How Caitlyn C's It

What used to be a solely a platform to post picture challenges has quickly transformed the marketing industry and become a full-blown career path. Devon Cowell is a part of this booming new field of professionals.

Devon Cowell: Pop Star Dreams Transformed

Devon is 23 and as of a month ago, lives in Dallas, Texas. She works at Legacy Digital, a digital marketing agency based in Charleston, SC.

Rewinding a bit, Devon did her undergrad at the University of Arkansas. Woo pig! There she majored in business marketing and to supplement, a minor in supply chain management to kickstart a career.

Did Devon always want to be a creative marketing girly? No.

“I wanted to be a pop star when I was little,” said Devon. “My mom and my sister would laugh about this all the time because I used to tell everyone that I was going to be America’s sweetheart and Shirley Temple. I’m not good at singing or dancing, but I was convinced I would be a pop star. I genuinely believed it was going to happen.”

Her pop star aspirations are still alive and well, but as she got older and approached college, she realized maybe a more traditional route was more practical (for now).

“I actually really wanted to do interior design, all throughout college I wanted to do interior design or be a real estate agent.”

It’s sort of rare for a college freshman to carry out their first career choice to the finish line, so after some self discovery–and the realization that an architecture degree would mean five years in college and one year abroad–Devon had her sights set on a career more her style.

“I wanted to go into the graphic design or creative aspect of business,” said Devon.

Finding a Job That Was Fit For Her

So amidst her required courses for marketing, she took some graphic design classes. Those design courses led Devon to realize that she wanted to pursue a career in social media. However, the Arkansas marketing program seemed heavily push students to a career in sales.

To know Devon is to love her. She’s bright, bubbly and full of live (and has really good fashion taste/advice), but for her, a career in sales felt inauthentic.

“I interviewed for three or four sales jobs, I quickly was like no I’m not meant for this and I’m the least salesy person.”

That’s when she interviewed and landed her current role as a Digital Manager at Legacy Digital. Which ended up being perfect for her since her current role is in social media and she gets to lean into her creative side.

“I primarily do social media, some email marketing, most of my time working at Legacy Digital has been spent on photoshoot aspect of things,” said Devon. “I’ve gotten experience with planning out campaigns, developing shot lists, curating Pinterest boards, running social media accounts and dabbling in branding.”

Moving From Austin to Charleston in Two Weeks

Getting this first job meant that she graduated college, spent two weeks at home in Austin and then packed her bags to move to Charleston, South Carolina, to start the next chapter of her life. Moving to an entirely new city was exciting and a fresh start, but there was some adjusting to do.

“Going through school you always know what’s next and you go through the path that everyone goes through. You go through four years of college and then look for jobs.”

She went from four years with her best friends to a one-bedroom apartment with her boyfriend (and adorable puppy, Luna) in a brand new city with no connections yet.

“It’s hard going from having people you’ve spent your entire life with to going to a new city,” said Devon. “It was nice to work with girls our own age. But when you first start working with someone, it can feel nerve-wracking at first and it was harder to make friends outside of work.”

But like every season of life, you adjust and make do. Even though it was challenging to find her footing, she eventually did and credits post-grad life for her personal growth.

“I feel like I have grown way more out of college than I did in college. I had the same group of friends throughout college, so moving and getting this new job put me out of my comfort zone and made me more extroverted than I ever was. I’ve learned how to talk to different people a lot easier and my anxiety went down a lot after college.”

Life after college has shined a spotlight on herself and how she might’ve neglected her physical and mental health in college.

Devon said, “I had super bad anxiety in college and I didn’t have one thing that caused it, it was just random.”

“When I look back, it was my body shutting down because of how much I was doing and the bad habits that I had.”

It’s no secret that college kids have a habit of being “over-served,” lacking a workout routine, running off four hours of sleep and heavy servings of caffeine. Becoming more independent and more of an “adult” meant that Devon could redirect her energy to herself and combat her college anxieties.

Battles with Disconnecting

This isn’t to say all “troubles” melted away with a move to Charleston. Devon’s new life in a new city brought on its own set of challenges. One being the tricky, age-old “work-life balance.”

“I wasn’t expecting how much work and how much of my time I’d pour into my current job,” said Devon. “I thought that at my job I’d clock in and clock out, but it still frustrates me sometimes because it’s hard to get a work-life balance and separate yourself from it.”

Devon’s job allows her a lot of flexibility to work from anywhere in the world. But that within itself is a double-edged sword because that means you can work anywhere, anytime.

“It’s hard to be reachable 24/7 and I’ve created an attachment to my work phone. I was really bad at separating the two. With social media, everything is always changing and you have to be consistent in posting, you don’t get a break. “

Being a social media manager is harder work than she expected, but Devon has embraced the differences and challenges. For every hill she’s had to climb, she’s overcome it, emerging stronger and better equipped to take on the next one.

If she has any advice for anyone nervous to graduate, it would be to dive fully in.

“The scariest part is the first act of doing something, the second act isn’t that bad,” Devon said. “Diving head first into something, it might work and it might not, but if you keep thinking about it you never know. Take a few risks and you can always go back if you fail.”

And for those wanting to get into marketing, her advice is to have a portfolio of work and have someone else review it. Sometimes we can get so deep into our own projects, so she recommends to have someone else review it to get a second set of eyes to make sure it’s application ready.

Devon in Dallas: Her Recs

Devon has since moved to her second city post-grad and currently lives in Dallas, Texas, with her boyfriend and Luna. Here’s what Devon has to recommend about Dallas so far for those interested in moving there.

What are the best places to live in Dallas?

She recommends Uptown, West Village and Greenville

What are some fun things to do in Dallas?

Katy Trail runs all throughout Dallas, everyone is out and about on his trail. White Rhino is a great coffee shop and a good matcha. Some good places to go out are Tequila Social, Life is Good, Katy Ice House, and Truck Yard are a bunch of food trucks with live music and a bunch of tables, you and your friends can get a section with drinks.

What are some key highlights to living in Dallas?

The flights out of DFW are so easy and you can go anywhere. It’s great so I can go visit family easily and it’s a great middle base. Also the people in Dallas seem way more relaxed, have that Southern hospitality and they’re general really nice and laid back. You get every type of person you can expect.

Final parting advice from Devon:

“Don’t stop doing the things that you love doing right now before you graduate. I used to journal, draw, listen to music, spend time outside and read, I stopped doing that stuff completely and recently got back to it. It takes you out of your situation and makes you feel like yourself. Having a job, you feel so adult and responsible, you can feel like yourself and take time to do small things to do fun. I like feeling like a kid and that makes me feel happy. It doesn’t have to be so serious and I dont have to be boring!”

Make sure to follow Devon on Instagram @devontcowell to keep up with her journeys as she learns, grows and discovers in her new season of post-grad life!