Beyond the "Big Girl Job": How Toni Morrison Redefined My Relationship with Work

Over the last few months I’ve read a lot of Toni Morrison’s work, specifically her novels. The way her words come together on the page is so rich. Rich, not in a snooty way but in a rich soil type of way. I feel when I am reading her work I have the ability to grow in new ways. Before I started diving into Morrison’s novels I was laid-off for the first time. My first “big girl job”. The news hit harder than I could have expected. The big question that I couldn’t answer was, what does this next chapter look like? 

Between networking and job hunting, I questioned what work meant to me. The things I liked, disliked, and everything in between. What type of projects did I like? What special interests did I want to add to my toolkit? How did I want to work and with who? All of these questions swirled about my mind as I tried to find my way. Morrison’s novels provided temporary escape as I fell in love with the characters and storylines. 

I started to listen to old interviews and panel discussions where Morrison would talk about her novels and what they meant. What I was really searching for was more insight into how she worked. I wasn’t interested in winning a Nobel Prize, but learning about success from successful people just makes sense. I found my answer in an article she wrote in The New Yorker titled “The Work You Do, The Person You Are.” This piece changed my thoughts about work in relation to self. 

In the article Morrison writes about her experience working as a cleaner in a woman’s home. When she started to get frustrated with her work experience she went to her father for insight. Part of what he said was “Go to work. Get your money. And come home.” My father told me something similar when I was in high school, but Morrison’s interpretation hits differently.

This quote has stuck with me months after reading the article: 

“Whatever the work is, do it well - not for the boss but for yourself”

From this I created -Ate Shops, a collective of creative and future-focused workshops and consulting services to help organizations build what matters most. The purpose of -Ate is to do design work well and create solutions that matter most to clients and their customers. I learned to look at work as an extension of myself. With the “big girl job” gone, I was still Alexys and I was still a designer. I still had my education and professional experiences. 

The suffix "-ate" is all about action – "making" or "causing to be."  That's exactly what -Ate Shops are designed to do: empower organizations to collaborate, ideate, co-create, and elevate. My years of experience in service design and design management all come together with -Ate, ensuring our sessions are practical and lead to tangible outcomes. Connect to -Ate Shops here on SubStack or catch us over on LinkedIn. 

Here on Substack, you'll get my candid thoughts and opinions on the latest trends in business, design, consumer trends, the software and AI tools that are revolutionizing customer experience, and how thoughtful service design can be your ultimate superpower.

See you next week!