Alumni Spotlight – Jon Lacey: Being Yourself Can Take You Far
Posted in: Alumni Success Stories, Career Services News, Career Services Spotlights, College News and Announcements, Student Success
Jon Lacey is the perfect example of what it means to put yourself out there. Jon has created a success story through his hard work, dedication, and being himself.
Being a graphic design major wasn鈥檛 always in the cards for Jon. 鈥淔rom an early age, elementary through middle school, I always had an interest in technology, computers, ipods, and macs specifically,鈥 said Jon. 鈥淕oing through general art classes growing up, then getting into photography in middle school and finally doing my first 101 beginner graphic design classes freshman year of high school鈥.
During Jon鈥檚 time as a graphic design major for Montclair, he was required to get an internship. He said the process of getting an internship was quite easy for him. He was able to land one with Blue Dog Graphic Design and Printing. 鈥淚 called them up asking for the person in charge of hiring interns, went in later that day and pretty much through my charisma got hired right on the spot – no resume, no portfolio, no nothing. I walked in with knowledge and confidence and got the internship on the spot鈥. Since then, he has worked his way to becoming a Head Graphic Designer.
Since graduating from Montclair, Jon has built a career for himself. He started his own company, 鈥淟aceys Designs鈥. 鈥淏rick by brick everything was all built out. Laceys Designs began as a way to branch off into my own realm and get personal freelance experience in the business world鈥. His creation for his company was based on his love for the work that he does. 鈥淏eing a designer comes with a little bit of moral responsibility and the general responsibility for taking accountability in life鈥 only set it up once I knew this was where I wanted my life to go; helping people design and capture their dreams to reality鈥.
When it comes to the most valuable lesson learned over the years, Jon learned that it isn鈥檛 hard as long as you put in the work. 鈥淲ith proper education, hands on training and having the soft skills of knowing how to interact with people, anything is possible鈥 Jon said 鈥淒on’t let parents, friends, professors, bosses, anyone, hold you back. Just do it! It’s never been easier, the entire world is at your fingertips鈥.
Jon鈥檚 best advice for current and future Redhawks is to make new friends as they could help you out in the long run. 鈥淭alk to everyone, a simple 鈥榟i鈥 can go a long way. Especially in college, the peers in your major have similar interests鈥. 鈥淢ultiple times I’ve called upon old classmates to do design jobs for me where their skill set was much better. The people you meet now will go off and do extraordinary things with their life, it’s always good to have your name in their contacts list with them knowing you are a capable trust worthy hard worker鈥.
Written by, Jayla Trice