Hi, I’m Cece! I’m an Events Manager for PATTERN. Picture this: the PATTERN team is in a digital content meeting a few weeks ago and we dive into the topic of “boomerangs” in Indianapolis. You know, the people who grew up here, left for whatever reason, and eventually boomeranged right back? It turns out my partner, Alec Stewart, and I fit into this category.
We sat down with each other to chat about our Indy boomerang story, which is a personal tale of us finding each other and sparking a relationship. The interview was non-linear, similar to each of our stories, so I’m going to give you a quick breakdown:
- Alec & I both lived in Indy until we left for college in 2012. We met each other through a mutual friend when we were 16 (and we didn’t see each other again until we were 26). I didn’t go far, to IU Bloomington. Alec got out of Indy as fast as he could and went to Rhode Island School of Design.
- After we graduated, we both ended up in Texas. Alec to Dallas. I went to Austin. Alec became a self-proclaimed “Digital Cowboy,” working in advertising and music, doing a lot of merch designs and graphics for fashion. I accidentally ended up becoming an event planner after studying Anthropology and have been doing events ever since.
- We both also ended up in LA at the same time (?!) and at this time I never thought I would move back to Indy. Yet here we are, and couldn’t be happier about it.
CA: Post-college, I accidentally stumbled into the world of events after studying anthropology. I paused on grad school and wanted to get out and start making money. That was a job working for a startup in Austin that did events for alcohol brands. I did a lot with Tito’s, Beam Suntory, events for SXSW, and a lot of different music shows. From there, I wanted to get more business experience. I started working for a big tech company, which took me to LA. I did sales and marketing, and then came full circle back to doing corporate events.
I started with sports, which is funny because I do not care about sports. But I got to travel around the US and plan events for business professionals to go to NBA games, baseball, games, hockey, football—just all of that. Then ended up doing more conferences, so I spent a lot of time in Las Vegas.
AS: I went to college at Rhode Island School of Design. I studied graphic design, a classical Swiss-German style. After school, I didn’t have a job lined up. I ended up doing an internship in Dallas that didn’t pan out. I moved back to Indy as my safety net, and I ran a fine art gallery here out of the back of a Boost Mobile store. It was called Kime Contemporary, and it was on 38th Street. I think it’s a barbecue restaurant now or something. That was 2017. I was running it with a friend and he moved to Poland. I was having some health problems and moved out to LA to recover and heal.
When I was in LA, I had a lot of free time on my hands and I built the groundwork for my freelance practice. I was making rave posters and hardcore posters every day and getting tattoos. That’s all I did for six months: make a poster, go get a tattoo. I was actually right down the street from Cece.
CA: We were not dating—we hadn’t seen each other since we were sixteen years old.
AS: After about six months, I moved back to Dallas. I had built a close-knit community there that I really cared about and felt safe with. So I moved back down there. I continued freelancing and began making T-shirts. During this time, I started working in a print shop, trying to explore how T-shirts are manufactured and the fundamental principles of merch in general. I spent a lot of time advertising it through social media. That led me to get a job offer in Chicago, where I moved and immersed myself in advertisement, all while still maintaining a freelance practice and keeping my sanity. I made silly tees and posters on the side. I moved back to Indy for safety when COVID hit.
CA: I think that leads back to what made us want to return to Indianapolis. I’ve been back since 2020, same as Alec. It was such a shared traumatic experience for everyone. When everything went on lockdown, I went fully remote. At the time, I had a dog and I realized I want space. In LA, it’s really hard to get enough space, especially when you have a pet. I wanted to be close to you know, my community. I made the decision to come home and I’ve been back ever since.
Alec and I have bonded over this because that’s our origin story of how we started dating, both ending up back home where we grew up and reconnecting.
AS: This is a love story at its core. Me and Cece found solace and safety in each other while we were seeking that. Personally, I kind of went back to an infantile state coming back here. I needed the safety of my parents and familiar surroundings during COVID.
It was an extremely traumatic time, and deeply impacted mental health, and Cece and I were able to give each other comfort. Our relationship grew out of that.
CA: Alec! So sweet. Moving on from that, what have you been up to since being back in Indiana?
AS: Do you want to go first or should I?
CA: I’ll go first. I moved back to Indy and was working remotely for the tech job in California. I was glued to my computer all the time working on Pacific hours. Then, I ended up working with a team in Australia. I sometimes would be working in the middle of the night to accommodate the Australian schedule. I wanted to do something more local, be able to interact with humans, and get back to events in person because I was doing a lot of virtual stuff. That’s where it really felt serendipitous. I had known about PATTERN—shoutout PATTERN!—and I was looking at their website, like ‘Are they hiring? This is so cool.’ They ended up having an events position.
I’ve been doing events for PATTERN for about seven months now. I also do other side events, like for So Far Sounds here and other little gigs here and there. It’s been a total 180 from having a super stable, intense tech job to now being an independent contractor and sacrificing stability for more freedom to do meaningful, creative, collaborative events that I feel have more meaning and give back to the community I was raised in. What about you?
AS: During COVID, I was in the ad industry in Chicago balancing jobs. It was so soul-sucking. I was able to work remote too, which is a blessing as a graphic designer. I got burnt out shilling products for a faceless brand. It was incredibly unethical. I took the same step as Cece into the unknown from the safety of a corporate job. I began working with some friends on a social-media-based apparel company called Good Shirts/Shirts That Go Hard. And they’re a viral meme account with a DTC component. I’m making T-shirts and studying how the different forms of designs work in relation to virality across the internet. It’s a new approach to advertisements and brand relationships. It’s super interesting and a lot more on my feet than traditional advertisement. I think it’s the future. I’m really excited about it. At the same time, I still freelance.
— shirts that go hard (@shirtsthtgohard) May 20, 2023
CA: And you work with two other Indiana guys. So you’re a team of Indiana peeps, but they live in California and you’re holding down the fort here.
AS: Yep, it’s all Indiana kids. Shoutout John Mannheimer and Andrew Jones.
CA: They were also my good friends growing up, so it’s funny.
AS: A funny web of interconnectedness.
CA: Which I think ties back into Indiana as a whole. Everywhere that I’ve lived, I am always drawn to Midwest people. I’ve met people from the Midwest in Texas. In LA, some of my closest friends were people who moved there from Michigan, Indiana, Illinois. I think it’s that Midwest value system that I’ve always been drawn to. Just an interesting side note.
Alec, is there anything you miss about Dallas, Rhode Island, Chicago, LA, that you’d bring to Indy if you could?
AS: Honestly, no. The things I miss are all the people and the communities. But those aren’t tangible things. Wherever you go, communities and their special magic and the subcultures of the geographic location are always there. Every place has everything you need. You just have to look a little harder, or spend a little more time and effort. You can’t just walk out your door and experience something. But that makes it so much more special. The same subcultures I’m interested in are here, the same communities are here. It’s just different faces and different people. Indy has all of the same components. I’d rather live here and have a backyard for our dogs than anywhere else.
CA: Yeah, that was one of the deciding factors of coming back here, a yard for our dogs.
AS: I will say, I’m incredibly blessed that my job is just contingent on wifi and a computer and I can work anywhere. Location is not a factor that’s relevant for me. But in terms of the creative economy, there’s opportunities here as much so as LA or Dallas. It’s just putting in the work.
CA: And it’s everyone’s rooting for you here. There, there isn’t that competition as much, because it’s a tighter knit community. People want to see each other succeed. And, you know, if you have an idea, you can do it and someone’s there to help you make it happen. I’ve noticed that’s harder to find elsewhere.
AS: Indiana’s a much more open canvas, if you see something missing. There’s the opportunity and the support here to execute it. In LA or New York, everything has been done a thousand times. You can bring your own magic twist here, and have the support and the infrastructure to make it happen. I think that’s a really beautiful gift that I overlooked when I was a kid and moved away. I think there’s a lot of magic in that and what Cece touched on—support. Everyone here is trying to make sure everyone else succeeds. I think that’s rooted in Midwest sensibilities.
CA: What I appreciate about Indianapolis that I didn’t when I was younger has to do with my own immaturity, lack of exposure, and associating a place with one single bubble. That was my experience here, growing up without an idea of who I was and what I wanted to do. So the solution there was going to a different place that would provide all of these things that I was looking for, when I didn’t even know what I was looking for. It was fun, but when I came back, I realized how much I didn’t know was happening across creative Industries. We don’t have to live in a bigger city to be able to get new food and explore museums. We have so many amazing things here.
AS: And I don’t think those things have the confines and boundaries of other places.
CA: Yeah! We’re happy to be here.
