1 / You'll look back and see you moved a mountain; Charles Forster
+ Calendly, working with Boy Scouts America and finding a mentor.
I'm Oli Batstone and this is Design Tales, a weekly profile of bright creatives. This week I'm joined by Charles Forster, Director of Product Development at Skunkworx Lab in Austin, Texas. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Thanks for joining me Charles. What’s a product you use that deserves more attention?
What’s the most memorable moment of your career so far?
I worked on the design and development for the Commissioner Tools system for the Boy Scouts of America. After it launched, the stakeholders shared the glowing feedback from the commissioners using the tool. They told me the impact of the system on that part of the organization was massive.
What do you wish you knew at the start of your career?
To find a mentor as early as possible. I went out on my own right out of college and missed out on working with a professional team I could learn from and catapult my career.
What advice do you follow?
Advance a tiny bit every day and you'll look back and see you moved a mountain.
Where can we find you online?
charlesforster.com, and twitter @Chazthetic
Do you have anything you’d like to promote?
I started a side project, Automo Design Co. dedicated to one of my passions, cars. It's my opportunity to design art prints and apparel for fun. Check it out here.
Fin
I’d like to thank Charles for sharing his stories. Trying to find a mentor resonated with me, as even though I was lucky to have a summer internship while at university, I felt a definite gap in my knowledge when I entered the workplace full time. Having a mentor would have been a game changer. Luckily it seems that while learning institutions are on the decline, the popularity for mentorships and the critical practical knowledge derived from them is on the up. So that’s something future graduates can look forward to in a forever changing creative industry.
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See you next week — Oli