Career Roadmap
Geoffrey's work combines: Design, Entrepreneurship, and Being Creative
See more careers and stories that connect to your interests.
Take Roadmap Quiz
Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Architecture
University of Oregon
Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be a Commercial and Industrial Designers:
High School
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree: Industrial and Product Design
Learn more about different paths to this career
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
Was luckily filtered into an arts magnet high school.
2.
Got into architecture school.
3.
Learned the general design process at architecture school.
4.
Was an architectural draftsman for several years.
5.
Moved into the city and started commuting by bike.
6.
Started tinkering with my bike and designing leather gear for fun when I was downsized.
7.
Started my own architecture firm and got serious about the leather gear with my wife.
8.
After a couple years, my wife quit her job too and we both started working on leather gear full-time.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Society in general:
You should find another normal salaried job in your college degree profession. I mean, good for you for trying out the entrepreneur thing but you know it's not going to work. It's not going to pay your bills.
How I responded:
Start the business in your spare time while you have a job. When it's clear that it's growing and you're ready to quit, make a business proposal to yourself. Put on paper what your expenses would look like if you quit your day job, and come up with that number you need to make it work. Save up enough of a cash cushion from your day job so you have that number set aside, so you can give yourself a year to try. Trust that once you put your full-time focus on it, you will figure it out and succeed.