Vice President of Design

Role: Directs all the proofing, prepress, and design for Namify.
Been with Namify for: 12 years

Employee Spotlight

Joe Brown is always lifting spirits and making other people laugh here at Namify. We decided it was time to sit down with him and hear his story, and his thoughts on Namify. 

What did you do before you came to work at Namify?

“Right before Namify, I designed packaging for candies, flowers, etc. It’s similar to wrapping paper, but on cellophane. And that was really fun. And before that, I did everything! I worked at call centers, I waited tables, pretty much everything. I also used to work in television as a set designer and in the art department. That was done for made for TV movies, Lagoon, and other productions. I also used to paint the backdrop for Stadium of Fire with my Brother-in-Law, which would take us about two days.”

Have you ever had other positions at Namify?

“It’s always been a bit of the same role. I started off as a graphics director, but when Namify rebranded and started focusing on offering more services, that’s when I became the Vice President of Design.”

What is your favorite Namify Memory?

“I have a hard time picking just one. One of my favorites was a 5K run for my son. My youngest son is handicapped, and has a terminal genetic disorder. For a couple of years, Namify has put on a 5K run for him. One of my favorite years was when we did a Muppet themed 5K run. There was a great turn out from the community and fellow coworkers, everyone really came together for it. People in the sales department dressed up in Muppet costumes, and it was a really fun event.”

“I get the opportunity to be the MC for the Christmas party each year, which is always really fun.”

What has been your favorite project here at Namify?

 “It’s hard to say. I’ve liked so many different ones for different reasons. The best is when  I feel like I really connected with the client and they love the finished product.”

What is the best thing about working at Namify?

“It’s definitely the people that I get to work with. I’ve worked since I was fourteen, so I’ve worked a lot of different jobs, and this is the one job that I very rarely dread coming to work.  There’s always days when you would rather stay in bed, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually dreaded coming to work. And it’s because of the people. I know that people care about me and respect me, and it makes all the difference.”

What do you like to do when you’re not at the office?

“I like to be with my family. When I have time, I also like to design and create art on the side, and sell it at different venues. I love amusement parks, especially Disneyland. I’m not a huge Disney Fanatic, but I do really like the amusement parks.”

What kind of music do you listen to?

“At work we listen to strange music. We have a ‘Friday Playlist’ that we listen to every friday. It has different songs like, Friday by Rebecca Black, Last Friday Night by Katy Perry, Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus, Toxic by Brittney Spears and other weird songs. If it’s a female rapper that’s kind of crazy, that’s even better.”

Link to the playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2TuW43KWy2CicyXUCPGi3d?si=7FOxHlmwQiOXIRrlImA3-w

“But outside of the workplace, my whole family loves Queen. Even my kids like it.”

What is your favorite movie?

“It’s a movie that was made in the 70’s called, Harold and Maude. It has music from Cat Stevens and it’s awesome. It’s about a depressed teenager who falls in love with an 80 year old woman, who happened to be a hollocaust survivor. She teaches him how to enjoy life, and it’s such a good movie.”

What is something you’ve learned in the last week (it doesn’t have to be work related)?

“I’ve worked hard my entire life, and I have a lot of amazing things in my life, but a lot of things have been really difficult. And I’ve always just pushed through no matter how hard or difficult it was. And I think that’s good, in most cases. But what I learned last week is that it’s not always good. If something is really difficult, the best thing you can do is to pause and see if there is a better way to help the situation. Maybe the way that you handled the situation is damaging, because you are pushing yourself too hard, or whatever the situation might be.”

“I got in a car accident and so I’ve been going to physical therapy for a while. I typically just push through the exercises that hurt, but it actually is keeping me from healing completely. So I learned this week that it’s okay to stop if things are difficult to the point that it’s detrimental. Not only physical stuff, but in a lot of situations.” 

What is the best place that you’ve traveled to?

“I’ve gone to Mexico a couple of times, and one time we volunteered at a center for kids that have really severe mental or physical handicaps. Which for me, was a big deal because of my youngest son. And at the time that we went, my son wasn’t doing very well. While we were there, we met a kid who seemed to be a Mexican version of my son. He looked like him, he acted like him, his physical demeanor, everything just reminded me a lot of my son. And we took to each other immediately. I even tried to find out if he came from a stable family, because if not, I was willing to adopt him. Luckily he came from a good family, but that trip definitely sticks out to me.

“I really love the Mexican culture, and that same trip we learned about a shop that makes little charms called, ‘Milagros’ and the charms are of different objects, and you nail the charms to a wooden shape. And all of the different shapes symbolize something. And so you take the different charms that represent miracles or blessings in your life, and nail it to the wood piece. So it’s a visual representation of all of the good things in your life.”

How do you balance career and family?

“Be 100% wherever you are. If you’re at work, be at work 100%. Don’t be worrying about things at home or paying your kids school fees, do everything you need to for work while you are there so that you can give 100% at home. If you do this, work matters won’t follow you home and you can fully focus on your family.”

What’s one piece of advice you would give others at Namify?

“If there’s something you don’t like, tell someone. And tell someone that can actually do something about it. Versus complaining about it. I think there’s a lot of people, and I do this too, that complain but they don’t tell the people that can change it. So the people that can change it think that everything is running smoothly, because nobody is coming to them about anything. So if you want to see change, come up with an idea, and present that to someone that can make the change happen.”

Conclusion

To say that we absolutely enjoyed this spotlight, is an understatement. Joe, thank you for all that you do and the smiles you put on the faces of everyone here at Namify. 

To join the Namify Family visit: https://namify.com/content/careers/