Being Geek Chic is a blog about one woman navigating the male-dominated industries of production and tech. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi, Founder, CEO and Director of Mighteor - one of the world's first internet video production companies. Learn more about Mighteor here.
Like the name of her Etsy store implies, Lady Geek of the Week Nikki Padilla is quirky. She loves gaming, pop-culture, sporks, her New Jersey home, and most of all, jewelry—which is why she decided to launch The Quirky Geek. It’s a shop full of handstamped, handcrafted bracelets, necklaces, key-chains, and the like that are sure to charm you.
The pieces we love the best? Padilla’s matching key-chains (Time Lord + Companion? Adorable.), the Deathly Hallows gold earrings, the delightful “Mischief Managed” cuff, the passively snarky grammar-police necklace, and of course, the doe charm necklace, inscribed with “always.” (After all this time.)
The Quirky Geek all started when Padilla wanted some geeky accessories that she could pepper in to her 9-5 wardrobe. Over 800 Etsy sales later, this Lady Geek is going places. But we’ll let her tell you more. Read on, and be sure to follow her on Twitter: @thequirkygeek1.
Q: How did you discover your passion for creating geek-inspired jewelry?
A: I needed to find a way to express myself and still appear mostly normal, I realized I was able to do that with jewelry. It all started with a cuff I created for myself which read “If they only knew what was going on inside this head of mine.” While dressed the part that I needed to be to maintain my (at that time) full time job, I had this little secret on me, and I felt like I could be myself even when the world was attempting to force me to beboring.
Q: Where do you find inspiration in life?
A: I draw my inspiration from everything around me. I am never short of ideas, they come to me every waking hour, even while dreaming. I use my art as a way to vent all of the creative energy inside me.
Q: If you could take any fictional character out for a drink, whom would you choose and what would you drink?
A: I couldn’t possibly choose just one, Maleficent, Rumpelstiltskin, Jareth the
Goblin King (from Labyrinth), Rorschach (from Watchmen), Loki (from Thor), and
The Mad Hatter. We’d be drinking fruity martinis and having some insanely good
conversation.
Q: What would you tell your 13-year-old self?
A: Value time, it’s precious, use it wisely. Tell the people you love how much
they mean to you, life is precious and fleeting. Strive to achieve your goals
and don’t get sidetracked.
Q: What’s the title of your memoir?
A: “I tripped over my own feet and fell down a spiral staircase into a pot of gold.”
Emma Bauer is a Being Geek Chic Contributor. Clearly, she’s got great taste. She is a PR enthusiast, dog lover, tea drinker, art appreciator, and of course, aspires to Be Geek Chic. Follow her on Twitter: @emmalynnbauer
My brother, my boyf and I are always having pseudo-intellectual, semi-existential conversations about life, but last night’s conversation hit home in an intense way. We were discussing a big new project I’m working towards (announcement coming soon!) and as such, I was discussing how daunting it is to take on something so consuming… And my brother said:
“It’s one thing to be ambitious, but you can’t let your ambition own you.”
I’m going to confess something here and now.
My ambition owns me.
I’ve never totally understood what makes me act the way I do. I can’t completely explain it, but I can tell you a story.
When I was editing SKOL last year, I would come home from my full-time job at 5 PM, hole up in my office and edit until 2 AM. I wouldn’t leave to eat. I wouldn’t leave to take a phone call. I wouldn’t leave to get a glass of water. I wouldn’t leave to wash my hair. The boyf would lovingly come up each night and bring me some food and drink so I didn’t die. I did this for 10 weeks.
See, when I get into a project… I REALLY get into a project. I become the project. The project becomes the very air in my lungs and blood in my veins.
As a result, I place all of my self worth in the things I create.
So many people have said to me, “your job is not who you are.” Except, it’s not about a job, is it? See, in my world, my job is just a venue in which I DO things. I CREATE things. I am what I do.
I can’t get through a day without thinking about how many hours I will have left each night to spend on this blog, my next project, some shooting. Almost daily I find myself upset when things simply “take too long.” And these are things that others would never bother considering:
Taking a shower. Watching a TV show. Eating a meal. Driving to the store. Grocery shopping. Laundry. Working out.
This week alone, I have found myself thinking: “this is taking too long” while doing each of these activities. It wouldn’t matter… except I had this blog post to write.
I’m not divulging this because I think it’s a problem or because I’m worried about it. I’ve been living this way since I was 14 years old and besides a couple sleepless nights, I’ve managed to find some decent checks and balances in my day to day life.
I’m living in ambition prison. I hope I learn something along the way.
It’s not a surprise that in a down economy, more and more creative professionals make their money working on a freelance basis. This fact has been well-documented. For nearly as long as I’ve had a full time job, I’ve also had freelance clients on the side to help me pay bills and build the funds to do things like buy my first house.
The big question people ask me is: how do you start freelancing?
1. Portfolio, my friends: Having a portfolio is going to be the best insurance policy you ever created for your career. Be studious and vigilant about what goes in, what works together, what shows your range and what highlights your strengths. If your portfolio is weak in some areas, then start volunteering to help your family and friends with small projects to fill it out. There’s more great stuff on portfolios on the web here.
2. Create a biz card: This sounds so simple, but having a business card that is entirely focused on the work that you do is an easy thing to do to get the word out. Have fun with it, be bold and be simple about your expertise. Hand them out to everyone you know. Your family, your friends, your old colleagues and the guy you met at the laundromat. If they’re memorable, people will remember you.
3. Ask for referrals: Don’t be afraid to ask your clients to refer you to others that they know who need freelancers or contract workers. If a client is happy with your work and you’ve always done good by them, then they should be doing this anyway. However, your clients don’t always know how much work you have on your plate and telling them that you would like more work can even result in their company sending more billable hours your way.
Need inspiration for something? Send us your biggest inspiration pitfalls to [email protected] and we’ll try to help.
“Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work.”
~ Rita Mae Brown (via libraryland)
Awesome research summarized as:
Think of the internet like an epic cocktail party, filled with chattering 24/7 conversations. Our goal shouldn’t be to ignore everything beyond earshot – that would inhibit our creativity, and keep us trapped in a very narrow world. Instead, we should keep on searching for those smart voices, so that we can remix the right data inside our head.