Go behind the scenes with the exhibit design team from the American Museum of Natural History for a discussion of the challenges and rewards of exhibition design. Is this career interesting to you?

Career

Learn more about exhibit design.

Watch this brief video detailing what user expereince design is and why it matters when designing products. Is this something you would like to do?

Learn more about user experience design. 

Watch how Prof. Dr. Sarah Kenderdine creates powerful interactive experiences for museumspioneering new possibilities for visitors' engagement using emerging technologies.

Watch a TED Talk about the impact of exhibit design. 

Set and Exhibit Designers

Design special exhibits and movie, television, and theater sets. May study scripts, confer with directors, and conduct research to determine appropriate architectural styles.

Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Artistic

Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Realistic

Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Enterprising

Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Investigative

First Interest High-Point

Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Conventional

Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Social

Second Interest High-Point

Third Interest High-Point

Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed

Designers

Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations

Art and Design Workers

Examine objects to be included in exhibits in order to plan where and how to display them.

Acquire, or arrange for acquisition of, specimens or graphics required to complete exhibits.

Prepare rough drafts and scale working drawings of sets, including floor plans, scenery, and properties to be constructed.

Confer with clients and staff in order to gather information about exhibit space, proposed themes and content, timelines, budgets, materials, and/or promotion requirements.

Estimate set- or exhibit-related costs including materials, construction, and rental of props or locations.

Develop set designs based on evaluation of scripts, budgets, research information, and available locations.

Direct and coordinate construction, erection, or decoration activities in order to ensure that sets or exhibits meet design, budget, and schedule requirements.

Inspect installed exhibits for conformance to specifications, and satisfactory operation of special effects components.

Plan for location-specific issues such as space limitations, traffic flow patterns, and safety concerns.

Submit plans for approval, and adapt plans to serve intended purposes, or to conform to budget or fabrication restrictions.

Prepare preliminary renderings of proposed exhibits, including detailed construction, layout, and material specifications, and diagrams relating to aspects such as special effects and/or lighting.

Select and purchase lumber and hardware necessary for set construction.

Collaborate with those in charge of lighting and sound so that those production aspects can be coordinated with set designs or exhibit layouts.

Research architectural and stylistic elements appropriate to the time period to be depicted, consulting experts for information as necessary.

Design and produce displays and materials that can be used to decorate windows, interior displays, or event locations such as streets and fairgrounds.

Coordinate the removal of sets, props, and exhibits after productions or events are complete.

Select set props such as furniture, pictures, lamps, and rugs.

Confer with conservators in order to determine how to handle an exhibit's environmental aspects, such as lighting, temperature, and humidity, so that objects will be protected and exhibits will be enhanced.

Assign staff to complete design ideas and prepare sketches, illustrations, and detailed drawings of sets, or graphics and animation.

Observe sets during rehearsals in order to ensure that set elements do not interfere with performance aspects such as cast movement and camera angles.

Design and build scale models of set designs, or miniature sets used in filming backgrounds or special effects.

Read scripts in order to determine location, set, and design requirements.

Attend rehearsals and production meetings in order to obtain and share information related to sets.

Arrange for outside contractors to construct exhibit structures.

Provide supportive materials for exhibits and displays, such as press kits and advertising, posters, brochures, catalogues, and invitations and publicity notices.

Incorporate security systems into exhibit layouts.

Coordinate the transportation of sets that are built off-site, and coordinate their setup at the site of use.

Airbrush paint applicators

All-purpose scissors

Claw hammers

Digital still cameras

Electric arc welding equipment

Furniture staplers

General purpose paintbrushes

Handsaws

Laptop computers

Liquid crystal display LCD projectors

Paint application rollers

Personal computers

Pneumatic nail guns

Portable air compressors

Portable stepladders

Rotary saws

Sewing machines

Sound mixing boards

Synthetic web slings

Tablet computers

Act-3D Quest3D

Adobe Systems Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Systems Adobe Creative Suite

Adobe Systems Adobe Director

Adobe Systems Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Systems Adobe InDesign

Adobe Systems Adobe Photoshop

Autodesk 3ds Max

Autodesk AutoCAD

Autodesk Maya

Corel CorelDraw Graphics Suite

Figure 53 QLab

McNeel Rhino software

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft Word

Nemetschek Vectorworks Spotlight

Trimble SketchUp Pro

Just relax and open up your eyes because you will realize that you have pathways opened up just by being you. 

I'm a first generation resident of this country because my parents were immigrants.

I direct all educational and content development processes, including design, editorial, interactives, and media production. I also provide individual consultation and creative direction on numerous exhibit projects throughout the country.

Founder

[Female narrator #1] Everywhere you turn, people try to tell you who to be and what to do, but what about deciding for yourself? Roadtrip Nation is a movement that empowers people to define their own roads in life. Every summer we bring together three people from different backgrounds. Together they explore the country interviewing inspiring individuals from all walks of life. They hit the road in search of wisdom and guidance to find what it actually takes to build a life around doing what you love. This is what they found, this is Roadtrip Nation. [Sofaya]  We're in Seattle. We're about to go to Experience Music Project. It's all about music and interaction and that kind of thing. [Ben]  It's all about music. Experience. [Sofaya]  Building is designed by Frank Gary. We'll be inside of it doing cool things. [Ben] Andrea Weatherhead designs Museum Exhibits like the sound lab at Experience Music Project. Which is just a super cool museum. This is one of those moments when you're like wait that's a job. There's a person that dedicates their life to making exhibits, that is cool! There area little sound booths everywhere. With people jamming on guitars on bass guitars on drum sets on you know keyboards. You are bound to get hooked on some aspect because you can try anything. [DJ sounds] [Martha]  It was so participatory,  I love learning and learning about new things but I think there are a lot of museums that fall very short in terms of conveying interesting thing in ways that really grab people and her work is really inspiring in that way. [Sofaya] We all just kind of picked something up and we're just like  "yay, all the small things." [All singing "all the small things" together] [Andrea]  The goal of sound lab was to inspire collaboration and critical listening but also you learn what all the instruments are and by the time you've left there, if you're not a musical person before you've gone in there, you would have understood to hear music differently the moment you turn on your radio. You might know what a high hat is and hear it in the right channel and go oh that's a high hat. [Andrea] I was in your situation I didn't know what I wanted to do. When I was first out of college I went to work for a law firm writing down evidence. I didn't have confidence that I could stand out musically and from that point I decided I really did want to try to become a recording engineer. I was like how am I going to do something with music. Then I got a job as a recording engineer for seven years. The museum work came out of being at Microsoft and making interactive music and made an interactive music website and this is what led to museums, but it wasn't like I said, I'm going to become a museum person. So just being awake and seeing what kind of things are in front of you [Sofaya] But like I don't know I just kind of, I don't really know what I want to do. I don't have a goal to fight for I don't have a ladder to climb I don't like have like a finish line to get to so it's like weird. [Andrea] What really pisses you off in the world? What gets your ire up? [Sofaya]  I don't know off the top of my head. [Ben]  Decisions. Decisions. [Laughs] [Martha]  Deciding what to  eat for dinner. [Sofaya] It's not knowing what  I want, really pisses me off. It's kind of like a running joke on this thing like when I get a menu at a restaurant and I'm just like "oh my god" and it gets me really upset. [Andrea]  I panic order at the restaurant all the time. I panic, I wait for everybody else to order I need to know what everybody else is going to have I can't figure out what I want it all looks really good to me. I think that's partly because two things, one is I like a lot of things so I'm not terribly discriminating but secondarily I'm not even sure at my age I actually feel super in touch with what I want, and I think sometimes when you don't know what you want to do it's because sometimes you don't know yourself. and Sofaya with your whole I don't know piece, I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know. I feel like you are resisting not knowing, what if you just lived with the not knowing? Trying and not knowing may be an ok thing to be. Tune out all the 'you shoulds' or 'I can't because' or 'I would really like to give you an answer but' like all those but things, just put them aside. Open up your eyes to what moves you and what doesn't move you and you'll find that you have pathways open up just by being you. All you need is just to relax and get to know yourself. Get comfy with you get comfy with the unknown get comfy with silence love yourself and rock on. [Ben]  She walked about finding quiet place and listening to yourself to know what is true to you, what your, you know, motivations are. Now that we have these big drives in between these destinations we're getting that time to really dive deeper into ourselves and the knowledge we're being given. [Martha] Those days that are only driving become time warps because it gives you a chance to be in your own zone and write and read and draw and sleep [Sofaya] Part of my goal coming into it was to be exposed to things I've never seen before which is already happening. This kind of thing is so far out from anything that I've ever visualized or fantasized about [Birds chirping] [Ben]  Nature! You did it! [Clapping] [Bacon sizzling] [Ben]  Did my classic facial hair experiment for the fourth of July. I like to rock the mustache with the handlebars or something. So the team voted I rock the handlebar mustache for the fourth of july. It's the fourth of July, y'all got that right. Fourth of July. mhmm, Fourth of July y'all know what it is. We gon' celebrate. We woke up, shaved Ben's face then we went to Yellowstone [Ben]  Some pools are acidic enough to burn through boots, I'm in flip flops! More than a dozen people have been scalded to death and hundreds badly burned including little Johnny. It was another planet, geysers going off and steaming waterfall looking things with bacteria growing stalagmites. I don't even know. It was cool. Want to get a team selfie here in front of the geyser here? [Martha] Geyser [Ben]  I forgot I have a wicked handlebar mustache [Sofaya] It was just so much nature like it was just a lot of just untapped-ness, speaking of nature. I had a lot of moments where I was just like 'what' how is this my life how am I looking at this right now. Am I really driving through Wyoming? Is that a thing that's happening? [Martha] Nature is so dramatic, nature is such a drama queen. She's just like alright I'm going to do flatlands for thirty miles and then Pow! Mountains for like miles and no one is going to see it coming. [Sofaya] I was driving through the Tetons, and I was like if I were to go back in time where my fifteen year old self was learning how to drive and kind of implant those memories into my fifteen year old self and say you are learning how to just kind of push the gas pedal and like, and feel your way around maneuvering a vehicle in preparation for this moment right now, I don't even know what my fifteen year old self would have said. [Ben]  So that whole day was just completely soaking in nature. [Martha] Then we kind of just meandered into Jackson Hole. [Ben] Came riding in our horse late that night, evening festivities started getting kicking off. Fireworks for the fourth of July. [Martha] It just was kind of a very peaceful American July fourth. July fourth becomes so much about the people that have been a part of your life for so long. It definently, I felt, I didn't want to be like guys I love you all but in my head I was like 'guys!' [Ben]  So we travelled to Boulder to sit with Eiko Okura who is a feng shui interior designer. It looks very feng shui. And she is amazing from what we hear. So we're pretty excited to go have our minds blown. [Eiko]  Hello! [Ben]  Hi! [Eiko] Hello I'm Eiko. [Ben] I'm Ben. [Sofaya] Sofaya. [Eiko] Growing up in Japan, especially in a small village, everybody knows you and everybody knows your parents, your grandfathers your grandmothers, and I just wanted to be somebody else. At that time, women were expected to be obedient and get married to a doctor or lawyer And have children, and stay home. I didn't think what they thought of me was correct. So I just woop, I'm going to just go somewhere. Nobody knows me, but the reason I chose Colorado was that when I was growing up my favorite song was Rocky Mountain High by John Denver, So here I am. [Sofaya]  Can you talk about the moment where you kind of made the transition in your brain between this is something that I like to do for fun to this is something that I like and that I'm good at and that I will try to do as a profession. [Eiko] I remember moving furniture around in my tiny one bedroom apartment. I really enjoyed that you know every month I was moving things around so I said ok that means interior design. It wasn't a long you know deep philosophical discussion with myself, it was pretty obvious and sometimes obvious things present itself as something as complicated. Your mind wants to think it's complicated and you cannot decide. But once you have that good grounded place in you, the obvious things are very obvious. So in your case, maybe it's just a matter of stop thinking and see what emerges in you. Keep asking that question 'who am I who am I?' Who I want to be. [Martha] Have you ever had a time where that unknowing has been difficult to process? [Eiko]  Many times, many times. I was in a place of unknown when I, living Osaka, but I was young, so I wasn't afraid. It was almost exciting to be in unknown. Unkown is actually a field with great possibilities. Because I think creativity and inspiration comes from your openness to be in that unknown or not knowing what might come out. And in order for you to feel that deeply and clearly you have to be able to provide yourself the very quiet place. [Ben]  What is your quiet place like for you? [Eiko] I go back to my breathing, and my quiet place is in between in breath and out breath. (breath in) that moment (breath out). So that's my quiet place, so when my mind gets too crazy or thinking too much and of course I do that all the time but when I catch myself doing that I take a deep breath in and focus on that spot. You know that tiny little moment between in breath and out breath [Ben] Immediately I think we were all just like (breath in)  man I was just in Eiko's place. In a quiet place, it was crazy. It was very interesting to hear that something she can do almost meditatively in the moment you can still find that center that quiet place for self. [Martha]  Is there any advice you would give of how to be creative and also lead fulfilling happy lives? [Eiko] All those questions you ask, there are answers coming from other people and receive it and hold it at the same time listen to yourself too. How does it feel? The answer is always in you. Oh Eiko, Eiko is a wonderful human being. Everything was so thought out, everything was so rich in wisdom and just a higher level of thinking. So it's very very meditative to talk to her. [Martha]  Sunday was just an epic day in the most epic location. [Sofaya]  We went to Red Rocks amphitheater. The event was a yoga slash concert and it was just like Michael Franti sitting there strumming his guitar to this enormous yoga session in the middle of a crevice in a mountain. [Live music] [Announcer] Michael Franti in  the house. Reach up and out up and out, inhale. To the floor to the floor to the earth flow high inhale exhale downward facing. [Ben]  It was awesome,  and then we had the pleasure of hanging out with the one and only Michael Franti [Martha]  It was a definently a very star struck moment but in a cool way that he was super approachable. [Michael] When I was twenty two I  was in a little van touring around the country. We had this tiny little band we were called 'The Beatnigs' and we were like this very industrial punk rock very political and we would just travel town to town and play shows and sleep on whoever's floor was had a space for us and the end of the night we'd go 'thank you for the show it was a great night y'all, um anybody have a place we can sleep tonight?' [Announcer]  Everyone get their hands together for Michael Franti and Spearhead! [Live music] [Martha] So you were touring with the band, what first got you into music and were there any touring at an early age, it must have been tough at times, what kept you going? [Michael] You know what, I got into music not because I wanted to get rich and famous and make money and retire. I got into it because I felt like I had something burning in my heart to say. This one goes out to all the veterans that are in attendance, it goes out to everybody that's stationed in Iraq and Afganistan tonight, and to the people of Iraq and Afganistan put your cell phones up [Live music] [Michael]  A few years ago I had a scare my appendix ruptured on tour and I came close to dying and it was the same week that my first song went into the top twenty, after twenty years of making music we had the song 'hey I love you' in the top twenty and I'm being wheeled out on this gurney perhaps to my death. And I get this text 'your song is in the top twenty' you know and I'm like it didn't even matter. I was like whatever I was just like I want to see my kids again and I want to be with my family and it's nice thing to have a lot of people hear your song. But if I can't share it with my family it doesn't matter. At this point of my life I have two sons I have one is twenty seven I have one is fifteen, I still feel like I'm twenty two years old I still have the same passion for what I do like with music and I have this life that I feel is fulfilling in so many ways, I feel happy most of the time. [Live music] [Sofaya]  Do you have any advice to people in our position on how to kind of navigate the world on all the decisions? [Michael] A lot of people think, did I make a good decision did I make a bad decision. I look at it differently, I don't look at it like decision making is qualitative, I think it's quantitative. It's like a lot of people sit around not making decisions because they're afraid to and they're afraid to try something and fall on their face. And I think it's like make as many decisions as you can and try many things and if you fall on your face make another decision. Try something else and just keep trying keep doing it. But don't sit on the sidelines you know just settling for second best. Make lots of decisions and fall lots of times like we're all going to miss lots of shots trying to become good at it. Making baskets you know. So you got to just keep doing it, keep trying. [Live music] [Jessica]  There was this moment I remember thinking this is not me, I really just had to drop everything and start over. [Ben] Being out here on the road and seeing huge amounts of this country, it just gives you perspective. We don't have any interviews, so we're just going to make some on the street, because who knows maybe we'll meet a genius. [Jake]  When people ask what I do I always be like oh I have a t-shirt company, that doesn't really explain it. [Outro music] Roadtrip Nation extends beyond the program you just watched. It's a movement that empowers individuals to define their own roads in life. Here's a quick snapshot of the Roadtrip Nation Experience at the Clinton Global Initiative, America. [Taylor]  My name is Taylor Walker,  I am a sophomore. [Christian]  My name is Christian, I'm sixteen. There's so many things I could do but I don't know yet and I'm kind of nervous about it. [Nyduyen]  I'm going to be a Junior. My parents don't want me to become what I want to be like going into social work because it doesn't make enough money. [Christian] We're going to the Clinton Global Initiative. [Nyduyen]  We get to interview some of the biggest names in the world. [Taylor] I'm so excited, I already have my outfits planned, everyone's like what are you doing tomorrow and I was like I'm busy! [Christian] So our first question is [Taylor]  How would you personally describe success? [Myduyen] What do you think was your biggest obstacle? [Leader #1] I thought that I was going to become a doctor because that's what happens when  you have immigrant parents. [Leader #2] I'll tell you there's a zillion of examples of people who now have a heart filled with gladness for what they do everyday. We started doing something no one could have predicted. [Myduyen] I got a lot of support from these people cause they've been through some of the stuff I'm going through. [Christian] Me aspiring to be a leader it makes me feel like I can be myself. I don't have to put on a whole different persona. [Taylor] Now I know there's literally anything I can do and if it's not out there now I can go make it happen. [Narrator #4] No matter what you do [Narrator #5] or where you come from [Narrator #6]  You've got wisdom to pass down. [Narrator #7]  Help young people find their way by sharing the lessons you've learned. Take fifteen minutes to tell us what you love to do. [Narrator #5] The door's open, [Narrator #6] We're all ears. 

The road-trippers explore the Experience Music Project in Seattle, where experience designer Andrea Weatherhead advises that the best path toward happiness is getting to know yourself. In Colorado, the team meets interior designer Eiko Okura, who urges them to stop overthinking and see what emerges, and Michael Franti, who advocates for making lots of decisions and seeing what sticks. 
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<a href="http://academy.autodesk.com/"><img width="96%" height="96% style="position:left" src="http://archive.roadtripnation.com.s3.amazonaws.com/roadtrip/logo/Fueled_By_Autodesk.png"></a>

The Answer is Within You

I still play in a band even now at my age, but >> Cool. >> [LAUGH] Yeah. >> What do you play? I'm sorry. >> I play electric guitar. >> Oh, awesome. >> Nice. >> Yeah, and sing. And when I was first out of college, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I went to work for a law firm, writing down evidence, but the people that I worked with were all artists. And we did a lot of things together. And from that point, I decided I really did want to try to become a recording engineer. So I audited a class back east and I was sitting there, just learning about basic physics of sound. And the head of the physics department came up to me and said, we have space in our program for a Master's of Science funding for students and we need more women in our program. Would you be interested to have a Master's degree here? I got a free Master's degree and I was paid $500 a month. >> [LAUGH] >> To be studying this background to something I wanted to do. But it's only because I just went and audited this class to see if I could find out about it. So then I got a job as a recording engineer for seven years. And that led me to become an audio person for Microsoft. So it just kind of again following the heart, following the opportunities. The museum work came out of being at Microsoft, and making interactive music. I made an interactive music website in 1996 when the web was just barely a piece of text. And this was what led to museums. But it wasn't like I said, I'm gonna be a museum person. So when you look back on that stuff from later it's like, well gosh. That was so clear I was gonna be involved with media and producing. And getting things together and collaborating and getting people together to do something but I didn't know it. Those things are things that do actually transform into what you end up doing because it's who you are. >> Yeah. >> So, for instance, in museum work it's one of the most interdisciplinary careers there is, because you have architects, you have construction managers, you have air conditioning people, you have electricians, you have acoustic engineers. And when we were finishing the Museum of History and Industry, on my team alone I had 50 people working for me, because we did so many things. And I needed to be able to lead a group of people through a collaborative process to get there. I think my musical background is exactly why I can do that. Because it's like leading a band. It's like some people are soloing, and some people step back. Someone else is soloing. But they're all needing to listen to each other to make good music. Because when you make music, you need to listen almost more than you play. So that you really know what other people are doing. In this world I think listening is one of the weakest skills that we have so the goal of Sound Lab was to inspire collaboration and critical listening. You wouldn't know that by going in there because it's not written up on a big billboard, but it was set up so people can collaborate, you can actually play together in those little trio things that you'll see. But also you learn what all the instruments are and by the time you have left there if you're not a very musical person before you have gone in there you will have understood to hear music differently the minute you turn on your radio. But you might know what a high hat is and hear it in the right channel and go, that's a high hat. That's different from what you were before you went in there. >> And party every day! I want to rock an roll all night. >> What you were talking about really resonated with me. My biggest passion growing up was music. And now I primarily play guitar, write songs and sing. I still dabble on the piano a little bit but that's one of my passions. And another thing maybe I'd like to hear more about from your story is how you said you didn't think you'd get paid for music. Cuz I feel that way too. I've spent $1,000 in the studio before recording things, and I haven't made a cent. >> Not to say that you shouldn't pursue music professionally, because you could, but that part of you which makes you Ben and makes you the musical Ben and the person thinking up songs is inevitably going to be a major part of who you are in whatever you do. And I just want to give you courage and confidence that just because you're not following the same path as some other people that go a more conventional route. That's not an invalid way of moving through life, in the least, maybe more valid. I became a recording engineer instead of pursuing my music and I know now in retrospect that I could have done that had I had the courage. And courage is free it just takes a different point of view. >> Dude, we're about to rock the stage. >> [MUSIC] >> What's your band name? >> Oh, yeah. Perfect. >> [MUSIC] >> I think you have a lot of skills and brains, obviously, a lot of talent. And all you need is just to just relax, open up your eyes to what moves you and what doesn't move you. And you'll find that you'll have pathways open up just by being you. And I think sometimes when you don't know what you wanna do, it's because you sometimes don't know yourself. What you guys are struggling with is what is my intention? Right, so really what you need to do is spend some time surfing. [LAUGH] Spend some time dancing, even if it's five minutes every day where you just tune out and space out and let the thoughts flow, and just journal a little bit. Spend some time wherever you get that time when you get quiet enough place where you can tune out all the you shoulds, or I can't because, or I would really like to be a dancer but. Put them aside and listen to yourself in general and get to know yourself. That, to me, is the best path towards happiness and towards success. 

Interview

I still play in a band, even now, at my age. >> Cool. >> Yeah [LAUGH]. >> What do you play? I'm sorry. >> I play electric guitar. >> Oh, awesome. >> Yea, [LAUGH] and sing. And when I was first out of college, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I went to work for a law firm. From that point, I decided I really did want to try to become a recording engineer. And that led me to become an audio person for Microsoft, and this was what led to museums. But it wasn't, like I said, I'm gonna be a museum person. I think you have a lot of skills and brains, obviously, a lot of talent, and all you need is to just relax. Open up your eyes to what moves you and what doesn't move you. And you'll find that you have pathways open up, just by being you. And I think sometimes when you don't know what you wanna do it's because you sometimes don't know yourself. So I think to try to clear out fear, clear out the people who are around us telling us what we need to want, and really try to take some quiet time to really figure out what you want is really valuable time spent. 

Andrea Weatherhead Highlight

I decided to produce a music festival right after college. And I was gonna feature women musicians in unusual musical roles. So I had a horn section that was all women, and I had a woman drummer. It was like a whole field of very, very great accomplished jazz musician as well. And it was called, In the Field of Music. And it was in the field and it was women in the field of music. [LAUGH] And we did it on Mother's Day. And it was this huge undertaking that I decided to do with no funding. And I was walking around Palo Alto trying to get the bakery to give us some money, and just put it together with a couple of friends. And I wrote a letter to my mom. And I was trying to find a job. And in the letter it says, I don't know what I wanna do. I can't type very fast. My typing is too slow to get a good job. Cuz back then people were typing. And I have looked into maybe being a teacher, but I have to get a teacher's certificate and I haven't done that. And then I said, but meanwhile, I've been doing this production and I've got advertising. And I've got grand piano people to rent their piano out on a field, which was kind of unusual for them. And I related all these things that I'd done that was not my job. And my mother found that letter to be so funny, because it was clear that I was gonna be doing some kind of production later in my life. So, when you look back on that stuff from later, it's like, well, gosh, that was so clear I was gonna be involved in media and producing and getting things together and collaborating many people together to do something. But I didn't know it. But it was just something I was kind of doing on the side cuz it wasn't real, I wasn't gonna make money at that. But that's why I kind of encourage you guys to do the things that don't make money anyway with your time, because those things are things that do actually transform into what you end up doing. Cuz it's who you are. 

Fear

Hobbies & Pastimes

Opportunity

Passion

Letter to My Mom

My biggest passion growing up was music. And now I primarily play guitar and write songs and sing. And I still dabble on the piano a little bit, but that's like one of my passions. And another thing maybe I'd like to hear more about from your story is how you didn't think you'd get paid for the music. Because I feel that way too, like I've spent $1,000 in the studio before recording things and I haven't made a cent. >> Not to say that you shouldn't pursue music professionally, because you could. But that part of you which makes you Ben and makes you the musical Ben. And the person thinking up songs is inevitably going to be a major part of who you are in whatever you do, and I just want to give you courage and confidence that. Just because you're not following the same path as some other people that go a more conventional route, that's not an invalid way of moving through life in the least. May be more valid. 

Confidence

Individualism

Self-Reflection

I guess when I feel the most myself and self-expressed, I think it probably is musically. When I was creating the Great Seattle Fire experience for the museum I was having the time of my life. Because we'd written the music, we were recording strings, and french horns, and directing singers. And so when I'm in the recording studio or in the act of creating music or performing music, that's when I feel the most flow. I'd say second to that would be when I'm in a group of smart people, as I mentioned earlier, creating together. Where the sum is greater than the individual parts. There's something extremely magical about the way the human minds coming together can create. I mean we were built to create. Everybody creates no matter what the job is they do, I think. And so definitely in the act of creating, I feel the most myself. And I've been fortunate to be able to carve out a kinda weird [LAUGH] business, where we provide things that we create. There's definitely parts to that that are not as fun, as I was mentioning, doing proposals. But it's worth doing those in order to support the time that we can do the collaborative creative work we do, and that's when I feel the most flowing, that and water skiing, slalom skiing. That's, yeah, that's a little bit of kind of weird trajectory, but that's one of my favorite things to do. 

Fulfillment

Inspiration

When I'm Most Myself

What is it that really makes you mad? What gets your ire up, just in the world in general? Cuz a lot of times, what really irritates you or makes you mad is, actually, there's behind that something that you want, but you might not have been really aware of that. So if there's anything that just gets you. Sometimes if you're not really sure what path to take, if there's something that kinda makes you mad about the world, that you then can look inside and say, that's something I could do something about. Then that can help you sort of look at where your values are, and where you might wanna think about focusing some of your attention. I guess if I were to say what makes me mad is, if I were to think about it for a second, I would say that ignorance makes me mad. Because a lot of times the things that happen in the world that are bad come out of ignorance. Lack of education, lack of knowledge, lack of consciousness on the part of people. So then I might make the leap, well, getting into that educational world where you can actually open people's eyes to things is a way of being a part of a force that is, again, something that I don't like. 

Character

Education

Values

What Makes You Mad

In museum work it's so highly interdisciplinary. It's one of the most interdisciplinary careers there is because you have architects, you have construction managers, you have air conditioning people, you have electricians, you have acoustic engineers. And when we were finishing the Museum of History and Industry, on my team alone I had 50 people working for me. Because we did so many things. And I needed to be able to lead a group of people through a collaborative process to get there. I think my musical background is exactly why I can do that. Because it's like leading a band. It's like, some people are soloing and some people step back. Someone else is soloing, but they're all needing to listen to each other to make good music. Because when you make music, you need to listen almost more that you play, so that you really know what other people are doing. 

Andrea Weatherhead

Founder

Videos

Andrea Weatherhead

Milestones

Education

Career

Career Roadmap

My work combines:

My work combines:

Music

Technology

Accomplishing Goals

Day to Day

Skills & Qualities Beyond School

Advice for Getting Started

Recommended Education

My career is not related to what I studied. I'd recommend this path instead:

Hurdles

The Noise I Shed

From Myself:

Challenges I Overcame

First-Generation Immigrant