Meet Our Newest Team Player, Alexis!

Post by Rachel

Introducing Alexis Beas, Designer Extraordinaire, To The CenterRock Advertising Team!

Working at an agency, you have to be a team player. At CenterRock Advertising, our team is filled with creative minds who work together to provide both traditional and digital marketing services to our clients. One of our goals is to help communicate the client’s messaging to targeted audiences. With that, we pride ourselves on having a small collection of people who offer a unique set of skills- including bean bag toss playing- to enhance each aspect of our agency to provide those services. Each team player brings a new style of throwing to the game, so it’s only natural to introduce our new shooter, Alexis.

Alexis graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in graphic design. This Northwest Arkansas native brings added value to not only our digital team but to the entire CenterRock Advertising agency. She is a detail-oriented designer, which she feels is an important characteristic for anyone trying to be successful in the industry. With the help of her creative efforts to visually explore the messaging for our clients, she has already proven herself to be a valuable asset to the agency.

After a slider or two, we sat down with Alexis to ask her a few questions about where her passion for graphic design came from and what it’s like so far working in an agency as a recent graduate. Check out what she had to say:

What drew you to pursue a career in design?

My passion for it. I have always been a creative person and I always find myself saying ‘oh I could create something better if I had the chance.’ I know I have a sense of design which is why I want to continue pursuing a career in it.

How are you adjusting to agency life as a recent grad?

I think I’m adjusting pretty well. I have worked full-time prior to CenterRock, so I feel like that prior experience has helped me transition. I also know when applying I matched the position description and had all of the qualifications, but I wanted to see what else the position entailed. The position description seemed to apply to my history of design and ultimately I thought an agency would be best for my career path.

Do you feel your education for this position made you more confident in your skills?

Even in high school, I was pretty knowledgeable in the programs. However, learning more about the design aspects in college helped me become more educated in how these programs can be utilized in the real world.

Are there any specific skills or characteristics you believe a person in your position must have in order to feel successful?

I think being detail-oriented is really important. I know sometimes even little things like a word or something that seems small is crucial to a design. So you definitely need to pay attention to the specs of the project and always proof the final visual. Also, I think you need to have a creative mind. I like creating the actual images or graphics that would be different from our competitors and then get feedback from the viewers (going to the website). I feel it’s a good thing to have. More than anything, just having a passion for what you do and always striving to learn and to create something better than you did previously.

What is the biggest opportunity you hope to achieve as a graphic designer for CenterRock Advertising?

Because it’s an agency, I want to produce the best work I can to help our clientele and to help our agency grow and show what we can do through my design. I really just want us to grow and for myself to be a part of it. I would want to market our agency. I’m currently working on redesigning our website right now, actually.

Did you exceed your own expectations of what you thought you were capable to achieve within the last month?

I believe so. Honestly, I got used to a lot of things and think I’m managing my time and the product better. I feel like I have definitely improved just within the past week on how I can get material out, and also just adjusting to the programs we use. The first week was kind of a struggle because I was hard on myself, but working with the team, I feel like you guys helped me figure out where to go and what to do. Asking for help has eased this adjustment a lot.

What is your advice and what would you suggest to other recent graduates seeking a career at an agency?

I would suggest that you look at the goals behind the agency and you have to make sure they align with your personal goals- do a lot of group activities to know how to work with a team. You’ve got to be a team player.

Making a swish or two, Alexis’s knowledge and skill set have allowed her to dive right into agency life. Within a short amount of time, her creative work has already been used in multiple campaigns and seen by thousands. Impressive, right? Not only does her work ethic resonate in her designs, but she’s also on her way to make a SLAM in here at CenterRock!