Last night over 20 local creatives came out for May Collekt. We were psyched to see a handful of new faces, and it was a great first hour of learning what projects everyone’s got in the works and meeting new people.

This month Justin Leonard (@MassRocket) shared his moving story, recapping his love for art as a child all the way through landing his current corporate design position. His story was moving and definitely relatable on multiple levels, from using art as an emotional outlet, to the day he had the epiphany “I can really do this design thing for a career!” after working tireless factory jobs. For Justin, it was a turbulent road full of triumphant achievements mixed with a few devastating blows, but each experience has shaped his personality as a designer and as a teachable, humble corporate employee that he strives to be today.

The group was left with inspiring messages to be confident, passionate, and make sure to latch on to mentors throughout your career to continue experimenting and learning new things. Thanks for sharing Justin!