Recently, we sat down for a conversation with two of Well Done’s newest (and youngest) team members. Read on to learn more about Marketing Specialist Zarrien Johnson-Bey and Junior Designer Shelby Novitski. Fresh out of college, they both graduated earlier this spring. See what excites them about life at an ad agency, what they hope to learn, and the unique talents and personalities they bring to our team.
Q: Let’s start at the beginning, where are you from?
Shelby: I’m originally from Carmel, IN.
Zarrien: I’m from Columbus, IN.
Q: Where did you go to college, and what did you study?
Shelby: I studied visual communications design at Purdue.
Zarrien: I went to Marian University, where I was also an athlete. I studied business marketing, and I minored in communications.
Q: What made you interested in Well Done? Did you always picture yourself working at an ad agency?
Zarrien: I wanted to go into healthcare or nonprofit work, and my mentor suggested I look elsewhere. There’s always a happy medium to do both of those things. My professor told me about Well Done and he told me they were hiring. Between classes, I applied, and the rest is history.
Shelby: I interned at another agency during college, and I liked the variety of work at an agency. I was able to design so many different kinds of work, because you have so many different kinds of clients. So I knew I wanted to work at an agency. I just did my research and I liked the work I saw at Well Done.
Q: What kind of projects have you worked on since you started working here?
Zarrien: I’ve been doing a lot of market research for Hancock Health, trying to understand the science behind everything they do—why is the health network the way it is? What are the demographics of the people they serve? How big is their audience? I’ve just been in non-stop research mode.
Shelby: Cutouts on cutouts on cutouts—so many cutouts. Basically, I’m using Photoshop to pull a portrait out of a background to put it in a transparent background or a background of a different color. I’ve put together a few print ads, too. So, it has been a good mixture of layout design, and then the production of said layout.
Q: What have you guys enjoyed about the projects you’ve worked on so far?
Zarrien: I think the best part is seeing how what I’ve been studying the past four years actually gets applied to the real world. I took a lot of classes that didn’t feel like they applied to what I wanted to do, but now I’m finally somewhere where I can use what I learned and it actually means something.
Shelby: It’s funny, because my answer is kind of the opposite. I’ve learned so much at Well Done that I never learned in school. So, I guess my favorite part is learning all the things that school didn’t teach me.
Q: Can you give us an example of something you’ve learned at Well Done that you didn’t get in the classroom.
Shelby: Just understanding how companies and businesses are run, and how the production of set design is made, and all the little things that go into packaging files or getting things ready for printing. Even just the tools. I’m using Photoshop every day, and we didn’t learn Photoshop at all. So, just different tools that you need to design.
Q: What has been the biggest surprise since you started working at Well Done?
Zarrien: I’d probably have to say just seeing how everyone communicates. There’s a lot of communication, and everyone seems to really like each other, which is…I don’t know. I didn’t really expect that. It doesn’t feel like I’m coming into work. It just feels like I’m doing something that I like to do.
Shelby: I agree. My experience during my internship was the opposite. The lack of communication was crazy. So it’s cool to see that not all agencies work the same, and how some things work better at one place than others. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see how well we communicate here.
Q: Well, we get paid to communicate ideas for our clients. So, it’s good to hear we’re doing it internally, as well! What are some unique skills or personality traits you bring to this work?
Zarrien: I just feel like I bring a lot of charisma. It’s funny. I just want to bring good energy all the time. I like asking people how they’re doing—just being a good teammate and bringing a good energy.
Shelby: I do a lot of illustration work, which isn’t something a lot of graphic designers do. So, I’d say my skill set for illustrations makes me fairly unique.
Q: That’s enough marketing questions, what keeps you two busy when you’re not at work? What are your interests or hobbies?
Zarrien: I love sports. Watching sports. Playing sports. Betting on sports. I just joined a basketball league with my buddies. We’re just messing around. It’s not serious. But it’s fun to do stuff like that. I love going to concerts. I’ve recently started getting more into cars and clothes, all types of stuff.
Shelby: Like Zarrien, I’m into sports too. I work out a lot. Since starting at Well Done, I’ve been really into walking along the cultural trail. I walk over to the entrance of Eli Lilly and back. It’s about two miles round-trip. I like to hike, and play tennis. I played soccer and tennis growing up, but I just joined a volleyball league with my friends.
Well, we’re thrilled to have you both on the team. Thanks for all of the positive energy and enthusiasm you bring to your work. We can’t wait to see all that you accomplish as you start your new careers.