Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Nash.
Justin, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
As a kid growing up in Southern Arkansas, I spent hours sitting at my grandma’s table drawing flowers, landscapes, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on brown paper bags. I know that seems weird, but I was an art kid from the time I could hold a crayon. I knew that if I wanted to be good at drawing, I had to practice a lot. My family, especially my grandma, was really supportive but she got tired of me drawing on all of the typing paper she needed for work. So, she started cutting her grocery bags and unfolding them for me.
That love for art and design led me to a get a degree in graphic design. While I was in college, I taught myself HTML and would occasionally designed logos for friends and styled their myspace pages.
My design training centered around designing for print materials but once I started my career, I was regularly asked to design for the web and if I could build websites. So, I used that laser focus to learned JavaScript and CSS.
Fast forward to now, over 17 years after graduation, I’ve been blessed to work for several Fortune100 companies and a few non-profits that make a real difference in communities.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was a struggle finding my first design job, but I was fortunate enough to get a position working as a graphic artist for L-3 Communications in Greenville, TX.
My next employer was Humana. I was hired to a small and scrappy team that stood up a newly acquired subsidiary here in the DFW area. We created everything from the logo down to the fax cover sheets. Our department was vital to the business and their everyday operations but one day I came to work, and a voicemail told me to come to the conference room. When I got there, I saw a lot of familiar faces. The decision had been made to lay off our entire department.
It was a big ego blow; I was forced to reach out to staffing agencies for contract opportunities until I could find something long-term. Up until this point, I had only worked as a designer. Any programming I’d done was just personal projects, but I had been wanting to transition to software engineering, and this was my chance.
Since I didn’t have the educational background, the agency gave me a set proficiency tests to prove I knew what I was doing. I passed them all and convinced the agency to get me a contract as an engineer. It changed the trajectory of my career.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I offer a pretty wide range of services. Mainly, I help small businesses with things like logo design, branding, website design/development, and app development. I occasionally design apparel and print materials as well.
I’ve won a ton of awards and gotten a lot of recognition but what I’m most proud of is the fact that I’ve helped a lot of groups who make a difference in people’s lives.
I think the thing that sets me apart is that I don’t pretend to know everything. I ask probing questions to get to know my client’s business, and I actually listen. I think a lot of important information is missed when you try to appear as though you’re “an expert.” When I work with a client, we’re a team working together to identify and solve a problem.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
I think we’ve known for a long time that a lot of jobs could be done remotely. The pandemic has shown us that not only are those jobs able to be done remotely but it in many cases, they could be done more efficiently and at a lower cost.
Also, there is so many amazing food trucks in the DFW area. I never really paid attention to food trucks before. During COVID, my wife and I made a point to patronize food trucks that were run by families to help keep them in business.
Standing in line during the 100-degree Texas heat waiting for food actually sparked the idea for the Take A Number app. The app lets customers wait for their food in their car without worrying about losing their place in line.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jnashconsulting.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jnashconsulting/
