Here’s what our team is doing to better themselves, their skills and their #WFH spaces
Like the rest of 2020, October has been spooky. Luckily, the Yak Pak has been facing the fright by focusing on improvement, whether by amping up their apartments, devoting themselves to literary journeys or learning new skills to keep their work fresh. Here’s what the Yak Pak was up to in October 2020.
Photo Credit: Van Gogh Museum
Maribel Leddy, Associate Content Strategist — Not Goghing Back to the Office Yet
This month, Maribel transformed her #WFH space by ordering a room-dividing panel and a rolling standing desk. As someone who lives in a studio apartment and typically works at her dining table, these investments made a big difference when it came to finding work/life balance and drawing lines between work and home.
The panel, adorned with Van Gogh paintings on each side, serves as both a snazzy background and a stress reliever for virtual meetings by hiding an unkempt bed or a messy table. For anyone looking to update their remote office space into something impressive (or should we say impressionist?), Maribel recommends Overstock.
Photo Credit: National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
Gaby FeBland, Content Strategist and Heather Hobbs, Content Editor — Practicing Their Prose
Gaby and Heather have spent October mentally preparing for NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, which starts on November 1. The event is run through a nonprofit organization that “provides tools, structure, community and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals, and build new worlds—on and off the page.”
Their goal is to write 50,000 words over the course of the month, an average of about 1,667 words per day. In a typical year, there are meetups in libraries and cafes where people get together and write. This year, they’ll lean on online communities to hold each other accountable and provide encouragement.
For Gaby’s first NaNoWriMo, she plans on challenging herself to write an anthology of short stories. Her inspiration? Gothic horror like that of Edgar Allen Poe, Carmen Maria Machado and “this waking nightmare we call reality.” Heather, on the other hand, plans to spend her fifteenth NaNoWriMo working on her novel, which involves a missing person, a mysterious boat and a flea market that only opens after sunset. Read more about Heather’s past experiences with NaNoWriMo and what they’ve taught her about goal setting here.
Photo Credit: Cinecom.net
Baltazar Rosiles, Art Director — Cozying Down with Creativity
As the chill set in this month, Baltazar hunkered down at home in search of creative inspiration. On Instagram, creators like @leamotion, @kevinbparry and @zachking influenced him to dive deeper into Adobe After Effects. With the help of YouTube, particularly the Cinecom.net channel and their Skillshare video course on After Effects basics, Baltazar learned how to recreate the captivating visual effects of the Instagram creators, further elevating the content he is able to produce for Yakkety Yak and our clients.
When Baltazar wasn’t improving his skills this month, you could find him using his creativity in other areas too, such as trying out new recipes like Chicken Parm for his family or unwinding with a hot rum-spiked apple cider after a hard day’s work.
Our team is here to bring our creative energy, skills and focus to help tell your business’ story. Connect with us to get started.
