Caroline moran shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Good morning Caroline, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
I recently moved to Denver, and I finished a painting, which I spent 8 months on, and so far it has been shown publicly in Woods Boss Brewing and Waldschanke cidery, which I am proud of
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Caroline Moran. I am an artist and have been all my life; will always continue to be. I do a lot of fine art like painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture. Recently, my latest project is getting a small batch of unique custom mugs printed. I partnered with a friend of mine, Brianna Bowers, who has her own mug printing business, and I gave her my designs to put on mugs and then listed them for sale. So far, I have networked with local tea and coffee shops and done a local art market set up. This aspect of art production is new to me, but very exciting. I am also getting a children’s book published very soon
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
Currently, I work a job as a caregiver, which wasn’t part of my plan coming to Denver, but it has proved to be fruitful in other ways. I have a patient now who was recently venting to me about her other caregiver. It boiled down to miscommunication. She was counting on her to show up to help her with her husband (my patient) who is half paralyzed and twice the weight of his wife. The other caregiver is pretty good at moving him, getting him to the sit-to-stand machine, then bathroom, and then wheelchair, so he can adjust to the day as best he can. Well, she was a no-show. She called in, but the patient was never notified of this from the coordinator. This created a lot of mistrust between my patient’s wife, who was expecting help, and then had to do everything herself, but then this was repaired with transparency in later communication from all sides. It was hurtful for me to see what they went through with the miscommunication on the coordinator end, but I believe they are in a reset phase.
What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
I had high hopes coming out to Denver. I was ready for a change. I wanted to be close to my partner, who I’d been going long distance with for a year, and I was on the job hunt while back in Alabama, and it was pretty thrilling when I got a call back for an interview with a job I’d applied for in Denver. A lot of job opportunities fell through with graphic design because I was fresh out of school and employers didn’t want to take a chance on me. Most of my professional experience deals with graphic design, but I have never worked for an agency and unfortunately, I was knocked out of competition. I was so ready to move, I had my own deadline set, so I decided to broaden my search for jobs. I ended up getting a job as an insurance agent with AFLAC, and when I went through three rounds of interviews, orientation, and tests, it seemed like a good fit for the time being. I was told it was easy to sell, and I’d get bonuses if I opened at least 3 accounts a month. I thought, well, that’s pretty easy, right? With my work ethic, I’ve got this. I was so wrong. Every day, I’d hit my 30 doors, and hear 30 NO’s, often accompanied with, “never come back here. We don’t like solicitors.” I began to see myself in an altered way, a nuisance, someone unwanted. I was putting in 60-80 hour weeks, so it was filling up my life quickly. And it was 100% commission, and I was making no money. Needless to say, I quit after 2 months. I don’t like to quit anything. It goes against every grain in my being. Plus, I had worked really hard to study and pass the tests to get certified. But I couldn’t do this soul-sucking work any longer and also not get a paycheck. I realized from this that quitting isn’t always bad. Sometimes, instead of worrying about letting down others, you have to choose yourself. In a job, anyone is replaceable, but my own sanity, self image, and peace are not.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
Yes, I think authenticity really matters. Now that’s not to say I don’t adapt to different people and social settings. To some extent, everyone has to do that, but I always to it in a way that doesn’t feel forced to me. If I feel like I have to compromise who I am because it is making someone upset, I’ll just kindly let that person remove themselves from my life. I came out as bi a couple years ago and was met with a ton of ignorance. There were a lot of hard conversations, and now there is a lot more understanding and acceptance from that, but I came out, preparing to lose a lot of support. I had no idea what was going to happen or how it would be received. Thankfully, I am a lucky one that can say not a lot changed for me in my relationships.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
This is something I deal with daily now. Working as a caregiver now, I deal with a lot of elderly people with dementia. I’ll do all my duties for them: buy groceries if they lack the mobility to do so or have given up their driver’s license, do laundry and light house cleaning in the case of one of my patients who has crippling arthritis, and sometimes I sit with them and simply give them company. I’ll tell them stories from my life and listen to theirs. I have learned a lot from these relational experiences, but I have found that I am the one that remembers them. Recently, I had a big mess of confusion with a patient who I was giving company to, and she got upset with me one day and said I never work when I go see her. It was the first time I was speechless in a long time. I had recently put her bed together with no instructions, changed her lightbulb, and talked with her for six hours at a time. As a natural introvert, I’d get home and need to recharge. That felt like work, and it was. We came to an agreement, which turned into her wanting to talk less and have me do more, but it was a hard conversation to have because I knew I’d already been working hard. My approach with her in particular is always to meet her where she is at because she is one of my more independent patients. She refuses to let me cook for her or do laundry, so sometimes there isn’t much to do, which made it extra surprising for me when she snapped expecting me to do more. Now, I have grappled with it, and I simply remind myself that this is an 84 year old woman, and I will do my job to help her even if she doesn’t recognize it. I get my own satisfaction out of helping her because I have come to care for her and call her a friend, so if she doesn’t recognize, I still feel gratified in helping a friend. I am thankful I have this job because for a while, after quitting the dismal insurance world, I was unemployed for five months, which was terrifying. I try to remind myself that I am worthy, I make beautiful work. There just isn’t many jobs in my field available and the ones that are, the competition is steep. Graphic designers and artists who have 10+ years of experience would easily be chosen over me, and I can’t fault an employer for that, so I am building myself back up financially and doing my own side projects to build my reputation as an artist. My caregiver job pays well and has taught me valuable lessons that will carry over to my art.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://carolinemoran825.wixsite.com/mywork
- Instagram: @cmoran_art
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-moran-854273110
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1GEM9ZVndD/?mibextid=wwXIfr
