Tell us more about your experience at UNC — what did you love most about going to school there?
I’ve always had a bit of a weird experience with school–I actually graduated high school with my Associates degree in hand, so I was already sort of outside of the norm, and that didn’t change at UNC. I ended up graduating early for my age, and was always sort of between graduation years. I even finished in December instead of May. So all-in-all, it was a bit of an odd experience academically, but I will say that I met some amazing people and found some great mentors. In particular, my first journalism professor at the school, Rhonda Gibson, and then every single professor I had in the creative writing department. Ask me about any of them and that’s when I really feel a swell of school pride.
Who’s on your playlist right now?
Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Hozier, The Lumineers, The Front Bottoms, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Haley Heynderickx… which I feel is a pretty good representation of what I’m into. A lot of sort of experimental folk punctuated with alternative rock and a whole bunch of lyrically-driven, vocal-heavy songs that might even take themselves just a touch too seriously. Very me.
Favorite movie and why. Have you ever cried at a movie? Which one?
One of the first movies I ever cried at was actually my favorite movie, Little Miss Sunshine, and I was crying because I laughed so hard at the final scene of the movie. One of my other favorites, Train to Busan, made me cry for the totally opposite reason. I think most of my favorite movies have made me cry, which probably says something about me, though I’m not entirely sure what.
Why did you want to work for Tigermoth Creative?
When I first saw Tigermoth’s logo, I felt this immediate draw. A glance at their website showed me that that gut-feeling was right: I loved everything they stood for. Brand storytelling through carefully crafted language, timeless imagery, and a clear value system–it was everything I had been looking for in a company, and more.
Who makes you laugh harder than anyone else?
My mother. She’s my best friend, and in addition to being a great mom, we’ve always just been able to riff off of one another in a really fun way. Laughter is really, really important to me in life, and I always say that I’ll marry the guy who is able to make me laugh so hard that I get the hiccups–something that, up until this point, only my mom has been able to do.
What is your ultimate dream job? If you could make an impact doing anything, what would it be?
A published poet and fiction writer. I think that there’s immense, essentially immeasurable power in language, and I think the ability to harness it is really amazing. It’s something that I feel like I can get lost in and never get bored.
How do you spend your free time outside of Tigermoth?
I write poetry and fiction, I draw, I paint, I bake, I really enjoy shows and movies, I read, and I play video games. Basically, I have too many hobbies and not enough hours in the day. During the times that I’m not working at Tigermoth but also not quite relaxing, I’m a nanny for a wonderful family, which means I get paid to hang out with a very cool seven-month-old a few times a week. I’m also currently teaching myself how to code.
What is your favorite medium for art?
I used to always say that any medium you put in my hands I’ll use, and that’s still true, but I think that at my core I’m a painter and a writer. I mainly paint with acrylic, but I really enjoy watercolor. I’ve also always drawn, mostly with graphite but again, really with anything you put in front of me. I think I have this insatiable drive to create, and so any way I can do that, any medium, I just view as an incredible opportunity.
What is something that you have learned about the Tigermoth team?
If you had to come up with one single word to describe them all in one go, it would be “warmth.” Everything from the office itself to how quickly they each individually welcomed me indicated a true kindness and openness that radiated from every team member. It was something that I think the professional world can lack, and it felt really amazing to find.
What excites you most about working in downtown Greensboro?
Despite growing up down the road in Chapel Hill, I haven’t found myself often exploring Greensboro. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to have this deep love for North Carolina and its many treasures. Having the opportunity to explore a new one is really exciting to me.
Where would you take the Tigermoth team out to dinner?
Not so much dinner, but brunch–I would take them to Dim Sum. Dim Sum is a Chinese cuisine typically eaten around what we in the US know as “brunch,” and is made up of small plates and usually a shared pot of tea. It’s a food I grew up eating and, aside from being my favorite food in the world, is one of the first ways I learned to connect to my culture. Between the incredible experience that is the food itself and the deeply important role it plays in my life, it’s something that I would introduce everyone to given the chance.
Abigail Leow is a copywriting intern at Tigermoth Creative. In her freetime she is a poet, visual artist, and lover-of-all-things-spooky. Her dream is to one day overcome her fear of the office mannequin (and be a published poet and fiction writer).