Dream Big.

Motivated by our recent work for Imagine Staffing (which featured children whose imagination could inspire their professional futures), we decided to poll the TMG staff on what their young selves wanted to be when they grew up. The answers were insightful, and eye-opening. Let us know what inspired you as a child in the comments below…

Growing up, I always wanted to be a lawyer. I found the study and practice of law to be fascinating. Then in undergrad (as a pre-law major) I woke up and realized the world has too many lawyers and I didn’t want to live my life at the mercy of the billable hour. Ten years later, I just want to enjoy life with my husband and growing family when “I grow up.”
—Christie Witt Berardi, Director of Business Development | Brand Manager

When I was a kid I really wanted to be a standup comic. I used to stay up late watching standup on Comedy Central. I told my mom about it one day while we were out for a drive. We passed a gentleman selling fruit on the sidewalk. She looked at him and said, “He wanted to be a comedian too”.
—Terry Caber, Art Director

I wanted to be a Beatle.
—David Cloyd, Digital Designer | Developer

I wanted to be an artist. I couldn’t really draw, but my mom bought me a French beret that I wouldn’t take off and I thought it would be so cool to wear if I was an artist.
—Sarah DiPofi, Public Relations Coordinator

One that sticks with me (and makes me laugh) is wanting to be a toll collector. For whatever reason, I thought it would be a perfect job to just read books all day, every day. I guess I was manning a very lightly-traveled and super comfortable toll booth in this career fantasy.
But yeah, if you ever hear of a job where I can actually sit in a cozy little room all day and read whatever I want for pay, definitely let me know.
—Jillian Gallagher, Copywriter

I wanted to be the mailman.
—Kevin Heffernan, Brand Coordinator

I wanted to be a police lady. Not sure how that translates into advertising … Maybe I could have been amazing at writing tickets or police reports.
—Jennifer Hoffmire, Copywriter

My parents entered me into a small-town pageant when I was 7 and part of my interview was to tell them what I wanted to be when I grew up. I most certainly did not want to be a pageant girl and I was sick of being at practices, so I told them “I just want to be a bike rider and go ride my bike”. So on the night of the pageant as I walked across the stage in my frilly dress they announced my dream of being a “bike rider”.  Needless to say that didn’t pan out…
—Jennifer Houle, Brand Manager

My mom says that, based on an early birthday party photo, I wanted to be a fireman. I would argue that I wanted to be Bo Duke. That evolved into architecture according to my dad, until I realized I couldn’t draw — which turned into wanting to be a writer (but not a novelist because that seemed unattainable and unsustainable). Now I just want to take photos like Greg Meadows when I grow up.
—John Jiloty, Social Media Manager

It’s gonna sound corny – but since age seven or so I pretty much only though about becoming a graphic designer. I broke my leg then and was laid up at home for a while.
The daughter of one of my mom’s friends, who was herself a graphic designer, gifted me two books. One was a catalog from a metal type foundry. The other was a book about new approaches to typography, by a legendary swiss typographer – who I ended up studying about in college. It has been lettering and type for me ever since then.
—Greg Meadows, Vice President | Creative Director

As a child, I wanted to be a Marine Biologist when I grew up. Until I realized I was terrible at science. I loved the water — especially the ocean — and always wanted to be around and in it. To be able to study and work to improve the lives of all that make such a mysterious environment their home was so inspiring to me. But let’s be real, I was also six and wanted to play with dolphins.
—Marilynn Militello, Brand Coordinator

I wanted to be a meteorologist. To this day, I still love bad weather.
—Dion Pender, Senior Vice President | Executive Creative Director

Growing up, I wanted to be an actress, and used to say that people would see me on stage at Artpark (up in Lewiston, N.Y.) when I was “big.”
After a few stints in high school musical theatre (“Grease,” “Sound of Music,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” and “Li’l Abner”), I decided I liked being myself more!
—Kelli Putney, Senior Vice President | Brand Strategist

I wanted to be an animator for Disney. I drew cartoons all the time. I really tried to convince my mom that I could turn my clothes closet into a studio and insisted I could fit my desk in there. Errr … She didn’t buy it. I still bet I could’ve.
Here are some pics I drew as a kid. I was visiting my dad. He’s a chef and he still has these hanging in his kitchen.
—Barbara Riso, Senior Art Director

At age 8 or 9 I really wanted to be an architect. It made sense considering that my dad was an engineer and I’d always been interested in drawing and model building. I still have a strong passion for architecture, even if I didn’t quite end up on that path.
—Josh Robinson, Digital Designer | Developer

I wanted to be an actress. I was always practicing lines I heard on TV shows in front my bedroom mirror. I would even turn the volume down on a show I was watching and say the lines I thought they would be saying.
—Lisa Strock, Senior Vice President | Client Services