw rather than taking freelance requests. I think this will ultimately be the better balance for me with work and art.

More stuff by my desk.
So I hope this clears things up! If you have any questions about this that I didn't address here, leave them in a comment below! I hope you guys enjoyed the photos inbetween all the text - I love our space!!
And for the curious - if you'd like to work at Highgroove Studios too, they're hiring! ;) You can see the available jobs here. They are also giving away free wolfbrain tshirts right now, click this link for more info!