The answer to the question “what do you do?” is often pretty straightforward: a banker, a teacher, a software developer (we are in Seattle after all). Telling someone you are a banker by no means encompasses all that you are, but it’s enough for the person asking to take their best swing at an engaging conversation. So how do you answer that question when you have multiple passions, like say….fine art photography, a premium Photoshop actions company, a creative inspiration blog, oh yes and you are a designer / branding expert, and now you are participating in NaNoWriMo… there isn’t a pat “I am a…” that encompasses all of that in a bite-sized way.

Tristan’s husband asked her what the heck he should tell people when they ask him what she does, my husband tailors his answer to whoever he is talking to. It’s trickier than it should be. To be honest, I usually go the easy route and say I’m a photographer. Everyone understands what a photographer does, and the conversation can flow smoothly from there. The problem with this answer is that if the person is truly interested and not just making idle chit-chat, the other things we do usually percolate at some point, which causes a bit of halting befuddlement, and can feel awkward.

We know a lot of you also have multiple irons in the fire. Mara is not only a lettering phenom, she’s the CEO of a technology company, our friend Sanae started a blog about choosing a healthier life and learning to sew and ended up writing and illustrating a delightful children’s book, Ez of Creature Comforts has blogger, photographer, and entrepreneur on her resume.

So we are curious, what do you say when asked this question?

RESOURCES

Refuse to Choose!

Famous Polymaths