Tiny Talk with Ilana Griffo

We’ve met a couple times, never really intentionally, because upstate NY is just like that. As a creative person, do you feel like the region we live in factors into the type of work you make and career you’ve created for yourself?

Whenever I meet someone who asks where I’m from, I end up saying “Upstate New York” and then having to clarify exactly where. When I say “Rochester” – there’s almost always a connection to someone here. I feel like our corner of New York has “two degrees of separation” instead of six, it’s an anomaly. I surprisingly don’t work with many local clients but I’m certain my environment and lifestyle have a massive impact on my work. I love that we can live a slower life and find connection in little pockets here. The creative communities feel vast and thriving and there’s so much to do, even when winter lasts for half the year. 

I’ve probably seen some of your work without realizing you did it. What’s the strangest place that you’ve encountered something you made?

A few years ago I was traveling back from the UK with my kids and a young girl in line to board our plane was carrying a water bottle I designed! I tried to find her and tell her, (and hopefully make a gentle nod to her family that being an artist is a great career option) but I never saw her again! I snapped a picture of her backpack and was so excited. The water bottle was sold at Target but seeing it in a different country AND on the same plane as me was so cool. 

You’re in front of the camera every now and then on socials. What are some of your best hacks for making that seem fun and not like a chore?

Social media and content creation is definitely a sizable chunk of my job, it’s a really impactful way for us to share our work with the world. I truly don’t mind recording myself, so long as it’s in the privacy of my own home 😉 and no one is giving me funny looks (the dog doesn’t count), but I really *try* to do it on my terms. I’m not trying to become an influencer, I just want to be helpful, I want to connect with people (working alone is lonely) and I think creating content stretches my muscles in new ways.

I’ve noticed that I really ebb and flow with it, and I often argue with the voice in my head telling me that I should be more consistent, but at the end of the day I want to do it on my terms, and I want to have fun with it, so if it isn’t feeling good, I’m not going to do it. Even people with the jobs they love and created for themselves have days where they just don’t want to show up, I remind myself of this instead of going on a guilt-trip. I also started blocking social media apps on my phone to avoid mindless scrolling during the tiny pockets of time where I would typically find myself reaching for it. This helps me to strive to create more than I consume, and leaves me less likely to create content that makes me feel performative or stems from a place of comparison. 

Do you create to figure something out, or because you already know what you want to say?

 love this question! The two co-exist for me. Some of my best work comes from curiosity, not certainty. I think the more room we leave for play, the more we uncover what we want to say, and the voice to say it with. There are times when I create with conviction and clarity, and times when I’m experimenting to see what comes out. 

I co-wrote a book called Follow Your Art: Uncover and Unleash your Creative Voice, with my business partner, Katie. For the past few years we’ve had a lot of discussions around this topic. In the book there’s tons of room for play, but it also takes a lot of introspection to identify all the meaning in our work, and even to name it. Although it can be incredibly challenging to carve out the time for play, or to pull in the reins and not turn it into work, I think it’s such an important part of fostering our creativity and harnessing the power of our voice.