Get your boost of Monday Motivation from Creationeer and Prototype Builder, Samm!
“…I never watch the clock. I never feel drained. You’re always pushed to do something here…Here, I’m like ‘Oh no! I have to stop working?!’ I don’t dread Mondays anymore. I’m insanely happy here,” said Inventionland’s newest Prototype Builder Samm.
Creationeer Samm’s journey began right here at our invention factory in March, when she became inspired by the Inventionland culture and environment – something that continues to motivate her in her work each busy day.
“Everybody is like-minded, but they’re all individuals as well; all different,” said Samm. “And the same thing with the job as well. It can be something different every day and there’s always something to do. There’s not a ton of down time, so you don’t have idle hands. It’s nice to be able to switch between tasks and refresh your head a little bit. You can literally just pick something else up.”
With the help of fellow Creationeers, Samm has adjusted quickly to the unique environment at Inventionland, even picking up new skills as she continues to fine tune her rapid prototyping work.
“I go back in [the Proto Shop] for an hour or two every day to help out and learn. That’s completely new for me. That was actually a little scary for me as I never used [the machines]. It’s actually really cool and it’s not as nerve-racking anymore,” said Samm, noting that rapid prototyping is something she enjoys.
“I like watching the outer layers and the wall structure build up. It’s always something to watch. It’s really cool just to see it go,” said Samm.
Now, rapid prototyping isn’t the only new skill that Samm’s picked up along the way. In fact, she’s also been able to brush up on some of the skills that she’s already been trained on.
“Even stuff I thought I knew, now I know ten better ways to do it. Everyone is super helpful here. They’re happy to jump in and show you. Some people are even just excited that you asked. It’s the perfect environment,” said Samm. “…There is really no wrong way of doing things. It’s just tinkering and messing with things that really motivates me.”
Samm’s motivating spirit translates into her hobbies, too, which include wood working.
“[I love doing] anything in the Wood Shop. I love to work with wood. A lot of my art is actually wood-based. I also love using the laser cutters,” said Samm, who is a multi-talented artist!
“I do a lot of mixed media work, along with a lot of geometric vector designs,” she said. “A lot of really tedious stuff,” said Samm, whoshared an exciting glimpse at a piece that she created over an 8-10 month period, using up to 40,000 glass seed beads!
Clearly dedicated to her passion, when it comes to creating art, Samm finds beauty in almost anything – a quality and skill that she’s had and used throughout her entire life.
“I always kind of had to work with whatever materials were at home when I was younger. You can make a picture out of anything and that’s how I kind of started in vector art, too; breaking things down into line work,” said Samm. “I started tinkering with things and it’s just amazing what you find when you open things up. Think of something like circuitry; there’s actually people that do circuitry art. Things like that inspire me to think ‘What can I do with that?’ I like to recycle materials.”
Similar to materials bins found at Inventionland, “I have my own ‘Magic Bins’ at home,” said Samm.
“I have these five gallon totes and they’re full of all kinds of things that you can mess with. That’s the best part about it – scrap is inspirational. It just starts a foundation for an entire piece.”
It most certainly sounds like Samm is starting to leave her mark at Inventionland and is more motivated than ever to continue to build on that.
“Just to be constantly learning and trying new things. I especially enjoy trial and error. Some people just want to get it right the first time, but I actually like to see how things can go wrong. It’s great, because it doesn’t always go right the first time, so when you’re repeating things later and an issue arises, you already know how to fix it… that’s part of the learning experience. Something always needs tweaked,” she said.
One thing is for sure – this Inventionland Creationeer’s positive attitude has kept her moving forward in both her career and her artistic passions. Special thanks to this Prototype Builder for sharing a little bit of her life with us!
Copyright Inventionland, 2016
