When Corporate Experience Comes Home

Downtown Herrin, Illinois

There is a particular dissonance that comes with returning home after years away. You arrive with new language, new instincts, and a career shaped elsewhere, and you have to relearn how to listen.

When I moved from an in-house role at a Fortune 100 company in Atlanta back to southern Illinois, the contrast was immediate. Not just in scale, but in proximity. The work was suddenly closer. More visible. Less buffered.

Design did not get smaller. It got personal.

Scale Creates Distance

Large in-house environments are built for scale. Systems exist to protect consistency. Decisions move through layers of review. Impact is measured across regions and quarters.

In that setting, I learned how to think structurally. A single design choice might touch hundreds of assets. A change made casually could ripple outward in unexpected ways. The work demanded restraint and foresight.

Design functioned as infrastructure.

Proximity Changes Responsibility

Returning home collapsed that distance.

Budgets were smaller. Clients were local business owners, nonprofits, and community organizations. Many did not speak the language of branding or understand the long-term value of design investment.

There were no buffers. If something worked, it worked in public. If it failed, it failed in front of people I would see again at the grocery store.

Responsibility sharpened quickly.

Redefining What Value Looks Like

In a small market, design has to justify itself differently.

You are not selling polish or prestige. You are explaining clarity, usefulness, and trust. You learn to communicate value without jargon or abstraction.

The work becomes about making good decisions with limited resources and standing by them. That constraint forces focus. It strips away ego.

Design becomes practical without losing intention.

Seeing the Impact Immediately

One of the most rewarding aspects of this shift was visibility.

The work showed up quickly. In storefronts. At local events. On websites that served families and communities directly.

I worked on Herrinfesta, an event that had shaped my childhood. I helped bring clarity and cohesion to something that already belonged to the community.

Design moved out of decks and into daily life.

When the Work Is Personal

One project carried particular weight. A soft rebrand and website launch for the Catholic school I attended from kindergarten through eighth grade.

Designing for an institution that helped shape you carries a different responsibility. You are not just making something new. You are honoring history while making space for what comes next.

The audience is not hypothetical. It includes teachers, families, and memories.

Design becomes care.

What Both Worlds Taught Me

In-house work taught me how to build systems that last. How to think long-term. How to design for consistency without stagnation.

Small agency work taught me how to listen closely. How to adapt quickly. How to own outcomes fully.

Together, these experiences reshaped how I lead. I value structure, but I never forget who the work is for. I respect budgets, but I respect trust more.

Why This Perspective Matters

Design does not only live at the top of the market. It lives where people gather, learn, celebrate, and build their lives.

Moving from Fortune 100 brands to familiar ground reinforced something I already believed. Good design is not defined by scale. It is defined by intention, responsibility, and care.

The scale changed. The responsibility did not.