Sarah Beth Morgan on the Freelance Experience
I had the wonderful opportunity to chat with Sarah Beth Morgan, an art director, illustrator, and most importantly, a dog mom, to learn more about her favorite types of work, what keeps her sane during stressful projects and her advice when going full time freelance.
Q&A with Sarah Beth Morgan
Read time: 10min
Meryn Hayes:
So let’s jump into it! I know a lot of people are going to know you and your work, but can you talk about your background and how you got into illustration?
Sarah Beth Morgan:
Honestly, I took a standard track to get into the motion and illustration world; or at least to get to motion graphics. As a kid, I was always into art, and it's just always been a part of my life. College was when it all started coming together for me, and I started getting a clearer picture of what I was actually going to do. I went to art school at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). I actually started as a graphic design student, and I didn't even know that you could make graphic design move. I had never even thought of that as a route for myself. When I got there, I was informed about all of the different majors -- and motion graphics was super appealing to me. I think it felt less limiting than static design; I could use mixed media, I could use stop motion, I could use sound effects which adds a lot to things. That really appealed to me - having the versatility and range made it so that I could experiment forever.
Animated snippet from Andrew Vucko’s short film “From Nothing to Something.” Artwork by Sarah Beth Morgan; animation by Henrique Barone.
Meryn Hayes:
What would you say is the most surprising thing about what you do? And maybe that can be about what you do currently as a freelancer or in your career as of now.
Sarah Beth Morgan:
I mean, there's a lot that surprises me just because this industry is always progressing and there are all these crazy, new technical things you can do - stuff like VR I never thought I would be a part of. But I think what surprises me the most is probably the friendliness and welcoming-ness of the people in this industry. Everyone's so kind and willing to work with you and your style. Or they're really open to having you on their project - or just even meeting people in person at festivals like the dash bash. It's eye-opening how kind this industry is compared to others. For example, I'm currently working on a big passion project, and I've asked quite a few people to dedicate their time to it. I'm extremely surprised that people are willing to go out of their way and spend time on the weekend to work on something that's important to ME.
“…my whole life had been leading up to graduating from college and starting my career. I never really thought about what would happen after that. “
Meryn Hayes:
That’s awesome! Now this is a hard question, but what advice would you give your younger self? Whether it's about going to SCAD or art school, or if it's just generally in your career.
Sarah Beth Morgan:
Yeah, that is a hard question! I've thought about this a lot because I'm such an anxious person, and I wish I could just tell my past self to be patient, be less anxious. I don't know if that would have been actually possible, but I wish I had been able to do that. When I graduated from college, I thought my whole life had been leading up to graduating from college and starting my career. I never really thought about what would happen after that. So when I graduated I was like, "Oh, I did it, I'm accomplished." I kind of thought of the end of college as being the end game. I didn't even realize how much I'd improve afterwards! Or how I could easily make changes later. For example, moving from animating at work to only illustrating full-time, then finally becoming a freelance illustrator. I just had no concept of that even potentially happening. So I guess my advice to someone younger would be: be patient and be ready for surprises because once you're done with school (or even once you're done with your first job), the world is your oyster. You can keep moving around and doing different things.
Meryn Hayes:
Yeah. Yeah. That's good! I feel like I was the same way. You said that you really hadn't even discovered motion graphics until you got to SCAD. Did you know the possibilities after you graduated that you could go right into freelancing, work at a studio, or in-house at a company?
Sarah Beth Morgan:
I don't think I did. I think I knew the word “freelancer,” and I knew that people did it and I knew that it was a possibility. But I didn't really grasp what that would look like. Each new step of my career aided in creating a picture of that because when I arrived at Gentleman Scholar [now Scholar] right out of school - that was what my goal was all through college - “get a job at a cool studio and then you're set.” I didn't even realize that there were freelancers jumping around from studio to studio and taking long vacations until I was at GS. Then, when I got to Oddfellows, I expanded my knowledge of the term “freelancer” and realized: "Oh, there are freelancers in completely different sides of the world and they’re working remotely. And that's something I could do too." So just being in the industry has taught me a lot. I honestly don't think I could have learned all of that in school. The knowledge came from experience. Someone could have told me that, but I wouldn't have grasped it as clearly as I do now.
“…my advice to someone younger: be patient and be ready for surprises because once you're done with school the world is your oyster. “
Meryn Hayes:
What was your motivation from going from a studio environment to freelance, and making that distinction of pivoting just towards illustration? They’re both big decisions. What kind of gave you that inspiration to go freelance? And what advice would you have for people who are kind of debating that same thing?
Sarah Beth Morgan:
There are a lot of reasons that I wanted to go freelance. Most of them were personal. I think I felt that I had enough experience at that point in my career. I had been wanting to go freelance for maybe two years, but I felt it was a little early just because I still wanted to learn more in a studio environment. I got the chance to art direct a few things - and I do love art directing and I'm still doing some of that as a freelancer. But after four years as staff, I think I finally realized that the upward trajectory of moving at a company, getting promoted, wasn't really what I was interested in. It was more about creating something that was “mine” that felt important to me. Having the time to do passion projects was a big motivator.
A frame from Oddfellow's Capital One animation that was art directed by Sarah Beth.
Sarah Beth Morgan:
I also don’t mind the logistical aspects of being freelance. A lot of people don't love the business side of it. It definitely does take up a lot of time, but I wasn't really scared that I would be unorganized or anything. I already had some of those skills and I enjoy writing emails and stuff like that. I gained a lot of that experience at Gentleman Scholar and Oddfellows which was invaluable.
So, it's different for everyone, but I don't know. I guess my advice would be if you're going to do it - just try to prepare beforehand and surround yourself with people who know what they're doing. For example: I hired an accountant because I definitely couldn't try to do taxes / bookkeeping on my own. So my accountant taught me how to use QuickBooks, and I set myself up as a company right after I went freelance. That way - all of my finances were going through my business bank account instead of my personal. I tried to figure out a lot of that logistical stuff before diving into the art side. That helped me a lot too.
Meryn Hayes:
That's great! Pivoting a little bit, what would you say is either your favorite project or the type of work that you like to do the most?
Sarah Beth Morgan:
Honestly this is a really hard question to answer because it really depends on the situation more than the “look and feel” of a project, for me at least. For client work, my favorite projects are all about who I'm communicating with and clients that maybe are open to stranger and riskier concepts. Even the fact that I'm working with someone that trusts my sensibilities and is excited to collaborate. That’s more important to me sometimes than, "Oh this is a really cool project, but I don’t love the communication… and I have to finish it in three days."
But for my own personal work, I think my favorite type of work to do is when I get the chance to explore new styles. When I’m trying new things (even if it looks bad), I know I'm acquiring new skills that will help me in future projects.
Meryn Hayes:
What's the hardest part about what you do?
Sarah Beth Morgan:
I’d say dealing with living up to my own high standards. If I'm on a client project, I work really well off of the validation of the clients. I appreciate feedback like: "Oh, this looks great," or, "Can you fix this one thing?” That’s really helpful for me because I can gauge, "Oh, I'm doing a good job” or “this is what I need to do next.” It feels like the equivalent of grades in school. I'm like, "Cool, A plus!"
But with my own work, especially my passion projects (or maybe if I'm hired for a project that's supposed to be completely in my style) - I think I'm way harder on myself than anyone else will ever be. I'm constantly giving myself panic attacks because I overthink everything. So that's definitely one thing, and then on that same note: I think it's really hard for me to say “no” to projects. I'm such a people-pleaser and I tend to overbook myself. I end up getting burned out. So - I’d say the hardest part about my job is my own emotional connection to my work.
“I’d say the hardest part about my job is my own emotional connection to my work. ”
Meryn Hayes:
How do you choose what clients/projects to take on?
Sarah Beth Morgan:
I think I first value what I said earlier, communication. If the client is responding quickly or if it's someone I really want to work with. I gauge all of that more up-front, rather than the illustration style. I think secondary would come questions like: “does this project look like something I want to put in my portfolio? My website? And can I post it? Is it under a strict NDA?” I think a lot of that really plays into whether I'll take on a project or not.
Style frame from a project with Wonderlust.
Meryn Hayes:
I forget where I saw it, but it was analyzing mental health, specifically in the animation and design industry, and just realizing that there's a lot of high stress and anxiety. How do you deal with moments of that? How do you work through that?
Sarah Beth Morgan:
The best thing for me is to plan a week or two off after and have something to look forward to. That helps a lot. I can do that as a freelancer. If you're on staff, maybe something like treating yourself to a weekend trip could help. Having a light at the end of the tunnel is super helpful for me because I can give myself permission to feel like I'm suffering a little bit in the moment - and know that I won't be later. So I don't know. That's not always the best solution. There's always self-care, taking breaks, making sure you're sleeping.. but planning time off is a big one for me.
I try really hard not to overwork myself, but sometimes that results in me trying to squish everything into the day and being really stressed during the day. Then coming home and just still feeling tense. Sometimes I tell myself: "If I just need to stay 30, 40 extra minutes today, it's going to pay off and it'll make me feel better later." I don't do it that often but, yeah.
Meryn Hayes:
No, that's a good point. Setting up boundaries are good, but if the boundaries themselves are making you feel worse, then they're not doing what they should be doing. How do you feel like you’ve broken into an industry that’s predominantly male? Do you have any advice for women or those who are just starting out?
Sarah Beth Morgan:
My advice would be to build a supportive community around yourself and not being afraid to ask other women for advice. And not being too prideful about reaching out if you’re at a low point. I think that's something I really struggled with when I first started. Not just because I was a woman necessarily, but that I didn't feel very confident. I felt meek and I didn't know when to voice my opinions at work or how to build my leadership skills.
I started reading about - I can't remember what the term was for it - but there's this article I found that was about using language to your advantage as a woman. I tend to say “sorry” and second guess myself a lot. I did a lot of research on exuding confidence through your language and listening to podcasts from women who were prominent in my industry or other industries. Surrounding yourself with advice from other women was really helpful for me.
“My advice would be to build a supportive community around yourself and not be afraid to ask other women for advice.”
Meryn Hayes:
How important it is to surround yourself, and maybe it's not as formal as finding a true mentor, but just finding people that you feel you can aspire to be like and learn from is something that is so important.
Sarah Beth Morgan:
I definitely think having more women visible in those leadership roles - or even just speaking at conferences - is really wonderful and helpful. I think that’s something that really encouraged me when I first started. I went to all three BlendFests, and when Bee Grandinetti was speaking...just seeing how down to earth she was on stage. I felt like I could approach her afterwards and ask her questions. That was super encouraging for me. It gave me a role model to look up to and be like, "I want to be approachable like that. I want to connect with other women in the industry." Visibility is extremely important.
Meryn Hayes:
Great, then the last question, very important and controversial here in the office. Is a hot dog a sandwich?
Sarah Beth Morgan:
The age old question, right? I guess I would say no. Is a hot dog a sandwich? Is a taco a sandwich? Is a hamburger a ground beef sandwich?