In 2020, it dawned on me that I tackled task after task at TGS that would have scared the bejesus out of the old me. I filmed and swam with sea lions one term, then tackled a multi-camera lecture of an educational big wig without advance notice the next. The most extravagant graduations you’ve ever seen? I photographed them three years in a row. They were like weddings with fifteen simultaneous brides each!

The job search reversed some of the confidence I had when I left TGS. Even if you are aware of the politics of job-getting, it’s so easy to let rejections erode your knowledge of your own capacity. I needed a reminder that my media training equipped me handsomely for working as a one-woman production crew from start to finish.

The media landscape outside of a globe-traveling school looked highly specialized to me: wedding photographers, cameramen on huge crews, newborn portrait artists, editors for companies focused on promotional work. I wanted to penetrate the market, but I couldn’t choose my focus. I prefer the variety and challenge of different creative tasks. I like working a mile wide and an inch deep, learning the whole way, under-promising and over-delivering.

This is how Nomaddermedia LLC came to be.