Justin (he/him) recently joined our team as a Project Manager. Previously, he worked at a creative agency, focusing on experiential clients. He has a passion for writing movie reviews and creating his own board games and card games.
In his new role, Justin will bring his creative energy and previous experience to the digital realm by helping clients embrace creative digital transformation. We’re thrilled that he’s chosen to join the team. Here’s a bit from our conversation.
So what brought you to Clique?
“One of the things that attracted me to apply was the careers page saying that Clique isn’t looking for ‘ninjas’ or ‘culture fits’ or ‘rockstars,’ but looking for ‘humans.’ And that they rely on people to contribute knowledge to help grow in as many areas as possible. And now that I’ve been here for a few weeks I see that for sure. Everyone is super smart and really supportive and easy to get along with.
It’s just a really creative and motivating environment. It feels good to be at a place where I get to be creative and productive during the workday, but then I’m also encouraged to be creative outside of the workplace.”
What are you most excited about?
“The certainty in uncertainty; I really like not knowing what the next week will bring, you know? It’s just really awesome knowing that I get to do great work with great people but what I’m working on changes pretty frequently. I think that helps to keep things fresh.”
Ok, now some fun questions. What does your ideal weekend look like?
“Ideal weekend includes catching up on the latest movie release as well as playing some board games with friends, spending time with my girlfriend and our border collie who is high-energy (so he requires a lot of attention)… What else? I’m probably roasting coffee on Sunday morning. We roast our own coffee, and Sunday mornings are kind of reserved for taking it slow.”
Nice. Did you have a dream job while you were growing up?
“I really wanted to make video games. I took some programming classes in high school, but realized that there’s too much math. But I was able to design and publish board games for a while. I feel like even though it wasn’t video games, that checked that box off my list unintentionally. I sort of fell into that. I believe discovery and learning through play is really important.”
Ok, this is one of my favorite questions: If you could be the best in the world at one skill but bad at everything else what would that skill be and why?
“Being able to say the right thing at the right time would be my preferred skill. There’s a French term for this—I have to look it up, I can’t remember it—but I remember the perfect thing to say when it’s too late or the moment has passed.”
[Editor’s note: The term is L’esprit de l’escalier. If only Justin could have thought of it during the interview…]
And the best advice you’ve received?
“I think Simon Sinek’s concept of ‘starting with why’ is incredibly important. I think that’s gotten me really far both professionally as well as personally and I highly recommend reading any of his books.”
I completely agree. Ok. Rapid fire for these last few questions: If you had to have a job other than the one that you have, what would it be?
“I would love to be a filmmaker for Planet Earth or any of that sort of nature documentary series. I think that would be an incredible thing to go to places that not many other people are going to.”
Plus, you know…baby penguins.
Favorite candy?
“I love all candy. If I’m going through a checkout line, I’m getting some candy. One candy bar I don’t think gets enough love and that I don’t want to go out of business is Reese’s Fast Break. It’s my favorite candy bar. But maybe a better answer to this question is my go-to movie snack which would be Goobers, Twizzlers, and a Cherry Coke.”
That’s a solid choice. Final question: what do you want to achieve by the end of the year?
“It’s been quite a while since I’ve dabbled in designing games, and I’m hoping that this new job provides me with some of the space and time and creative juices to design another board game or card game. I would love to get something out that works and is playable by the end of the year.”
Count me first in line to play Justin’s next game. We’re excited to have you on board, Justin!
