Hello Internet friends,

that time has come, I finally turned 30. Thirty has found me at an interesting crossroads: I've built the creative career I dreamed of, yet everything still feels wonderfully, terrifyingly fluid.

The milestone I once pictured as the pinnacle of career achievement has arrived, yet everything still feels like a work in progress.

Isn't that beautifully honest and brutal?

The creative industry has a way of surprising you. After graduation, I had such a clear picture of what creativity and being a designer would look like. Then reality crashed in: the collision can be jarring when creativity meets commerce.

It’s nice that and other magazines never tell you about this part.

No one mentions how challenging it becomes to maintain your creative voice when everyone else is dictating how to work.

I think there's an interesting parallel between modern designers and factory workers: as systems grow more complex, we find ourselves working on increasingly smaller parts of the product, like a sophisticated assembly line.

We become disconnected from the whole, designing fragments of larger systems under the constant pressure of reorganizations and directional shifts from above.

These past years have been marked by:

• A constant pendulum between exhaustion and euphoric enthusiasm

• Wrestling with impostor syndrome while trying to appear confident

• The sobering realization that you're replaceable

• Watching your passion transform, and sometimes struggle, as it becomes your profession

• Learning to navigate expectations that often feel impossibly high

It's a strange dance of exhaustion and euphoria, where impostor syndrome mingles with moments of brilliant confidence.

My twenties as a creative professional have been a rollercoaster of emotions. One day you're riding high on creative energy, the next you're drinking a bittersweet awareness that you're replaceable.

Watching your passion transform, and sometimes struggle, as it becomes your profession is a unique kind of growing pain that no design school prepares you for.

But here's what I've learned at least in the last five years, and it's profound yet simple:

sometimes what matters isn't the product we're designing, but the people we're designing with.

I realized that I urgently need to develop my own approach to creative leadership now, treating career development like a design problem. It's all about self-analysis, brainstorming, and prototyping different solutions.

Instead of sticking rigidly to plans, I'm learning to navigate change without a map. Using creativity and storytelling to drive meaningful change has become my north star.

It's about finding ways to create meaning in current situations while preparing for future possibilities, staying open to multiple futures rather than fixating on a single path.

These days, I measure my success differently. Rather than chasing grand achievements, I’d like to try to learn to focus on three simple things each day:

• Do something for my personal wellbeing

• Contribute to someone else's life

• Accomplish three meaningful tasks toward work

It's not about guaranteed outcomes anymore, it's about maintaining forward motion, even when the path ahead is unclear.

Perhaps it's time to challenge our parents' myth that we must choose one career path and stick to it until retirement.

The creative industry is evolving, and so should our approach to navigating it. Our careers can be as fluid and dynamic as our design processes.

As I step into my thirties, I'm embracing a truth that feels both uncomfortable and liberating: I deserve to be here.

Not because I've reached some predetermined milestone, but because I'm continuously showing up, learning, and contributing to the creative community in my own authentic way.

The journey of a creative professional isn't about reaching a specific destination by thirty, it's about remaining curious, adaptable, and true to your creative voice, wherever that may lead you.

And yes, sometimes that means admitting that we're still figuring it all out. And that's perfectly okay.

Ouch! is a weekly newsletter about creative empowerment and personal development proudly owned by Amsterdam-based art director and creative strategist Lucia Bertazzo.

Feel free to drop Lucia a DM on Instagram with any suggestion regarding art, design, or something that triggered your mind and deserves attention, or leave a comment here.

Want to chat? Email her at lbertazzo95@gmail.com

Stay hydrated, see you soon 🦖