Today we’d like to introduce you to Julianne Snow Gauron.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I studied industrial design and spent over a decade working on apparel innovation teams in India, the UK, at New Balance in Boston, and North Face, before going out as a consultant four years ago. A major part of innovation work is understanding the user, and I have a lifelong love of what I learned at RISD is called embedded field research. I spend anywhere from an hour to days with people to understand how they live and think in detail, I was doing this long before I became a designer living overseas as a volunteer teacher and other means of exploring the world.
Photography is a key documentary part of field research and any type of storytelling. But as a consultant, I found myself less and less in the field as I advised clients on design innovations and strategies, and found I missed this deeply. So I gave myself permission to take photos for photo’s sake, to follow stories without a clear understanding of the way. Coming from a non-art upbringing this still feels quite revolutionary, although the process is exactly the same as the field work, but the outcomes are the images and stories themselves.
I still work as a designer professionally, and sometimes the two still overlap in wonderful ways, one fueling the other, but creating Snow on the Road, and pursuing storytelling has been so liberating. Since creating Snow on the Road I have participated in a Collective Quarterly Basecamp Workshop, taken on a photo assignment with Entrepreneur Magazine, Directed a documentary short film with Windy Films and Planned Parenthood as well as other client-facing work.
I am grateful to have the mix of commercial collaborations, photodocumentary and travel stories around the world, on my own and with clients.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I am not sure any creative path is ever a smooth one. As an athlete, I know challenges are a key ingredient to growth, and art is no different. When I left my job at New Balance 4 years ago, I went on a road trip to clear my head with the intention of setting out on my fresh path upon my return. Instead a few days after I returned to Boston my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and my world turned upside down.
I eventually found my way to my own path, or rather I am still finding my way, but it was much more challenging than I envisioned. But I know that without the grief and the growth, I would never have had the capacity to create the work I am proud of, the resilience to manage challenges professional and personal since then, or to bet on myself as fully as I have.
I often wish the last few years could have been easier, but then I also know they would have been lacking in a depth and beauty which is more complex than simple triumph, growth that I am proud of, and powerful bonds with my friends which are deeper for the challenges we have all gone through by leaning on each other.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Snow on the Road – what should we know?
Snow on the Road is still very much a work in progress but I am utilizing my design strategy background of 12+ years in the innovation industry to tell visual stories. Some of my work is a photo documentary work for publications, collaborations with clients, and some are fine art photography.
I have a lifelong passion for travel and bringing people with me in any way I can. I hate passing through an area as an outsider, and would always rather sit and listen, to belong and honor people’s stories. With photography and writing, I am able to do that. And I can bring people into that place and moment, people who never would travel there or be okay with the discomfort.
To me, this is hugely important to us all remember we are connected and finding empathy, our interrelatedness and I always feel privileged when I get to do this. These skills carry over to Directing as well, connecting with people, finding the story for the context and conveying it, while working with a team, and so I had my first experience in documentary film direction this year which was such a pleasure. I look forward to doing this again soon.
In client work, as someone who has been on the design and strategy side, I bring a unique eye as the photographer, I am not only looking at the visuals but the bigger picture, the context and the consumption of the images. That background gives me a different perspective in working with disruptive brands that other photographers.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I don’t know that I personally feel I have achieved success, I think it is a moving mark, right? But I guess it is about doggedly working at something to you because you love the process for its sake alone. Even the outcome, while valuable, is less important than the magnetism and passion you have for the process. That and being a great communicator and deeply professional I think are vital traits.
The camera allows me to sit and listen, to honor and share people’s stories, and I am grateful every single time I get to do this.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.snowontheroad.com, www.juliannegauron.com
- Email: juliannegauron@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julianne_snow/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JGauronDesigns/
Image Credit:
JGauron, Snow on the Road
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