What Makes Me GO?

It’s time to get real. I have hit multiple creative funks within the past WEEK. I have felt so stressed and anxious, yet I LOVE where I’m at in life right now. I feel very blessed to have this collaboration fall into my lap, because this shoe is SO special. It’s not like every other Nike shoe. When Nike mentioned that the Nike Air Max 270 Reacts were influenced by the most expressive art movements of the 20th century, I was blown away. I imagined the design team strolling through museum after museum. I pictured them taking in all of the colors, strokes, textures, and angles. THEN IT CLICKED. I related to this image in my head SOOOO much. That is me. I look at every building, car, piece of clothing, etc. I take in EVERYTHING and that is how my creative process begins.

Almost daily I get asked these two questions:

• What inspires you to create?
• How do you motivate yourself to keep going?

Let’s start with the question, “what inspires you to create?” Ever since I was a little girl, I feel like I have lived in my own creative bubble. Instead of playing Barbies, I would put my sister’s and my desks together and build out a fashion show. Instead of playing house, I would take my friends out to the basketball court to choreograph dances and style looks, and put on a “Britney Spears” concert for my family. My love for creativity grew and I ended up at a Fashion School studying Visual Communications. One of my classes really increased my desire to think out of the box. I was absolutely sure that I wanted to work in the fashion styling world. Clothing, in my eyes, became more than just something to dress your body. I landed a job in LA working as an assistant for celebrity fashion stylist, and I thought that I had MADE IT. Things were only going to go up from there. Turns out, just zipping up people in their clothes and returning items to show rooms wasn’t for me. I needed more. I needed more creative freedom. I stepped away from the fashion styling world, but found myself never losing the love I had for it. All while dreaming of clothes, I started working in the influencer marketing world, but not as an influencer, as a social media campaign manager for Disney. Wow, sorry, this story has turned into a long one…I will wrap it up!

Fast forwarding to the present-ish times. Two years ago, I moved back to Salt Lake City. After 5 years of managing social media campaigns, I knew I could do more. I wanted to be the creator. I wanted to be the one who produced well thought out photos and take my creativity to new heights. I wanted to change the way Instagram and all marketing efforts were used. Once I got the courage to move forward with these desires, that is when it all began. My mindset changed. I have trained myself to look at every little thing differently. For example, when I see a branch, I think about what type of shadow it would create. I see a building and look at the architecture. What angles does the building have? What pose can I do with my body to create something that is pleasing to the eye? I see a piece of clothing and it’s kind of like my brain takes me to a scene of a movie. I can immediately picture the location, props, and the aesthetic the clothing belongs in. I know I have said this before, but EVERYTHING inspires me to create. That is a bit surfaced leveled, so here is a short list:

• clothing
• buildings
• people
• food
• music
• billboards
• quotes
• traveling
• everyday necessities

I post 6 days a week on Instagram. That is a lot of content. So this is where the question, “what inspires you to keep going?” comes into play. This is easy. I need the money. HAHAHAH just kidding. In all honesty, this is a loaded question for me. I think about this question often, but after months and months of pondering this, I 100% know.

I feel beyond grateful to have the platform that I do. My main goal is to help and inspire others. I struggle with so many things, and I have loved to be able to open up and connect to so many amazing people. I have had loads of genuine conversations with strangers! Crazy right? Within the past few months of challenging myself, hearing people’s feedback, discovering new things about myself, and observing what people want to see from me, I KNOW WITH ALL MY HEART that I need to get up everyday and challenge myself. Challenge myself with my content creation ideas. Challenge myself to be more vulnerable with my words. Challenge myself to genuinely connect with as many people as I can. It is those who follow me who keep me going. It is the future I see for myself that keeps me going. It is the love for creativity that keeps me going. It is my future family that keeps me going. It is my love for others and desire to help others that keeps me going!

When all said and done, Nike’s description of the AM 270 Reacts was very inlined with my own personal and career driven goals. Nike said, “the bold silhouette of Nike Air lifts the shoe to new heights, while the Nike React foam midsole keeps you moving forward.” That is me. I want to take MY creativity to new HEIGHTS, all while reminding myself of the deeper and meaningful things that keep me moving forward.

xo,
Paige

Ps. Let’s twin!! That’ll be so cool. All you need to do is click the link below.

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