At Concept Co., we do a deep dive into all of our clients, so it’s only fair you get to know a little more about us, too. Our blog series, “Meet The Team,” does exactly that. So, meet Izzy Pomeroy. From intern to full-time graphic designer in no time flat, she is seriously talented (plus she has impeccable organizational skills and dad jokes).
From north to south
While born in Wisconsin, Izzy quickly admits she prefers Florida’s climate to our cold and snow. She split time between Wisconsin and Florida before the official move down south when she was 10 years old. “I’m more of a beach girl or a summer person,” she noted, “because I spent so much time down here even before we lived here.”
Another huge perk? Izzy spends more time outside in Florida, including going to the beach, boating, riding jet skis, paddleboarding, swimming—“all that good stuff,” as she says. No matter her location, one thing that never changed for Izzy was knowing from young on precisely what career she wanted to pursue.
“From the time I started high school, I knew I wanted to go into graphic design, so I took a lot of design courses and got five Adobe certifications,” said Izzy. “The different Adobe programs were a really good stepping stone for me. I found that I love art and technology—graphic design allows me to do both simultaneously.”
Forging her path
Inspired by her parents’ entrepreneurial spirit, Izzy combined a graphic design major with a marketing minor when she went to college at High Point University in North Carolina. However, Izzy’s college experience was greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to her decision to continue her educational experience outside of the traditional realm.
“I’m a very self-motivated and determined person, so getting out of bed every day and doing my schoolwork online wasn’t hard for me, but I missed being in a collaborative environment,” said Izzy. “When I started my internship, I realized how much I was learning on the job versus in school. Truthfully, I learned more in the first three months [at Concept Co.] than I did in two years of college. I’m very, very happy with the decision that I made.”
Giving back to the community
While Concept Co. is her first digital agency, Izzy found design opportunities with various companies, crafting new logos and working on website projects. One of her most rewarding experiences before her current role was as an intern for a local chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) in South Florida.
Within this graphic design internship, Izzy finally got her hands on social media, presentations, and other design materials the organization needed. She also led a weekly meetup for diabetic teenagers over Zoom to give kids in the area an opportunity to meet other people with diabetes.
“I am a Type I diabetic, and I never really had a whole lot of friends growing up that also had [diabetes],” said Izzy, “so it was cool to meet some other people that live in this region and deal with the same things that I deal with daily. I learned a lot from talking to them about their experiences.”
Diving headfirst into design
Feeling uninspired in school and “light years ahead of some of [her] classmates,” Izzy’s proactive, go-getter nature led her to send her portfolio to Concept Co. CEO Zach Beaman, whom she had met through a family member. She wanted an internship, he was impressed, and the rest is history.
In March 2021, Izzy officially started as a graphic design intern at the agency, and “man, it’s been a whirlwind,” she noted. “Time has flown, yet I feel like I’ve been working here forever. I’m grateful to have had that [college] experience, but it’s been a complete 180 since starting in the real-life agency world, and it’s been awesome.”
From the start, part of the magic at Concept Co. for Izzy was getting to work with such a small team, which allowed her to collaborate in ways she never anticipated as an intern. Being given the chance to participate in strategy sessions and use her creative voice within that setting helped positively shape her internship experience.
It didn’t take long before Izzy became a full-fledged member of the Concept Co. team. By July 2021, she had become a part-time junior designer, which quickly morphed into a full-time role come November of the same year. Working at Concept Co., Izzy loves “getting to stretch [her] brain on a daily basis because there’s always some new puzzle to solve.” She also really enjoys learning more about marketing strategy, the agency world, and success metrics from her more experienced co-workers.
Books, crafts, music, and crime shows
Outside of work, there’s no mistaking that art and creativity run through her veins. Izzy is a “huge crafter” who loves fiber arts, like sewing, embroidering, and knitting, “basically all the 80-year-old woman hobbies,” she joked. From furniture design to tile patterns, interior design needs to go on that list, too; she fondly recalled watching a lot of HGTV and redecorating her room often as a kid.
Another thing that’s stuck around since childhood is Izzy’s passion for music. She was in choir in middle and high school, in addition to playing guitar since the age of 13. “I love, love, love, music of literally all genres,” said Izzy, “Country, pop, rock, reggae, folk—you name it, I listen to it.”
She’s a diehard reader and book lover, with endless book recommendations for the other avid readers at the agency. Outdoor activities will always remain at the top of her list, too, because she simply loves being on the water. “I get sunburnt a lot, but, you know, we live in Florida,” she said with a shrug, “and you can be outside all year round, so we like to take advantage of that.”
Bonus book recommendations: “The Expats” by Chris Pavone (thriller); “We Begin at the End” by Chris Whitaker (mystery); “The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics” by Daniel James Brown (nonfiction)