Today we’d like to introduce you to Erin Farrington.
Hi Erin, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was born in Busan, South Korea and adopted by a family in Oregon when I was only 3 months old. They didn’t have much financially, but my parents both told me they “knew they had another child out in the world,” and if God wanted it to happen – He’d make it possible. They didn’t have the $217 for the adoption application, but one weekend an old friend of my dad’s called and offered him a job moving some cars from Seattle to Portland. He told my dad he really couldn’t pay him much but
he could pay him at least $217.
I was raised with 2 older brothers and a great community of people who encouraged my creativity and my dedication to learning new things.
After college (Biola University ’15), I felt very confident – as do most recent graduates, and thought my path to a creative career was set. I worked for an agency that designed for TJX, Kroger, and Home Depot and then Covid hit and I was let go.
Following Covid it became harder to get my footing in the workplace. I was let go from a Portland start up after working with an incredible creative team and so I returned to bartending, worked as a barista in downtown Portland, walked dogs, and I even had a fun side quest teaching a term at Portland State University (Adv. Book Design course for graduate students. However, after filling out 250 job applications and having another agency lead me along for a 4 month interview process just to tell me they gave the role to a personal contact – I found myself in a pretty depressed state. I really struggled with the idea that I had failed, didn’t take the “right” opportunities when they were presented to me, and while nearing 30 I still hadn’t landed anywhere I believed to be substantial. I was depressed but I was also incredibly bitter, angry, and ruminating on the belief that my self-worth was attached to my accomplishments.
Thankfully I have a supportive husband and some inspirational friends who had encouraged me to return to design and enroll in DesignLab’s UX Academy. I quit my 2 part time jobs and I went head first into the program.
Through the wisdom and support of my academy mentors, I was challenged to push myself out of this comfort blanket I had wrapped myself up in. As a graphic designer, sometimes you can find yourselves nurturing a perfectionist’s approach – drafting ideas and polishing your idea to present to them. However in UX, you can’t afford to do that. You learn to throw ideas, explore ideas, and test ideas with real people. There’s no reward in holding things so close to the chest without the feedback from other people, and I had insulated myself so far from criticism so as to not feel like a failure for a really long time.
I graduated and decided to continue challenging myself by starting my own business. I didn’t want to work in a corporate environment and I was done chasing the agencies. When thinking of a name I didn’t want to use my name, I wanted to use something that would continue to challenge my habits of perfectionism and fight my fear of failure.
Looking back on my life and my relationship with work, I think of the words of former colleagues and close friends who said I was tenacious and called me a “human swisss-army knife,” because no matter the challenge I was someone who, “could always figure it out.” I needed to remember that. So “No Dead Ends” was created. Explore ideas, don’t count yourself out when the game just started, and when you feel like you’ve wasted time or missed opportunities take in the words of Chumbawamba and when you get knocked down, get back up again.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It wasn’t always a smooth road, but we were still blessed.
My husband and I were in a rough place financially during the program and while I was struggling with depression.
We live in a very “front-of-house” city, where people value what you can afford and what you do, which despite my own worldviews on materialism – still affected me by osmosis.
The only real external challenges were being laid off twice between 2021 and 2023, but the bulk of my challenges were due to my own attitude and mindsets.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I tell people I’m a brand and web designer. I’m a “boots on the ground” type of woman, who wants to uplift small businesses in my area with logos, signage, websites. I want to set business owners up for success with designs they’ll be proud of and take out all the fluff of the middlemen and corporate jargon.
I like to see my job as a “business stylist.” I want small business owners to put their best foot forward with visuals that will help them do that.
My style is very clean and balanced, but I am trying to push myself into more lifestyle branding.
I offer agency-level work, but on a 1-on-1 level. You’re not paying 3-10 people to buzz around and draw out the process. You’re working with one capable person who designs on the platform you feel most comfortable in, fits within your budget, and a brand that will scale with you and your business.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I’d say I’m more aligned with being a “bold” person. I’m learning how to take risks and as I mentioned before, the UX program and UX thinking taught me a lot about practicing this. You have to put your ideas out there, you have to try, and you have to get up and do it in order to verify your next steps.
I can’t speak for everyone, but I do think we tend to stay in our heads too much – paralysis by analysis.. For those who take a lot of pride in their work – it’s okay to do things for fun.
There’s no point in being anxious is my main point. Be mindful about the risks you take, but choose to be wise about the people you surround yourself with. Don’t boggle yourself down with anxiety because you don’t know what tomorrow will look like.
“He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.” Ecclesiastes 11:4
Don’t worry over what you can’t control.
Pricing:
- $3700-$7500
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nodeadends.co
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NoDeadEndsCo
