Her Story
About Margaret
Margaret Kelly serves as production director for Porsche Club of America, managing color correction, file preparation, and printer uploads for the club's monthly magazine. With 40 years in design, she previously worked as an art director for Detroit Monthly, a regional newspaper consumer publication, and a hybrid advertising-editorial publication, and spent eight years at a big global agency. Kelly also maintained a teaching career spanning 21 years, including full-time instruction in fundamentals of design at a media college and part-time adjunct and advising roles at another college, where student publications under her guidance have won over 40 awards. She earned a fine arts degree in painting and drawing from Wayne State University after two years at the University of Michigan, and completed influential workshops with Milton Glaser, in New Design in Denmark, and on user experience. Kelly has received design awards from Print Magazine, Folio Ozzie Awards, the Society of Professional Journalists, as well as redesign and cover awards. She attributes her success to peer respect, strong team relationships, and loyalty that has generated referrals, and she values authenticity and the power of dedicated work.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Margaret
01What do you attribute your success to?
Being respected by my peers and establishing good team relationships. Many jobs came through references because I made a difference in people's lives. I am loyal and enjoy being on a team.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
A teacher wrote on my grade school graduation picture: 'creator, share your beauty with all, because beauty is infinite.' This has stayed with me as motivation to enhance life by making things more beautiful, even in a competitive field.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Reach out to your network to find work. If that doesn't work, take any kind of job because you can learn from it and build skills. Be engaged, aware of your surroundings, and know what you want to give up or not.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Technology has influenced how people perceive design jobs, creating a drawback because you still need creator background and experience making things, but it's also an advantage to learn as much as possible about technology to produce what you need.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Authenticity is really important - no deceptions, be who you are, communicate honestly. Also, the power of work - the more effort you put in, the more rewards you get. Believe in yourself and persevere.
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