Ripple Effect - August 15, 2019
She’s a talented designer and proud military spouse who’s never stopped learning, growing, and moving over the course of her career. Currently a fellow with Ripple Effect through the Military Spouse Fellowship Program sponsored by Hiring Our Heroes, Natalie recently sat down with us to talk about the program, her background and career journey, and what other military spouses can do to find and create opportunities for themselves.
RIPPLE EFFECT: Tell us about yourself, Natalie. Where did you grow up?
NATALIE MAZUR: I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. Sounds cheesy, but I do miss the wide open space and mountains.
Where did you go to college?
I spent two years at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, where I played field hockey and lacrosse. Then I transferred home to the University of Colorado-Boulder, where I majored in International Affairs and Mandarin Chinese.
Sounds like quite the range of interests. Did you know what you wanted to get into at that point?
Not really. I’ve always been passionate about communications, thinking I’d merge that with international relations and work in the foreign services. But I didn’t end up pursuing that.
What were you doing after college?
I worked at a software startup in Boulder, doing instructional design. They liked me, saw potential, so they brought me in to create instructions for their productivity app in Salesforce. This was in 2015. Shortly after that, my husband proposed, we got married, and soon after we were stationed in Okinawa, Japan.
How do you describe what you do for a living?
I’m a creative communicator who uses visual tools to translate concepts. I design graphics, content, and user experiences for a variety of platforms and audiences. I like to think of myself as a problem-solver.
What are some of the skills you need for design?
It’s a broad field, so a lot! Everything from user research to leading focus groups and brainstorm sessions, building wireframes and affinity diagrams, sketching, usability testing. And collaboration, of course.
