Jack of All Trades…
…But master of none.”
I’ve always hated that phrase until I learned the rest of the saying: “But oftentimes better than a master of one”.
There are some many wonderful intricacies in life to explore. Whether in art, music, philosophy, or the stories of others; there are a plethora of opportunities to create.
My goal is to move to Tokyo, Japan by August 2027. Submit your contact info on the homepage to become a part of the journey!
As a type A person, I had my life all planned out: get a job after college, make music, move back to my hometown, and stay settled.
International life was never something I sought out, so what did it take to completely change directions?
I attended Cedarville University for an Undergraduate degree in Marketing. My program focused on market research with an added focus on design and content creation. I also volunteered as a campus radio DJ, culminating in a 2-hour mid-day time slot for two years.
College
Because I carried so many college credits in from high school, I had a free semester to do with as I pleased. Rather than graduate early, I decided to study abroad. I quite literally picked up a brochure of places a business student could go (so everywhere), closed my eyes, and pointed to a city. That just so happened to be Barcelona, Spain.
My classes there consisted of Photography, Food and Culture of Spain, International Business, and a marketing internship at Espai Granada. Being a gastronomic event venue, working at Espai included event photography, web design, clientele research, social media management, and taste-testing lots of excellent food. It’s during this semester that I spent many weekends traveling around Europe.
Barcelona, Spain
I knew I needed another internship after studying abroad, but I wasn’t sure where I would go next. I could either go back to my original life plan, returning to my hometown, or I could keep walking down this newfound international path. On the first class of my first semester back, I met Peter, the owner of Gallery Nani in Nagoya, Japan. He and his team based in Tokyo were looking for a summer marketing intern.
Japan - Summer One
When I returned from overseas to finish my degree, I left the radio station and started working at Cedarville’s Career Services Office. As their marketing intern, I did everything from event planning, continuation of my market research project from the prior year, social media management, and website redesign. Seeing a gap in student services, I created custom headshot appointments and took 200+ headshots.
The culmination of this internship was the 2024 Fall Career Fair. With over 1,800 students and 200 vendors in attendance, the team coordinated a strategic event campaign.
Career Services
With degree in hand, I decided to return to Tokyo with the other two returning interns for one more summer of the arts. In my mind, it was one last summer of fun before I had to enter the cold hard corporate work world. I had left Japan the first time with a standing invitation to join Community Arts Tokyo at any time; however, this time I left with a specific role in mind.
In 2019, Community Arts Tokyo was preparing to launch a cafe, giving their arts community a physical location to gather and create a sense of belonging. Up until this point events were hosted in apartments and borrowed spaces. Well, Covid happened and the project fell through. Specifically the point person decided not to move to Japan. Without a project leader well versed in business operations, event management, and the coffee industry, the cafe never got back off the ground. It’s this shared dream I’ll be picking up — functioning as a marketing coordinator for Community Arts Tokyo and an entrepreneur for our coffee shop event space.
Japan - Summer Two
This was all a grand idea, but I’d never actually worked in coffee. Enjoying an excellent cappuccino is one thing, making one is another thing entirely. To my surprise, a new specialty coffee shop had opened up down the street from my childhood home! The owners are originally from Santa Monica and are masters of their craft. It’s one thing to create a local spot for community to flourish. It’s another to create that space around genuinely good espresso. They’ve taught me everything from business operation, customer relations, staffing, machine maintenance, milk steaming, drink design, and more. Since the shop was only four months old when I joined, I’ve been in a front row seat to their entrepreneurship.
Primo Passo Coffee Co.
