Jade Do
Creative Digital Marketing / Video Editor / Motion Graphics Designer
Nashville, TN
www.jadedo.com
instagram @jvdedo
Q What do you do?
“Short Answer: I make ads. Long Answer: I create ads in the E-Commerce space to help small businesses grow!”
I've been dabbling all around the creative field since I was a freshman in high school and have recently been blessed with the opportunity to create eye-catching, scroll-stopping ads that help small businesses develop their brand and voice.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
I started out my creative "career" (I say career lightly) making low-quality Youtube videos of my friends and I doing everything from parodies to interviews with local businesses. As I got more familiar with videography, I got reeled into the automotive film scene, as well as making recruitment videos for fraternities and sororities in college.
Funny enough, I landed the job I have now completely by accident. I grew up in Nashville, and would swipe on Tinder from time to time while visiting home from college. I matched with an account manager at a creative agency and after a single conversation and a link to my website I was given five days to move back to Nashville from my college town and start a brand new job. The more I think about it, the more I realize that my small impulsive decision really changed the course of my whole life. I was still balancing school along with my brand new job when I first started, but seeing the light at the end of the tunnel made the experience so rewarding.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
My job is to captivate users through visuals and storytelling, while trying to sell them a product or service all at the same time. But for me, it's less about the numbers, and more about building identity and community through the content I make. The thing that makes a brand successful on top of their quality is their character; What do we stand for? Who do we stand for? What problem are we trying to fix? How can we resonate this problem with the target audience? I want to show them that this brand's goal is to enrich and improve their current lifestyle, rather than make a quick buck off of them.
Q What are you working on right now?
I am currently working on creatives for Mike Tyson's brand new supplement launch, IM-21, Glitch Energy's collaboration with Youtube gamer Wildcat for their limited edition flavor launch, and video content for Son of a Tailor's custom t-shirt service.
Q What’s your style?
My creative style is clean and contemporary with a sprinkle of quirky. I love making fun, personable ads with an overall high-end feel to them. The recent campaign I did with Pestie, a DIY Pest Control service, really embodies the fun and relatable aspect while maintaining quality and integrity.
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
Lately, I've been super hyper-focused on video editing and motion graphics. I used to work a lot closer in the production aspect of things (shooting, filming, set design, etc.) And wish I had more opportunities to get my hands dirty on set and really help bring my vision to life. I find inspiration for set designs and shooting styles I've always wanted to try, but my current position tends to overwhelm my time.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
Repetition tends to frustrate me the most. Clients will see a previous campaign or project we've done for another client and ask for same or similar. It becomes frustrating and discouraging because you want to try something fun and new, but understandably, clients want ads that perform well, and the easiest way to do that is to emulate the ads that are already succeeding. It's a standard of practice for me to create unique brand identities for all the clients that walk through our doors, but sometimes you just get stuck making the same videos over and over again and that's just how the cookie crumbles.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
REVISIONS. EASILY. I think anyone in the creative industry finds revisions tedious and stressful from time to time. Sometimes your vision doesn't line up with your client's vision and the back and forth of making revisions can be daunting.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
I wish I would've told myself to breathe. I was running at 100 miles a minute when I first began making content. I was juggling school, work, freelancing, as well as opportunities on the side that I had pursued prior to starting my career. I never gave myself a chance to take a step back and sit down for five minutes to just breathe.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
The best insight I could receive right now is how to keep challenging myself in an environment where I feel like I'm working on a cycle or routine. My current process right now is onboard client > come up with content > make content > deliver, and I find myself making the same type of content with the same types of clients. I want to expand the level of creatives I'm making and challenge myself to do something bigger, but I'm not entirely sure where to start.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
I'm looking for an opportunity to create a larger production or campaign, or a project that really brings a brand's identity to life rather than a standard video with text overlay explaining the benefits. I want to work on content that shares a story or brings community, whether it be whacky and weird or genuine and sincere.
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
One of my favorite clients to work with was Necklet, and Pestie. The clients really let us take the reigns on their content and create a campaign that was both fun and eye-catching, while really digging into the benefits of the product. I love collaborating with clients that are open to trying new things and creating out-of-the-box content that grabs a large audience.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
Email or DM is great! I tend to reply my instagram DM's a lot more often, and we'll probably move on to email or text once I get to know you a little more! I like to keep it pretty straight forward so, what your brand is, what type of content you're looking for, other brand identities you like/might want to emulate in some way, maybe even a good backstory just cause I love getting to know my clients :))
Q Who is a creative you admire?
Our lead creative, Sam Allen, has really helped motivate me as well as bring my own creative visions to life. He's ridiculously well-educated in the industry and always has the solution for any of our creative blocks. His instagram is @samallenmedia and he is seriously a genius.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Alot of frozen lemonades from Chickfila
This member profile was originally published in September 2021.