Written by Hannah Martin, Graphic Design & Digital Marketing Specialist at FPM
When asked, “What are some words you’d use to describe yourself?” without fail, “creative” is always at the top of my list. From a young age, I’ve always loved crafting. Whether I was painting, drawing, scrapbooking, or trying out some new project, you could almost always find me creating something. I have my mom and grandma to thank for that. Both are incredibly creative in their own ways; my grandma attended art school and went on to become a successful freelance graphic designer, while my mom was always coming up with a new craft to make and sell at craft fairs.
Because of both their creative backgrounds, I grew up in a home where creativity was always encouraged. I was lucky enough to have a craft room that was always fully stocked with everything I could possibly need to bring an idea to life. More importantly, my mom and grandma always motivated me to create and were genuinely proud of whatever I made. Having that creative freedom and encouragement from such a young age played a big role in shaping who I am today, and ultimately, the career path I chose.
I went into college as an elementary education major for many reasons, but one of them was the desire to inspire creativity and imagination in the young minds of my future students. However, I soon realized I wanted something different for my own future. I wanted a career where I could continue developing my own creativity every day. After doing extensive research, marketing seemed like the perfect fit, a field where I could combine creativity, strategy, and problem-solving in endless ways.
At Central Connecticut State University, I took classes like social media marketing, advertising, brand marketing, consumer behavior, and many more interesting, insightful courses that made me realize just how many possibilities there are in the marketing industry. When it came time to start applying for internships, I was eager to learn and absorb everything marketing. I still wasn’t sure what specialty I wanted to go into, but I knew I wanted to have the ability to be creative.
In March of 2023, I started my internship at Reno Machine/Reno Properties Group, where I met Maddy, Marketing and Communications Specialist at Reno (a.k.a the best coworker/mentor ever! And a crucial member of the FPM team). I was able to gain hands-on experience in digital marketing, social media content creation, event planning, graphic design, and so much more. There, I discovered my graphic design talent and continued to build my skills with the encouragement of my team.
As Reno is a client of First Position Media, I had the pleasure of meeting the fantastic Sarah Wadle! And not too long after starting my internship at Reno, I also became an FPM intern. While working with Sarah, I got a more “behind-the-scenes” experience, learning first-hand what goes into running a marketing consulting agency in tandem with growing more skills in digital marketing and graphic design.
In addition to working at Reno and FPM, I was also running the social media accounts for Fair Weather Growers, a family-owned farm in Rocky Hill, CT. During this time, I was a senior at CCSU and graduated in December of 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing. After graduation, I introduced Fair Weather Growers to Sarah as I felt that they could benefit from the amazing work Sarah does and they became an FPM client in spring of 2024. Since then, I started full time at Reno as a Digital Marketing & Graphic Design Specialist while also continuing to help with Fair Weather Growers’ social media accounts and design assets.
Looking back, one of the funniest parts of this journey is that graphic design was right in front of me all along. Growing up, I watched my grandma build a successful career as a freelance graphic designer, but I never imagined that one day I’d be doing graphic design as part of my own career. Now, I can’t help but laugh and wish I had taken advantage of learning more from her when I had the chance.
Making the decision to switch career paths was intimidating, especially when I knew almost nothing about the field. But I’m so happy I was able to find a career that I can use my creative strength to its full potential and find success. Without having the incredible mentorship and support of Maddy, Sarah, my family, and friends, I believe my journey would have looked very different.
