Tower-Winter-2018

WINTER 2018 | TOWER 17 “The people [in Ireland] are amazingly welcoming and it’s just a beautiful place,” Carlson explains. “Ireland, I think, really delivers what we imagine it to be.” One thing all four seem to miss… the sunshine! Compared to good old Pennsylvania, it seems Denmark is a bit dark and dreary as each brought the topic up without coaxing. Sums up O’Neil, “I’m not going to sugarcoat it; the weather in Denmark is pretty awful. It’s often rainy. The summer is short and in the winter, it can get dark around 3 p.m.” FOLLOWING A DREAM Though all four grads landed at the LEGO Group a bit differently, they all took a leap. Some for a dream they’d had for some time, some out of curiosity and to live what currently feels like a dream in many ways. The LEGO Group was on Carlson’s radar from the time he was a four-year-old boy. His mother introduced him to the hands-on building blocks that felt like fun puzzles. He was hooked. He collected the catalogues and sent fan letters to the company. As a middle schooler, he even attended a LEGO Convention, Brickfair Virginia, where he was introduced to the fan community and discovered it reached far beyond just children. Over time, he learned that his love of art could lead him to use it in a future career. And it did. When perusing LEGO fan sites a few months after graduation, he scoured job listings and applied for the one that would land him in Denmark. It was also O’Neil’s personal passion for the LEGO brand that put him on the path to Denmark. “As a kid, I had a LEGO table in my room and would spend hours creating with my friends. Before applying for the LEGO job, I had been creating custom LEGO minifigure designs as a hobby and posting them online. Lauren, who I previously met through an internship at Crayola ® , saw my designs and urged me to apply. I then had a Skype interview, was flown to Billund, Denmark (LEGO headquarters) for two days of workshops and interviews, and two weeks later I had the job! My favorite aspect of the job is how it coincides so well with my own personal passions and fandoms. I’m a huge Star Wars nerd, and I’ve also loved LEGO toys since I was little enough to pick up the bricks.” OFFERING ADVICE For those KU students who aspire to work in a similar field or those looking to tackle some other dream that might seem “larger than life,” the LEGO crew offers up some helpful and inspirational advice. King, who was working for Crayola ® at the time she found the LEGO job ad, was apprehensive of applying and starting life in another country. She thanks her husband for encouraging her to “just do it.” “It is good to keep an open mind and to take a chance, no matter how crazy it may seem at the time. You should always keep developing your networks, since you never know what opportunities will pop up. And, of course, always make sure your resume and portfolio are up-to-date!” Blair, who traveled to Denmark with O’Neil, but started her LEGO career a few months later, says aspiring designers and illustrators should gain a wide knowledge of the design industry. “Be able to communicate and demonstrate the value of your work and how it impacts a brand.” Finally, she says, “Be curious, persistent and open to new and interesting opportunities.” Her counterpart, O’Neil, says to it’s important not to put boundaries on what you can do. “Don’t be afraid to chase what seems like an impossible chance. When an important opportunity arises, you need to be brave and jump on it, even if it requires you to move out into the unknown.” And life-long LEGO fan Carlson, the first of the four to jet to unfamiliar Denmark for the LEGO career journey, stresses how important it is to value your dreams and the fact that they can change. “Don’t always expect your dream job to be THE dream job. Life has a lot to offer and you may find that the dream you are looking for can be a totally different dream. But remember this: you will never know until you try.” LEGO, the LEGO logo and the Minifigure are trademarks of the LEGO Group. Star Wars and the Star Wars logo are registered trademarks of Lucas Films and the Disney Corporation. Megan Blair ’13