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I’ve been at Barefoot for almost 12 years. I worked my way up from a Designer to an Art Director to a Associate Creative Director to a Creative Director. And now I’m a Partner. Seven years ago when I was promoted to an ACD, I made the transition from peer to boss. (Not the end-all-be-all boss, mind you, but a boss nonetheless). It was strange. One week I was brainstorming concepts and presenting my designs along side my co-workers, and the next I was evaluating their ideas and deciding whether they were good or not. I had to make a mental transition, as did everyone around me. I have to say, the first 6 months I questioned every decision I made and more often than not found myself at home questioning my decisions all over again. I mean it was just one person’s opinion, right? My opinion. Gulp.

I found myself constantly looking to Doug to help me figure out what to do, what were the best decisions and how I would know. And why was it that he always seemed to have the right solutions for things and I didn’t? I so desperately wanted to be that person who knew the right thing to do and make the right decisions all the time. The fact is: what I didn’t realize then, was that I was thinking about things the wrong way. I was never going to have all of the right answers, all of the time, and that was something I had to learn to be okay with. While it’s still my goal, I also understand that it may not be an entirely realistic goal. Don’t get me wrong, I still strive for perfection, but there are still plenty of times that I still find myself going to Doug for advice and guidance on things.

Through the years and with the help of a lot of smart people around me, I finally realized that being wrong and needing someone’s help are not bad things. And once I could truly realize that… BOOM my confidence was better, my decisions were smarter and I found myself able to grow even stronger.

Could it of really been that simple? In hindsight, everything seems simpler and clearer, right? For me it was about growing up—and more importantly, being open to growing up, which is a powerful thing that doesn’t happen overnight (at least not for me) in fact, I’m still working on it everyday.